THE EMIGRANT SHIP.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4766, 5 October 1893, Page 1

THE EMIGRANT SHIP.

♦ [BY W. CLARK RUSBELL.J

To My Valued Friend, Major-General Patrick Maxwell, Soldier and Scholar.

Chapter XXX7L— (Continued). t | "I suppose," said she, "if ever we gets to Australia you'll stop there a little, and "then go 'ome ?" " Why, yes, I hope to go home." "Shall you marry Miss Darnley there, or take her 'ome single ?" " Never you mind," said I, laughing and looking rcuvd towards the wheel, for Corbin was not out of earshot, though she •was perhaps too occupied by her duty to hear us. "'Ow long have you known her before you met her hero ?", " No chief mate is permitted to crossexamine his captain in this fashion," said If; then fearing it I made her sulky she'd breed trouble amongst the others, I said, " I'm grateful to you, and as fond as I ought to be. They shall make a lady of you in Sydney. What should I have done without you ?" and I took her hand. She snatched it from me with a shudder, buried her face, then went forward. , Soon after she wa3 gone I heard a faint, distant halloaing cut upon the sea ; it sounded as though it came from midway the ship and the low black shadow of island with the sparkle upon it ; it was nearer, however, than that, as I had afterwards reason to suppose. I pointed the gla S3 at the place -ivacie the halloaing seemed to sound, imagining that some small colonial trader wad mere, but seeing nothing I concluded the shouts came from a canoe. The idea ofe a swarm of savages diawiag within arrow-shot — fifty or a hundred of thorn for all I could tel),so* thick was the dusk up§n the face of the water — would have frightened me horribly, but for our rate of going. I looked over the side and calculated in the passage of the stars 62 sea-tire a full six, and 1 guessed that at that, if, ever a chase was entered on we'd soon be alone again. Three times I heard that distant faint halloaing. Corbin asked what it was; none of the others about the decks seemed to heed it. ' Kate arrived and said all was right in the 'tweendecks. •'Have' you looked into the forecastle ?" " No," she answered. " Alice Per ry'B been talking very queerly ; she's gone forward with her eyes on fire and a hand of ice. She is ill, or going to be. . Step forward, will you, dear, and tell me how she does. She is a valuable hand, worth cherishing." She went away without a word. Her silence waß like a sulky look. ; I stepped to the rail and. stared at the j watsr in the direction whence the halloaing had come. In about a quarter of an hour Sate returned. She told me that Alice Perry was lying down and seemed well. " She aßked me," said she, "to beg you to forgive her for speaking rudely." "Pshaw, a poor servant girl I" said I. We bade each other good night and she went to her quarters. The moon waß glowing with some power; the island had veered on to our quarter, and was just under the moon, like a little dusky cloud, with a faint-sheet of greenish radiance trembling under it. I noticed & tiny black spot in the midst of that dim lustre, and on pointing my telescope sax? it was a canoe. It Beamed motionless whilst I watched, and presently the passage of our ship swept it into the shadow, and I lost it. I replaced Corbin at the wheel by Barker, and told two of the women to keep a bright lookout, whilst I went x>n to the forecastle to take a view of the sea ahead. Nothing was to be seen from either bow. I let my naked Eight sink into the obscurity, then swept with the telescope. (Over and over again at eight at eea the telescope has found me objects I had missed with the binocular glass.) All waß wide sea, darkling to the stars. The scuttle, as the forecastle hatch is called, lay open; I had no thought of prying into the privacy of ' the girls down there, bat imagining that the lamp was making too strong a light I stopped, and peered into the hatch, and saw Alice Perry seated on the deck, writing on the fly-leaf of a book, with the forecastle lamp beside her. This was highly improper and dangerous, but as I did not wish to provoke her tongue after what had already passed, I went aft quickly and told one of the girls tc run forward and hook the lamp to its lanyard again. "If Perry resists," said I, " come to me." When the girl returned she told me she found the lamp hanging under the beam as usual, and Perry getting into her buak. "All right," said I, and went aft, musing on the picture of Perry seated on the deck, and wondering what on earth she had written. It was news indeed to discover that the girl could even read. There wa3 a grating over the tiller and I got upon it to sit and smoke and doze. I was close to the wheel and needed but to_ Btretch my neck to see the compass card. I -wa3 awakened from a short nap by Marshall coming to relieve the helm. I talked with her awhile, took a turn, smiled at the sight of three of my crew sound asleep on the skylight, and two of them nodding with their backs against the companion, then returned to the grating and smoked and meditated, with an occasional spell of forty winks between whiles as before. I had borrowed a watch from one of the women, and looking at it by and bye found it wa3 midnight. I called out at the top of my voice that it was eight bells ; the Bleepers awoke, half the watch came out of tne cuddy, and the whole wearied lot of them went forward. After a bit three or four girls of the other watch came on to the poop. One of them wa3 Fio Lewis, who, whilst approaching the wheel, stooped and peered snd exclaimed : "Isn't Perry here?" "No," I an&wered, going to her, " Marshall's at the wheel." "Then, where's Perry, Captain?" said Lewie. " Isn't she in the forecastle ?" "No." ~ I walked to the break of the poop and called for Alice Perry. The name was caught up and shrilly repeated by soins girls on the maindeck. I said to someone who stood sear : " Bun below and tell Mjbb Darnley that Perry's missing, and ask her to search the 'tweendecke." I then went forward slowly, looking to right and left of me, for the girl had a fierce spirit, and I couldn't guess what hellish intention might be covered by this hiding of herself. I peered warily aid eagerly into the darkness about the foremast and galley till I came to the forecastle, where I halted and asked permission to enter. A number of voices called to me to come in. ■ Thirteen or fourteen young women, looking for all the world like stout, well-grow a boys in their clothes were here, a few sitting in their bunks, most of thorn standing. They were talking about Alice Perry. "What's become of the girl? "said I. ' Are you sure she's not in her bed hidden under a blanket ? " " That's where she sleep 3," eaid one of the women, pointing to a bunk in the ■ forepart of the interior. " I take turn and turn with her in that shelf. Her coat's there."

"Her coat!" I walked to the bunk and picked up the garment and saw a pieco cf paper pinned to the sleeve. £ brought it to the light and read, faintly pencilled in an extraordinary unformed handwriting, these words : "Ikilmyaelf for ef I don't I shall kil K.D. let C.M, gess what for I keeps my own secrait and carries my poor eoul before Gord pure.— A.P." " Shb's committed suicide," I Baid. "There now I" ehrieked a girl, "I told yer that noise meant the death of one of us." I walked out and the women followed me silent with horror. I had scarcely gained the poop when Kate joined me. 'J Alice Perry is not in our quarters," she said. I took her to the binnacle and gave her the paper to read by the lamplight there, and left her whilst I thoroughly searched the ship. I called some of the girls to nic, and we explored every nook and coiner of the cuddy and steerage ; I caused the 'tweendecks to be searched afresh. I overhauled the forecastle again, looked into the galley, ran aloft, fancying she might be in hiding in the tops or croastrees. Then, knowing quite surely she was not in the ship, I realised what had happened, and how— she had.- crept; through the hatch out of the forecastle, and so got info the head of the ship and dropped silently overboard. Could nothing be done ? It might have happened an hour beforo our oiscovery of it. The ship's speed was six knots; the women knew nothing about lowering and handling a boat. Had she taken the plunge but five minutes before we missed her, still there would have been no more chance of rescuing her, though she floated alive within the ship's own length, than of putting life into her body had we picked her up dead. (To be continued.)