The Last Voyage
of 15he
Borma Isabel
f By Randall Parrish
Author of Bob Hampton ot Placer.
Illustrations bv Deaborn Melviil
f her she must have boon locked up
in the he south there for a century."
"Do you expect to sail her north
ward?" "I hardly know yet what to export:
that remains to be sevu. She seems
to ride the water stanchly enough and
there Is fully 30 feet ot mast standing
yonder. Anyhow, this deck at pres
ent is better than an open boat."
"Hut but it is all so ghastly, so
ghost-like Celeste is fairly crazy from
the horror."
"It is merely the effect of the moon
light glimmering on the ice; every
thing is ice wherever your eyes turn.
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"Surely you do not mean it. Jack?"
almost pleadingly, her hand reaching
blindly out for mine. "You can not
bring me to such shame, such trial?"
"It is not shame," I answered earn
sUy, all my soul revolting against
the word, "it may be trial, but it is
not shame. In the face of death you
have confessed you love me, and In
the face of death I shall endeavor to
Tetaln that love- I should be no man
If I did less. Shame! Do not use
that term between us. What was there
lioly or divine in the selling of you
to that English peer? Why should
that act of mere barter hold us apart?
The law of God is paramount to tho
law of man. Doris, you are mine, al
though you yet withhold the pledge of
the lips; mine everywhere and for
ever; mine here in this desolate reach
of sea, and mine yonder in the great
world, if we ever again attain it. I
never will yield you up to another;
never relinquish my claim. Against
nature and man I shall endeavor to
hold what is my own."
One moment I gazed down into her
yes, penetrating to the gray depths,
and perceiving there a sudden out
burst of passion which she did not
even seek to conceal. It was a revela
tion absolute and complete, a revela
tion never to be forgotten. Yet she
did not touch me, did not answer in
-words, and in another instant her
glance turned away out over the grim
desolation of waters. I was still look
ing at her, Intoxicated by what I had
een, when she pointed excitedly for
ward. "In heaven's name, what is that?"
Hardly had my glance shifted when
Kelly leaped to his feet, his voice
raised in a wild yell.
"Mither of God, sorr, there's a
ship!"
CHAPTER XXIII
In Which We Board a Derelict.
I saw the sleepers cast off their cov
erings and rise up startled and staring,
but I could only gaze dumbly at the
apparition before us, doubting the evi
dence of my own eyes and unable to
titter a sound. At that first glance 1
believed the thing Illusion, a mirage of
the deep, a shadow-ship mocking us
with semblance of reality. The cold
silvery light played along her glisten
ing side, causing the whole extent of
the vessel to gleam back into our eyes
like a great mirror, while the very
shape and form of the silently gliding
specter appeared a survival from out
the dead past, a ghastly relic of cen
turies gone uplifted from those som
ber depths below. The silence, gloom,
the dim outline of the great hull, the
strange glimmer of it from bow to i
stern; all combined to make it seem j
a ghost-ship, sported with by the j
waves. It moved slowly under the J
Impelling power of the wind beating
against the broad high stern, the !
blunt bows scarcely rippling the wa-1
ter, passing almost directly across our !
track, appearing more like a painted
picture than anything constructed of
wood and iron. Out of the night, dim,
visionary, it swam before us, a weird, l
uncanny thing, chilling the blood with
Its ghostllness. I rul)be3 my eyes,
staring at the silvery reflection, my
heart pulsing with a horror which set
me trembling.
Yet, little by little, my mind began
to apprehend the truth, my reason to
firaap the details. Mist or reality,
there directly before us floated what
appeared to be the outlines of a ship
battered, wrecked, odd In form yet a
ship, moving upright upon the surface
of the attr, Good God! what a mad
dream of the past was represented yon
der! Those round, blunt bows, the broken
bowsprit, heavy ns a mast, forking
straight upward; the great carven,
shapeless figurehead beneath; the
wide, elevated forecastle deck; the
seemingly tremendous thickness of the
bulwarks; the strange slope of deck ,
and rail amidships; the Immense rem
nant of a foremast towering in splint
ers; the broad, square stern, even
over topping the holght of the peaked
forecastle. That was a grim thing to
met with In those waters. j
"Stand by, men!" I called, the trem
ble still in my command. "If the thing
yonder bo wood and iron we'll board
her."
Not a voice responded, their bodies
tense and motionless, every eye Rtlll
on that dim, phantom gleam. With
clenched teeth I pressed the tiller
bard down, and tho bows of the long
boat headed straight In. Suddenly Do
Nova leaped to h!s feet.
