The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1926-08-13
CHAPTER XIII-Continued

is
Essentially true" agreed my great
uncle. 81 must confess myself igno-
rant of such staple points as why we
are here, the excuse for human exist
ence, the relative significance Of this
world of ours, the utility of the differ
ing qualities of goodness and evil.
But any serious consideration, friend
Peter, must convince as profound a
thinker as yourself that the very ex-
istence of men and women Is Of itself
prima-facie evidence that there can
be no Divine Author Of omnipotent or
sentient powers"
1--WE better go on deck" said Peter.
after you," protested my relative
as we rose. "'Tis a pleasure to de-
bate with you, Peter Take care,
prayl Gum has not removed all OF
the evidence of Diomede's passing.
Strange, is II not, how a black fellow
like Diomede and man who hath
been the confidant Of princes, like
ODonnell, should both be abolished by
simple organic disruption? That
alone, Peter, should suffice TO disprove
the humbug of an all-wise Providence.
An all-wise. Providence, forsooth!
Here am I, arranging to reconstruct
for the better a most unhappy trio OF
Kingdoms, with consequences bound to
improve the well-being of the entire
world, and my plan is suffered to be
placed in jeopardy by an ignorant
sailors blind shot In the dark! What
could be more absurd?"
Peter did not answer him, and we
passed out upon the main deck, where
sailors were busy removing the traces
of the Walrus' first broadside which
had wrought a certain amount of
minor damage and caused the deaths
of several men. Twas now light
enough to see about US, but the light
was of a quality had never known
before-a hard, coppery glare, with
the sun obscured from view. The sea
was quite fiat, and the wind contin-
ued intermittent, veering from one
quarter of the south to the other
Spy-glass island lay to larboard, Its
contour amazingly distinct-as II II
were bitten into the frame of steel
blue sea and duly shimmering sky
that encompassed it. The Walrus
like the James, had cleared Captain
Kidd's anchorage, and was running
due north before the wind betwixt III
and the islet called Skeleton island
Murray bent a shrewd eye alof
and hailed Martin.
"How is it you carry no sail on thu
mizzen2 he demanded.
Account o. that there last -
shot, cap'n," answered TIT
mate, Juggling his forelock. "f y
look to it yell see as how
twelve-pounder bored into her."
We all followed his pointing finge
to a gouge beneath the mizzen YARD
The shot that had grazed Colone
O'Donnell's head had done more tina
Craze the mizzen. The mast wa
whitfield away to depth Of sewers
inches as clearly as II a giants a
had chopped into 1t.
My great-uncle took snuff yer
slowly.
what luckl What luckl" he mu
tered.
And then louder:
"'Twas an expensive shot for u
gadzooksl Well, Martin, we must f1s
the mast at our earliest opportunit
but we can make shift to corner Fill
without it. The Walrus is foul ar
heavy in the water. The James CO
sail circles round her in this wind
There was a worried look in Ma
tins weather-beaten face.
"Askin' your pardon, sir, l dor
like this wind. We're
for - Of a storm or I'm =
lubber."
My great-uncle shrugged his shol
ders.
storm or no storm, Martin, t
Walrus carries nigh four hundr
thousand pounds"
AYE, sir; and by your favor, be
sink her and be done wi 1t and r
for shelter"
"Sink heri Man, we'd lose t
treasure"