Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-03-03

own imperfous question sounded abrupt
almost 90 h point of hershness.
You haye q lady upon this ship
where In she?"
She has gone, sir"
"Gone-good God! how can she be
goneT"
we knew what you would ask and
sent down to her cabin a quarter OF
al hour ago. sir. She was not there.
Mr.. Colin Ross, him hat commands for
Mr.. Imroth, he says he knows nothing
Of II. It's true as heaven, sir, the
lady's come to no harm by us, nor
would have lone If she had been
aboard here 20 years. There wasn't a
a that wouldn't have given his life
for her. We don't know where she is,
sir, and that's gospel truth"
Imagine the scene. / stood upon the
open deck OF the strangest steamer l
Ehave yet set foot upon-a steamer so
spiendidly fitted and furnished, as one
glance told me, that no Atlantic liner,
Ehave claimed a~,greater elegance. The
Ebridge above me had the neatness, the
Ishining brass. the white ladders Of a
tman-of-warSman. The guns were pol
ttshed to h last possibility. Every cab
Fin into which l looked appeared to
boast h luxury and equipment or a
state saloon on a passage boat. l per-
ceived an immense dining hall aft and
a companionway not unsuited TO a TO-
000-ton steamer. There were boats
a~bundantly, safely rafts-the usual
equipment of an ocean-going vessel,
and yet, in the strongest contrast,
something which differentiated this
ship from any other 1 had ever visited
and placed her at once in a category
apart. This was nothing more nor less
than q screen of solid steel bars, 10
feet high. perhaps, n defended by
forbidding spikes, sharp as swords and
impossible to fend, a screen cutting the
vessel into two clear divisions, and OBJ
vfously Imroth's protection against all
others who sailed with him. 1 judged
at once that the men lived forward OF
this GREEN: Imroth n his chosen COM
pany, aft. A wicket gate, just large
enough TO admit the body of a man.,
permitted communication between the
divisions; but the steelwork itself ap-
peared to be carrier cunningly over
the bulwarks in a n that must
have rendered the aft cabins absolutely
secure, not only against the seamen COL.
1ectfvely, but against any spy among
them.
This wicket gatae, be it said, stood.
open when l climed to the main deck
and the men now passed to and fro at
their Will. The more horrible aspect
OF the picture did not Immediately pre-
sentitself to my notice. Twas some min
utes abroad before my eyes S.scerned the
huddied figures Of men, some propped
In bent attitudes against the bulWarks,
some already dead, a few crying hor-,
ribly In the agony Of mutilation AS the
scene unfolded itself, the woe OF It be-
came more terrible to witness There
were sailors OF many na%tionalities here,
CHIEFLY, L perceived, from South Euro
pean and Mediterranean ports, Turks
in their native dress, sturdy Greeks,
Tunlslans, seamen from Algiers and e..
Adriatic or those who crowded about,
me ~unWounded, two were American.
one a negro a third a little F~renchran,
who gabbled to the point of delirium.
The appeal, however, was common to
all.
Help our friends, doctor-save them
Tor coos sake! We have no doctor on
board. Herr Klein sailed with Mr..
inifotiI we can 40 nothing for our
selves"
The woe OF 1t appalled, me: I knew
neither III to answer them or how
best to help them. Many a day had
passed since 1 practiced my own pro-!
fessiOn. And to be called upon as a
surgeon upon a. battlefield!
Have you stores?" 1 asked. rs there
a surgery on board?"
They shouted an affirmative alto
getner. half a dozen among them were
ready to lead me below. Hesitating an
instant to give my Command to Okyada.
l went with them as they desired.
Miss Joan is on the ship" I said
to the faithful fellow; "and her am;
take her to the yacht"
Okyada locked at me with one swift.
almost wistful, glance, and disappeared
lmediately from my sight. The burly
American who posed as my guide.
pushing his comrads aside, led me
through the wicket gate, and we de-
scended the great companionway. We
passed by a boudoir furnished with
such elegance that Paris alone could
have commanded its ensemble. There
was a card room not unlike that OF a
great London club. Crossing this room.
and leaving 1T by a door toward the
center of the ship, / found myself i'm
medlately In a broad corridor lighted
from above and the walls Of this an
peared to be of steel Had / been in
donht as to the meaning OF It, the Am
erican's candor would have settled tha
matter without question.
old Five AS stronghold" said he
that's where he Keeps what isn't good
to eat / guess the best of the stuff's
landed by this time. It went off I'M
Colin Ross chip. You might b,y
yourself a gold brick out of what's Ieft
n not be much poorer. We share and
share I'm that now. There used to be- a
guard down here night and day when
old Isaac was abroad. I guess YOU
scared him pretty badly. He ran for
the Braxiis the day after we sighte I
| you"
I asked him but one question in
turn.