The Washington times., 1938-03-11

+ harbor, washing ships as big as
the Orabey ashore, and plling
them, shattered, in the very
streets of the town. That was
why the captain had decided to
sail. Better to chance the open
sea.
Swiftly the order came to cast
off, and to start the engines,
Shallard manipulated the signal
telegraphs to the engine room, to
the second mate on the afterdeck
and to the first mate on the fore
castle head. The Orabey was
swinging out into the roadStead,
her engines pounding full speed
ahead. Schurz, the third mate,
was at the wheel, and the Greek
stood beside him. Then it struck.
There was a moment of intense,
brooding silence, followed by a
sound as of all the harpieS
screeching a wild defiance at the
works of man. The wind tore at
the Orabey like a devilishly clever
madman graphing with his vic
tim, but the sturdy vessel plowed
ahead, her nose still held on the
course.
Over the breakwater there
swelled a smooth, oily mass OF
water, reared to foaming crest.
It was 80 feet high or more, and
Shallard saw the skipper'S thumb
dig into his palm. The wave was
travelling faster than he realized.
It seemed to strike the ship almost
as soon as he saw it, and yet he
knew that they we're a full two
miles from the breakwater.
For a moment there was COM
plete blackness, as the wave swept
over the ship and her staunch
plates groaned with the strain.
Shallard, in his ignorance, was
curiously unafraid. He did not
know that one ship in thousand
lives through an experience OF
that kind.
HAVOC LEFT IN WAKE
Only when the wave had passed,
and the vessel pressed on into the
violent waters behind it, and the
blackneSs of the storm, did he
realize what havoc had been
wrought. Where there had been
men on the forecastle there was
no one, and everything movable,
he saw, had been swept oversize.
With a dull stab of pain. he real
lied that these men he had known
were gone-dead in the fury
astern.
He looked about the wheelhouse,
and was startled to see the cap
tain, breathin? stertorously, on the
deck, blood pouring from an ugly
cut on his head, Schurtz, the mate,
lay like a pile of rags in the cor
ner. His eyes were staring glass
lily, and Shallard knew that his
neck was broken. The Greek stood
beside the wheel, holding the YES
sci with one arm. The other
dangled awkwardly, and as he
wached, the man slid to the floor.
Only Shallard and the pilot re-
and he leaped to the
wheel.
RIDE OUT STORM
How he held the ship into the
storm, how he followed the pilots
instructions to the letter,
he did not know. All that Shall
lard could think of was the fact
that in his hands rested the fate
Of every one aboard, to say
nothing of the ship itself, which
plunged like a wild thing with
every gust of the hurricane.
They rode out the balance OF
the storm outside the breakWater,
and then returned to the harbor.
It was a sad business, holding Serv-
ices for those who had gone. An
air of suspense hung over every
one, as Captain Blackfuss called
name.
Cadet james," He stepped for
ward, wondering. There was a
in the old mans eyes as
he spoke, and worlds crashed and
revolved around Shallard. He
heard himself praised there in the
Mexican sunlight, heard such
phrases as "true seaman" prom
ising officer" and others, equally
welcome.
Shallard did not understand
he knew that all the
and loneliness had gone
he was happy without caring for
the cause, as he made his way to
the bridge. and grinned carelessly
at the Salutation given in friendly
greeting by the bos'n-"Hiyah,
Punk!"