Evening star., 1924-09-29
Continued from Yesterdays Starr

The west was barred with a. yellow
atrip-sunset Presently it would be
night, and under cover of night Fate
was waiting for him crouched like a
footpad.
He did not see the vessels ap-
proach till she was upon him. She
must have been in sight for some
time, but he had been keeping his
eyes ahead and did not look round
till she hailed.
hand over fist. Ortho was so sur
prised he nearly jumped out of his
clothes. He stood up in the stern
sheets goggling at her fooliShly.
Was it a mirage? Had he gone light
headed already? He heard the creak
OF her yards and blocks as she yaw-
ed to starboard. the hiss of her cut
water shearing into a. sea. and then
a cultural voice shouting uninelligi-
bly,. She was real enough and she
was yawing to pick him up! A flood
of JOY went through him; he was
going to live after all, Not for moth
ing had he kept the Gamecock run
ming. She was on top of him. The
short boWSprit and gilded beak stab
bed past; then came shouts. the roar
of Sundered water, a rope hurting
out of reach thumo and over went
the Gam ecock, run down. Ortho grip
ped the gunnel, vaulted onto the boat
side as it rolled under. and jumped.
The vessel was wallowing deep in a
trough a the time. He caught the
foremast chains with both hands and
hung trailing up to the knees in bub-
bling brine. Something bumped his
knee. 1t was Anson: his leer seemed
more pronounced than ever; then he
-,<,l,r ,.I.
nels gripred Ortho's wrists and hoist
ed him clear. He lay where they
threw him, ranting and &hivering.
water dribblng from his clothes to
the deck
Aft on the poop couple of men,
officers evidently, were staring at the
Gamecock drifting astern, bottom up.
They did not consider her worth the
trouble of going after. a negro gave
Ortho a kick with his bare foot, hand
ed him a bowl of hot Cruel and a
crust of bread. Ortho gulped these
and then dragged himself to his feet
leaned against the mainjeers and took
stock of his surroundings.
1t was quite small vessel. rigged
in bastard fashion he had never
seen before, square on the main
mast, exaggerated lugs on the fore
and mizzen. She had low sharp entry.
ouI " as buiIt up GIL with qudi 1Sl
deck and noor; she was armed like a
frigate and Swarming with men
Ortho could not think where she
housed them all-and such men,
brown, yellow, white and black, with
and without boards. Some wore
pointed red caps. some wisps of dirty
linen wound about their scalps, and
Others were bare headed and shorn to
the skin but for a lock of oily hair
lnnCa "a fsrr1a a nj 70 Of "
colorS, chocolate, saffron. salmon and
blue, but the majority were of soil
ed white. They drew these close
about their lean bodies and squatted.
bare toes rrotrudng, under the break
of the quarter deck. in the lee of
scuttle butts, boats, masts-anywhere
out of the wind. They paid no atten-
t1on to him whatever, but chatted
and sEat and laughed. their teeth
cleaning willie in their dark faces,
for all the world like a tribe of squat
ting baboons. One of them produced
a crude two-stringed guitar and sang
a melancholy dirge to the accom-
paniment of creaking blocks and his
sing boW-Wave. The sunset was but
chink of yellow light between
leaden cloud and leaden sea
There was a flash away in the dusk
to port followed by the slam of a gun
A gigantic old man came to the
quarterback rail and beloved across
the decks. Ortho thought he look ed
like the pictures of biblical patriarchs