The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-11-04

again He laid the revolver on tic drcsser
to his right; but, though unarmcd and with
out further need of furtivencss or prepared
ness, he backed away with an unconscious
continuance of his stealth, slid open the
door with a hand behind him, backed
through and closedit The captain wasst.il
sitting UP against the bcdhcad, and stared
after the mutinous petty officer, wonder
ingly, himself softcned-a humblcd, though
by no means broken man.
lie looked thoughtfully at the revolver
on the dresser. It's mute evidence Ct the
sGlcrs sincerity, heinous though his cfIcnsc
had been, decided him for tic tiine being
On board ship. Whittier would be virtually
a prisoner until port was reached, and by
that time he would have resolved on a
proper procedure. 1t had al been a scTt Of
realized nightmare, an extraordinary eX-
pericnce, and one well worth having under
gene for the novelty and the disciplinary
lesson involved in it. So thinking, and
being Of q nature not given to wasting tire
and energy in useless worry he turned his
face to the wall and in five minutes was fast
asleep, not waking until messenger boy
raped on his door at eight O'Clock. The
boy brought position slip from the navi-
gator. As this showed that the vessel was
yet far from Loomee, the captain made a
lcisurely toilet and brcaklasted, before
going on the bridge.
The promontory Of islet Loomee was
sighted through the telescopes at fifteen
minutes before twelve, and at ten minutes
after two the Wyomtdh was heavcd-to of
the reef. No vestige or sign of wreck was
visible for the length of the half-moon, and
no human form or signal showed on the
pinnacle Of the precipice. The crestfallen
executive officer, searching the reef the
inside waters and the promontory tirelessly
through his binoculars, was rejecting
capriciously that, while it was wicked to
wish to find wreck, he was half hopeful of
discovering one, in view Of his strenuous
controversy with the captain during the
night,
"Looks as though we had been led a
Lind c'hasc, - hcobservcd to the captain,
With c9 GNclogetic emphasis. "But at
I,ast we II /. sc clear conscienccs, which I'd
r-yer Lave LID again without this satis-
scticG
Capta'1 NJ akaster never did anything
by halves or short measure. Whether or
not he wanted to do it, if he did it, it was
d;ac ST. Lapc; and his judgment and in
sir't, were maritime matters were in
vcl''"'l, v''ro standard in the service.
we must have better satisfaction than
this, Mr.. Caseby," he remarked senten-
lou j.. "'li'hcre are devils holes along these
So,:,,l Sen rcc'- and vessel breaking over
one OF them might disappear as quickly and
utterly as the Rio Janeiro did in the Golden
Gate. If the people took to the boats, they
wouldn't try to land at the foot of that
cliff, you know; they'd naturally row, or &c
in tow of their steam launch, around to the
southland and ride in on the surf. | should
have thought they'd establish signal
station on the high point, but you can't ever
tell, and we'll take no chances on missing
them, now we're here. It's been a matter
of two days, and if they're here they'll
probably be wanting refreshments, par
ticularly liquid. If she sank, she sank
quick, and they most likely got away with
out commissarat."
Nllub wv Jch lplNlJooc W wv
"Circlc the island and let the dogs bark
Messenger, tell the ORDNANCE gunner to mar
the saluting rifles and commence firing
minute guns without further orders"
Whittier, on watch and coming thewheel
outwardly calm, had for two hours beer
listening to every word spoken by hi:
superiors with an alternately rising anc
sinking heart, while, since their arrival, hi:
field glass played incessantly on the face ol
Loomee and up its stony defiles. AS thu
captain turned to give orders for the vesse
to so ahead, he caught the quartermastel
unawares, looking at him with the eyes oi
4 grateful dog, eyes so different from the
gray-steel bayonet tips that had menacec
him in his cabin twelve hours previously
A warm flush mounted in Captain Mon.
kaster's russet checks and permcated hi:
stout little body-warmer and more gener.
Gus than anything he had ever felt before
"IIalf-speed ahead, quartcrmaster,n he
commanded bruskly. "Iiard a-starboarc
and steady with the reef abeam at about
this distance"
Close on the command, as the vessel:
nose started swinging toward the rocks, q
hollow roar came from the upper decks anc
splintered in shafts OF sound against the wal
of Loomee.
Forging slowly ahead, with the rocks
half mile off the port beam, with eight
hundred pairs OF eyes scintillating land
ward, the expectant silence broken only by
the crash at sixty-second intervals of tht
slender guns on the topside, the Wyomtal
soon cleared the western extremity of tn,
reef, and steadied to starboard off the white
crested rollers that broke on the mauyt
candc az lo,.,ar L oot,naa md fhar, hin,