Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-20
IAN HAY,
AUTHOR OF 1.-THE RIGHT STUFF"

'What was it?'' shouted Bimbo, ST. las
represented by Capt. Kingdom).
Lump Of wreckage." roared Bimbo.
jr., from q prolonged scrutiny Of the
ships forefoot
lump Of wreckage?'. beloved Binbo.
Lump of wreckage"' corroborated
Bimbo, jr.
"Of course it might have been ice" sug-
gested No I. at the top OF his voice.
Might have been ice,' replied the con-
scientious echo.
"Pairsonally I'm inclined tae believe it
was jist q we bit coral island" interpo-
lated q third voice, with painful ana stun
ming distinctness. The chief engineer had
suddenly made his appearance on the
bridge.
The captain was obviously much put
not plentiful In the north Atlantic. and
there are limits even to the gullibility OF
an audience composed Of foreign deck
hands and half-civilized f1remen. Second
~. the axiom that two is company and
three none applies even to cross-tafk duo
losues. Thirdly. Mr.. Angus was excess
lively drunk. and consequently the labor
iously planned comedietta at present In
progress might. owing to his inartistic
and uncalled.for intrusion upon the scene.
take totally unrehearsed turn at any
moment.
The captain lost no time.
What report have you from the engine
room. Mr.. Angus!" he inquired, loudly
and pointediy.
Mr.. Angus. suddenly recognising his
cue. and realizing. almost with tears. that
he had been imperiling the success OF the
entire piece by unseemly "gagging,
pulled himself together, returned to his
text. aud announced that the ship was
hold awash.
There's nothing else for It," yelled the
captain. resisnedly, ''but to leave her.
Clear away the boats. Mr.. Gates"
ing explanation Of the disaster. and Incl
dentally enlisted the entire audience
those members Of 1t, that is. who were
not already doing service In the clacque-
as unbiased witnesses Tor the defense in
case the insurance company turned nasty.
the bridge to his cabin, to collect few
necessaries pending the abandonment OF
his beloved vessel.
Hughie and Allerton surveyed each
other.
(which boat are you going in?'' inquired
None" said Hushie.
Going to stay on board"
Hughfe nodded.
''But she'll sink under our feet
''T don't believe siie's as badly damaged
as all that. There's some game on here"
II don't suppose she's damag ed at ALL
said Allerton, "but you, can be sure they
won't be such blamed fools a. to leave
the ship floating about 70 be picked up.
Old Angus win let water into her before
he leaves. il he hasn't started the proc
ess already"
"well. I'm not going Il any Of those
boats said Hughie. IF the Orinoco
sinks I'll float to Europe o. = hen COOP"
"You may said Hughie.a
And so the SIS. Orinoco Salvage Com
pany. limited, was floated. and the board
Of directors entered upon their new du-
ties at once.
By this time the boats bad been swung
cupboard and their provisioning COM
pleted. They were now lowered from the
dayits and the men began to take their
places. There was no panic for the night
Mas calm. and the Orinoco showed no
and Dingle were already ut their respec-
tive tillers. Capt. Kingdom and Mr.. An
gus were standing by the davtts to which
the whaleboAt was still shackled. Mr..
Goble. apparently in no bury. was lean
not far from Hughie and Allerton. dis
regarding the crews prepa-
rations for departure. He approached
nearer.
There's a wheen fowk in thae boats"
he observed. II doot we'd be safer on
board
Hughie turned to him ana nodded, conf
prehendingly. -
That's my opinion too, - he said. land
Percy's. We're thinking OF staying here"
Mr.. Goble regsrdsd him effectively s, -,
bide too f!E
And SO a third member was colopted
on to the board Of directors.
WED better get out of sight, said
Hughie. ''They won't like leaving US be-
bind. think l know a good place to
VAM Come alOn0c
The trio slipped round behind the chart
house, passed along deserted stretch or
the deck and disappeared down the en-
CINE room hatchway.
couple OF swinging lanterns. A black and
greasy flood Of water glistened on the
iron floor below, filing the crank pits and
covering the propeller shaft The doors
leading to the stokehold were standing
open. and they could see that the floors
there, too, were flooded. though the water
had not reached the level of the fire bars.
Owing to the immobility OF the ship Its
oily surface was almost unrumed. and
the engine room itself was curiously quiet
burning low but occasionally Z glowing
clinker slipped from between the bars
into the blood-red flood beneath. with
sizzling splash. The steam was kissing
in the gauges;
The salvage board stood knee deep in
the water Of the engine room.
Hughie picked up q smoky inspection
Tampa teapotlike affair with q wick In
the spout--lit 1t and peered about.
Now look here" he said. II don't quite
know where this water came from. and 1t
doesn't much matter. as no more Is COM
ing in at present. II the old man means
to sink the ship he will have to come
down here to do it. He has probably got
some dodge arranged by which he can
just turn a wheel and open q valve and
send her to the bottom. Isn't that the
idea, Goble? U'll explain to you after
ward, Allerton.) My impression is that
he'll pop down and turn the valve on Just
before he leaves. In that case one OF US
must stand by and turn 1t of again. You
two 20 through into the stokehoid. He's
not likely TO come in there. II he does.
you must use your own discretion. I'll
up against the condenser. He's not likely
to see me, but I shall be able to watch
him and see which valve wheel he turns
on
The other two obeyed. and Hughie,
scrambling across the bed plates OF the
engines, ensconced himself behind a con-
venient crosshead. with his feet in a
flooded crank pit and his body squeezed
back as far as possible into the shadow
of the condenser.
He had not long to wait. Presently eau
tious feet were heard descending the iron
ladder. and Mr.. Angus. comparatively So
Der. stepped heavily into the flood on the
floor.
His first proceeding was to wade to the
Of the engine room-Hughie
thought at first that he was going right
through into the arms of Allerton and
Goble and wondered what they would do
with him-where he began to manipulate
steam Imprisoned in the boilers, and pres
entlv HuRhie could hear the roar of the