The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-12-25
The
Sable
1.ol-cha
0sr1ce ua.sltiuo


0emswhsre East of Nantucket.
The sibylla under stress of her
powerful turbines was racing easily,
rseling on her thirty knots with no
seeming effort and scarcely q perosp-
ubls vibration There had been Q
sin bresss during the night. but Il
hiI died down at sunrise, and now, at
neon. the sea was calm 90 the bosom
OF q nun. The sun biased On the
yachts polished brasses, intsnsifying
the snowy whiteness Of her glossy
paint. and turning to jswellsd show
srs the spray which fell away from
her sharp PROV and caressed her long,
sleek sides. II was wonderful weather
Tor late October. On the nineteenth
me temperature had risen to ninety
In New York. breaking all records
Tor that date; and now, two days
later, here at the meeting OF sound
and ocean. with Point Judith just
coming into view over our port bow.
and Block Island = blur abaft our
starboard beam. We sat. Cameron and
!. shaded By spread awnings. on the
aftsr-dsck. a. though II were mid
summer. For he had BEEN convinced
by my righteous untruth after re-
peafed and emphatic dining. and had
daily grown stronger; readily agree
tng ~ length to . cruise along the
coast. with Bar Harbor a. objective.
That 10 precisely what 7 had the
eibyila built for" he told me, when
my suggestion found acceptance.
Did you ever notice the Inscription
On The brass tablet over the fireplace
In the saloonf NOT Well. It's this:
'Sibyila. whsn thou sesst mo faynte,
addrsss thysslfe the gyds of my com
piaynts.'
Il found Il In IN old book, published
IN lSee. . postio induction 70 The
Mirror Of Magistratss.' written By
Tho0as 0ackvills. You can fancy
how ny application distcrts the oris.
inal intention; but eackvfils ISN'T
hhsly 70 trouble ne ever Il"
] repeat this explanation now main
" 70 indicate the Improved tsmpsr Of
the spsahsr. His mind wls paacid
once again. and with this recovered
plactdity had come q return q his
quiet hun0r. For my own part I
was not altogether happy. Ny dc.
Hight over my friends recovery, and
Evslyn's pleasure thsrsat. was cur
died By self-reproech regarding the
instrument had employed to bring
IL about A lie u 70 me Q mest con-
tsmptfble agent. and 70 maize use Of
one has been always ahhorrsnt. In
this instance had salvsd my con-
science In . measure with the old q.
cuse that the end Justified the means,
but Il was only IN q measure, and
was far from being a. happy a
pretended.
Moreover. could not rid myself of
IN uneasiness-a misery. indeed. IN
which I wos now without company
concerning the day ind its menace. I
say without COMPANY" for Gamer
on. of course. had quite dismissed the
subject. and Evelyn. who previously
was greatiy perturbOd. had seemed to
put away all apprehension directly
she saw az safe aboard the yacht.
There had been some talk OF her &C
companying N. but without signify
ing my real reason. I had managed
to dissuade her.
For my disQuietuds thsrs was GER
tainly no logical ground. had TAX
On the prscaution Of having the
sibylla searched from masthead to
kselson before sailing. The coal was
examined N carefully - that of bat
tleship In time Of war; every locker
and cupboard was Inspected; even the
ventilators were metaphorically turn
ed inside out and the record of ev.
cry man Of the crew was looked into
with vigorous scrutiny. So I could see
no loophols unguarded. But the past
vas an argument which set logic at
'"gS' II such things could be ns
that Iich had happened q month ago
- Cameron's dressing room. how
much further might the insxplicabis
carry! or what use were prscau-
tons sgainst an enemy who with ap.
parent ease calmly dsnsd ell natural
lawsY
All tho morning my thoughts had
been running In this line. Foolish
thoughts they must seem TO one Who
reads Of them; worthy only To b
elassed with the Idle. superstitious
fears OF young girls e-nd old woman,
and impossible TO . wsll-balancsd.
clcar-hesdsd man Of twenty.nins II
may be that | Was not we'll balanced
and clesrhesSsf A-S VET shs se-
ouel would tend rather to . contrary
conclusion.
Cameron was still reading the Her
aid. and sat with q pair OF binoou-
iarS at my eyes sweeping the waters
for the trailing smoke OF q linsf or
some object OF lesser interest.
Presently the silence was broken