Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-02-24

Golden Gate and with three
~ toots Of farewell left them to
Shift for themselves - ten days OF
heavenly peace, with the sails scarcely
touched and rustling softly before IN
unfailing breeze. In all there were
seven men forward. who might have
been seven authors. from the assidu-
Gus way they read-grave. oIdish men
for the most part, always glued to
books under that tarpaulin In the
waist. Herman was the only youth
among them-tall. Whitley blond Her
man. who tried to make friends with
the passengers till he was squelched
by the mate.
Schwartz. though less Of n reader
than Brandeis or the others. very soon
ran dry as n conversationalist. He be-
came bottled up and uncommunicative.
spending hours mt time In his CABIN
or walking up and down the poop In a
brown study none dared to disturb.
This was the only prerogative of cap
tain that he treated himself to, beyond
taking his place ut the head OF the tn.
BILE. Mr.. Brandeis took all the ohSer-
vations. gave all the orders. shortened
sail or ran up kites without even 20
ing through the form Of consulting his
superior. He was the virtual com
mander Of the ship and mad" very
little pretense that he was not. Matt
noted that Schwartz stood no watch.
but allowed his to be taken by the sec
ond mate. a ponderouS individual of
sixty. with white side whiskers. who
was called KrantZ and bcrthcd forward
with the men.
This familiarity between officers ana
men was new to Matt. Mr.. BrandelS
was not above mixing with them I'M
der the tarpauin and adding his cigar
and book to that sprnwling circle
Matt had to admit that the mate did
not appear to lose caste In colise
ouence. On the contrary. he was treat
ed with great respect. and Herman In
particular never failed to spring up
at his approach.
The two japanese. Yonida. the stew
ard. and Fusi. the cook. were not be-
hindhand. either, as readers.
An indefnable suspicion whs begin
ming to creep into Matt's mind that
there was something wrong with the
ship. The transformation Of Schwartz
from an amiable. talkative. friendly lit.
tie man into the taciturn creature who
paced the poop or wrote for hours III
his cabin struck oddly on Matt's atten
ton. The gruff mate was grnifer thhr
ever and showed IN increasing diSin'
clination to let Matt see the chart aS
the vessels course was plotted from
dav to day. And these white ana
wbiskered patriarchs? Was 1t Il float
ing old mems home or what:
The humorous view with which these
things were mt first regarded changed
imperceptibly rs time wore on. Whc
was this strange Schwartz and TINS
strnnce Brandeis. and what had been
the secret of the formers impnsive
| good will In San Francisco: Nothing
now was heard OF old south sea cap.
tains standing together. The amazing
fact dnwned on Matt that Schwartz
was no seaman Mt all. but landsman
| masouerading as the master OF the YES
sci Was It possible that they were
prisoners on this singular ship-c0m'
| Portable. well fed. politely treated prts
oners?
To Increase Matt's misgivings. Chris
| who was n lighter sleeper than him.
self. had been hearing "noises" In the
| middle of the night. She described
them as funny. swapping sounds" that
| commenced after Schwartz had passed
their door and looked In. rs though to
assure himself that they were asleep
She was so positive Of this that Matt
determined to stay awake one night
and see and hear for himself II II
were fancy on Chris part the sooner
she was undeceived the better. for she
was nervous and frightened and had
moments of passionately wishing they
had never set foot on the Esmeraldn
Midnight struck-eight bells. Halt
after midnight-one bell. One O'clock
two bells. Half after 1-three bells
He grew drowsier and drowsier. Sud
denly Chris clutched him.
He's coming" she WHISPERED. MATT
he's coming--I heard the door"
Matt held his breath. Schwartz was
tiptoeing past their door No. not past
It. for the man stopped OH his way and
cast a quick glance within. He was
in his pajamas. His face was study
Of furtiveness and caution. Then ht
tiptoed on and was seen no more.
"Didn't ! tell you" murmured Chris
I'm a moment the noises will begin"
"Sh-h-hr' returned Matt. "Sh-h-"
Il was more than n moment. how
ever. before the quiet was disturbed.
"There. there" exclaimed Chris.
II A peculiar jarring sound became