THE OMAHA DAILY JiEE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, lPPi.
0
Out of the Doldrums
By Theodo.re
Waters
(Copyright. 1001. by Theoiloro Waters.)
Down In what sailors call tbo hortc
latltudei of tho Atlantic a small tramp
steamer drifted Idly In tho swing of th?
equatorial curront whero It seta mtght.ly
toward Capo St. Itoque. No smoko camo
from Its funnel, no man held Its wh.el
nd the bunting at Its forepeak floated up
sldo down. All around 'It and , -far bshlnd
could bo seen the fins of countless sharks.
They had been following In Its wake tor
days and their attendance on It was due
to the regularity with which certain ob
jects, long, narrow and canvai-eovcred,
were dropped over the side. Oneof th.se
objects Had Just disappeared .with a tplah
In the water and when the last bubtlo had
come to the surface a man and a girl who
and with food and tobacco a plenty and"
"And what" 8he looked at him sharply.
Ho saw the look and ald hastily
"Oh, that was entirely aside, bcll've me.
But meantime, we are forgetting the lr
tumstances that left us here alone. Sup
pose our recent troubles should continue
cuppo;o 1 should be given the opportunity
to cruise alone do you wish me to convey
to anyone "
"No ono will bo Interested," she Inter
rupted, shortly, and rising abruptly walked
awny.
Now tho girl had takcp his last remarks
not at all as he wished sbo had taken them,
but thcro was no way out of It Just then, sj
he concluded to let tho situation work out
Its own salvation. He strolled up to ths
had leaned over tho rail to see the thlrgri awning which had been stretched over tie
go down BtrnlRhtened up and looked a:
one another for sevcrnl moments wllh.ut
peaking. The day- beforo and thu day be
fore that they had cast thcBe cbjects ocr
board with much ltss emotion than charcc
termed this day'ii funeral, but the cenmony
that had Just taken place not only deprived
tho girl of her chief friend and protector
on board, that Is, the captain of tho
steamer, but It left her and her ccmranloi,
the quartermaster, tho only occuptnts tf tlia
vessel.
"Well." said tho man at last, "he's gone.
I am sorry."
"Yes," replied tho girl, "he's gone."
"I nuppoeo I'll bo tho next," hj said.
"Oh, please, please Ion't I" Sho sark
drearily Into a steamer chair nearby aad
covered hti face with her bands. Sho was
not deeply Interested In him, but the pros
pect of being loft alone appalled her ap
palled her moro than tho knowledge that
ho was even then alono on tho ocean with a
man whom she had never met before bo'
tlng foot on the vessel. Sho shlvcrtd
hurricane deck and, lighting a chroot, to.,k
leisurely to scanning the horizon. Tho sun.
beat down on the smooth, aca, but no bjII
Appeared, though he looked through the
captain's binoculars till his eyes ached and
his head hurt. Vet tho awning wai heaven
compared to what ho encountered occasion
ally when, with perfunctory sense of duty,
ho dropped down the ladder Into tho engine
room and opened the bulkhead door of tbo
flro room for a look at the crusted flrjs.
He Rid not llko to stay In there more than
a few minutes at a time.
About noon she called him to his meal
which she had set dalntly in tho uppsr
saloon whero the breczo played gently
through. It was a silent function. She
volunteered no remark and he had resolved
that she should open their next conversa
tion. He helped to clear away ths remains
of tho meal and then went back to his awn
ing. About the middle of ths afternoon ho
caw a lcng gray streak on the horizon and
watched It Intently as t gradually gat
blacker and longer, until ho saw that it wan
papers and fairly dying of homeslcknessl
look at the engine. He worked naked mcst
of the time, and, after each round of the
fires, he turned on the hose from the water
tank and sprayed himself from head to
foot.
And thus In the terrible heat he dragged
lhrni!f.h ( h. mArnlntr. At nnnn hn turned
It was well enough beforo mother died, he t Mm Arn. ami mnn,i ih m.ini.
kept up. Poor mother! I can see her yot dressed himself and went on deck. He
standing In that dirty shed loading guns roun(1 tne Rtri terribly concerned over the
for those disgusting, ogling, Spanish- wnCel, which had suddenly refused to act
spitting bucks. Ugh!" wth lis accustomed case. He nccced off
The quartermaster was caring with half- h.ir nn.ition nn thn chart nn then wnt
closed eyes at tho glare of the sea. He said t0 gt g0mcthlng to eat. During ths meal
nothing and the girl continued: he told her that they were atout seventy
And I am on my way home tp see If tho mll nmrer thn roast than thev had been
Indictment can bo quashed. I believe It Is nl dawn.
