The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-01-03
sprinkled once In, a while. III s,ea

hard in the direction they were going,
scowled.
"Humph." he grunted again. 81
swan to man, fellers, l believe she is
abandoned"
Rubbish" painted Bill, twisting his
neck to look over his shoulder
Course she amt! Who'd abandon a
craft such weather's this. and Prov
| incetown harbor only three hours run
or so?"
The rowers hit her up" and the
| dory moved faster Then Burgess, put
| ting his hand to his mouth. hailed
Ship ahoyi" he roared. 'Ahoy''
No reply.
The dory slackened speed, turned in
| obedience to the steering oar, and slid
under the foreQuarter OF the an
chored vessel. Ellery looking up, saw
her name in battered gilt letters above
| his head-the San Jose.
Stand by. Thoph." shouted Charlie.
"S'pose you can jump and grab her
forechains? Hold her steady, Bill.
Now, Thoph! That's the time!"
Thoph had jumped, seized the
chains, and was scrambling aboard. A
moment later he appeared at the rail
| amidships, rope in his hand. The
| dory was brought alongside and made
| fast; then one after the other the men
in the boat climbed to the briggs deck.
'Ahoy!" yelled Burgess. "All hands
| on deck! tumble up, you lubbers!
Humph! She is abandoned, sure and
| sartin."
"Yup," asserted Bill Her boats
are gone. See? Guess that explains
the longboat on the beach, Charlie
"Callate it does; but it don't ex-
plain why they left her She amt
| leakin' none to speak Of, that's sure.
| Ridess lights a feather. Christmas!
| look at them decks; dirty hogs, who
ever they was"
Thoph led the way aft. The cabin
| companion door was open and they
peered down.
"Phew!" shifted Burgess. "She amt
no cologne bottle, is she? Well, come
| on below and let's see what'll we see
The cabin was a mess" as Bill
expressed it. The floor was covered
| with scattered heaps Of riff-raff, oil
skins, coats, empty bottles, and pa
pers. On the table box stood, it's
| hinged lid thrown back.
Medicine chest" said Burgess, ex-
| aiming it. And rum bottles aplenty.
Somebody's been sick, shouldn't won
derp
!. The minister opened the door Of one
of the little staterooms. The light
which shone through the dirty and
tightly closed "bull's-eye" window
showed a tumbled bunk, the blankets
soiled and streaked The smell was
sitting
Say, fellers," whispered Thoph Il
don't like this much myself. I'm for
gettin' on deck where the airs better
Somethin's happened aboard this craft,
somethin' serious"
Charlie and Bill nodded an en-
phatic affirmative.
Hadn't we better look about a lit
tie more?" asked Ellery. There's an
other stateroom there"
He opened the door of it as he
spoke 1t was, if possible, in a worse
condition than the first. And the odor
was even more overpowering.
Shippers ROOM" observed Burgess,
peeping in And that bunk amt been
slept in for weeks. See the mildew on
them clothes Phew! I'm fair sick
to my stomach Come out of this"
On deck, in the sunlight, they held
another consultation.
"Queerest business ever | see." OBJ
served Charlie. | never"
4 see somethin' like it once" inter
rupted Bill Down in the Gulf twas.
| was on the old Fishhawk. Eben
Salters' dad from over to Bayport
skipped her. We picked up a West
Injy schooner, derelict, abandoned
same as this one, but not anchored,
of course Yeller jack was the trou-
BILE aboard her and Where you
bound, Thoph?"
Coin to take a sQuint at the focas-
tle,' replied Theophilus, moving for
ward The minister followed him.
The focastle hatchway was black
and grim Ellery knelt and peered
down. Here there was practically no
light at all and the air was fouler
than that In the cabin.
See anything, Mr.. Ellery?" asked
Thoph, looking over his shoulder.
mo, l don't see anything. But ]
thought"
He seemed to be listening.
What did you Think"
Nothing. /"
Hold on! you amt goin down
there, be you? l wouldn't. No tellin'
what you might find Well, ell right.
l amt curious. I'll stay up here and
you can report"
Ellery descended the almost perpen-
dicular ladder gingerly, holding on
with both hands. At the foot he
stopped and tried to accustom his eyes
to the darkness.
A room perhaps ten feet long, so
much he could make out. The floor
strewn, like that Of the cabin, with
heaps of clothing and odds and ends.
More shapes of clothes hanging up
and swaying with the roll of the brig.
A little window high up at the end,
black with dirt. And cavities, hunks
in rows, along the walls. A horrible
hole.
He took a step toward the center Of
the room, bending his head to avoid
IL g. IL To- ,p