The Washington herald., 1914-05-31

|ths ares in the boilers Within few
minutes after the cresA
4 curssns Tnls.
| Quebec. Nay sa-Hsre ID the lobby Of
the Chntsau Frcutenac m old man was
pacing up apd down this morning. coiiar-
less. hafIess, and restiesB. He % one
Hand and man with . tAle-a sort OF
ancient mariner
He refuses his name. but he talks about
the disaster. and many others refer re-
porters to him But his 10 curious In
formation given In jerky sentences with
sudden impetuous pushes Of words and
then sudden silences ~ he PAGES up and
down the floor.
Manner he snaps. II don't want my
name In the papers. What are names
In view of eternity. I don't need a
name. I am just soul. like the thou
sands that went under. Eh. what say?
Going home to see Tom. Tom is-never
mind Tom.
The old man turned on his heel and
looked down at his boots
mot bad boots, eh?" he queried, with
q birdlike twist Of his neck and o wry
smile. FIT pretty good. got thsm In
the village. queer little village. Didn't
know what had struck II. Neither did
we"
But. the story. sir. how did 1t hap
penY"s
In the evening I read my testament
in the music room Of the second class
garden, but was thinking about the
noises Of the ship. quiet sleepy noises,
dreamy. faraway noises that should have
put me to sleep.
"There Was . Banp.n
Gust when was sort of sleeping down
Into doze there was q bampIt did
not seem to be very bad bump-then
crash. and things began tearing. The
steel seemed to bend and twist under
my hand as ] touched the cabin wall
getting out the bunk 1T made q shriekins
noise. -
Il ran out. and before I reached the
stairs the floor seemed to drop under
me. and instead of being level under my
feet, ross like q hill. I could hear q
tremendous sweep Of wind.
The air of the ship came up from be-
low as the water rushed In. I scrambled
up the fitting floor and reached the balus-
trade Of the companionway. There was a
sudden sort of 'glug' like water coming
out Of near-empty water bottle. She
twisted again and the stairs were at a
crazy angle. But scrambled up
81 went like mad. scrambled up the
sloping floor to the high side and I
knew by instinct there would be rising
water on the other side and I got on
deck. She began to turn over Hike when
you see a horse rolling in a field. Her
great big whitish. looking belly turned
slowly upward and jumped far, be-
cause. as she slowed over. her length of
side increased. Then I was In the
water"
The old man quit
'Blabked Like . Fool"
1--WE talked enough" he snapped, rub
bing the back Of his hand against his
cheek. I've biabbed like a fool. No
fool like an old fool Got a match?
Never mind. Whatd I do. Swan. Ever
swim for your nfef did once in a
father licked me. Eh? what'd I do?
Swan I'm the best swimmer In our
town"
His face suddenly went grave. he whit
ened and hurried to bell boys chair
near at hand.
'T saw" he said. 'T saw just gray
ness. grayness, grayness and that
damned water laping by like fool dog
that has ruined flower bed and then
stands smiling at 1t wondering what
made things look 20. untidy. I never
hated water 20 in my life before.
1T didn't seem wicked or vicious or
menacing. or cruel but Just foolish like
an IDIOT fooling with double-barreled
shotgun and hopping around and laugh
ing about II. There was q bit Of a
wind and 1t Uttered. and there was a
bit of sea and II hoped up and down
sort OF carefree and aimless. as though
to say, oh. see what I done. Amt I
awful
AT first I swarn because was excited
and had lost my head: then l foated
and got my wind Then / shouted. The
wind just Jsnickered around and ! began
to prepare to meet my Maker. but 1t was
wiIled FOR me to be spared. was picked
up by a lifeboat-a big Swede dragged
me in"
The old man is still pacing the floor.
resting" his nerves. as he calls II.