"Ship ahoy!" he yelled,' the note of
fear sounding shrilly.
In the Intense silence I could plain
ly hear the heavy breathing of the ex
cited men.
"There will be no use hailing." I
ald, strengthened by tho sound of my
own voice. "If that be a vessel, her
crew are dead a hundred years."
"And by God, It Is. sir!" ejaculated
.lohnFon, who wns on his kneys In the
how. "It's n real ship, all right. That's
Ire that glitters, she's sheeted In It
from tit oui to stern."
I siiw It mvsolf then, every doubt of
the real character Of tuTs dreaT visi
tant vanishing; my courage. came back
in a rush.
"Ay, ay, lads, Johnson has hit it
right. That's a ship for us, and now
we'll see what she looks like on deck.
Get a grip with your boat-hook, John
son, on that raft of stuff trailing from
the forechalns, when I lay her along
side. Strike the wood if you can, the
cordage is likely to be rotten."
He missed it at the first attempt,
the hook slipping on the ice; but as I
brought the longboat around once
more, he succeeded in getting a grip
upon something sufficiently firm and
held on, the fellows staring up silently
at the bulging side, and touching the
thick sheathing of ice as though half
demented.
"Make fast. Break the ice out of
that ring, Kelly, and pass a stout rope
through it. Now furl the sail, the
rest of you. Fend her off, Cole; that's
oil right, keep your oar there. Mr.
De Nova, you will remain in charge
of the boat. I'll see what she looks
like aboard; Johnson, come along with
nis."
I picked my way forward into the
bows and stood up, striving to obtain
some kind ot a grip on the forechalns
which would enable me to haul myself
up. Everything I touched was ice, so
thick as to render objects shapeless.
"Give me a lift, Kelly; easy, now,
until I get a handhold. There, that
will do, my lad."
It was a slippery, dangerous perch,
the vessel plunging somewhat, but the
upper ice was slightly powdered with
snow, yielding a little purchase, and I
finally discovered a brace for my feet
which enabled me to reach down and
assist Johnson to scramble up beside
me. Fortunately the bulwarks were
not so high proportionately as wide,
and we succeeded In sliding over
them, coming down rather heavily on
the solid deck. Here the snow made
walking possible, although underneath
the ice was thick and smooth, com
pelling caution. All forward was a ter
rible raffle of wreckage, a jumbled
mass of tangled spars, with the great
topmast and all Its hamper right
where It had fallen, a portion of tho
port bulwark smashed flat. A hum
mock of Ice rose like a great hill from
abaft the butt of tho foremast, which
"Don't Lose Your Nerve, Man, You've
Seen Dead Men Before."
But you are safe enough here, and
with daylight the ghostliness of it will
vanish."
"Where are you going now?"
"To break into the cabin; then we
will have a decent place in which to
stay perhaps a chance for a fire. It
is not likely to prove a long Job, and
I will be back to you shortly. Don't
let the night shadows frighten you so."
She smiled back Into my eyes brave
ly enough, although I realized the ef
fort of will that it cost; and bo I left
her endeavoring to cheer the girl, who
was sobbing wildly, with her face
burled in her hands.
The men Joined me as I stepped
without, crunching the light snow un
der their heavy boots, and staring un
easily about them as though the whole
adventure was a dream. Lord! and
no more could I shake off that same
impression as I surveyed the scene
aft. A boat, bottom up, the planks
smashed beyond repair, lay against
the starboard rail. Tho after-cabin
built like a house, extended the entire
width of the deck, a lumping affair,
overhung with huge, projecting tim
bers, topped by ornate carvings, and
having two companlonways leading up
one of them crushed Into splinters
The forward shutters were tightly
closed, and the whole front appeared
a solid mass of glittering Ice, so ob-
stuck up maybe 30 feet, clear over the , scurcd by frozen particles of snow as
forecastle deck, leaving everything j t0 ren(iCr any discovery of the door ao
ImpossiDlllTy. We began hacking at
it with our knives, Judging the opening
would naturally be at the center, but
the sheathing of ice proved so thick
and solid that we made little Impres
sion. "It will take us a week to cut our
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shapeless and grotesque Where the
slope was steepest, the wind had swept
away the snow leaving the ice beneath
clear; and there, frozen completely
in, like a painted picture, was the fully
revealed body of a man. I never saw
any sight more grewsome than that
ice-shrouded figure; the amis out
stretched, the short, black beard ren
dering more ghastly the white, dead
face. I gripped my hands onto John
son's shoulder, and he was shaking
like an aspen, his own face colorless
in the moonshine. I wheeled him
about savagely.
