United States or Cyprus ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"I ain't dreaming," hailed back old Masters, not quite catching what he said. "I sees summit as plain as possible out to win'ard. Aye, it be a-driftin' down athawt our hawser, too, cap'en. Why, hullo! I'm blessed. Boat ahoy!" "A boat!" exclaimed Captain Applegarth, his jesting manner changing instantly to one of earnest attention. "Where away?"
The disagreeable interview with Applegarth had passed off better than might have been expected. Though greatly astonished, and obviously in some doubt as to the facts of the matter, Applegarth behaved as a gentleman, resigned all claims upon the defaulters, and brought the affair to a decent close as quickly as possible.
"Your ship, colonel, must have been more than five hundred miles away from ours at the time that is all!" "Dios!" exclaimed Colonel Vereker. "Are you certain of this, sir?" Captain Applegarth shrugged his shoulders.
"Strange!" muttered Captain Applegarth, who, although hasty of temper sometimes, was a man of deep feeling. "Sunday night again and that man dead! Only a week ago, this very evening, he came up to me here as I was standing by the binnacle to ask about some carpenter's stores that were wanted in the engine-room.
And then we'll both of us go down to Bristol. I'm sure you'll like Applegarth. By the bye, you never went in for astronomy, did you? I felt ashamed of my ignorance. Why, it's one of the most interesting subjects a man can study. I shall take it up. One might have a little observatory of one's own. Do you know Bristol at all?
"But it was a curious incident, though, sir, was it not, at such a time, with our hearts all full of expectancy and hope?" Captain Applegarth was greatly excited by the narrative, and so, it may readily be believed, was I. He asked abruptly, "When did this happen? Tell me, colonel, at once. It is strange very so!"
He was also angry, I know, so I thought it good for me to turn out likewise from my bunk as speedily as possible, it not being advisable under the circumstances to be "caught napping." "By George, I can't understand it!" repeated Captain Applegarth crossly. "If we're in the Gulf Stream, all I can say is, we must have drifted a wonderful distance in the last two or three days.
It would be impossible if I tried to picture her for "a month of Sundays," as Captain Applegarth used to say on board the old barquey when he thought a fellow spent too much time over a job.
"In addition to her captain, of course, she carried two mates and a crew of twenty-five hands all told, and she was bound for Liverpool, with a general cargo of cocoa, coffee and hides, besides a mixed assortment of indigo, orris root, sarsaparilla and other raw drugs for the English market." "Were you and your little daughter the only passengers?" "No, Senor Applegarth," replied the other.
"All right, Senor Applegarth," replied the colonel, who could not drop his Spanish phraseology all at once, though otherwise gradually returning to his and our own native tongue and becoming less of a foreigner in every way, "I will return with you."
Word Of The Day