CBAP'IERIT.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXVI, Issue 1376, 16 February 1900, Page 7

CBAP'IERIT.

FELONY ON THE HIGH SEAS. To m« Cap'ain Baleston seldom or iif-vfrT spoke < xctp r - to give an order. And ol this I was glad, not in the least liking ht3 haughty style. Aliout the Peering he was most particular, sending man after man away from the wheel until he found four to please him, and these he made quartermasters. 1 Well,' I thought to myself, as I watched him hovering about the com- ! passes and comparing them critically, ' you don't mean to take any risks, this trip — foreigners or not.' The mate, I now discovered, was but a puppet in his hands, a mere tool, with opinions and ideas moulded absolutely on his brother's ; he regarded the captain as h little marine god from whose lightest word and act there was no possible appeal. Frederick Baleston was. nevertheless, a good seaman and a first-class navigator, doing almost all this part of the ship's work, whilst his brother Addled about wish his scientific instru-^ ments — • of which he had a large stock — determining the heat of the sea at various depths ; noting soundings ; and perfecting an instrument to supersede the deviascope, and automatically correct compass errors in iron and steel ships. But with all this preoccupation nothing escaped the ever-shifting glaces of those small sharp eyes. With a look they appeared to take in every I detail alow and aloft : and was there j the least thing lacking, the intolprant acrid voice quickly made itself heard, as well to his brother a3 myself. J One other matter he was to a degree particular about in addition to the steering. Neverin all my timeatsea had I been on any vessel where the boats were kept in such a complete state of preparation as the Urania. Water, provisions, compasses, charts, masts — all their furniture, in fact, was seen to constantly. Also, at regular intervals, the watches were called to swing them out, on which occasion the Captain himself narrowly inspected davits, falls and other belonging gear. ' Decidedly,' I said to myself for the second time, * this man takes no risks. If he has once lost a ship, it couldn't have been for want of looking after her. Or, perhaps, all this care is the outcome of the experience gained in that disaster. Anyhow, it's satisfactory.' One evening, having had tea, as usual, by myself, I went out to relieve the mate, who had finished his some time heforp. I was suffering from toothache that night, and finding I had forgotten the silk kerchief 1 used to tie round my face as some protection from the air, I presently slipped down the poop ladder and into my berth on the starboard side of the saloon. It was a few minutes before I could lay my hand on the thing in the dark. Then, just as I was pulling my door open, 1 heard voices in the saloon, and the rustling of papers. I don't know why 1 didn't boldly go out at once. But I hesitated for a minute, and heard the Captain say to his brother' 'Where's Morris '.' 'On deck.' replied the other. 'He relieved me ten minutes ago.' « That's all right then, 1 said the Captain. • He's no more brains than a serving mallet, and not two ideas above his work. All the same, I don't want him, or anyone else, to hear what I'm going to tell you.' Just here, I decided to stay where I was. ' I suppose you can guess,' continued the skipper, ' from what I've already let drop, that this won't be a long voyage V 1 Well, yes,' assented his brother, ' I've thought as much. Bub I never knew ' ' No, I didn't intend you should,' interrupted the other, brusquely, ( till the lime was close at hand. I want one man, at anyrate, besides myself, who won't lose his head when the pinch comes and who will back me up all he knows how. That's why I brought you out of the County of Durham. Now, do you see, this is oar exact position at the present moment. In 30 hours we shall be there.' Peering through the crack in the not-quite-closed door, I saw the Captain bending over a chart with a pair of compasses in his hand. On the other side of the table sprawled his brother, staring intently at the point indicated. Over their heads swung the lampj making a big patch of white light on the table and paper. 1 And there,' went on the Captain, with a modulated accent of triumph in his voice, ' as nearly as I can judge, at about, four bells in the middle watch the voyage ends.' No glimmering of his meaning as yet reached my brain. I simply thought the man was mad — mad as a hatter — and that his brother was only humoring him. But I was presently undeceived. ' There, you sep,' said the Captain, ' oldeg 15min W. 42desr lOmin N. That's the exact spot in which we leave the good ship Urania with her valuable cargo,' and he laughed silently— -'insured for L 75,000 in London, Paris, Bremen and Hamburg !'