"Don't lose your nerve, man. You've
seen dead men before. Come, there's
nothing to do hero; we'll try how she
looks aft."
He followed me like a dog, casting
uneasy glances backward over his
shoulder. The deck was clearer of
raffle beyond the foremast, a great
gap in the port-bulwarks amidships I wor(g.
showing where tho wreckage nna
probably been swept overboard. The
mainmast had been ripped out, leav
ing a great, ugly gash in the deck
plank, and In falling had so smashed
flat one corner of the cook's galley that
we could look In through the Jagged
opening thus left. All tho front por- ,
tlon was snow and Ice, hut the further i
extremity appeared dry enough, re
vealing a brick oven, a table screwed
to the wall, and an overturned scuttle
of coals Uttering the deck. It was not
a desirable spot, yet would afford pro
tection from the frosty night wind,
and bo much better than the open
boat. Besides. I realized how those
way in with these things," I said at
last. "De Nova, I think I saw an ax
frozen in at the left of the galley.
Take a man with you and pry it out."
It proved an odd-looking instrument
a meat-cleaver, I imagine but was
sufficiently strong and heavy. Kelly
swung it vigorously, cleaving off the
ice in cakes, until we were finally able
to trace the fitting of the door. Sud
denly, striking at the upper panel, he
dislodged a considerable chunk, thus
revealing half a dozen letters painted
across the front. Dade pried off a few
Inches more with his knife-blade, and
we stared up incredulously at the
3on;i Jsabcl
(TartU
"Holy Mother of God!" and P No
va, in his excitement, danced about
recklessly, forgetting the sllpperlness
of deck underfoot. "It was ze treas
ure ship! It was zo free million
pesos! Sucre dam'!
As they laborod" feverishly, their
breath steaming in the frosty air, the
others must fed down there, bobbing moonlight silvering them and gleam-
uu and down agaiust those lco-iaked
sides. " '
"Johnson," I said, my eyes wander
ing toward the dimly revealed front of
the after-cabin, which appeared utter
ly shapeless under its mantle. "We've
got quite a Job ahead of us to break
through this wreckage. I'm for hav
ing the rest of the crew up to help
us. Climb over into tho main chains
and cut out some steps with your
knlfo. We'll have them drop bnck
there and unload. Then tho women
won't be obliged to see that dead man
for'ard."
He was some minutes at the task,
and I decupled tho time in kicking
aside some of the litter In tho galley
and making the dreary Interior a bit
more decent, having the men pass up
some spare blankets, and spreading
them out on deck. Finally Kelly and
the negro scrambled up, and between
us wo succeeded In lifting I.ady Dar
lington and Celeste over tho ley bul
warks. The latter clung sobbing to
Do Nova, but my lady kiwI about her
wonderlngly, her eyes full of ques
tions. Without speaking wo stowed
them away uiulor shelter.
"She Is certainly a relic," I paused
long enough to say, "one of tho old-
ing weirdly on the scattered Ice-frag'
ments, the haunting mystery of that
hermetically sealed cabin brought to
me a feeling of unutterable horror.
Heaven! how long had It been thus
frozen In? What awful tragedy ot an
other itentury was about to be re
vealed? What years of loneliness, of
darkness, of polar night and cold had
this derelict of the grim Antarctic ex
perienced? Where had it been? What
of those who hnd sailed on board out
ot Guayaquil that fair Juno day of
17D3, dreaming of the glad welcome
awaiting them in sunny Spain? What
of the crew, hardy seamen all, black
bearded, the gold loops In their ears?
What of the passengers? What of the
five women who had walked these
decks? Where had they died, and
how?
I clenched my hands, my nerves
throbbing, tramping from rail to rail
in excitement as the men hacked, yet
I wns first to grasp the exposed latch,
and force tho released wood back
ward In Its groves. Through the nar
how opening thus attained there came
whistling a blust so frigid as to drive
us headlong back, gasping for breath.
