The evening world. Newspaper, March 12, 1915, Page 21

‘By RANDALL PARRISH. : sane THs ReaD uteT, oo worn shoe. . With olenched teeth, my face as white as of the dead me, I advanced from Gown one side of that cabin, Up the other. ‘Upon the deck at the mast I discovered the book lying wide open, a quill aide it, exactly as it had 1 did not hand, but my glance of that inst entry— g 1 Bit it right. That's o ship for us, and now we'll see what she looks Uke on deck. Get a grip with your boat- it at the first attempt, book slipped on the ide; but as I the long-boat eround once succeeded in gutting a grip above, the ghastly glisten everywhere, “Make fast, Break tue ioe out of that rng, Welly, and puss 4 stout rope througa it, Now fun the sail, the Fest o: you, Fend’her otf, Cove; that all rigat; keep your oar Mr. De Nova, you will rewiain in charge of the boat. ‘I'll see what she louks like ard; Jobnson, come aiwng with picked my way forward isto the bors, and stood up, striving & obtain fome kind of grip on the forechains ne would enaole me to haul my- up. ‘Everything | sched was fe thick as to rend=r objects Fe the slope was pt away the snow, leav- wind , beneath clear; and rir] completely in, like « paint ploture, was the fully revealed body Siete grossome than that loe-shroud- Mere gruesome t! 4 figure, the arms outstretched, the ghort, black beard rendering more ghastly the white, dead face. Bripped my hands onto Johnson's @houlder, and he was shaking like an aspen, his own face coloriess in the moonshine. I wheeled him about sav- “Don't You've seen dead men before. there's nothing to do here! we'll try how she aft looks aft. foMowed me like a dog, casting lances backward over be lose your nerve, mane ed gee—every Come, vel Not until after I responsible bein of will depend board. the reat lantern. completed the work, Lady Darlington CHAPTER XIII. The Story of the Donna leabel. HE short Antarctic day lett us Uttle opportunity for work on deck. However, I kept! the men employed as long | ee possible, first setsing!| them at hauling up the long-boat stowing it safely away under @helter, and then at untangling some of the raffle forward. ‘While we were laboring forward to clear the deck Doris ahd Celeste evi- dently had also Been diligently em- Ployed, and with womanly infuition had gives to the desolate interior a homelike toveh which wag irresisti- ble. 1 could Syd cone & pause— using about le Sould’ really be afoat upon’ a caxe the tury-old wreck, tossed helplessly on Signe odd, chicteahioned ewinging 1° 5 of lantern threw violet-hued rays over the snug scene, while the centre the table, covered by Do. engaged in giving the arrahgemeat some final deft touches, turned instantly at the sound of our entrance, her sweet face brightening with Interest as she the amaze- ed a I exclaimed acmiringly. “Where in the world did you unearth such a display?” ker behind the stew- replied smilingly. wit iver, * cold im there when we first opened the door. I actually had to wait half an hour before venturing in. Yet you should have seen what we found; this ie not half—the silver service was simply magnificent, and piece 1s beautifully en- graved with a facysimile of the ehtp, and a masterpiece of art.” ofwelghing it in my hand, and me, wel in my an Gecidediy elaborate ba 4 studying the * the lor ing off the ea, until we were finally to trace the fitting of the door, ‘striking at the upper panel th fag belt a, dozen ietteng a painted "aoe the front. Dade off a few inches more with bis knife- blade, and we stared up incredulously at the wort Dona Icabel, Cadiz. “Lord!” an@ De Nova, in his ex: eltement, danced about recklessly, ¢, c alipperinesa of deck ‘Ii ae i treasure ship! ‘ree million pesos!" Me Tralee say way into the cabin, then darted out “There are dead men in there,” I. ashamed of my ss "II touched one terror, the it. was ee, mate, ~ frighten and moc! a ie Mout angrily, flas) ight of my torch ov: ces in the doorw leavens, the stood ‘and this, this egunterpart, q@was a dead man—dead for @ bun- dred very violence of fear angered me; what had I to be afraid of? How gould these poor frosen bodies injure Nerred to the endeavor I 4 forward around the end of the table, throwing the faint glare of the tofch Into the after space con- , 4 by the huge mast-butt. i/ ‘A tall, thin man eat on the deck, againet wall, his long beard almost