The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-15

sec more than the faint glare of a green
light they were burning.
transferring Loo frightened passcn-
gers from one ship To another in mid
ocean under these circumstances
was no easy task. But "" ac-
complshcd IT without mishap, and
then came the long. weary. never
To be forgotten voyage back In New
York II seemed as If We We're sailing in
the clouds II was the worst fog III all
my experience.
IL remember once In my younger
days before the mast when the old
wind TANNER | was on was beating
around the Horn in u storm that would
fairly make your eyebrows CrawI tn"
heavens turned hidcously blaCk-blaCk"r
than anything YOU can possibly imagine.
We had been pitched and tossed hlthcr
and thithcr about the raging sea for
hours. but thought It'll" Of it because
We had become accustomed t. bad
weather on such voyages,
Well all ~ sudden We took a
plunge. For a moment it seemed as If
the very mouth of hell had opened and
swallowed the whole ocean. Down and
Down We went. it seemed we'd never
Sl'ip-llNt NV Sbll W ~'llNiNl'H N'u
would probably experience if you We're
in an elevator at the top of some tall
building and the cahl' should suddenly
snap ana send the car crashing t. In"
basement. We We're all rolling around
On our heads. mouths open and speech
less and the old ship itself was rat
ding and cracking So fi"rcuiy that il
appeared about ready I" break and scat
ter into "A million pieces.
"But it was all over in less time than
il takes mo t. tell IL il. Whether or not
We struck hnttum | don't know, hut
presently the old craft r,ahted ana her
hose pointed upward. | h"avcd sigh
If relief and the others did likewise
We were never able To- figure out just
what had happened, unless there was
some sort of seismic disturbance.
well. that was one Of the times
looked old DavN Jones suuarely in the
face. only 10 cheat his locker IN til,
end. The other time when | felt lik,
calling on him was after had stood
In the fog on the bridge of the Baltic
| fifty or sixty hours
capt Ransom turned and faced In.
| sun, which had just broken through III,
stone he carried as n watch charm
sIarllcd brightly. To all appearance:
| i, was just an ordinary stone, hut il ha,
~ history. The skipper himself seldom
talks Of ii. but along the coast Of south
/ crn California. and especially aroun,
the haunts IF fishermen. IN" story il
familiar one.
To begin with. st. Nicholas Island
| lying some ninety miles out IN tn
Pacific ON crows line from Laos Ancc
les is "A barren waste composed of san,
dunes. No one lives thcr" and fc,
ever go there. 1t was not until aftc
he had aided in rescuing three hal
starved and all but llteless fishcrme
who were adrift in an open boat tina
Capt. Ransom knew Of the islands cN
istcnCc.
lie was young then, but the lesson h
learned was invaluable and may ao
count in part for the wonderful powe
of endurance displayed by him in bring
ing the Baltic safely to port with hf
double cargo of human freight throug
fog that would have shattered tn
nerves Of many "A navigator.
The three fishermen had set sail frol
the mainland one bright sunshin
morning in stout lugg"r, well PR
i. visioncd for weeks sojourn on 5
| Nicholas. II was in the fall, and II
usual squalls for that period were NJ
infrequent, So that when racir