The Huttig news., 1910-01-15
IN THE w WORLD'S
 GATE
By FRANK LILLE POLLOCK
Copyright. by shortstory Pub. Col

l was apparently in the most astonish- ing state of disrepair and dilapidation. Once she had been painted black. but that was in the dim abyss of time; now her battered sides were of the natural and unashamed hue of the plates, diversified by broad blotches and bands of rust The brasswork of her ports was green, the funnel sagged. rails and decks were greasy and clipped The dock loafers had ieered at her when she widowed into Port Said and she had appeared in the maritime intelligence of Trieste week previous as, Str. Ukarine. Trieste, l.. Passaro, master, cleared for Zanzibar in ballast
 Half dozen Levantines were gambling on the decks forward, ruffianly Maltese in a red cap held the wheel, and a young man in blue and white yachting costume, much weath- er-beaten and tanned, stood on the bridge just outside the wheel-house. They had reached a point midway be- tween Kantara and Lake Timsan when a dull report sounded heavily from far down in the ships interior. There was a disturbance and bub- bling of the water alongside, and strange and acrid odor drifted up the forward hatehway. The young man in the duck trousers sprang to the wheel, snatched it from the startled Maltese, and with a quick twirl of the spokes swung the vessels head round till she lay nearly athwart the canal
 The object of this maneuver was not apparent, but it seemed to have been intellectual. There was a sound of gurgling waters from below, and the ship lurched heavily to starboard A tremendous hissing and a gush of steam announced that the fires had been flooded, and moment later the black and half-nude staff of the en- gine-rooms precipitated themselves on deck Alongside, the calm waters seemed to be rising with amazing ra- pidity toward the rail, and in three minutes the keel touched bottom with perceptibe thump The canal is 26 feet deep and the water reached nearly to her lower deck. She lay I squarely across the fair-way, her awk- ward bulk completely blocking the deep-water channel The great gate between the two worlds was damned.
 The Levantines jabbered and swore in dozen dialects. but presently, at the command of the yachtsman, they launched one of the boats and rowed off in the direction of lshmailia. The young man, thus abandoned, sat down in deck chair. lighted a cigarette and gazed across the desert As the retreating oav-splashes of the crew died out, the hot silence settled down unbroken.
 But for the gigantic ditch alongside he might have fancied himself in the mid Sahara. The sandy and rocky plain ran red and yellow to the ex- treme limit of vision. Far to the southeast Fl Guisr thrust jagged black peak against the spotless hori- zon. The sun poured down fiercely.
 The young man had time to smoke many cigarettes, and to gaze to sa- tiety at the glaring monotony of land scape But in about three hours whirring electric launch shot up, the launch of the canal patrol, and the officer clambered aboard. He was a smooth shaven Englishman, wearing the uniform of the Canal Company
 q say." he began sharply. Who are you? Don't you see you're blocking the canal?"
 I'm sorry" said the man on board. Have a cigarette-they' Manilas My name is Davenport, and this is my private yacht, the Ukraine. of Trieste, as you can see by looking over the stern, if all the lettering hasn't been rubbed off"
 ''l say!" repeated the Briton, star. ing But this is no joke, you know. How did you come to sink in this DO sition?"
 We just seemed to spring a leak, returned Davenport, cheerfully This yacht has been porous forNsom time. As for our peculiar position. that Is entirely the fault of the fool who had hold of the wheel. He swung her round as she went down."
 "I'll bring a diver to look at the | leak at once-at your expense" said the Englishman. If she can be plugged and pumped out. very we'll | We'll give you 24 hours. If she isn't | afioat at the end of that time, we'll | have to blow her up
 The official removed himself rapid | ly in the launch, but returned a little | before sunset with an Arab diver. who [ removed his clothes and went under like a frog. Davenport leaned over the rail and watched the operations E with considerable interest. After half I an hours work, the Englishman came on board the Ukraine to report.
 "The diver says there is a hole in | her side big enough to drive horse through" he said. Its a most ex. traordinary piece of business, I must | say It would be absolutely impossible to repair her as she lies, and she is resting merss's on her bows and stern, SO that slls A Vkea te break ta two