Year: 1879




Burton saw this and went straight !"
the point. Captain Bowman. ne s"'o'
IL have the most pressing of fraSohS 7"
arrive at the Gulf before fhe mail. MY
only chance was to come by You; and
now ask you 10 get every Knot out ot the
Cerberus that canvas and steam can com
pass and, to be point blank with You, let
me say it shall he at my expense.
will pay, beforehand if you choose to es-
innate it, for every pound OF extra coal
YOU burn, So your employers shall not
lose. | will, with YOUR permission. pay
Your engineers double wages for the trip
and. if YOU will accept it, | shall be glad
TO hand you this bank-note for one hun
dred pounds" With dramatic effect. he
drew the note from his waistcoat pocket
a he spoke, and offered il to the Captain


The sailor quite staggered back in his
surprise, and gasped out: "Why-what is
the reason?'


''The reason interrupted Burton. ''iN
that it is well worth my while, having great
financial interests at stake to spend three
or four hundred pounds in beating the
mail. 1t can do you no harm To comply
with my request. No one will suffer;
your passengers will all be pleased;
the money shall be paid whether You win
the race or moi. which j. only fair, As the
work will have been done in any case.
Now, Captain. | know You are good
hearted fellow you can confer a great
benefit on me and mine by obliging me
and something tells me YOU will help me
if you can


We'll" said the skipper. after a mo-
ment's hesitation, Il will. lisa bargain.
| will take your money. because | shall
have earned it. | should advise you to
speak to the first officer. Mr.. Keelcr; he
is poor man with large family, SO he
won't object and TO Mr.. Mutt, the chief
engineer. Make your own terms with
them, and they will manage the rest.
think we shall get in before the mail for
the Cerberus is the best of our line while
the Maelstrom, which is luckily running
this trip, is the smallest and Slowest of the
mail service. Not but what he added,
warningly, ''they are all very fast. and
we shall have to work very hard to beat
her by as many hours rs we started before
her.


Mr.. Burton thanked the Captain, and.
acting upon his advice. sought the first
officer and the engineer. With them he
had no difficulty; the prospect of double
pay for the whole of the voyage was suili-
cient to induce them to undertake any
amount of work. The working engineers
were equally ready; and within two hours
of his conversation with the skipper the
Cerberus was making couple of knots
additional per hour, which was equal, aS
Mr.. Burton kept repeating to himself to
several hundred miles per week.


How arnpStly no wished that tba ,.ra L
shaft of the mail would break, her screw
get out of order, or some casualty, not
fatal, but retarding. wound happen to their
dreaded pursuer; that is, if she were still
the pursuer, and had not already got ahead
OF them. 1t never seemed possible, in all
his speculations, that any such accidents
could happen to his vessel; she was. of
course to run an unchecked and unchecI-
cred voyage; and 30 indeed it happened.


CHAPTER H.


Had Mr.. Burton'S money been in icop-
ardy but very few years later than the
real date, the electric telegraph would
have laughed to scorn all his efforts but
he was just before that maryel--in its
communication with Australia, at any rate,
and he was glad to think he had yet Il
chance. Swift As may bc the progress of
a clipper steamer, yet even by the swift
est the voyage to Australia is Il long and
monotonous passage, and to man with
such anxiety in his mind as was the lot of
Mr.. Burton, it seems endless.


Their passage was as prosperous and nm
eventful as a passage could be: yet even
then, one or two triding incidents occurred
todisturb him and to fill him with the gloom
iasf ahn1 ,,fr r,;l ~
they were far on their way then, and the
greater part of the waste of water which
they had TO traverse lay behind them--Mr.
Burton was Longing on Il bench at the
stern of the vessel, watching the setting
sun, which was spreading II sheet of gold
over the calm sea, and thoughtlully >mol>-
ing cigar, when he heard seaman, who
was engaged in some duty near him, re-
mark to his comrade: II say, Bill, do
you see that line, right under the sun
there ?'


Bill nodded his assent.


''Well," continued the other, that must
be the smoke of steamer | shouldn't
wodder if its the mall


In an instant Burton was on his feet. the
cigar was flung into the sea, and he was
gazing, with his hand shading hisrycs, in
the direction of the setting sun. lie could
see nothing. The practiced eyes of the
seamen were probably able to trace the |
line of which they spoke; but the passcn-
ger could see nothing. lie did not care
about speaking TO the men on the subject |
lest he should show too much anxiety |
but he paced the deck until the last of the |
passengers had retired to his cabin and the |
moon was full in the sky, yet nothing had |
he been able to discover: nor did the fresh |
watch who came upon deck refer to any |
following vessel, so he hoped that at any |
rate. the strange ship-ii one there really |
had been-was not gaining on them.


1t Is certainly not necessary TO dwell on |
the closeness with which Mr., Burton fol- |
lowed their progress on the chart, or the
constancy with which he was present at
the heaving of the log all this goes with
out telling, as the French say. }ut an
other result of his intense anxiety 10 reach
Australia was that he became very ncr-
Nous, and the least thing, such ~ the
slightest surmise uttered within his hear
ing, was enough to startle him: and one
morning he could not touch hi, breakfast
because he heard the officer who had char,re
OF the watch during the night. say to the
officer who relieved him: II thought