The Diamond Derelict Being the Record of a
Young Man Who Finally Won Out By Edward Marshall
llT
(Copyright. All Klghtn Itenprved, by
F. 1,. Marshall.)
('IIAl'TKIt XV.
A horse never known how fust he ran run
till he gits iv llek with a whip The I.oK
Book of The l.yridy.
"t 1 1 K fire harrier nmidshlpn cut the
I I huhltnhlp portions of I hi' I.ydla
I UL..If.1,l. .l.wl. In .... A r.,..iln
veil of flames uml smokp nlmont
prevented 1'nrtiin from even see
ing thp group of p inic-strlckpn men who
Were gathered forwnnl about thp mate.
Whether or not thp mute was aware of
thp dangeroun quality of UiHt dozen or two
Of cases wlilrli wrrp stowed amidships, nm)
Which wire entered on thp ship's manifest
en "chemlcnln." I'arton did not know, but
that thpre wan wild fright In thp toren in
which thp orders were riven ami wilil
haste In the way In which the men obeypil
tlipm thprp could hp no- doubt whatever.
No attpntion nt nil wim pulil to thp pissen
ger who hIoimI aft. before thp cnbln rum
liunlonwny, nor luter to the sight of the
two men who Joined him there. Kven an
Parton watched through the smother of
the smoke and the flashing of thp fire, he
Haw that thp men forward had lowered thu
boats upon both bows, and were tumhllng
rapidly over the ship's sides and Into them
With wild dt-H!erat!on.
At the ntern of the l,ydla Skolfe d were
overhanging timbers from which the nmatl
boat hung when slip lay In harbor; but
one of the first duties after she hud left
port win to take this little craft aboard
and house her on the cabin roof, Just abaft
the mtzzen must. She was canvas wrapie
and clowly lashed. I'arton presumed that
her oars were In her. having been placed
beneath tho thwnrtn before she had been
overturned and boused. He called to thn
two nun to help him right her and get
her overbourd. They worked with a will,
and roon hud her swinging from the ship's
low stern.
both mpn were In her as Parton rushel
below to get the captain, but even as he
dashed down the companlonwuy a change
of wind brought a blinding gust of smoke.
nd a sheet of flume across the narrow
door, which made It difficult and dangerous
for him to enter. He shielded his face and
eyes as well as hp could with his arm and
plunged through the hot swirl. In the
cabin there was no flame us yet. but thn
sir had become so thick and foul with
smoke that he could scarcely see, and every
breath filled his lungs with stinging, chok
ing vapor.
The men only partially dressed the cap
tain, and. so far as Pnrton could Judge
from the hasty Inspection of hltu which
was possible In the desperate circumstances,
he had liecome wholly lifeless. There was
none of the babbling talk which had been
such an uncanny feature of his prostration.
The labored breathing which had alter
nately raised and lowered his great chest
during the days that had passed since he
was stricken had apparently ceased. When
Parton placed his amis about him his
body seemed limp and lifwies. and Parton
shuddered as the thought came to him
that the shock had killed him and that
fts he hurried from the cabin with him he
was bearing In bis arms a corpse.
When he reached the deck he was
greeted by a Minding swirl of smoke, and
red topgues of flame curled toward him
through the murk threateningly. He could
feel q-ilck flashes over his face, and he
knew that they meant that his beard and
mustache bad fallen victim to a razor
m rc effective In Us destruction than that
which he had wielded that day In the
Charing Cross hotel.
He was almost bliuded. and the on
slaught of the smoke made his eyes smart
with an almost Intolerable pain. For a
second he waa confused. He scarcely
knew which way to turn to reach the ves
sel's stern. And even when he had reached
thpre his state seemed scarcely better, for
the low-hanging smoke mass so blinded him
that he could not have located the boat
even if the two sailors In It had been
brave enough to hold her close to the
Mating, smoking menace of the ship.
Parton hesitated only for a moment.
He laid the captain down upon the deck.
Then he wrenched the three gratings from
the deck about the wheel. From the
thwarts about the base of the mizsen mast
he desperately caught a line, not stop
plug even to unlash It. He made the free
end of It fast to the three gatlngs, pass
ing It through their bars, and tying a
m ist unseams nllke knot to secure it cm the
last one of the three. Then he cast the.n
verboard.
By the time he had done this lie was
almost Inrnpable of (light, and it wan with
tho greatest difficulty that he found the
captain where he had laid him on the
deck. The burning In his lungs, caused
by the smoke which he bad Inhaled, im
pelled a constant and convulsive cnughins,
that weakened and racked him so that he
could scarcely stagger to the rail with the.
captain's body In his arms. Once there,
he precipitated himself from the ship with
no definite effort at a spring. It was a
merely random plunge, but It waa .ail of
which he waa capable. For a second he
felt himself, still with the captain tightly
encircled by both nrms, wholly Immersed
In ihe cool wuter of the ocean. When he
rone to the surface his bead struck what he
knew must be one of the floating gratings
He, struggled desperately to make his raft
move more rapidly. Weariness waa tell
ing on him. He tried to shout, but could
not. In the very midst of this crisis he
heard cries close at hand and there popped
out of the smoke close to him one of the
ship's boats. It was the one of which
the mate had taken command.
He felt that bin strength was giving
out and he caught at the oar which was
nearest to him. It wan his movement
in doing this that called the attention of
the men in the boat to the fact that ho
waa there. The boat was shooting past
Mm as he caught this oar.
The man whose hands were on It and
the mate saw htm and recognized him at
the same moment. The man stared at him
severe that it struck I'arton on the chest
as might a Hut blow, and left Mm almost
breathless.
