The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1934-09-27

adventure by darkness. Flint WAS
thinking solely of ivy's comfort in
the matter.
TO be wrecked by daylight In a
smooth sea with competent boats
at hand. and competent men to man
them. and land of continental pro-
portions perhaps distantly In sight.
should have no real terrors Tor any.
one.
II was not possible for either
Bowers or Ivy to know thst the shin
mad been wrecked on purpose. Two
passengers occupied with the care
OF the menagerie and engrossed in
each other would never notice that
the course of the ship upon which
they travelled had been altered a
point or two.
Both, as a matter of fact, were ex-
traordinarily ignorant of seacraft.
They did not know that the weather
was making UP for premature rain.
They did not know that the shred of
blue smoke ahead and on the star.
board-bows was the smoke OF a little
volcano that had once risen out of
the sea with volcanic noises that
were audible at the distance of a
thousand miles and had subsidized
and through the ages with the help
OF erosion, climate and sea born
seeds. made little island home for
itself.
II they gave the smoke thought,
they thought that it was the smoke
of far-off steamer.
THE reef which paralleled the
! course of the Boldero, not OF
course the superstructure of the
coralbuilders but the more solid vol
canic substructure. had perhaps
risen from the ocean bottom in COM
pany with the volcano. 1t was not,
Of course. continuous. There were
many breaks, deep and wide passes
| through which several ships could
have moved abreast, and man who
steered for it at right angle might
miss it altogether.
But approached by long diago-
nal which made a narrow angle Of
| the ships course and the reef-struc-
ture itself you were Sound to score a
hit. The Boldero was old, she would
crack like al egg, and in addition
the sea-cocks would be opened.
EXCEPT for Wong 30 and Flint
and the officers and the crew of the
Boldero. who were doubly to be de-
pended ON, Wong Bo and Flint for
reasons too obvious to mention and
the officers and the crew first be-
cause they had rot been told what
was g. inE to take place, anG second
because t':ey were Chinese with
| preternatural instinct for keeping
| their own counsel, the only wit
nesses to the impending and intend
ed disaster would be Ivy and Bow
ers (who would perish) sea birds
and the lings that swim in 'ho sea.
| About five o'clock Ivy and Bowers
could see for themselves that the
smoke off the starboard-bow did not
come from the funnel of steamer,
but from deep purple cone shaped
like a widely opened, inverted fan.
In this discovery the passengers
took only a passing interest. Ii they
| had taken little more interec. and
| asked few questions of Flint or
! Captain Wong Bo, they would have
/ discovered that the volcano ''ds part
| of a small island which because OF
its shape Git seemed that 4. had
body and four legs and a head and
| even something like the stump OF a
tall was called Tiger Island.
! And If they had learned this, they
would in the immediate future have
been spared much toll and anxiety.
To vast height the western hori-
zon below which the high peaks OF
Borneo had sunk during the day was
piled with huge fantastic formations
OF black clouds. When the sun had
1 gone down behind these, they were
not penetrated here and there as
usual by shafts and splashes of col
4 or. Between the setting of the sun
and night there was only a short
twinkle of twilight. N#
II After dinner the usual rubbers of
bridge we're not played Captain
II Wong 30 did not like the !cok OF the
weather. 1t looked like lain. The
] glass was low If they cared to go on
deck, they would see that the stars
were being extinguished one by one
and in clusters.
Il Navigation in these waters, Cap
: tain Wong Bo explained. was not
: easy. and his place was on the
! bridge. That it would rain and heav-
; ily before morning he was almost
certain, and he advised the passen-
!. gers for once to sleep below.
But they would not. On deck the
heat was sufficiently oppressive.
When the rain actually did come.
they said, there would be plenty Of
time to go below. and. who could
know, maybe 1t would 3e cold rain.
(ceb,isAt. 1884. BY GoHvr'nt~ Noyris)
ro,,orrovy wonu 30 sends S1Ia