THE END OF THE VOYAGE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 298, 10 September 1908, Page 4

THE END OF THE VOYAGE.

: 1 ' —A;— {, ""S I Ril.S. IONIC: A SKETCH. -J'Pencarrow Head abeam, sir," says a quiet 'voice fnon»:»thei bridge. . "'."Stand-by iand^stations.'' • Starboard.". (This!to tho helmsman.} Tho engine telegraph; gong sounds; aiid' a uniformed figure leaving tho bridge goes forward.r A's itli'dfgreat,:liner,.'"slbwly answering her. lielni,; swings into tho" fairway, Soames Island ■and'tho "bays" burst Jnto view. Plymouth,' Teneriffe,"'Capetown, Hobart, Wellington—dear old-Wellington again. Hurrahl ! ■' '' ,- Sonie one murmurs "Auckland," and amidst the hubbub and noiso of moving winches hoisting mails and baggago 011 deck in readiness for immediate discharge on to tho wharf on arrival, sounjls of a heated argument float along'tlie spacious saloon promenado. Tho "loneliest and loveliest" city needs all her champions. '■''.Falcon.Shoal Buoy,:."Half-speed." TVill they never 'remove that ugly scar from the Empire City's' fair face? Halswell Point. Ah I' there's Wellington. In tho bright sunlight of a clear spring morning, New Zealand's capital looks wondroiis fair to tho sea-tired traveller. To tho native—that subtle word—"Homo." fen: minutes later and the Duchess, with port officials on- fussily 'alongside. ; i-'i it . 'What's, the news ?" ' All the West Coast mijlers out on; strike?" - '' . * "No."' Thank heaven,' but the labour question isn't settled yet.", ~ t letters! Another cheer.; . Sjo,! slowly' as befits a wanderer come so long a journey ant) with a duo ,senso of the importance of tho occasion, the'.huge'vessel draws up to; ■ tho' wharf,, • thronged with crowds of eager and' expectant friends. down'. 11 Terra firmaonce more. Hojv startlingly strange it all seems. Ono .ajriiost began to wonder whether—well, it's Wer how," and "with Old Omar" let us: — '. "Make the most of what wo how may spend;" Mingle with the crowd on deck, and .hear" the-, -hearty., jyeetings after months of 'Sbsonce. ''•'Nb''fefS'or* Sadness 'of .farewells' to-day. Talk 1 is swift and joyous, refreshing, and gladsome^; - • • • "Well, old man, how, aro you?" (Here a hearty handshake:)^;'..,'"j' "You'relopkiug well. Pleasant voyage? "Very, thanks.!' "See — LRH,d9J),?", ._»■ • "Yes. He's coming', out in tho " "Who's that speaking to H.?" "Oh, tbat.'s .- ono-"of'the directors of the — shipping "c&mpaiiybeen Home for —- (Here'the'voice kinks into_a whisper.) ' _ "Twcnty-fivo. knots? Never pay —besides wo don't n'eed'. it'ye^,' m TJie lonic s very comfortable." , g v ' "Yes, that is Lojiis. Bccke, author of 'By Reef jand PaM,S;ian(s' : 'many ' other Pacific, yarns.' Going' .to^the,.Solomon Islands to (study 'native songV'andi'folk-Ioro; taking reIcords of them for thiT'British Museum authorities." ■ "But they aro'Cannibals still, are they "not?" 1 "Oh, yes':'.'but ho will get' along safo enough: lie knows the Pacific Islander liko a book. "The Marathon Yes; just managed to seo it by joining tho ship at Plymouth." " Our men did very poorly, eh?" "Yes; the heat seemed to crack them up, and in the blazing. suh}&is§>s&«''■ ■ ' ' . '' 'Wl ■ Collier's-' ' Death Seemed to: .'attract ■ most peoplej ia gloomy subject. l '■ " right, black, and' white Home the Que6u woro it' - then follows a' long fancy- much beyond V ;j BiggM'th.-nr ever. Some of them look liker.e'normdus'SiiiiMqwcrs, a yard ili dia-' meter."! " my ; but tl' y aro just, tho thing, iani'-you' know-'-what t'at means." \ .• . " Th'o"lat6st' b6ok; v you ask?" "Ai)atolo France's 'Red Lily,' a transla-r' tion from tho French, "is having a tremendous succoss. But, as Phyllis Dare sings of Maud ."Allan's Salomo-danco, ' Where's it all going .to end?'" " Yes. 'Threo Weeks' has just' been dra--matiscil in Ncw^XorJu" " Nd. ccnsor in England ; look wjiat a fu9s'thero'was over ' Waste.' " "Tlieatrcs? "fho Merry Widow' is still drawing .•full, houses, - but ' When Knights were Bold' is also ,ygi;,y..p n pular." " You'ro right, the sufi'.igettos aro having a bad-time in London.".. " Get;,the vote?.' .Of :ourse they will. rAsquith, daron't;refuse';:' f' Only waiting a good opportunity. - l II : ; * • -OF . . Butitho,decks.are fast. In half- ' ,'an-hou.r",all tho baffli,—j will havo been 'laiidod, afld the deokr. jserted by all save members of tho crejv, 1 i I,tho crowd of stovo- ' 'dores waiting to st 1 4 g Ul rking cargo. ; The ;littl<3 '.an beings amongst fwliich ;ono;.'lived foA-EET.papt six weeks will . have broken up, tfc:\ the fragments thereof joined] with :knottier—bigger, perhaps, but similar in many ways. -Well, sic transit. .... J. H. "■3 j % .telLC— . ,