Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-16

bilge-water; but at any rate it was
! better to sit on them than in the
water itself
The limited space made it impossible
for us to adopt any but a very cramp-
ed position, with hunched-up shoulders
rubbing against the slime that coated
the sides of each tank Standing was
impossible and lying down meant
leaning ones head on the wet mat
tress and soaking ones feet in the
drain of bilge-water that swiShed
| backward and forward with every mo
| ton of the ship.
| Complete blackness surrounded us.
| The air was dank and musty, so that
matches spluttered only feebly when
struck. and the light from taper
was hardly strong enough to chase the
darkness from the half of each small
tank
When after each search, the police
returned to their launch we would
hear the heavy boots of the second en-
gineer tramping along the passage
overhead
As we listened 10 the nerve edginE
noise that aCcompa MED the removal OF
the boards and the iron lid we
crouched into the best hidden corners
| whether a friend or a policeman was
at the entrance.
We scarcely breathed until there
came. booming and echoing through
the hollow compartments. the word
Signor"-Feodor's password. denot-
ing that all was clear and that we
might return to the engine room.
By late afternoon of the day before
our scheduled sailing all the Turkish
merchants cargo, legitimate and
otherwise. had been brought from the
quay by lighters and then transferred
by winches To the Batoum's matches
The export officials had been squared,
the ships papers were passed and
stamped, the hunkers we're fully
loaded with inferior coal All on
board, from the captain to the least
considered stowaway. were content.
although nervous. of what might
happen during the next "a hours.
That evening there were more than
the usual number Of mysterious visits
from small boats. The full compile
ment of stowaways was taken aboard.
the last cases of contraband shipped.
Until a late hour the engine room
resounded to the hammerings of those
who were hiding a late consignment
of cocaine.
their farewell in the usual manner.
BY 9 o'clock several were roaring
drunk. One of them. a BOlshevik,
staggered across the aft deck with a
drawn knife in his hand shouting that
he wanted to finish off the third engi-
neer. who had insulted him.
He found Josef in the engine room.
but was cowed and disarmed when the
engineer threatened him with re-
volver. He let himself be led away,'
while verbally numbering all officers.
At $50 in the morning Josef reused
us from our sleep on the floor of his
cabin and invited us TO the ballast
tanks, for. as the police and customs
officials would be on board most of
the time until we weighed anchor, we
must remain out of sight until the
Batoum left Turkish waters.
Since we expected TO he hidden for
about ~ hours, we took with us loaf
of bread. some dried sausage and
bottle of water.
After a last look through the port
hole at Seraglio Point and the cupolas
of Stamboul, ! passed below, hoping
and expecting that when | next looked
into the open air we should be clear
of Turkey.
Tor long while nothing happened
To take our thoughts from the
cramped space and the foul air of
the tanks. We breakfasted sparingly
and allowed ourselves one cigarette
apiece More we dared not smoke be.
cause of the oppressive atmosphere.
Then, at about 10 o'clock, We heard
from above a succession of three
thuds-the signal to all stowaways
in the region of the engine room
that the police were on board. We
made ourselves as comfortable as pos
sible and took minute care to make
no sound.
But not yet were we leaving Tur-