Cold as It w,as without there on the
(To be Continued)
rices Sometimes
Toll
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Our July Clearance Sale is a "warm one" almost as hot as
the weather. Piles of goods distributed to cheerful buyers. Sat
urday a red letter day in point of sales. Our force worked to the
limit. Some lines are depleted, but we are still strong on Under
wear, Single Pants for Men Boys and Children, Hosiery, Straw
Hats, Shirts, all kinds and sizes, Boy's and Children's Suits, Men's
Suits and Night Gowns, Kerchiefs and Neckwear. The public is
solicited to examine these goods and avail themselves of these
clearance prices:
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Men's full-size hemstitched
fin white handkerchiefs. See
them in our east window.
Also turkey red and indigo blue.
Also at this price men's and boy's
straw hats.
Here we offer you a big
PJ Jl nc so shirts, with
JKJJ or without collars, in
light blues, fancy stripes and polka
dots. Full cut, well made. Every
one less than cost to make. They're
going fast.
flft Men's fast color fine guage
Ijl. brown cotton sox. Goodfor
dress or work wear, regular
15c value, all sizes 9J4 to 11.
I Of Here's a bargain in wash
Im ies vve Just rcccived from
l4lU New York Saturday. They
are full size four-in-hands, in light
and dark colors, and only 12c each.
stragglers from
'5c and $1.00 and
straw hat lines.
go at this remarkable low price.
Better come quick.
16c
Boy's black ribbed stock
ings, Tom Sawyer brand,
almost indestructible, last
colors, will out wear two pair ordi
nary hose. Sizes 6 to all that's
left.
4c
Boy's wash suits, in
either blouse or Buster
Brown style, knickei-
bocker pants. All new goods this
season. Another big bargain for a
busy mother. Sixes 2l2 to 8 cars.
Boy's blue cheviot shirts,
with solt collar attached,
sizes 6 to 12 vears. All
made and ready to put on for what
the cloth is worth.
23c
P n Here's where we put
fjjjip you to sleep. Men's
vJU full size bell shape night
gowns, either with or without col
lars, nicely trimmed. Were about
200 of these Saturday morning but
the pile is fast melting.
25c
All remnants of medium
priced straw hats lines are
bunched at this one price
to close. Includes helmets and fish
erman hats.
69c
Here's the big shirt
bargain. People have
gone wild over this lot.
We bought a manufacturer's sample
line, in shirts that sold at $1.25 to
$1.50 and give your choice at 69c.
Sizes 14 to 17.
Boy's knee pants, plain
and knickerbocker in all
wool and wash iroods.
A big bargain for a busy mother;
Sizes 3 to 8 and a few large sizes.
26c
file
If you want a good
yacht straw hat this
season style.in hats that
sold for $1.50 and $2 00, better get
one of these at this low price to move
them out.
A few boy's fine waists
left at this price in sizes
to 15. Also at this
price choice of fine line of 50c silk 4-in-hand.
A real snap.
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Here's pants,
good pants, some
of them all wool,
some, part wool, some of them
Dutchess. Pants that will give you
twice the wear of any ordinary
cheap pants. To close $1.45.
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This lot of pants has made a stir. It was the first lot we
put out, mostly Dutchess. Some light colors; most dark
and medium. Such nants as vou will nav $3 and $4 for else
where. Nowhere for cash $1.99.
E. Wescott's Somis
"Where Quality Counts."
THE HOME OF SATISFACTION!
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Many other bargains we cannot list including pants at
$2.48, suits $7.09, raincoats $9.98, fur huts $1.48, etc. Every
thing just as advertised. No monkey business. No cash register
tickets. No sale goods charged.
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I lies I'lipcnt of Drainage, DNtrlct.
County Clerk Itosencrans ia in
receipt of tho papers regarding tho
newly organized Ashland drainage
district. This district which com
prises roiiHlderahle territory In tho
uorthweHtern part of tho county, ex
tends up tho Salt Creek valley from
the mouth of the stream to Lincoln.
Tho papers hnve to ho filed In tho
several counties which nro Included
In Its territory which aro: Lancas
ter, Ciihs and Saunders. Tho or
ganization was formed In Sntindera
county ami tho papers filed, Includu
tho petition and plat (lied with tho
Saunders County board, tho peti
tioners bond, tho notice of election,
tho order of tho county rommlsslon
cth of Saunders county, tho proof
of publication of the election call la
tho Wahoo Democrat and the Plattn
mouth Journal, tho notice to bhrIrI
nntH on tho canvassing board, the
oath and report of tho canvassing
board showing tho district to have
been duly approved by tho voters of
tho dlHtrlct.
Dally Journal, 10c mt week.