El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-12

- A BAD season. Bad dlu yer call
~ it? Bad amt the word. It's bin
1 n simply rotten"
Tom Gabbitt having delivered himself
Of this expression OF opinion in tone
of voice which admitted Of no eontro-
versy, leaned his back against the wall
and puffed his pipe in gloomy silence.
Tom was not the only gloomy person
present in the little bar parIors Of the
! Fisherman's Arms, which snugg1es-as
every one knows who has visited Spar
/ Bay-at the foot of Chalk Point, the
top Of which is adorned with the coast
guard station. which you may reach, if
you feel so inclined by climbing 374
steps.
He had for companions three others
as gloomy as himself. if, indeed, they
were not a trifle glOOmier-JOe HaW-
tin, Fatty Taps and sly" ShOne
And the cause of their gloom does
not need a great deal of explaining.
1t was the end of the season" at Spar
Bay; the late visitors had departed, the
boats were pulled up on the beach, the
fishing tackle which had been let out
On hire on profitable terms was towed
away for the winter, and only a long
period Of dreary dizziness stared MessTs.
/ labbitt Hawtin, Tape and Shone IN
the face.
Had the season" proved a good one
the months of idleness would have been
not unwelcOme- Unfortunately ii had
not. The rain had poured, the sun
had refused to shine, and consequently
there had been little demand for boats
and less for fishing tackle. In short
/ to use Mr.. Gabbitts expression and
5 truthful language, the season" had
/ been a rotten one.
/ As a natural result the four men
Z found themselves not only in dumps,
/ but exceedingly hard UP.
1t was at this moment that Cruisey,
. the coastguard, entered, and, after
I murmuring Good eVenin'. ALL called
/ for some refreshment. lit his pipe, and
: seated himself at the table with the
/ four sad eyed men
There was silence for some mo-
! ments, and then Fatty Taps with
an attempt at cheerfulness, turned to
/ Cruisey and asked jocularly If there
I was anything moving?'
/ Cruisey, the cOastguard, was man
/ of few words, and his reply was brief.
Il could not, in fact, have been briefer.
/ It was. in point of fact, a nod.
"Oh," said Fatty" with an air of
, interest which his companions at once
I showed signs Of sharing. "Where2"
/ Cruisey pointed with the stem OF his
; pipe to the door and muttered: And
! muvin' prutty fast, toO-a matter o.
80 knots hour-p'raps more
a comet or a shoOtin' star said
JOe MaWtin with a grin.
Torpedo boats" said Cruisey. be-
''AIaneuvers?" sal Tom Gabbitt wea-
rily.
NO. replied Cruisey; 'maneuvers
are over. They've been practisin' tor
pedo work outside the bay, and now
/ they are comm in to rock for the tor
Z pedOes which have gone astray"
What squadron is itg he asked.
It's the western squadron rear ad-
I miral sir Francis Screens, K c. 3.
/ The look Of anima ton on Mr.. ShOne's
/ face increased in intensity.
! Rear admiral Screens" he murmured.
q fancy I've heard that name afore; in
{ fact I'm sure I have"
Very likely" said Cruisey; wouldn't
be surDrisin' If you had
/ Liberal too, amt hep" said "Sly."
/ his little eyes sparkling at the thought
! of anything connected with money.
open handed as the day" said
why. it's like this. When they're
practisin with torpedoes, some Of EN-
/ goes astray.
well, they goes in search Of 'em.
and as torpedoes are worth mint Of
4 mOney-they cost hundreds of pounds
I bless yer, they're worth finding. As
soon as practisin' is over the men are
| piped to the boats, as I've said, and eff
] they go. But it amt intersStin' work
/ besides being hard, and so sometimes
! the boats return enpty-ha1deI because
! the crews don't take the trouble to look
for the torpedoes. Now in order to en-
/ courage 'em, rear admiral Screens used
1 to give five pound note for every tor
/ pedO that was recovered And I tell
| you" concluded Cruisey with a signifi-
+. cant smile, there amt many tOrpedOes
! lost in the western squadron-take my
I word for it"
And who gets the five pOunds?' in
Z quired Mr.. Gabbitt.
why, the boats crew as finds tho
} torpedo" said the Oastguardsman,
4 It's divided among EN- And It's
Mr.. Cruisey's mug being now empty,
4 and nobody showed the smallest incli-
; nation to fill it, he rose slowly, a75
! with a muttered, $50 long" passed out
/ of the bar parlOr
] For a few minutes after his depart
ure silence reigned. Mr.. Gabbitt was
/ the first to find his voice.
/ You seemed very interested in them
! torpedOes," ne remarked, addressing
| sly" ShOne; "One would have ~nOught
you was agoin' torpedo hunting your
Mr.. shone put his fingers to his lips
/ and motioncd the others to draw near.
'Weu, SUP pose L was he whispered
hoarsely; "and suppose you was to help
IF we did we shouldn't get no five
( pounds" said Gabbitt
But we might get a couple, and that
would mean 10 bob apiece, wouldn't
whats the joker said Gabbitt.
thoroughly perplexed. -I don't under
stand what you are a-drivin at
But you viii in a minute, if you lis
/ ten to what I'm a-gOin' to say"
'Tf there's a chance Of earning 10
shilIings-"
wait until you've heard me. and then
{ you'll be better able to express an opin-
z ion. Two years go 1 was ilvin' on the
( other side O. the bay, and there came
[ squadron just as this one has come.
[ 1t wasn't the western, but rear admiral
Screens was in command, just as he is
now. I heard the story of the torpe-
7 does and of the admiraIs generosity,
! 'xactly as Cruisey has told it. and so
know that what he's said is true, ev-
cry word OF it. You follow me?'
The others nodded.
Very we'll then. 1t was then I found
q torpedo, and made so shiHings over
it"
Where did you find tin yer cab
I bage garden or in the wash Ouse, or
was the children playin' with it in the
( nursery2" grinned Fatty Taps.
ffr.r,