concealing his | , =a wid diven, gene op- Fe he that 4 roll. 5 I have read that these old were often furnished regardless of expense,” I eaid, “and tue Dons were high livers. Did you make any other discoveries?” “Only several cases of liquor, but all were frozen solid. The lasarette opens from the pantry, and we suc- coeded in lifting the trap di but the cold fe the fi Lae. was 80 nse ° - Ned to drop it again immediately. paver imagined such an atmosphere ‘We all messed together, sitting upon benchee fee E up owe table, wv Upon, us, Doris and Celeste ooeney tag places between De Nova and myself. ‘When the dishes had finally been removed I gave the men ‘permission to smoke, went back to the after stateroom and brought forth the log- book, which we effort to d cipher, It was rough! by a number of different hands, and between us our know of early Spanish script was barely sufficient to enable us to read a pprtion of It, The earlier entries :: by captain, although badly, faded, were legible enough, bringin, atory of the woveu* down to the latter part of recounting a series of se » involving the losu of sev- i the pen, cap- Th ow hand t Balasa, the, First whe “® falling ook. the om tain having been killed) by spar; for a week or ye the tale of flerce struggtessin the ico- pack, and a steady dri; the south- ward. Others follo' i—"Alcassar, Second Officer,” “Salvatore, Govern- ment t,” every line the record of new divaster, gales, wrecked rigging and death, They were locked in be- ond all hope early in August, vast deadly the red- ly the numbing chill from the @Abin, the doors and windows of which'they bad Govered with blankets, carried out their dead leaving them beyond sigh! lech. The names were ail itten down, There cae time when the survivors were few and weak even for that service; when they could do nothing but cower within e cabin and cast dice to settle on who should go down Inte the icy hold and bring 4 the fuel which alone kept life in them. They drank and played cards; they. rrelied, formetting, everything hu- n and reverting to brutes. child of Senora Alcatras died; next day the mother went quietly to sleep, never to wake again. They did got even know when her final’ breath came. She was the last of the deok, passed eS SN Be Ing World Jesus, mercy. Tt ended in the blank page. 1 atraightened oP wnablo to articu- late, scarcely: able to see. Celeste clung convulsively to De Nova's ai her e: aa if fo heavily. intense was the silence that 1 could hear the cracking of the coal, the sharp wisp of snow agai the window. And that, that thing bad actually hap here where we were sitting! in pitiless darkness, those last lives had gone out to meet their God despairing, hopeless! I struggied to win back my courage, my waver- ing manhood, fully conscious of the benumbing fear, the voiceiess horror, which had smitten us all How could I best arouse, Lamb yy them to the duty of life? Boareely re- ising what I did, I bent low over Darlington, ree ee) ispered, my Barely audibie to her alone, “this will drive up all mad. uniess we can do something to bring back faith and bope. I beg.of you to sing to_us, sing to us here.” She looked up, whitetfaced, wet- eyed, her hands trembling violéntly as they touched mine. Twice she tried vainly to find voice; then, clear, yet with the glistening tears clinging to each word, she sang: “Jeeus, Saviour, pilot me Boleterous waves obey Thy will, When Thow sayeet to them ‘Be etl, Wor Sovereign of the Sea, Ps id be gs iv, pilot me.” it I near the shore, And the Preakere veer ‘Twit she peac; rest, yee ‘Fear’ wots T soll pilot thet” In the intense silence that followed hand Upon my shoulder and best done oul until "her, cheek pressed my. nlesve into the darkness of us there alone, Sf Se gk, ering CHAPTER XIV. E kept careful watch througn- out the night, but the hours passed quietly, the breeze crippled galleon continuing to drift toward the northeast, The fall of snow ceased soon after mid- thdmeeives cleaning the deck of its accumulation, so that when all hands were called for the day's labdr, the was fairly open once more, ‘There is littte need of my describing in detail the work done during the A block and tackle, operating an in- geniously constructed pair of shears, the invention of De Nova, enabled tmmensely bard labor, to elevate and eecure a sufficiently heavy spar at the top of the splintered