Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-05

event. We arrived about the first Of
April. and the routine Of unloading and
taking on the copra brought no Incl
dent out Of the ordinary.
There was talk in Sydney. however:
wild talk. some OF IL, and in part tho
kind to make man ready 10 keep an
eye out for the unforeseen. They were
still telling of the doingS OF the other
Pacific raiders. and strange tales would
como In from all parts Of Polynesia
and the South Pacific, OF things seen
which shouldn't be there. and so forth
All in all. IT seemed to me that not
only they shouldn't be there. but that
they weren't. There are plenty OF
liars in the world. and it's easy enough
TO scare lot OF people, and so didn't
take any stock in these stories. though
some OF the other masters in port shook
their heads occasionally.
SHIPS PAPERS HELD UT.
DEMANDING SPECIAL ORDERS
But when it came to clearing. 1t was
a different matter. They wouldn't
issue the ships papers till had gone
to Rushcuttcr'e Bay TO see the naval
commander.
Now at that time the commander
knew what the Seeadler had done In the
Atlantic. lie knew. I suppose. that she
was in khc Pacific. Had he said so TO
me- out dud OUT, IL "Oulu nave occn
quite another affair. But what he told
me was this: that there were sub
marines in the Pacific. and we'd better
sail without lights and with every
precaution.
"Pish-tush." said to myself. Sub
marines. my cye.' E.
Still. there was no use in taking un-
due risks. and 1t looked wise to take
the naval commanders advice. and
avoid the trade route. But as for be-
Iieving in the submarines. l didn't for
q moment at any stage OF the game.
We left Sydney. AZ I said. April rs.
and we sailed without lights and fol-
lowed an out-of-the- course. But
the weather wasn't. with US for any
such care: storms and northerly winds
made it impossible TO make the north
ing before we reached Tahiti. and the
winds kept blowing US toward the So
ciety Islands, till VIC met the south
east trades. Had We kept on that way.
II would have taken months to make
San Francisco. and while that would
have been better than seeing the ship
shot TO pieces by raider, still
snapped my fingers at talk OF sub
marines-and didn't know what the
naval man knew all the time. that the
Secadler had landed at Rio Janeiro
with 900 persons taken from captured
vessels in the Atlantic. Had I been
told the truth. the chances are the
Sladc would have made port right
and trig.
We had gone along on tiptoc. all the
way up to the equator. without sign
OF pcriscopc. and then it seemed that
the danger. If there were any. was
past.
SHIP KEPT IN DARKNESS As
SHE SAILED NEAR EQUATOR
lights were put out, and for the FIRST
time in ffty-three days we ran at
night without even Elimmer through
the crack Of tho galley door. We
stood north. with the wind favorinE
US. and forgetting all about Germans
and the war. got ready for quick run
TO San Francisco and good HON ccom :
ing. The Sladc was shined up as bright
as a silver dollar: she was freshly
painted. all inside a glistening white.
outside black. and a pretty sight she
made too. And We were glad. after
ward, for all the lost labor Of it, for
the Germans wanted paint badly. and
when they found not drop left for
their own dirty and unkempt vessel.
they were as mad as mad could be.
The Slade was made spick and span for
the arrival-but il was for different
arrival than we expected, one that will
stand for good and oil.
Two days after we showed lights
for the first time, it happened.
l was in the cabin. at sumner. and
the second mate. Johansen, was on
watch. He came to the door-he wasn't
Gathering OF hurried. il wa. just part
OF his duty to report a sail sighted
and said:
Captain Smith a sail astern."
! went above and aloft taking my
glass UP the mizzen rigging. half
way TO the crosstrec. From the deck
not much was to be made out, but
from the rigging. with the glass. II
was easy to see a full-rigged ship, a
threc-master. She was coming up very
tast-faster than the wind. for We
were making only two miles an hour.
the wind being very light
But more than that, l knew there
were no full-rigged ships like this in
the Pacific. All those one knew OF
could be accounted for. in Sydney or
in other ports. Had we been a thou
sand miles farther east, She might have
been ship bound for Portland for
grain. from around the Horn II il
were different time of year. she might
have been ono OF the Alaska packers.
But time and place weren't right for
that, and ] knew something was up
And all the time she was coming m
entirely too fast for any proper ship.
GET OUT YOUR BEST RAGS"
ADVICE TO THE SHIPS CREW
The crew were staring at her as she
rose bit by bit above the horizon;
somehow they seemed TO think 1t was
d joke. Why. can't be told. Maybe
my manner led them to think they had
a joke on me: maybe they thought il
was q lark of some kind: maybe they
were just glad to see sail. AS my
foot touched the deck again they
started to laugh.
Some or YOU fellows had better put
on your best rags" said. turning
onward. and they laughed again.
But in moment or two they weren't
laughing. but scramblinG into the fore.
castle and digging into their chests
for the very best of their clothes, and
anything else they might think worth
saving.
While the thrcc-master was about
eight miles off, when the hull was
beginning to raise, as We could see
without going aloft, there was n heavy
fash.
There had been occasional squalls.
alternating with bright pieces OF sun.