The Detroit times., 1912-11-07

black bows sawed regularly up and
down. always pushing crumbling
cascade of white water ahead OF her.
In sea phrase she carried good bone
in her teeth. and in and out OF this
played iridescent flying FISH of the, big
ness and shape OF dragon-nies Other
iying-tish like silver rats skinned
along the sleek blue hollows OF the
swells and plunged with splash into
tire NEXT appearing hillside And
astern and overhead seven gulls held
steady station. and could be depended
on 10 keep convoy til the gulls on
the Azores beat met them In the
wastes OF md-ocean and took over
relief.
On TO the top OF the fiddley grimy
fireman presently clambered one cor,
ner OF his sweat rag between his teeth
-Hud stued round a veutttarUr 70 CErCh
more OF the breeze.
A deck-hand who was setting up
funnel stays, turned his head. That
the fourth time you ash cats have
been up here messing with the ven.
tilators this watch. And the winds
not shifted half a point. Is il a
game
It's mighty poor game. We're
firing on the sweepings OF the bunk
lers. and It's horses work TO keep
lsteam in her"
Well. it's your job. not mine
praise the Lord but it's struck me
before that your old coffee-mills not
running her usual revolutions. Just
give the chief my kind dooty. and say
IN be glad IL he'll breach a new
/ bunker and give you some good hard
coal 10 fire on You're blowing all
this sludge clean out OF the stack. and
( IL drops on our decks. and it's up TO
us 10 sweep III into the ditch You
may tell him to-Whisht, There
the mate"
( The fireman stumped off down steel
ladders out OF sight. the. deck-hand
worked with intense application at
setting up his funnel stay and Mr..
Kettle, the Mate. went below 10 bring
up his sextant for t5e midday sight
The beat OF the engines certainly was
stacking. He wondered why The
reason would have TO be entered up
under distance run according 10 en-
gineroom reckoning" when the chief
handed in his days report, and even
easy going Captain Saturday Farnsh
could not avoid officially commenting
upon II. But ii was no affair or the
deck officer sand Kettle dropped il
from his mind. He was always a very
keen stickler for the rigid steamer
etiquette which states that the eng lne=
room shall not NEEDLE with the deck,
and the deck shall have no truck with
the engine stan except for purely
deck purposes.
1 So the Norman Towers chief Of
/ ficer took his sextant from it's box IL
the rack over his berth, gave il a rub
over with it's own piece OF wash.
! leather-he was aYery natty man
about his trade utensils-went out on
deck, and gave a warning knock al
the chart-nouse door.
Five minutes to noon, sir"
The elderly second mate who
couldn't have worked out a sight il
his life had depended on IT, was LOOK
ing wise over his instrument and nd
ding with the smoked glasses the
smart. young, school-bred third was
nervously fdgeting away 10 MAKE
sure the sun did not play tricks on
him by making sudden lunge down
ward before he brought il TO the
horizon; and then out shambled Cap.
tain Farnish. blowsy and slippered,
and put up his sextant also. Lille the
pracused old man OF the sea he was
All four OF them solemnly stared,
working the vernier screws each &C.
cording to his temperament and then
Farnish went in 10 his chronometer,
and gave out the Greenwich time. The
mates went below TO work out the
reckoning (which the second BY the
way laboriously copied from KettleJ.
and In due time these we're handed
into the chart house. and from them
Captain Farmsh marked UP on the
chart the Norman Towers position
/ on the face OF the waters. He never
worked out the figures for himself
AS he said. he knew good mate
when he saw one, and il helped a
lad on to give him a bit OF responsi-
bility. And after this ii was his Gus.
tom TO add another ten minutes sleep
10 the short doze he had already en-
joyed, so as 10 have a quarter OF an
hours rest to the good before din
ner
But this day a portent was showing
itself that even his easy going tenn
permanent could not AFFORD to overlook.
The engines had long since dropped
that steady uniform rub-a-rumble rub
a-rumble which a steamers engines
should keep up from port to port cor
az any rate, from soundings TO sound.
ingsl. and were giving forth that
labored kick-and-a-cough which one
only hears in narrow waters and
crowded traffic And even this was
slowing down
Further there was obvious trouble
among the engine-room STAFF The
slender watches OF firemen and trim.
mers were punched on the hddley.
top; the second and fourth engineers,
both very young men--hnth-past
I raced, we're standing outside tho
engine-room door in the port alley
way, openly perturbed obviously
Ignorant OF what 10 do next
The second mate discovere a was
his watch below and dived there like
a rabbit number three was watch
ofilcer on the bridge; but Kettle in.
stinctively closed up on his captain.
There was something in his nature
which always forced him 10 get close
TO the storm-center when trouble wac
brewing.
II don't like IT, Mr. Kettle. nv
man" Captain Parrish kept on say
ing. Il don't like IL al all That in
fernal Mr. Little has been at some ol