mast. Then trom eal, ged to hack away the the rudder, Saelly bad all these mat- completed, ancient craft cer- Beets rae oa One by one the men filéd gravely out We Survive a Storm, holding steady, and the night, and the men on watch occupied space between cabin and foremast next three days. all hands te tall on and, after some stripe of old canvas we made a » one y mers of the sea. I could hi , Wa gave cheer, as the loughing the itely to the canvas, dirty, i "Btavely betore’ the pres: Q) ely gure of ihe wind, Laing There must have been ahip- wrighta in those days from ray that laboring hulk held togeth in agony, smitten by the ear, ed, the swashing water in the hold, where, | aiready felt convinced, there lay a solid foundation of ice ex- t tending from aide to aide. It was this immense load that weighted the ship #0 heavily, holding her dead and inert in the water—an ice.cargo she had brought with her from the regions of. the Pole, Clinging tents fo her arm to her from being Sung to the deck he mad antics of th vessel, peering through the mist of salt obscuring everything forward, turned and gazed into Doris'’s beneath thi of her hood. were devoid of fear, instantly amiling back at my anxiety. “Gin,” 1 said, unable to understand, “are you never frightened?” ‘Not bere or now,” were the words &@ blown to me on thi iy should must come to us, Either to- o to-morrow will be the end of our struggle. You know, as well as I, bow perfectly helpiess our position {s, This miserable wreck yields tem- porary ete womb tere gale. T love you—could’ nev have per mitted those about us even to guess the trum.” I turned her fade toward getful of the storm inthe Ditters tina of these words. “Do you, truly mean all ¢hat, by gome Doris? you mean that are finally preserved, you would leave me—would crucify your love for a conventionality of society? Would blot eut from your heart all remem- brance of what has already baseees Us during these days of dan- “No, I would ne blot tt out; that would be impossible, It would main the sweetest memory of | but—but I would do what I hold be right; I—I would go back to my husband,’ wastained éven by your “Yes; I know all you would say. It. ls teue that my heart would not be there, but my duty would. I see thig asa woman, from a woman's polnt of view. ther with you nor Den coug. I hope to find happiness. Vet todo t which is right must greater. contentment surrender to a wrong. much what the world as the verdict of my surely ° bi than a ‘wei ng confession can do no any one; but der would mean all.” she tinued pleadingly, “It does not; cannot not. It never can make wrong right; it might veneer it over for a time with pleasure, It might cause one to forget; but ‘the lives, one. ee Ga comes, ju you ar an illicit love: “No, nly you were trapped tata inio, marriages ft posesoes, Bo m, truly wea maeas tee re ledged before the w, Jaws of England do not ‘di- ‘Wie’ vorce under any such, plea, t x "wh: I be, Jack? It is onty what | Hi ton more, We Will one heart, dangerou: nature granted a temporary respite, watched me anxtousty ae T al The memory of the threé nililion pesos that might be stowed away below be- gan te hewnt our imaginations, and the f the story of it found utterance on o Ups, ‘There was @ sullen grow! ‘The negro blurted it forth first, his ¢anity, Meknight visionay las! eyes rolling, and De Nova came direct at t! hi | aa ia etn thue re burst a torrent of tay, bac te our very faces, extinguisl. crous, swearing and clawing at each other like madmen. It required auuther hour forthe del. we of water to drain away through gone crasy, hoisted it where I clung ing the sputtering about over through Into Geek, hum, jin easy reach: rock with and drageing her remorselessly down 1 crawled forward ativery butt of the mainmast whens here, dum0e wi rene hanus, inéy were uiggiug for Just below; wn the our very own—to divide, to do with exactly as we pleased. oy dreamed aovut all this actual exist puralyzed ting by ti 1 even forgot that, Doria, until shoul he touched’ me and I looked juest! eyes, How, tnaettated Aion’ wares ‘in west excitement most her, and the calmness faint emiling of her wonderment. “Do you not kno digopvered clinging to ¢! treagu: tle ‘4 The simp! t, frightful! utterance, “brought a to ue 1 had ore hock. She was still mil rtreanned Ie throu ke But, be my stantly. “That ts so much better, Jack,’ “1 knew it was eald, tenderty. as far as the the madness of t! the caused you’ to forget. T could look up.through the'antintered deck with me until you | degk to the narrow atrip of oy. over- ory of it—until I bring you head. There ‘wns & bulkhend tut the ice extended solidly to thé could @ Ben pounding’ amainst the orward, real life again.” “I do not need It, ror has hear the ceaseless I bent low, looking into left the groaning of timbers, the know how it ever mping of the jib’s canvas, and real- me, but the thought of all that wealt below drove me as’ more than ever before sick. ning, sodden roll of the Iaden hull. ‘The tevel mirface’ of thes ice told ough ita atory.of formation; . ‘throtah ir ‘came , You nee thot Rave tea the men.” when ‘ the voanel had been ‘an even keel, & cure. But I fear tml 0 rss 2 Lanting Be lyst in the beget erept 0] Cpe had advanced, .the ling of the wreck rendering v surface isto travel over. The men, id down into the Iasarette. “What gid you find, “Nothing except ice, forward bulkhead. - though we had reached thp end of unt, my I of ” iy ice-front with to me, asking in bebaif of the men the Twice he struck, with mo other privilege of making search, There aijq' auger, was no excuse for refusal, even had | great to find one, as the decks were dike wi of the debris :let} by’ the chusk scal deal ol storm, and the Donna Isabel rode her course easily to @ lashed helm. Leav- abgqve to weather, I willli .into the steward’s’ pantry, a! pen “ door leading where we pried o; down into the which only served to whet our appe- tte for the coming adi think of that scene—the ro ‘airy faces, the excited voices, the evidences tency; some alt of gervous om benches, o Geol’ In trae Ledy Darling ond our ring, @ gleaming arm-rack, their wild sea-yarns. oe Ib! lifted my ey Uoning glance, and assured under atqod ber always, I bave Theva stvpe that ts you forever.” honestly, A ea she words, the light 11 ber eyes told even one more clearly her loyalty. whe might return to her slavery, Rotuated by feeling of duty 1 waa utterly unable $0 appreciate, but never I feel the slightest amt oF cuathiag es panenls oavive such a Retin of wind and wave! yet the jsubei a charnel ship. Jib hel: ised collection Little by ittle my faith began ive I Soe renee. of the hull un- }) ani juaded drenched, halt-f: en wom i treat within ¢ out of the sw wind, while I tool at the straining tit lon ut aes Jothin, out our mn clo! around the cabin stove, the waves ‘Gull run- ging high, tho’ of the storm hi Ro man among us could explain how those in could BbaUt, er, oF the pailed, that the Bel impossible that the nd our imny steering: this bringin, ing In th the Herce vortex we had ever llyed through hours. keindlti awoke again ran foresail, dung the broken hum rotten ber ov oumed In Which We Find Treasure, A . , the aut its tor T'ginaced through th sc rough the open trap over- head to observe the faces of the wom- en framed there as they watched us Dade stared down, word the sky was thicken- 1o weat, and lingering to ob- ter while thaw- silently. th serve our operations until I had to passed away, and Le ad ie back upon deck. aoltd, appeared "1 ‘The alley was, broken into as fp sere, itter forward bad been Pandling eve to It, the men worl impatience. Toften deck, as he stared eagerly venting of hia w except the ya toh the deck, and causing backward to eacape gy maddened by this, he @ watohfyl blade of the axe again—it clanged led the against costal We ‘gil heard it; we rebound, = of ‘em, any+ how!" voice, ploding excitement. But I was al- feady upon my Knott nay ‘They came howling about me fo many wolves, wy! to see with their own eves, but I crowd hack, snatching the candte from Nova’ fingers and throwing flckering light down level with “Tt'e a’ brass-bound chest, men, " Rraightening up and facing cried, % is to req! 01 ep Et cota stared front, demen' one thought of wi aways, our lives ti and waves, a our nearest po! awey across a stormy een; all we ized at that moment was that th fat before us, under that mantle f@ found innumerable boxes tion, It had lness, the awful Once ing fingers clutched my thi tly evi feace he pro- had been Ampl. thet isioned for a long voyage, an Dresence, neith M fs ‘any long lease of life. it “eo! crew bad never periabas ot saree bel ony of thelr bupe- leas condition that had left the Donna We bandied contenting