The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1916-04-20
Continued from last Week.

/
the water but short time, when Smith de-
cided to see how far he could swim under
| water. He dived from the deck and went
along for about twenty feet, when he sud-
denly arose to the surface and started to
yell. Babcock Immediately went to his as
| sistance, while Jackson threw them line,
and helped pull Smith aboard. Wallace
who was helping Smith over the side, and
therefore had a good view of the back of his
neck, started to laugh.
"What did you yell ior?' he asked Smith.
Because something bit my neck and l
thought it might have been a shark, was
the answer
eShark,'' snorted Wallace, "don't you
know that if a shark bit the back of your
neck you would be unable to yell. 1t was
a Portuguese man. war that tickled your
neck
"Where is it, / don't see any man-of-
war, said Smith, gazing around the hori-
Zon.
Fright there, see that little thing that
looks like big coored bubble, well that is
a Portuguese man. of-war"
what, that pretty little thing with long
peaces of grass hanging down below it,
Asked Smith
"You bet, and it was some of that same
kind of grass that bit your neck.
''Smifh had pocl- for
days, after coming in contact with the ten
tacleS Of the man-of-war, and it is safe to
say that one pair of newly WEEDS did not put
their arms around each others neck.
Arriving at Key West, we took on an
extra fuel-oil tank, and also one for fresh
water. We stayed at Key West, two days
making preparations for the long run head
of us after passing through the Panama
Canal. We left Key West in the morning
and starred on the third lap of our journey.
The run to Colon, at the east end of the
Canal, and a distance of 1905 miles took
about seventy three hours.
At Colon while going through the neces-
Soi iOi lOt PdSSdSC tulOuSn tHC
canal, the officer who examined our papers
having noted that our destination was
Raoul Island, asked what we expected to
do when we arrived there. We explained
our plans to him, and in return were given
some very sound advice. Just before cast
ing off our mooring-lines for the start thru
he Canal no off II
bid us good-by and while on board gave us
letter which he told us to hand to ship
chandler in Panama. On reaching Panama,
we went to the address given on the letter
and found the man to whom it was address
ed. From him we purchased what supplies
we needed and were again given some very
good advice. The supplies were taken
aboard and stored away and we were on the
point of leaving the dock when a wagon
drove up with large box, which the
driver said was for our boat We were in
clined to think he had made a mistake
until he handed us note from Mr.. Gray,
the ship chandler, from whom we mad pur-
chased our supplies.
In the note, Mr.. Gray, who was an Eng
lishman, stated that he was sending us a
small quantity of plum pudding in cans,
along with couple of hams and some lime
juice. The lime juice was to be used to
ward off scurvy, and as we had long voy-
age before us, Mr.. Gray advised us to use
it. The gift box was taken aboard and a
note of thanks despatched to Mr.. Gray.
We then cast off our line and started On
the long journey. Our next stop if our
plans did not miscarry was to be Papeete,
on the island of Taluti, and distance of
4486 miles from Panama. According to
our calculations, we should reach Papeete
in fourteen days.
Our course after clearing the harbor at
Panama was west southwest west. Moth
ing occurred to break the monotony of the
run, until we were six days out of Panama,
when Jackson sighted dereict about a
mile ahead and few points to starboard.
The course was altered, and we slowed
wreck. She was a sailing vessel, and al
though the masts were gone, and the hull
seemed badly battered, she rode quite high
in the water. 1t was decided that three of
US should try to board her and see if there
was any one left on board or whether we
could find out her name and home port.
We launched the only boat we had car
ried, which did duty as both life-boat and
tender, and Jackson, Babcock and pulled
over to the dereict. We run around and
tied up to rope that was hanging from the
port side of the wreck, and climbed aboard.
The sight that met our eyes when we
reached the derelict's deck was enough to
show us that the vessel had been drifting
for sometime. Her matches were still fast
ened down, but the decks had been swept
clear except for the space in between the
fore and mann masts, here we found tam