the only way to save father's life. If It After dinner they rested four hours to get
cannot be done I shall go back to Itlo and by tho heal of the daVi dVding lne time
take mother's place." between alanine and watchlne. Thev went
From the depths of his chest tho man h:tru , , ,..nrk refresh nnrl when
choked up a word, but suppressed It again ..., took wlth the Kare ana the heat
beforo It got fairly out. Sho looked at him of the gea thcy decided to keep at It several
Inquiringly. hour. ioneer. tf, nehteJ tho side lamp
I nn sorry for you. Miss Annesley," he ftm, .llrnpii nn ,he electric llehta to mini-
said. "Perhaps, however, you will succeed u,le thc chance of collision, and while she
In your purpose when you reach shore." gal up undcr the gtar. playing with the
And, turning from her somewhat abruptly, whce, ile WCnt below decks again to deal
he walked away. She thought hlra 111- wlln ,he flrcgi At 10 o'clock ho told her
mannered, but her Interest In her own to go to bed, but at 3 they were off again,
story, which It was easy to see had become ror they found It moro prudent to He to
the chief moving Impulse of her life, quickly n broad daylight and do their running In
obliterated hlra from her mind, and sho lho ovenlng and early morning. At 9 o'clock
stood thcro communing, until long after the t10 grj was so exhausted that
setting sun had spilled Its gold over tho vado lot her sleep until sunsJt.
sea to make Itself an easy path below tho Tncn they hurried on ogaln, but this
horizon. ,imn ,h irlrk told on him. for after
Early next morning, when the girl went ho came on deck after the run be mado
to prepare breakfast, sho found It already SOvcral Incoherent remark about her father
on tho table, and the quartermaster wait- and whcn sho reDied to tbem he got very
Ing to sit down with her. No referenco anBry Indeed nnd ordered her to bed. Now
was made to the conversation of tho pre- tho girl had only a vague conception of his
vious evening, qui wucn ine mcai was over strenuous life below deck and It hardly ac
Wnde sold briefly: rmttilnit tnr Mm miitdpn ehnni-n of manner.
"Miss Annesley, on second thought I chn .,,i,i imUcnnnt nmi withal
nine ui-ciui-u iu ujr mm iracu nuurc vrmi .nmrwlint frlehlnned. nnd when she ret red
this boat. I have been working at tho en
gine and I beltcvo I can get enough steam
to keep tho old tub going at half speed.
We might try at any rate."
-- " ' ' ' ' '' ' ' ' '
AGAIN AND-AGAIN SHE TH1ED TO RAISE HIM UP THE LADDER, ONLY TO FALL DACK EXHAUSTED.
V-
llghtly, although tho pitch between tho
deck planks bubb'lcd in the heat of the
morning sun, but tho man gazins' moodily
t the water did not notice it. Ho was re
capitulating events as they had lately oc
curred on board.
Tho steamer wan a slnglo arrow tramp,
the kind that piles from ocean to' ocean,
satisfied with any paying cargo and any
destination. Her last port of call had
been Rio de Janeiro and sho had gone thcro
from Calcutta by way pf Good Hope. While
oft the Andaman Islands,' In the Indian
ocean, she had picked up a wretched
Punjabi adrift In n small boat. Ho said ho
was all that was left of a shipload of Mecca
pilgrims wrecked on tbo way from Jeddah
to .Madras. Dut before ho died two days
later ho confessed that In reality ho had
escaped from a plague-Infested ship bound
for tho mouth of tho Ganges'. Thcro was
consternation on tho tramp for many days
after tho Punjabi died, yet tho dlseaeo did not
Immediately manifest its presence. Per
haps tho cooler latltudo held It In check.
They got a clean bill of health at Rlo,
whero the girl took passngo for New York,
nnd congratulated themselves on tholr
escape. Dut when tho steamer got Into tho
-warm belt of tho Atlantic the scourgo Bud
denly broko out on board, killing tho crew
one after another with awful rapidity. At
first they tried to continue on tholr course,
since one port undcr tho circumstances was
as good ns nnother, but' at last they wero
unable to mako any port at all. becauso
they died so fast that panic laid hold of
them and no duo was In condition to work
tho ship. They banked the fires and let Uer
float and, occupied -themselves chiefly- In
watching each other die. And so It camo
at last to tho day of tho captain's funeral,
when no one was left nllvo but tho girl
passenger nnd tho Quartermaster.