ourselves with merely testing the 49d twenty-six years Weight of each package, quickly con- | I to vinced that none wa» heavy enough to conceal precious metal. This job must have occupied more Tealize these were real men, this task than an hour, handicapped as we were before us rea) work. It was like com- light, and several times !Mg forth from under an anaesthetic, nail-studded, oaken door ice, a thy as article stored within had a passage cleared i with feverish Indeed, outside of our enthusiasm, the cold remained eo in- bottles, and aa some open, the straw strewn about, others Ieaw McKnight's burly form shaking as if had an ague fit. Three million [omy The hot blood rushed to m ead, @ lave stream, and De Nova’ ite as chalk behind his littl mustache: fore me ghostit The fello me think of Salvatore, the man who, just above, frozen and dead, hi guarded this treasure for one hundred ur teh, gras ing Kel us LY elly b: the shoulder to steady tayeelf—t0 leaving me weak as a child, yet with in clear and faculties aroused to Johnson thrust forward the je get in there, sir; I'm the man for a cuttin’ job,” T stepped aside, and the broad blade fell slashing againat the front of the “Only two of you men can work all we mK cense that we were all glad to labor D@ in the way; besides, some of us to keep the blood ctrculting, S®P men’s breath forming tn icicles about thetr mouths. When finally reached, chest out, moemingly Sail this Voasel and k Be, solid op the Dulknend. (teeter ans lean at ieatomane aie search of the after : a ep at It steady. Juhnao m eae re you and Kelly go to work, frat. The ing each other as ti ard, and iki desperate t for the door wan locked oer fe Fevea! any keys. le No doubt they were in fatvatore’s rest of us will climb up into the cabia the OUwht to be on deck and meanwh: to arrange re- t, many @ league astern, but aod figure it out,’ CHAPTER XV. Katty and McKnight brourht down the cleaver and an iron bar, and pro. tt oreo to burst It open, the reat of us er lingering glances below, where W828 actua'ly there--there crowding about. too cold and excited the weird certall iainater to Bhe bag =) Donna Taal one storm, “Fven fi notht het hae-alrendy weathered - and seems stanch beneath * In cane. of ine wold below. any human being. the sword. won for ding of blood, this ship and ‘The living and the om be 4 @old from lon Hence the cleaver, working in hours each, during the we cavity, We accompitshed this by Tesortiag to biuck wod wexle, and ¢ven Menez. = tion aside with a berienced no suai ui Slug 1. away from the ice grip, Un. Wer toe Un conue-dugar It & Luis-msed sea-chee, cousteuued mine heavy, uark wood, and bound bereuume lous. A consiuer, securely DY Wed Lands, With @ & Ue ty of Waver from sumewuere wed to see; pb down into the Making (ie Huor aa io Hi ed Ob to the & eo we taki @nd hvisied the ch trab-door out upor could find slate-rooms, and hale an revealed Tt te going to Yellow and tevet require hours, maybe daya, to get that Was @ wild yell, a flerce ‘we must [the crazed n Into the col p her right side {n'0, the co children in a ce al a eat Pt no ke! muat have ur breaking the rusty here at once,” I put in hastily, “Hold and prying open the lid,’ the on, Johnson, until we get this ship- sounds audible the blows struck shape. An axeman, with a helper to the heavy breathing of the men, Fi. *” haul back the ice out of the way, is Nally we wrenched apart the Any more would only band, and our eager eyes béneld the contents — pleces-of-elghty he top! There n diewing thetr handling them, ehing and ike their »xcltement, and cure struggled t the box. For the i ring down at the dull glow ‘They went along with me up the Metal. I even lost contro! of ms ladder as though they were prisoners, #carcely aware of the mad uproar, Mame of the candle flickered YR, more; we even began to to keep ati. but very confident the treaaure awaited ue within, My own heart beat flercely with anticipation, the atove, welcoming the warmth of and T heard De French. wolf. would Nova swearing tn it. quite unable to contro! him. alt! Tt seemed to me that door never eck lls le ek ugh we had been acarcel; of it in our excitement ‘occurrence old Spantah record, had wan the It had been frigid below decks, of % king: here, atmoat within of our hands, and It was all ie ot Bc abt a But ours. If we could oniv ito. where It mnesconad eras if only we