The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1915-03-30

her head drooped again. lefl
the oar long enough to tuck the
blankets about her feet and 70
pull a single fold across her face.
Alas She was not strong.
looked with misgiving toward the
southwest and thought OF the six
hundred miles OF hardship be-
fore us--ay. II II were no worse
than hardship. On this sea n
storm might blow up at any mo-
ment and destroy us. And yet I
was unafraid. was without con-
fidence In the future. extremely
doubtful, and yet felt no under
lying fear. II must come right,
1t must come right, repeated to
myself. over and over again.
The wind freshened In the aft
ernoon, raising q sitter sea and
trying the boat and me severely.
But the supply OF food and the
nine breakers of water enabled
the boat TO stand up TO the sea
and wind. and l held on as long
as | dared. Then l removed the
spirit. tightly hauling down the
peak OF the sail. and we raced
along under what sailors call a
leg-of-mutton.
Late In the afternoon | sighted
a steamers smoke on the horizon
to leeward, and | know II either
for Russian cruiser. or, more
likely, the Macedonia still seeking
the Ghost. The sun had not
shone all day, and IL had been Bit
ter cold. As night drew on, the
clouds darkened and the wind
freshened. so that when Maud
and | ate supper II was with our
mittens on and with me still
steering and eating morsels be-
tween puffs.
BY the time II was dark, wind
and sea had become too strong for
the boat. and l reluctantly took
in the sail and set about making
q drag or sea-anchor. had
learned of the device from the
talk OF the hunters, and II was a
simple thing to manufacture.
Furling the sail and flashing It
securely about the mast, boom.
spirit. and two pairs OF spare oars,
| threw II overheard. A line con-
nected 1t with the bow. and as Il
floated low In the water, practi-
cally unexposed to the wind, 1t
drifted less rapidly than the boat.
In consequence 1t held the boat
bow on to the sea and wind
the safest position In which to
escape being swamped when the
sea is breaking into whitecaps.
And now?" Maud asked cheer
fully, when the task was accom-
plished and pulled on my NIT
tens.
And now We are no longer
travelling toward Japan" l an
swered. Our drift is to the
southeast, or south-southeast. at
the rate OF at least two miles an
hour"
That will be only twenty-four
miles," she urged, ''if the wind
remains high all night"
Yes, and only one huDAred
and forty miles II 1t continues for
three days and nights"
But 1t won't continue" she
said, with easy confidence. 1T
will turn around and blow fair"
THE sea is the great faithless
one"
II wish had thought to bring
Wolf Larsen's chronometer and
sextant," said, still gloomily.
Sailing one direction, drifting
another direction, to say nothing
of the set of the current in some
third direction, makes a resultant
which dead reckoning can never
calculate. Before long we won't
know where we are by five hun
dred miles"
Then ! begged her pardon and
promised l should not be dis
heartened any more. At her soil
citation / let her take the watch
till midnight,-It was then nine
o'clock, but l wrapped her In
blankets and put an oilskin about
her before lay down. ! slept
only cat-naps. The boat was leap
ing and pounding as it fell over
the crests, could hear the seas
rushing past, and spray was con-
tinually being thrown aboard. And
still, 1t was not bad night, !
mused-nothing to the nights l
had been through on the Ghost;