A moment later a great swell, much
larger than the regular, rhythmic ocean
undulation on which lie had risen and fallen
pvr since he had l'en In the water, over
took him and almost overwhelmed him. As
he rose, sputtering, above It, he realized
that the humtierite had done its work and
that the I.ydia Skolfeld had blown up.
It dazed him.
A moment later he was recalled to tho
affairs of the passing moment by the sound
of a hoarse, choking sob from the captain's
grating. Then there caine the words In
the strange voice which signalled the old
man's marvelous recovery of the power
UK MANAGED TO TIK THK INKBT BODY TO THK GRATINGS.
which he had thrown overboard.
' The plunge into the sea had cleared his
wits somewhat and with infinite difficulty
he managed to roll the captain's inert
body over until It rested on the gratings.
Then he made It fast there, temporarily,
by putting about it a half-hitch of the
doubled line.
The smoke pall was heavy on Mm at the
surface, and he had much dlficulty in suf
ficiently controlling his nerves and muscles
to make It . possible for him to get his
clasp knife from his pocket with one hand
while with the other he held to the grat
ing, which. Hiring and falling on the long
well of the Atlantic, neemed to endeavor
Intelligently to elude him.
But at last the line which anchored the
gratings to the burning sliip was severed,
and with alow and painful strokes he
swam, trying to force the raft out of that
dreadful pall of stifling smoke.
A dozen times he hud to duck his brad
beneath the water to ease his burning
eyes. A dozen times he feared that he had
lost the sense of direction and was pushing
the floating gratings nearer to instead of
farther away from the burning vessel.
Bits of sail and tackle flew blazing
through the air and fell on him or around
hint, hissing as they were extinguished by
the water of the sea. More than once,
with Infinite effort, he thrust some flaming
bit from off the prostrate uaid insensate
body of the captain.
It seemed to hint that It must be that
he was swimming in the very course of
the amnke. which streamed with the wind
from the blazina vessel, but still he feared
that If he changed his course he would
take himself and his helpless charge back
so nesr to the wreck tbst they would be
truck by falling spars or Involved In the
grneral destruction which would come
with the explosion.
.The tremendous detonation which would
tell that the Are had reached the humbcr
Ite he expected every moment. If It should
occur while they were near to the sliip he
knew tht their escape would be practically
cut of the question.
In stupid amazement. The mate struck
viciously at his head with a long bout
hoik with which he was fending floating
wreckage away from the bows, but did not
hit him. Not an articulate sound was ut
tered oil either elde. The oar was left
floating in Part in 's hands; hut the boat
shot through the smoke and 'out of sight.
After it had passed Parton heard a stream
of oaths, -which he knew were uttered by
the mate and which struggled back to
him through the thick air, gradually be
coming less and less distinct as the dis
tance between him and the boat became
greater.
Perhaps it was anger at the inhuman
conduct of the mate, who had thus aban
doned them; perhaps It was the aid which
he got from the oar which he swung
around so that it rested beneath his chin.
At uny rate, Parton put forth new energy
and, a moment later, emerged from the
stream of smoke with a suddenexs which
made him feel as if he bad ben actually
thrown out of It with speed.
The relief to his burning lungs and
streaming, smarting eyes was not Imme
diate. The eyes he relieved somewhat by
ducking his head beneath the water with
them open, but It was several momenta
before the pure air scmed to replace the
acrid. Irritating, smoke-laden smother
which he had drawn into his chest.
But an instant later the relief which he
felt at this was eclipsed by another and
Instantly overwhelming amazement. From
the gratings to which he bad lashed the
apparently Inanimate form of the captain
came articulate words, intelligently con
nected. In a Mgh, weak voice, not ex
actly like tho captain's old, sturdy tones,
but still unmistakably his own, be hnard:
"Well! By John Qulncy Adams! There
goes the I-yddy!"
Almost simultaneously with the speaking
of ;he word there rolled across the water a
dull, muffled teport, aa of the flrlng of a
. greait min imder tons of earth, or the burst
ing of a blast In a mine. Indistinctly heard
above ground. And accompanying It there
tuna a blast of hot, smoke-tainted air, so
of intelligent speech. '
"CSoodbye, L.yddy! Goodbye, old girlf
CHAPTER XVI.
God's greatest sarcasm was when He put
a thirsty man afloat upon salt water.
The Vug Book of The Lyddy.
There was something so unexpected, SO
startling, so uncanny both In the fact that
the captain could speak and In the strange,
unnatural voice In which the words were
uttered, that Parton. dazed as he was by
the dreadful happenings of the past few
hours and heartsick as he was because of
this last trick which Fate had played him,
almost cried out in his amazement and sur
prise ; but restrained himself, even in the
excitement of the emergency, fearing the
effect upon the captain. A ripple from the
swell upon which they were being slowly
lifted caught him as his lips were parted,
and what he bad Intended to say became
a helpless splutter. The captain's eyes
were turned in his direction.
"I ain't all right yet. Mr. Parton," he
said. "Just you do the thlnkin' an' I'll
keep quiet for a while. Am I tight lashed
on ?"
"That's good," said the captain, with the
queer voice growing a little faint. "That's
good, because I am a-goin' to faint
away."
Which, by the expression and color of the
face that Parton saw as the swell lifted
him, a moment later, he knew that he bad
done.
Once In a while, as Parton paddled as
energetically as he felt was safe, consid
ering the undoubted necessity for husband
ing his strength, he felt certain that he
could hear half-smothered mutterings from
the grating to which the old sailor was
lashed: but he was careful not to reply to
them for fear that he would thus consume
what little strength be had left, and he
was becoming unpleasantly conscious how
that little was growing alarmingly less
with the lapse of time.
It was not very long before he found
that he roust begin systematically to force
his mind away from his present distress
If he wished to keep his body afloat. Tosj
t
I