Sho had been a ministering ongol to tho
sick and diminishing numbers' had forced
him at last to become scullion In general tp
tho living and tho dead, Rut their Intimacy
bad been occasioned by too much horror to
permit confidences. Now, .howevor, they
were alone, with nothing to do or to think
of that was not equally tho concern of both.
Sho found htm young nnd good to look at
and lho latent possibilities of the situation
mado her nervous. Onco or twlco as tho
crew died off ono by ono this very situation
had occurred to her sho had even won
dered who might bo left alone with her, but
she hud put tho thought, asldp as ono. puts
away tho memory of a bad dream. He
gazing nt her covertly, balf-dlvlned her
thoughts nnd pitied her heartily, for the
refinement of her upbringing was apparent
He suddenly resolved to set her at case,
That she noeded reassuring was evident
from her startled raauncr when she snw him
vnll; toward her.
"Well," ho began, seating hlnuelf on tho
rail In front of her and plunging Into his
subject: "the situation looks somewhat
lurid, 1 suppose, but It might b? o:a, you
Know."
She did not answer.
"I mean," ho continued, "that we n e
somewhat out of the track of vessel, but
ve are drifting westward toward tho Wind
vard lilands. It will only be a' mutter of
time until wo sight cne of them. Luckily
wo have n good boat under us ond pro
visions enough to last months If nects
ary."
"Months!" sho gasped, horrlfltd nt th
prospect, "nut can we not do something;
can we not go somewnerci"
"I'm afraid not. The crew riumbero
nineteen, and you know they banked th
fires when thcy gat down to eight and that
fire holewell, I wasn't brought up to llvo
In such a climate. However, wo piay bn
sighted by some other vcisel, In which cesu
1 will ask the captain to taae you off."
"And you ?'
"Oh. I " Ho smiled curiously. I hay,e
not been oft this boat for a long, L ns
time, neslde there nro reasons why I
would rather take my chances aboard It."
"Rut you canuot "
"float forovcr lntha doldrums? Well,
ptrhapi not, but It Is not the storm season
smoko., from .a two-funnel steamer. He
went to a skylight and called, tho fact down
to whero sho sat writing at a table. She
put up her writing without a word and
came out on deck. The steamer boro down
on tholr distress signal and lay to within
hailing distance
"SteamciY'ahoy!" bellowed a volco from
tho'1 bridgo of tho newcomer, "what
steamer's that?''
'Deerhound! Rlo to N' York. What
steamer's that?"
Zcnobla, Galveston, with mules for the
enpo. What s tho matter? '
"Rcrlborl. All dead but two. Will you
take a passenger a woman?"
'Not unless you'ro in danger of sinking.
Don't want to hurt our health bill. British
government contract, you know. Can wo
help you otherwise. Want medicine?"
"No; havo plenty, Whero are wo?"
"Seventeen nnd Ave north; forty-seven
west."
"Thanks! Goodby."
"Guodby,"
In another minute tho Zcnobla was off
and thc Deerhound was rocking in her
wake. Tho quartermaster walked forward.
"Dirty hound," ho muttered, to himself.
Ho'd n taken ,hcr quick enough If I'd effer
him tho boat In return. -Rut not If I know
It, Mister Mulodrlvert Not when this cur
rent will take us Inside the calvage limit
nnd ask no pay for the Job." And unwind
ing the- peak halliards from the cleat, he
deliberately hauled down tho flag of dls-
trees.
"Well." ho said, when ho came back to
whero the girl was standing, "you see,
they wouldn't take you not even to South
Africa."
Thank you very much." sho said softly.
"You did what yon could."
Already far In tho dlstanco the hurry
Ing vweel was kicking back the fcara as
though sbo knew and was anxious to put
as much distance ns posslblo between It
nnd Its pcstllenco Infected stttor ship, and
to lha girl It typified that attitude of the
whole world toward herself. It mado her
feel hor Uolatlon tho more koenly. Yet thc
Incident begot for her a confldenco In tho
man which thoretoforo had not cxlsto.l.
Turning to him suddenly, sho said Impul
sively:
"Mr. Wade, you asked me this morning
If I bad a mcscnge to leave In case well, of
course, It Is right that you should kucw, nt
least, who I am. You havo doubtless heard
the captain call me Miss Annesley. I am
Mary Annesley. My fathor Is Henry An
neeley of Rlo, formerly of Columbus, Ohlo--I
why did you know him?"
Apprehension spread upon her features,
but the expression on the man's faco would
havo been hard to characterize. Ho trlod
tp nppenr unconcerned, but It ended In liU
sitting down suddenly and smlllug In n
queer manner.