Now at last, I understood, or thought I did. He was going to scuttle the ship. I had heard of such things happening in bygone days. And, yet, one can't bore holes in iron or ' 1 But — but,' stammered his brother, | bending ]< w over the chart, ' there's nothing then •.' • Look at ih>s»,* sa id tMft captain, unrolling another unp. ' What do you see at the same spot. V ' Broken water. Doubtful,' was the answer. ' Exactly, only it isn't among the doubtfuls at all,' continued the other. 1 Although the bat-eyed survey people couldn't find it, I did. When F was lin the Blink Bonnie, trading to the Western Islands, 1 spotted it first. Water only breaks with a S.S.E. wind — perhaps not more than two or thrae times a year, and then very slightly. Well, I reported it; and the Falcon was sent to look for it. But in vain. So, although on the strength of my assertion they marked it temporarily on the old maps, you see it's been taken off the latest Admiralty chartings. I've seen it once or twice since. •One trip in the Bonny it fell dead calm within a couple cf hundred yards of where I knew the thing to be. So 1 sculled myself over to the place, and locking down I saw four big, broad, wide-gapped fangs of rock sticking up to within some ten feet of the surface, and shoals of fish playing about the weeds that covered them. Bah ! I know of lots more uncharted peaks and prongs — especially in the China Seas. I don't report them all.' ' And the Agenoria affair V 'Something the same,' replied the skipper with a laugk. ' A private reef. Now this is the kind of thing you'll read in a week or so : — "Curious Coincidence. — Some years ago Captain Baleston, wellknown for his valued contributions to marine hydrography, reported • broken water ' and presumably, therefore, a rock or rocks— as existing in a certain spot in the North Atlantic. The authorities at once investigated the matter, sendin" H.M.S Falcon, whose officers, after a thorough search, assured themselves that no such danger to navigation was so be found. Naturally, Captain Baleston imagined he must have been mistaken. But, quite recently, being in command of a fine vessel, the Urania, he unfortunately demonstrated tha correctness of his original discovery by running nor on the very same reef that he reported to the authorities so long af>o, which it appears is almost on the track usually taken by sailing ships bound to the Capp. Much sympathy is felt for the Captain, as his misfortune is undoubtpdly owing to official incomf etency. Fortunately no lives were lost. The vessel, we hear, was fully insured ) and doubtless her master will be held free from all blame in the matter." 1 It's a wonder the navy men didn't drop on it,' remarked the mate, who had listened to his brother with openmouthed admiration. ' Not a bit of it,' returned the other. 'They might have sounded and sounded for years without being any the wiser ) and ships might sail within a foot of it and never suspect its existence. And —well, it wasn't until afterwards that 1 took the trouble to verify my present bearings beyond all doubt. So it's just possible they may not have been within a degree of the exact spot. J • Then I got into my present employ ; ! and finding that such a secret might I prove valuable, I said no more about it. I made money out of the Agenoria affair ; and so did they. Now this is their last sailer — all the rest; are steamers. They were offered L 3 a ton for her the other day — considerably j less than her hull alone cost. So, as old Catbloek put it, better turn her ♦into a fixed deposit at 400 fathoms. The chances are she'll hang when she takes the reef. But, even if she slips off again, her fore-compartment will give us ample time to get clear. • If she hangs she will break up in a few hours, so it matters little one way or the other. You'll take a couple of ; thousand out of the job. I shall make enough to give up the sea and devote myself wholly to some new inventions I have in mind. Now that's all. Oh, when you relieve Morris put a new compass — the Thomson one —in the binnacle. I want her steered like a steamer for the rest of the time.' Well, here was a pretty kettle of fish indeed ! Bat 1 had no leisure to think it over. Already J'had been far too long away from my post ; and I was glad as T presently heard the mate go into his berth and close the door. Peering, 1 saw that the Captain had also left the saloon. Now was my time evidently, and T slipped noiselessly out and made for the main deck entrance. Just as I gained it I turned and saw the Captain staring hard at me. Bythistimelwasinthe shadow of the little allyway, close to the pantry, and whether he had recognised me or not was doubtful. He might have come out of his berth, the door of which was close to the head of the vable, before I had got the whole length of the saloon. In that case he must guess where I had been and what I had heard. But ; from his attitude I was inclined to ; think he had only just caught sight of | me 1 i However, I lost no time in getting on to the poop.

As I tramped backwards and forwards I fell to considering over what I had lately heard. vVhat was Ito do in the matter 1 Was it any concern of mine at all 1 An appeal to the crew' was not to he thought of, The chances werp iliat j tihey would not believe me ; and, ev»«n / if they did, I knew the Germans »nd | the re>t too well to think they would dare interfere. The more I thought the matter over the less I saw my way out of it. Doabtles--, ihe insurance companies and the underwriters would lose heavily. B'lt: I hurl myself to consider. And if I held my tnngUK lielo f the act, I was well aware that | it was of no use letting it wag afterwards. I was or. the horns of dilemma, and at last I made up my mind to take a seat between thfi prongs and lie low.