The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1916-08-03
CHAPTER WI.

~ last. after three days OF variable
winds. We have caught the northeast
trades. | came on deck. after a good
nights rest In spite OF my poor knee,
to ind the Ghost foaming along. wing
and wing and every sail drawing ex
cept the iibs, with a fresh breeze
astern. Ten knots. twelve knots. eleven
knots, varying from time TO time
ia the speed we are making. And
ever out OF the northeast the brave
wind blows. driving us on our course
900 miles between the dawns
Each day grows p%erceptibly warmer
In the second dog watch the sailors
come on deck, stripped, and heave
buckets OF water upon one another
from oversize. Flying Ash are begin
ming TO he seen, and during the night
ve watch above sCramblcs over the
deck In pursuit OF those that fall
aboard. In the morning Thomas Mug
ridge being duly bribcd, the galley IL
pleasantly arcek with the odor OF
their frying. while dolphin meat is
served fore and aft on such occasions
as Johnson catches the blazing beau
ties from the bowspr7t end.
The days and nights are all a won
der and a wild delight" and though
] have little time from my dreary
work, ! steal odd moments to gaze and
gaze at the unendlng glory OF what
neyer dreamed the world possessed I
do not forget n night, when I should
have been asleep. OF lying on the fore.
castle head and gazing down nj the
spectral ripple OF foam thrust aside
by the Ghosts torefoot. II sounded
like the gurgllng Of A brook over
messy stones In some quite, dell and
the grooming song OF II lured me away
md out Of myself tin I was no longer
Hump the cabin boy, nor Van Wey
den. the man who had dreamed away
~thirty.fve wears among books Rnt a
voice behind ne. tho un~mls'akable
voice Of Wolf Larsen. strong with tho
l~uyincible gertrude Of the man and
mellow with appreciation ~ the words
he was quoting, aroused me.
go tho blazing 'rop'c r'rht. when tho
wakes n welt ~ light
That holds the hot sky tame.
Ana the steady t~orcfnot snores through
the planet. powdered floors
Where the scared whale dukes In flame
Her plates are SCARED by the sun. dear
lass.
And her ropes ARE taut with the dew,
For we're booming down on tho old TRAIN
our own TRAN. the out trail,
We're sagRing south on the Long Trail
the trail that is always new"
Eth. Hump How's It strike your"
he asked. after the due pause which
the words and setting demanded
looked into his face. II was aglow
with light, as the sea Itself. and the
eyes were flashing in the starshine.
II strikes the as remarkable. to say
the least, that you should show en,hu
siasm." ! answered coldly.
Why, man, us living! It's lIfe!"
he cried.
Which is a cheap thing and with
out value" | fung his words al him
lie laughed, and II was the first time
mad heard honest mirth In his voice
All | cannot get you TO understand,
cannot drive II into your head, what
a thing this life Ii. OF course life II
~valueless, except to itself. And can
tell you that my life is pretty valuable
FiS now-to myself. II Is beyond
price. which you will acknowledge IN
a terrific overrating, but which can
not help. for It Is the life that is In
me that makes the rating"
lie left me as suddenly rs he had
come, %springing 10 the deck with the
weight and %softness OF a tiger Some
times | think him mad, or half mad at
least, what OF his strange moods and
vagaries, At other times take him
for a great man, a genius who has
never arrived. lie is certainly an N.
dividualist OF the most pronounced
type. Not only that, but he Ia very
lonely. His tremendous virllity and
mental strength wall him apart. Men
are more like children to him, ever
the hunters, and az children he treats
them, descending perforce to their
level and playing with them as a man
plays with puppies or else he probes
them with the cruel hand OF n ytviscc
ZIONIST. cropping about In their mental
processes as though 10 see OF what
gOul.stud In made
While on the question Of vaRarics
! shall tell wha, bofoll Thomas Mug
ridge In the cabin and NJ the rame
time complete an incident upon which
have already touched once OF twice
The Twelve O'Clock dinner a over