White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1925-08-28

enough, never spoken to except b!
myself, the only one understanding
his language. BY the crew he wa!
stunned, as flock of barnyard fowl.
will regard with misgiving tame
falcon. Yet the smile was weak, fol-
he did not suggest any such bird
| Nevertheless, there was an air of the
untamable about him; a hint of the
wild, the lawless; and certainly he
was mysterious.
Yet week passed and nothing hap.
pened; week of clear sailing DAYS
and nights, with a fresh breeze hold
ing from the southwest, and the air
temperate, for we were swimming in
the Japan current. Late in the after
noon of the eighth day, with the sun
half obscured by occasional banks of
"thunderhead" clouds, it seemed that
great, gray ghostly shape had risen
out of the sea in the distant north
west; ominous, forbidding, as of some
huge animal arising from it's lair upon
the approach of an enemy.
"Kamchatka,' said Thorne briefly,
when l spoke of it,
Kamchatka, and beyond it Siberia,
the mysterious, the vast the I'M
known, and we, with our insignificant
expedition, were going to dare what
terrors it might hold! If The Hawk
"Sail-ho!" cried the lookout, and
Captain Allen, who had been talking
with Jimmy, sang out:
Where away?"
Three points ahead the port beam. {"
Silence for few seconds, then:
Looks like a schooner, sir. Now she's
coming about bit, as though she's
seen us.
She's standing this way!"
Captain Allen ran his fingers
throug his white whiskers, and looked
questioningly at Jimmy, who said
nothing, but was peering in the direc-
ton the man at the masthead had in
dicated Finally Mulvane turned.
Get the guns ready, captain. Keep
right on your course"
The skipper ducked his head, and
gave the order. The two navy men
We're already standing by the. quick
f1rers, which had been mounted in the
waist, one on each side. Each of the
blue-j Jackets was skilled gun pointer;
all they needed was someone to serve
the ammunition to the guns. The
plan, worked out beforehand by Null
vane, was that one bluejacket would
load while the other would fire, it
being obvious that both guns would
not have firing arc at the same time.
Therefore, each pointer went to his
own gun, standing ready to assist each
other as the occasion arose, and as
soon as it was determined which
weapon would be called upon for |
duty.
Watching closely where the man, in
the crow's-nest had indicated, we saw
at last white flash on the horizon.
the top-sail of the schooner catching
a reflection of the sun on the water.
Whatever the vessel was, she was
coming up rapidly. Jimmy glanced
once more at the guns, where the
deck-watch was stacking ammunition.
Il think, captain said Mulvane,
that you might throw tarpaulin
over each six-pounder. At distance
they might look like covered winches,
Or gear of some sort. Besides, we do
not care to have some innocent hut
nosey trader see them, and talk when
he reaches port"
The ship was less than two miles
away now, and we could see her de-
tails. She was speedy beyond doubt,
and seemed to take advantage of the
breeze even better than did the Aleu-
t1an, which was a good sailer herself.
The stranger was a three-master, and
was carrying staysails and balloon
jib. Each time she thrust her forefoot
into wave there was a deep, white
curl of foam.
The sun dropped behind bank of
cloud, and Thorne, who stood with us
on the poop suddenly pointed into the
northeast. There the leaden gray of
the water seemed oddly lightened in
one spot, yet Immediately above it a
dark cloud Rugged close to the sea.
That's nasty squall, mister" re,
marked Captain Allen to his mate.
Best take in a few reefs"
(To Be Continued)