The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-02-09
/ HE DIAMOND SHIP
MAX PEMBERTON
O.
Copyright
MAX PEMBERTON

Dy MafcOnlgram. Listen with me ana
you may follow the story. That is the
first chapter of it,"
l pointed to the deck Of the great
ship, whence the figure of my little
Joan had disappeared as mysteriously
as 1t came, and there l showed to
Larry group of men in earnest talk
with newcomer from the steamer
which now lay almost alongside the
larger vessel The quick movements,
the gestures Of this company, betrayed
i the curiosity which the strangers
words awakened and the establishment
that rightly followed upon it. Inagin-
ing myself to be spy among them,
heard in imagination, every word OF
that fateful conversation. 1--WE sent
no message" you've been fooled,
right enough" There's mischief
afloat." mo, we had no accident
what in thunder are you talking about
its lie" SO the new hand must
be telling the astonished crew. 1t need
ed no great prescience to say what
would follow after. Even Timothy Nc
Shanus arrived at it before had fin
ished.
Would that be Colin Ross gone
abo3:d?" he asked me, wheeling about
suddenly.
told him it would hardly be an
other.
"Then he'll tell 'em the truth about
the cables. or I'm liar
HE will tell them the truth about
the cables, and you are not liar,
Timothy. He is doing so at this very
moment"
Faith, man. they'll be firing shots
at u.s. then"
1T is possible, Timothy. II you are
curious on the point"
Curious? Would we have me in the
sea-"
I'm the sea or out would have you
keep a cool head Timothy. They are
going to fire at us, but that is not to
say that they are going to hit us. Our
: turn comes after Neither today nor
tomorrow may see the end of it. L
am only beginning with them, Timothy
When i have done, God help some of
them, lmroth above the others Now
wait for it and see. Here's the lantern
busy They are putting tie story to
the proof you will observe. Let us
hope that their establishment may not
be too much for them"
So commonplace chatter went, and
yet the mad intoxication of that in
terval of suspense had come upon us
} all as a fever; and no man might
measure his words. There we were,
sagging in the trough of the seas some
300 yards it may be. from the great
ships guns, our crew muttering in
hoarse whispers, the steam Kissing
! from our valves, the smoke drifting to
!, the north in a dense, suffocating cloud.
Aware OF the few moments of grace
possible to US, we had given the word
: down to Mr.. Benson to go full speed
, astern; and running thus for the half
of a mile, we then swung the yacht
round and headed due south at ali
the speed Of which we were capable.
Now, indeed, the tense hour of our
, doubt began. We counted the very
!, minutes until the beams of the. mon,
ster searchlight should ensnare US once
; more. Brief EXPLANATIONS, CHEEKY words
: of hope flashing from man to man,
} gave passage to that current Of hu-
, man electricity which burned us as a
) flame. Would the light never faif?' Aye.
: yonder 1t strikes the sea, and yonder
, and yonder comprising the horizon
) around in twinkling. blind glory,
: a very Pharos Of the unknown world.
; And now It falls full upon us, and
man can look upon the face of man
, as though he stood beneath the sun of
3 day; and all Is stiffness, and silence,
and the uEspoken question.
Far as we were away, a roar Of tri
umph could be heard across the sea
when Imroth's ship discovered US and
the great beams Of the searchlight rest
ed upon us exultingly. In turn, the
!, smoke from our funnel forbade us any
longer to locate the enemy, or to form
an opinion as to his movements. Ger
tainly, no gunshot followed immediate
ly upon his achievement; and when a
little gust of the south wind, veering
point or two, carried the loom from
our furnaces away. we espied the two
ships drifting as before, and even boats
l passing from one to the other. From
! this time, moreover, the darkness failed
:. us somewhat, and a great moon tenn
!, pered the ocean with its translucent
: beams of silvery light. Our safety lay
r in our speed. We burned the precious
D coal without stint, since our very lives
were in the furnaces keeping.
What keeps them, Larry? What are
Q they waiting for?" I asked him pres
e entity. He had deserted the bridge and
I stood aft with me to watch the distant
. steamers. McShanus, meanwhile, paced
e the decks like lion at the hour OF
$ feeding. 1t was his way of saying he
found the suspense intolerable
= II don't think we shall have to wait
: long, SIR" the captain answered me;
= 'you see, they would hardly be ready
!, to fire their guns, and not overmuch
= discipline among them, I suppose. II
: they hit us, it will be something by
:, way of an accident"
"And yet one that might happen
Larry. Well, here it comes, anyway!
= And a wicked bad shot, must sayr'
J 1t was odd that they should have
. fired at the very moment l replied to
! him, yet such was the fact and such
: the coincidence. scarcely mad opened
3 my mouth when a monstrous yellow
{ flame leaped out over the bows of the
u Diamond Ship (Which now had put
> about to chase us), and. spreading It,
self abroad upon the waters, left a
!. heavy cloud of black smoke very baf-
fling to their gunners. AS for the shell
Q know not to this day where 1t fell
1 We heard neither explosion nol
l splash, saw no spume or spray upon
the hither sea, and were, not a man OF
e us, a penny the worse for their en-
y deavor. A second attempt achieved nc
y better result. True, we detected the
g shell this time, for it fell plump into
>. the sea, near the fifth part Of a mile
e from our starboard quarters; but the
I, wretched shooting, the long interval
= between the shots, and the speed al
: which we travelled inspired confidence
q anew, and SO surely, that my men be-
Lgan to cheer the gunners ironically
and even to flash a signal to them
across the sea.
Its as I thought, Larry" said I;
v they carry a gun and have no more
n idea how to use 1t than lady fr
y charge Of a boarding school. Imrotf
y has been living as near to FOOLS
y paradise as such man Is ever likely
e to get to paradise at all I think we
need waste no more coal. Let us lie t(
70 and take our chances. The risk Is toe
y small to think about
a | .svov, man uyo,,ld nauar hif c0k