, 1914-11-19
Cspy1sht. 1913. BY the Mcclure Publications. Inc.
Cspy1ghf, 1914. BY MARY RebDn Rrneharr
ROBERTS RLNEHART

my last money ! bought a good re-
volver, second hand, and cartridges.
l was glad later that had bought the
revolver. and that ] had taken with
me the surgical Instruments. antiquat-
ed as they we're. which. in their ma.
hogany case. had accompanied my
grandfather through the civil war, and
had done, as he was wont to chuckle,
as much damage as a three FOUNDER.
McWhirter came to the wharf with me
and looked the Ella over with eyes of
proprietorship
pretty snappy looking boat" he
said. IF the Niger gets sick give him
some of my seasick remedy. And take
care Of yourself. boy" He shook
hands. his open face flushed with emo
ton. "Darned shame to see you going
like this. Don't eat toe much, and
don't fall in love with any of the wom-
en-. Goodby."
! ward the ship. but a moment later l
heard him calling me BE came back.
rather breathless.
up In my neighborhood." he pant
ed, "they say Turner Is a devil. What
aver happens. it's not your mix-in- Bet
ter-better tuck your gun under your
mattress and forget you've got it.
You've got some disposition yourself"
The Ella sailed the following day at
10 O'Clock. She carried nineteen PEG
pie, of whom Eve were the Turner's and
their guests. The cabin was full of
flowers and steamer baskets.
Thirty-one days later she came into
port again. a lifeboat covered with can
vas trailing at her stern.
From the first the captain disclaim-
ed responsibility for me. | was housed
In the forecastle q ate with the men
There. however, my connection with
the crew and the navigation OF the
ship ended
As a matter of fact. / found myself
a sort of deck steward. given the re
sponsibility of looking after the shuttle
board and other deck games, the
steamer rugs. the cards-for they play
ed bridge steadily-and answerable to
George Williams, the colored butler.
for the various liquors served on deck
The work was easy. and the situa-
ton rather amused me. After an eff
fort. or two to bully me. one OF which
resulted In my holding him over the
rail until he turned gray with fright.
Williams treated me MS an equal.
which was gratifying
The weather was good. the food fair
had no reason I repent my bargain
or the sailing qualities of the Ella
there couid De no question. The crew.
selected by Captain Richardson from
the best men of the Turner line. knew
their business and barring the odor OF
fo~rmaldehyde In the forecastie, which
drove me to sleeping on deck for a
night or two, everything was going
smoothly, at east on the surface
Smoothly. as far as the crew was
concerned. was not SO sure about
the after house.
As | have said. owing to the small
size Of the vessel and the fact that
considerable of the space had been
used for baths. there were, besides the
family, only two guests. a Mrs. Johns.
a divorce. and a Mr.. Vail. Mrs. Tur-
ner and Miss Lee shared the services
Of a maid. Karen Hansen. who. with
a s-tewardess. Henrietta Sloane. occu-
pied a double cabin. Vail had a small
room. al had Turner. with a bath be
tween which they used In common.
Mrs. Turner's room was a large one.
with its own bath. into which Elsa
Lees room also opened. Mrs. Johns
had q room and bath. Roughly and
not drawn to scale. the living quarters
OF the family were arranged IKE the
diagram In a later chapter.
have said hal things were not 60