"No no" ho said. "Thut is yes, of
course I havo heard of your father before
before I used to live In Columbus tha
l, years ugo."
The girl turned her head away.
"Thon you know ycu know" she
stopped.
"Well, you Bee," ho said hastily, "tho de
tails of the affair were not I went to sen
before the affair was definitely your
father," ho ended desperately, "ho Is dolus
woll?"
"Dolnz welll" She smiled bitterly. "Ho
Is running a shooting gallery In Rlo,"
"nut what became of"
"Tho money? ""Aiere was no money. Oh
yes, I know, It sounds like the old story
but I know. It would havo been far bene
It father had regained nt home and faced
the oxnosure. I believe he could have
proved that he was the dupe of that gang
of bond forgers. He honestly believed It
was good paper when he accepted It. nut
when the bank closed its doors that day
and so many of his friends went down with
U ha rould not bear to look tbem In tho
face. His going awny so suddenly made It
look like complicity and they Indicted him
Rut, oh, If you could Bee him now, leaning
over bis counter, reading old New York
"Wo!" 1
"Yes; you must be quartermaster and
cook. I'll be engineer and stoker. With
fair weather and the equatorial current to
help us we should make the American coast
In a few days. I cannot say Just where
I'm not enough of a navigator but some
where."
She looked at hlra curiously, wondering
what had suddenly caused him to give up
his Idea of floating In thc doldrums. Ho
saw tho look and added hastily:
You had better put on old clothes if you
have them with you. And we must hurry
so as to make the most of tho day's work."
Then he hurried out of tho saloon.
When sho was ready sho started after
sho was careful to lock tho door of her
room. Sho got little sleep that night. In
the early morning, however, he seemed to
havo recovered. Ho made no reference to
his words of tho night beforo and by day
light they were undcr way.
Now thcy had gono over 300 miles to the
westward, between tho tenth and twentieth
parallels, or Just south of tho regular sail
ing routo by way of the trades, and ho had
told her that morning to look out for land
nnd notify him at onco, for ho reckoned
they wero ncartng tho Windward Islands.
With this in mind sho whistled Joyfully
down tho tube when tho morning was half
over to tell him of a deep haze which lay
off tho port bow. Ho did not answer tho
calt nnd later, when ihe saw plainly that It
whB land, she whistled again. Yet ho did
not reply. Onco again did Bhe call, without
result, nnd then, with a foreboding of some
thing wrong, she left tho whcol to take care
of Itself and ran to the door of tho cnglno
room. She called again and waited, and
then climbed fearfully down tho laddor that
led to the running floor! Ho was not thero.
She halted by the great piece of mechanism,
awed by lu stately movement. Then she
started to walk around It. A sudden hissing
of steam from a cock sent her In a panic
halt way up tho ladder. It stopped and sho
cume down again, wondering where Wado
could bo. She saw an Iron door In tho
wall. It was caught by an Iron lever rest
ing In a cleat. She lifted tho lever and the
door swung open. A blast of air hot as a
flame almost knocked her down. She peered
within, shielding her face with her hands.
She heard the roar of tho furnace and saw
Its black doors outlined by tho i. mea
which leaped through' the cracks, while
sho was trying to see Into the surrounding
blackness ono of the doors blow open and
In the sudden light that flooded tho room
she saw Wade lying prone on the floor.
Sbo cried out and stepped back,, frightened
by the sight and the jitjat, but, nerved to
deeds by the experience of. the last few
days, she grabbed a'lotis climber hook
lying by tho man's hands,. isnd, inserting it
In the handle of the fire door, pushed It
shut with all her might. And then, catch
ing Wade under tho arms, she dragged him
Into the cnglno room and closed the bulk
head door. i
He was still alive, but she knew that the
slight spark that was left In him would go
out It sho did not Immediately get him to
tho deck. Again and again she lifted him
up tho first steps of the ladder, only to fall
back exhausted each time. And she was
making a final try for It when there came
a shock that mado the whole ship trombie
and a sudden lurch pitched her head fore
most on tho body of Wade, crushing him to
the floor. Dazed and thoroughly terrified,
V. I ... CI.. I 1. .1 .1 I.I. . 1. -
. .iv. .. . I... she ran up tho laddor and out on deck.
rindlrniw nnm fnr.h nrt nntiv n.nrtn,! They wero close Inshore, but ,tbey were not
timidly to go down the Iron ladder that led
to the gallery above tho cylinder-heads.
