The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-01-28
The Woman Who
Talked
How She Captured the Captain
and Earned . Loving Cup.
IA. n Rose in cissslshd fisin'hs~isfl

aud a delay II an hour hal frsui''n' ih'
ship's doctor had lr.n laid AZ ny an AZ
tack IL rhsumali.m -,
rah, Ihoma, FELTON, was an admifahl'
mariner With proper pride ~ hts p'ol's
sion and full appreciation Of h's irsl1n
,ihallty. There wefe suo souls Ia his car
and there was a time schedule to feinrin
Der.
Naturally, ihrr. were oecasions When
IaIsain FELTON, permitted himself 10 lee
iriiated ANYTHING that inteterrd Ni,h
the running oi his ship passed upon w
province oi his official dignity was quickly
resented
On m. ihin hay out from New lork
1.-The captain va. not Ia an entirely asrrc
| able humor,
The man who went overheard had been
/ showed ga deck from the rcrcuing boat,
aud the captain had Jnsi gwen ORDER ioi
the Alrc.tfis Ia resume her course when
he law Mn frnnisrr Brown approaching
The captain had been salty mariner
| for NEARLY forty YEAR. but hc couldni ct
SEASONED 10 the Passenger who asks Tool
ish au,,i ions and mo-t questions arc loot
! iii frum a liner captains point OF view,
Mr.. fcnngcr Brown wa approaching
middle age. She was al,o approaching
stoutnes,. II was understood that she was
widow. travelling alone. aud that ii. had
plenty Of money.
Coed morning, captain, .aid the lady.
Quite an interesting episode
She referred Ia the annoying rescue.
The captain gTowlcd deep down ia hi
throat. hut mad. no reply.
who was ia. poor man
"A coal passer madam,
Married.
The captain made another inaricula,e
remark.
II do not know, madam.
II wa thinking how hard il would have
been Tor you 10 notify hi wife and chill
drrn-hut perhaps hc has no children.
How old did you say he was:
The captain swallowed hard.
II know nothing whatever about him,
madam
"A new man, | suppose Perhaps not
familiar with the ship. How dreadful Il
would have been II the boat hadn't picked
him up | remember hearing my brother
George tell about q man who fell overheard
ia the night and they burned rockets and
blew whistles. Bu, really now. that may
have been on the Mississippi rver. Any
way, my impression ], that the man was
igioNicaied.
"lou don't think the poor fellow will
catch cold, do you captain the lady so
licitously inquired.
II don't think anything about II, said
the captain. gruiily.
But the inquisltive passenger was not
discouraged.
And about where are we now, cap
tain!'"
She had asked this question every time
they had met.
The captain frowned darkly.
Madam" he said, I'll you will consult
the second officer he viii show you the
chart and give you the ships bearings
And he turned abruptly away.
The inquisitive lady wasn't annoyed by
this mceremonious departure.
Hes got such a lot on his mind she
,aid and looked after him alphabetically |
And the captain, stalking away, also
spoke to himself
If that confounded woman bothers me |
with any more fool questions I'll put her in |
rons-or push her overheard.
He glanced as he paused by the rail. |
The inquisitive woman had paused by the |
hair OF the invalid professor, and the
'aptan could tell by the way she nodded
md gestured that she was busy at her
avorite diversion.
Poor chap grumbled the captain
A faint smile softened his serious face
Is he stalked along.
From that moment he carefully avoided
he woman who talked He moved away
when he saw her coming, he affected not
o hear her when she called to him across
he table
And this required constant vigilance.
He told himself that in all his expert
nee he had never met such an annoying
assenger. Ii she had been man he
'ould have squelched her curiosity instant.
=. Being woman he could only avoid
er. .
Occasionally she caught him and threw
few swift questions at him that made
i'm feel irritable for hours afterward !
why in bazes couldn't she have taken
ome other ship?' he growlingly demand
4 of the choppy waves. I
And then, noting the alarming fact that
he was bearing down on him, he didn't |
ait for the answer to his query, but turn
| quickly and beat an inglorious retreat. a
The Alcestris having lost a number of 4
recious hours, was doing her best to make
nends. The captain, with an eye out a
II the woman who talked. was watching a
lie ships progress with glowing satisfac- n
on. 1
1t was mid.afternoon of Sunday. There
as a heavy sea running and the Alcestris r
as steadily bntting her way through it r
| .
G from her sturdy bows.
The barometer had fallen during the
orning, but now was steadily rising. A n
Ivy curtain yelled the sky and dipped to II
e pillows here and there as it was fit
lily stirred by the light breeze. {,
There were few passengers on deck, the h
a was too rough for comfort. but among Il
e half dozen who ventured out was the 8,
oman who talked.
The captain at the rail, caught sight of fa
y T., '' Il
THAT Cabling nuisance can't even take
ne to be decently seasick," he grumbled, h,
d turned again to watch the hazy sea. Fl
With much care the woman who talked q
ade her way along the unsteady deck. y,
veral times she stopped and stared up w
the foggy sky. Then she resolutely re- in
med her way. ii
And with every careful step she ap- ey
cached nearer the captain. 4
A moment more and a cautious rush
uld have carried her to the rail beside nj
Some hidden influence seemed to tell him
her presence.
lie turned and saw her coming.
She smiled.
About where are we now, captain ?"
lie fairly groaned and his frown was
TX indeed We
IND then he saw swift change come We
er the woman's face. Her smile faded, wi
ook of wild terror dilated her gray eyes in!
e was not looking at him, but at some
rful object behind him. Her lips moved. set
2 was trying to cry out. fol-
Before the captain could turn, a wild lit
lex rang out and something struck the an
p a crashing, staggering blow. The
tain was hurled to the deck and re- do
mbered no more Tb
he woman who talked had gone down. vii
but she was better prepared. She had sns
n the peril approaching, and had he
nched to meet it. As she fell she clinch- str