Evening star., 1933-05-14

either side Of the course. heard q
shout Of warning. The captain came to
the wheel house door.
Keep IN eye on herl" he cautioned.
s~Theres q brute coming!"
As he spoke the vessel rose up on the
crest Of q sea dived into hollow.
Green water broke over the forecastle-
head to Hood the forward well. The
spray beat against the bridge.
Suddenly the third mate shouted: "0et
back! Get back!" He stood on the port
wing Of the bridge and waved to some
one on the deck below.
The vessel dived again. A tremendous
sea, q veritable mountain Of water,
leaped through the murk-wraith Of the
storm to spin over the starboard break
Of the foEecastle-head.
The third mate looked over the
weather cloth. He gesticulated with dis
may. He hastened aft to where tho
captain stood BY the wheel house door
and shouted: Hes overheard, SRI
There!" He pointed out over the pogt
beam.
Dragging my eyes from the compass
followed the hne Of his arm. A hand
showed above the turbulent water;
moved back and forth, disappeared,
swept aft beyond the range Of my vision.
The mate reached the bridge. a
rescue was impossible, he said. The cap
tain nodded. Sailormen would be
drowned at the launching of . boat.
The boatswain clattered up the laddeI.
In answer TO the captains query, he
answered:
TT was Cramer, sir. The first Sea
swept his kitten overheard and he went
after it. He always was a blasted fool!-
remember lying in my bunk that
night wondering If Cramer had been q
fool to attempt the rescue of his kitten.
I concluded that he had not. Some In
stinct stronger than himself had pos
sessed him. He had sought to retain
gates Of his heart to new experience.
He had died In what seemed to me to be
heroic glory.
A few years ago was chief officer q
q large passenger liner. The captain
had cat, large, ugly brute, that soon
learned he could not be molested q
disturbed, no matter what he did. He
would sleep On the most comfortable
chairs In the music room, tear the ere
tonne hangings with his claws and make
himself generally obnoxious. To COM
plain was useless. The captain knew
his cat: It could do no wrong! And to
throw our insinuations back into our
teeth, as it were, he would tie tartan
ribbon around the cats neck and take
him for q walk around the promenade
deck 80 that the passengers could adj
mire him.
For months the cat reigned supreme,
though not without some abuse from the
stewards who had to wait on him. But
on one voyage the passengers protested.
The cat, in q playful mood, had entered
some of their state rooms and destroyed
some articles Of clothing.
The captain listened respectively.
promised to take Immediate action, and
when the passengers had left his cabin
he sent for me. When I entered h4g
face was purple with wrath.
There are too many id cats on
board this vessel" he snapped. Fire
them all ON shore!"
every good, sir" I answered.
The vessel was In port. I passed on
the order. The decks were searched
from top to bottom and all the cats were
evicted without ceremony. They Ve0e
safely locked up In the shed until ~
sailed.
Late IN the evening the captain sent
for me. Have you seen my eat?" he
asked. 4 can't fnd him anywhere"
you WON'T ar,"-I told him. '.Het
t>>>r ln<R 1>n1>3yaN AZ rsnl0n