Ho called out Immediately from below
O, Miss Annesley, you must not come
down here." He came up the ladder
quickly and stepped out on deck. Great
beads of sweat hung upon his forehead and
ho was panting.
o, sno sain, "really you must go
slower. Haste Is dangerous In this climate
and It In going to bo a very hot day,
"Yes, ' ho answered dryly, "I shouldn't
wonder ver'y hot. But let us go up to tho
bridge."
moving. Left to hersolf, tho steamer poked
her nose Into a mudbank and her engines
wero striving hard to keep hor fast
aground. Other vessels lay at anchor In
tho roadstead and boatloads or men iroin
a white ship nearby were hurrying toward
the tramp.
Ono day about six months after the abova
events took place a South American steamer
on the way to Now York dropped anchor
In tho harbor of San Juan, Porto Rico, on
her deck stbod a young girl nnd a prema
turely-aged man.
"'" uu"" l,i ..1.11,1. In whnrn n nnr hnnv -waved
that tho steamer was drifting with her ' hft tl(ln nbout mudbank. "That
nose. iD mo nonnwesi. ins gust, suuoa where W(J ran aground, Tho transport
1 , , I .7 "C ' C,. " from which tho boats came lay over In
told the girl to hold it where it was while h, dircctton. They had not far to go,
no wenv oe.ow .gam axaurjng ner msi ns mJt tho saUor. a,d that flye n,nutca raore
. r , ...i i , Tv , ; and they would have been too late to' save
: " r tho boilers and tne snip woum navo oeen
easy to move And then ho ran off, lcav- ... , , ,v riniv ihinv nt it."
ing her standing comfortably under tho ..j dQ t WQnt t0 thlnk 0, .. reped
awning grasping tho spokes. He was gone he man wouId much rather think of
i v 1 1 ft I.... iu -hi auv nuuucicu nuai uu
the glorious things that happened after.
was doing. Rut presently the funnel of wnrdlflrst the nuashlng of tho Indictment
tho tramp began to vibrato llko an Immense
drum nnd to belch forth smoke, And sud
denly tho wheel became as pliable as a toy
nnd Bho realized that the boat was moving
slowly through the water. At the same
tlmo Wado came running back to tho
bridge. He was stripped to the waist and
with his upper clothes had gone tbo last
vestige of his ceremony. Ho took tho
wheel nnd swung it over sovoral points
"There." he said, "tho course It to the
west-northwest. See, now, if you movo this
wheel to tho right so her noso will turn
to the left o her noso will turn to the
right there, see that. So keep her hero
at this point until I como again. Dut it
anything goes wrong if another vessel
comes In plain sight, call mo at once
through this tube." And without further
ndo he ran below again
It was a long morning to tho girl on the
bridge. At flrst there was tho novelty of
feeling that the groat moving mass undor
Ler was completely subservient to hor
command nnd soveral Units she could not
resist the temptation to prova its subscr
vlency by making the steamer veer to port
or to starboard and back again to tho
course. Tbo glnre of tho water hurt her
eyes and made her head ache. The hours
dragged by wearily.
Dut If the morning seemed long to tfce
girl It was an ago to tho man. Thc englno
Itself should have had all his tlmo, but
having gone over It once with oil and
waste, ho was compelled to leave It to the
mercy cf the sicam-olllng aparatus, for the
fires needed his constant attention. His
knowledge of boilers nnd engines was con
fined to what ho had picked up on this very
vwsel and having established certain dangor
limits on tbo gauges be was careful to keep
within tbem. Rut bis utmost exertlcn was
not likely to work the mechanism up to
the smashing point. Thc real dangor lay to
himself. So he adopted a rule of action to
keep within bounds. He opened the buckor
doors and let the coal stream out on the
floors, whero he could get at It moro casl'y,
Then as the fire doors opened out of the
ends of the cubo formed by the firebox, he
made it a point to charge twice around the
cube, working door after door between each
and then alt this money for bringing In
tho ship. You are, Indeed, a wonderful
girl. Mary."
"The credit Is not mine, rather, it was
fate; Just fate."
"Strange, I cannot place that man Wade.'
"No? Well, father, his real name was
Gadsford.
"Gadsford! Why, that Is the name of
tbo scoundrel who
"Yes, I know, father," Interrupted the
girl softly. "Dut he Is nt rest In tho cem
ctery back of San Juan and It was from
his delirium, as ho died In ray arms that
day, I gained the Information that helped
your case so much with tho attorney gen
oral."
ONE
MINUTE
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