The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1910-02-02

lenly insolent as he resumed speech.
Glad ye take il SO cool, an maybe
yer right. However. it looks m
odd to me-"
glanced aside at the wheelman ap-
prehensively. The fellow was gazing
straight ahead of him into the rapidly
| thinning fog. 1t was the manner of
the mate more than his words that i'm.
pressed me.
See here, Mr.. Tuttle." and
dropped my hand rather heavily on
his sleeve. kindly explain exactly
what you are driving at. Do you in
tend to insinuate that We have made
mistake in the dark. and run OF
with the wrong vessel? Why, man.
that is impossible. We are sailors,
not landlubbers. Both of us have had
chances to see the Esmeralda. and you
certainly knew where she was moored
yesterday"
We'll. when I come to think it
over. / don't feel quite so everlasting
ly sure about that. The mind O. man
is mighty deceitful." he admitted,
slowly You see. / never saw her
any closer than maybe 4 mile. an
even then she was half hid behind 9TH
CT Shippin'. Of course / took notice of
her outline an rig. but l didn't pay
much attention to details. Tonight We
was all of Us excited. an colors don't
show up much in the dark! Now, her
funnel is painted red. an unless I'm
a liar the ESmeralda's was black with
a ya!ler stripe round the top. You
see. Mr.. Stephens. We Ike 4 in pretty
close under cover all yesterday. an
maybe they hauled the Esmeralda up
to the government docks. and run an
other boat into her anchorage"
laughed aloud. not in The least i'm
pressed with his argument.
"A very likely story that there were
two vessels in that haIbOr SO near
alike as to deceive all of u.s.
lie remained stubborn!y silent. evil
IDENTIFY unconvinced, pluckins at his
ch;n-bcard.
There is a certain way of settling
the matter" I went on. decisively,
that is. by an examination of the pa
pers in the cabin. Take charge of the
bridge. and I'll run down and clear up
this affair beyond any further contro-
versy. We may even have one Of the
ships officers slowed away there,
sleeping off his late celebration. II
there is. he's due for a rude awaken
ing Keep the yachts head as she is.
and I'll be back directly
was aware that he watched me
closely as descended the steps, but
felt little interest in such surveillance.
That We could have been guilty OF SO
SERIOUS an error as he suggested was
beyond possibility. Nevertheless the
mere suspicion was irritating, leaving
| me filled with vague unrest. II was
| quite true that l might have been de-
| ceived. / realized that. because l had
| enjoyed no opportunity 10 observe the
Esmeralda in daylight. and no occasion
to study her lines with care at any
time. To me she had appeared merely
| as an extremely graceful vessel, in
teresting to the eye of a seaman. But
futile and his crew must have known
! the truth. If We were, indeed. on
board the wrong vessel, it was from
| no innocent mistake of the darkness,
but rather the result of deliberate
plan. the full purpose of which was
beyond my comprehension. l swore
savagely under my breath. even as l
laughed sarcastically at the vague sus-
picion, aroused largely, as l we'll
realized. by my increasing dislike of
the ex-whaleman. The wrong ship:
Why. the very conception of such an
accident was grotesque, ridiculous, be-
yond belief! 1t was the hallucination
of fool. One of the men assisted me
to unbar the slide across the compan-
ionway. and. bidding him stand BY
ready for a hail. / started below, my
fingers On the brass rail. my feet firm
! On the rubber-lined stairs.
| These led into as handsome sea-