The Captain of the Kansas

veering of the wind, combined with the increasing power of the sun's rays, swept the ocean clear of its storm-wraiths. Soon after passing the pillar rock, Courtenay thought he could make out th

il it merged into a vivid green. Then, with startling suddenness, the

sing in separate promontories to altitudes of, perhaps, four hundred feet, an inner fortification of precipitous mountains flung their glacier-clad peaks heavenward to immense heights,-heights which, in that region, soared far above the snow-line. The sun was reflected with dazzling bril

some regions beyond. Pine forests of extraordinary density crammed each available yard of space, until the tree-growth yielded perforce to hardier Alpine moss and lichens. This lower belt of deepest green ranged from five hundred to one thousand feet in height, as conditions were adverse or favorable; waterfalls abounded; each tiny glen held its foaming rivulet, rushing madly down the steep, or leaping in fine cascades from one rocky escarpment to another. Courtenay, after an astounded glance at the magnitude and solemn grande

laciers and the nearer torrents warned him of a possible bar, on which the Kansas might be lost within sight of safe anchorage. Not inspired guesswork now, b

rollers raced on unbroken, and it was no longer a sup

roused Walker wi

k, and both bowers as well. If Tollemache is doing his work properly, go forward, and keep a sharp lo

fore the ship, hurried on his errand. He found Tollemache seated on an upt

his practised eyes took in the state of the gages an

Tollemache, without

ie lad. We-ah wunn

doing that

the Tyne? Well, just shove Sooth Sheels an' Tynemouth a few hundwed feet hig

arms, would shoot forth the stockless anchors at the touch of a lever. Tollemache, who had already glimpsed the coast, strolled out

himself. "Penal servitude

showed him that the eastern coast of Hanover Island had been thoroughly surveyed. Yet it was not in human nature that he should not experience a rush of joy at the thought that, by his own efforts, he had saved his ship and some, at least, of the lives entrusted to his care. He was alone when the music of the chains in the hawse-pipes sounded in his ears. The Kansas had plenty of room to swing, but he thought it b

stobal's cookery. You have shared my watch; now you

a feeling of disappointment when he saw her, in company with Christobal, leaning over the rail of the p

s nothing more than a tidal swell on the surface of the water, in which the heavy-laden vessel rested as in a dock. In the new and extraordinary quietude the light t

towards him, with

xcitement. "How wonderful of you to bring the ship through all those awful reefs and things! No; you must not say you have d

hurt her were he to sm

e did

do my best to safeguard the ship and such of her

hat you should have guessed an unknown track in the dark; that you should actually be able to guide a helpless ship throu

ook off his sou'

such expert critics

followed the ship'

serves. I was so amazed when I came on deck half an hour ago that I sought him out, and he told me something of the night's later happenings. So I took the liberty

ired; I sat down for a moment, and that ended it. The next thing I heard was a rapping on my

. Courtenay laughed, so pleas

ft, maneuvering the shi

busy in the cook'

on the head during that terrible fight for the boats was the master cook himself.

d by her side, for he knew qui

hristobal, watching Elsie until she had

have seen nothi

caped, but I doubt it. The sea ran very high for a time, and the Kansas scraped past so ma

nd, there is small likelihood that they

life-boats would know sufficient of the coast to endeavor to make a northerly cours

aring and the others had not l

lemache had summarized so pithily. It might yet be that those who remained had more to endure. Then Elsie summ

ounded man to talk too much, complete rest for a few hours being essential. But Boyle's pallid face li

r. "Christobal was not humbugging me when he

taken any observations yet, and there is no hurry, old c

beggar who knifed me. I 'll ta

he is here with you, I guess he is rollin

fferers; there was the fire of battle in his

you would punch the scoundrel now if he were in the next berth. You must lie quiet, old man; do

d, and clos

s well. You 're the luckiest skipper afloat. Huh, th

d Courtenay, placing a gentle

han sore. It was a knoc

u hauling me out of

for me next time. Try to go to sle

osion. He had a pleasant word for each of them. The fourth was a sailor, either asleep or unconscious, and Courte

had set one to clear up the stokehold; his companion, a fireman, had relieved Mr. Tollemache. Indeed, the latter had gone

l protest

said. "Tollemache has stolen a march on us. H

stoking," sa

ly lazy person on board dur

at time it is?"

ten o'clock

yet half-

wide. "Are you in e

e in a strange crystal light. None could tell whence it came. It seemed to her, in that solemn hour, to be the reflection of heaven itself. By quick transition, her thoughts flew back to the previous night. Scarce four hours had elapsed since she had waited in the captain's cabin, amidst th

he said. "Can you tell me what sort o

e the sheltered sea canal formed by the Smyth, Sarmiento, and Messier channels, the protected water-way running for hundreds of miles to the nor

s there one sees a few Canoe Indians; I have heard that they are so

Christobal straight in the eyes, and t

y from place to place. They have a quaint belief that if they remain on a camping-ground more than a night or two the devil will stick his he

resting knowledge at the foot of the scaffold, a

ows and arrows, with heads chipped out of

urtenay, regarding his compatriot with some interes

Emu-wrecked in C

gs leave abiding memories in men's souls, and Courtenay had heard how twenty-seven survivors, out of a muster-roll of thirty who escaped from the wreck, had been shot down by Indians ambushed in the forest. Elsie

led to go ashore. You will have some a

en to the use of unnecessary words. Elsie was

out the loss of the Emu. If we fall into the hands of th

ntities of tea, milk, and sugar, and she passed the cup to the engineer with a smile. Each of the men admired her coolness, b

are now: smo

not visible when the party sat down to breakfast. The appearance of the ship was their obvious explanation, but not a canoe or a solitary figure could be

of the forests faded into somber belts of blackness. Though it was high summer in this desolate region, heavy showers of hail and sleet alternated with drenching rain. At low-water, though the Kansas floated securely in a depth of twenty fathoms,

d by stress of weather, rode in vast circles above the ship. There was no wealth of bird life in that place of gloom. Though fitted to rear untold

ook to feed them, and Frascuelo, the wounded stevedore who had been discovered in a state of collapse, soon revived, and was practically able to look aft

orebodings. Once, they were startled by the fall of an avalanche, which thundered down a mountain side on the farther shore, and tore a great gap in the belt of trees until it cras

hours, and, notwithstanding her brief sleep in the morning, thoroughly exhausted for want of rest, was persuaded to retire early t

deck, barking furiously. She heard two men run past her door with ominous haste. Then, after a heart-break

hands, to re

nd now she understood the reason. The ship was being attacked by Indians, and not altogether unexpectedly. The savages had stolen alongside in their canoes under

cked up from beneath a boat's tarpaulin lying on the spar deck. She opened her door and peered out. She could not see any one, and the rattle of a hail-storm overhead effectually dulled any other noise. But several shots fired again in the fore part of the ship were audible above

heir warnings in ambiguous words. Elsie could have told them all that was left unsaid at breakfast. The ship had fought