Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-18
CAPTAIN


the men,"
The second officer remained, blowing
in his cupped hands and hopping
about excitedly.
Get down in the forepeak, If it's
not too dangerous. See If you can
tell what the damage is We
might be able to Hedge her off
Send me n boy up here"
The second was gone in the smother.
The captain remained motionleSS,
grimly listening to each and every
noise that touched his ears. Presently
the apprentice with the merry brown
eyes appeared. The boy was quiverng
with excitement. He was not in the
least afraid. 1t was his first voyage.
Some day he would be an officer, then
captain, with all that that meant.
But now he was boy. learning the
craft, learning the secret of command
At least, theoretically. All he could
think of at this moment was that
everything was splendidly dangerous.
He was actually in the middle of n
great adventure. The ship was
wrecked. Death? lie never thought
OF it. not even remotely
THE siren," snapped the captain,
rousing himself and gesturing, not
even looking at the boy. Keep it go
ing" He repeated the desired sig
nails three times. absently. He turned
then and went down to the main deck,
anxious to see things for himself The
apprentice clucked excitedly and ran
TO the lanyard, tailed on to it. so that
the hoarse below of the strained brass
whistle alongside the funnel broke out
as 1t had been breaking out so many
times during the past week.
THE ship sat on a ledge of shingle,
backed by halfsuhmerged rocks.
The water boiled over them, only
rarely breaking. To the south, be-
yond the clear-cut horizon, there was
hint of land. a sort of vague shadow
reflected in the sky, a thing to be pre-
stunned from evidences that appealed
to the sailors eye-gulls, kittiwakes,
putfins, and clouds of stormy petrels.
or Mother Carey's chickens" lifted
and wheeled above the ship, CRYING
through the masts or Swimming close
to the black hull and scooping frag.
ments from the water.
The captain noted these things. The
ship was firmly settled, except that
her stern moved free with half a
fathom of water beneath it. From
the bridge for'ard she was on shingle
Every time she surged to the swing
of the sea it was possible to feel her
grating. the sensation reaching up
through serried decks to the soles of
the feet. Yet she wasn't quite half
filled with water now. and she had
been stranded IL hours. fact that
made the captain assume that the
grinding was doing little more than
bursting off rivet heads and perhaps
buckling the plates bit.
The engines, set alternately ahead
and astern, had failed to bulge the
vessel. She had fortunately struck
at high tide. sliding on the shingle.
rather than against it, and, as the
water sank. she had bedded herself
more firmly. AS the water rose again
the engines were again used, but the
result was always the same. Water
leaked. only slowly. into the engine
room. for the bulkheads were sound,
and it was evident that the midship
hull was not being troubled.
Il had sloOp once, little packet"
the captain had observed to the chief,
whose face was gloomy. 1--WE used to
run on the mud sometimes and get
stuck at low tide. Mud holds, mister.
High tide I'd shin aloft with a maui
and hammer the top of the mast
After bit she'd come free. Set
up a Earring along tn keel" The
captain chuckled. The mate scratched
his head and tried to imagine the
grim. usually tactiturn master cling
ing to a masthead and vigorously
swinging maui.
X X \ y
IN the foredeck the matches were
open, and the men were busy
heaving oversize the cargo There
had been distinct tightening of
spirits since the fearful cold had ebbed
and the snow had disap.
peared. Except in the stokehold and
engineroom bilges, the pumps We're
lightened and ready for relocating at
some high tide, then the pumps would
throw their full power.
The second officer was busy with a
watch, taking out the heavy towing
wire from the poop-deck reels. The
port bow anchor had already been
lowered and unshackled and was now
lying on a rough platform laid on
two lifeboats dashed together. Things
had been done in a hurry.
She'll make weather any time" the
captain said. IF a swell drives UP
we're done. 1t won't be pleasant in
the boats"
The men looked at each other grim
ly. 1t wouldn't be pleasant in the
boats. No. They were tired and ach.
ing, but they worked without grum-
bling. The willing ones forced the
shirkers to toll. There can be no talk
of rights or of rest when death walks
close.
The captain came down from the
MN L. y- -hv-Idc 4
room. He looked at the glass, frowned
TO see that it had dropped little.
He put the glasses away and went
down to the lower bridge, where he
met the chief coming up the com
panion from the main deck. The
chief lifted his eyebrows in an un.
spoken question. The captain shook
his head.
Cant tell. 1t looks like there
might be land over there" He GEES
tured to the south. at must be New
foundland. if it is. / can't imagine
where else we can be. Has the wire
less operator picked anything up?"
Says e can't get through, can't
get in touch with any one" responded
the chief. " E just got his instrument
fixed this morning, after the sea
wrecked his room, an I figure there's
somethin' e amt quite repaired
right
Never mind" The captains lips
frightened under his beard. After all.
any help would be too far away. He
might get his approximate position,
though. But never mind. "If the
weather makes We'll have to aban-
don" he said. She'll never stand
hammering."
Why hadn't he checked the COM
passes himself before leaving port?
They had been acting erratically ever
since. Perhaps the steel in the cargo
was to blame, hadn't been allowed for
enough.
The next morning the men worked
through the dark hours with the aid
of electric clusters and many hurri-
cane lamps. The sea was dotted with
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