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Show SnHBss9ssTsTsTsTfaTMa,aTxVrxi-xr- HBHBBl'P KSte -V -ssagplll -" IHHItllVIDHtlHMIHHIII'HllltlMIHIMIDj (DO "RODNEY; ""nj s: or, The Adventures of 's 5 An Eton Boy... s ; j dy jnmas grant. j i. .. ...cCtllm.... .t '(l(fr(Itrl(Stlttts CHAPTKK I A Ilurrlcati Drives I'a to the Tortun- ato Isles Some days after tbls we passed a rarracn, aa the Portuguese nun Ihow large and round built tnsswla which they send to Ilraill and the Indies and which aro alike adapted for burden, fighting and sailing. On exchanging the bearings which, when vessels pus each dher, aro usually usu-ally chalked on a blackboard hung oer the quarter Weston and Hlslop found n considerable difference between be-tween the Portuguese nnd ours, but, nccr doubting that v.o wcro correct, they bore on without hailing the Carrara, Car-rara, ns wo passed each other on opposite oppo-site tacks under n press of sail Tho weather continued cloudy, nnd an Increased difference was found on exchanging the latitude and longlltude with another vessel ncit morning. Then, after an observation nt noon, Weston found thnt for moro than fifty hours tho I'tigenle had been going sev-eial sev-eial miles to the southeast of her duo course. The compass was Immediately overhauled over-hauled by lllilop, whu found that the itamard of the nondto wns loose On that night there commenced n long course of head winds and foul weather, during which the compass never worked properly nnd tho captain cap-tain nnd mnlo found, by tho solar catenation, ca-tenation, that wo had drifted so far to leeward as to be amnevihcra httweon tho parallels of 2? degrees and 23 do-grcrs do-grcrs 33 tm mi 1m north Tattooed Tom and old Roberts, tho mnn-o'-war'a-man, were superstitious enough to giro me the entire blame of all this. In conscquenro nt having fired ono day at some of Mother Cnry's chickens, an action they averred, which ncucr failed to glte tho craft of tbo perpetrator n head wind for tho remainder of her voyogo If sho ever finished It at all "If this foul weather holds for another an-other day," aald Weston, as he trod the deck with n sulklne-s quite professional profession-al under the clrcums'ances, "wo shall ice land sooner than I wished " "liindt' I reltera ed, brightening at the Idea moro than he relished "Yes, some part of tho Canaries Bsnta Crut de la I'almn, most likely; but wo shall have very rough weather before another sun tins I know well the signs, Mr Itnditoy Don't you see what is brewing yonder, Hlslop?" he aald In a low olrr to his mate. "You say just what nlil Huberts, Tattooed Tat-tooed Tom, nnd 1 wera observing forward," for-ward," replied Hlslop "Wo have not all of us seen a hurricane off tho west coast of Afrka, a tornado In tho' Windward Isles, and n regular roaring pampero off tho lllo do la Plata, without with-out learning something eh, captain?' "I hope not I so remember Hint this gloomy weather, with tho wind lulling away nnd then mining again In hot gusts with n moaulng sound In my part of I'ngland w name. It 'tho calling call-ing of tho sea' are always signs of a coming squall" As tho night cliiseil In the canvas on tho brig wns redur d, tho royals wero struck and thu yards sent on deck; the dead lights wrre shipped on the stern windows, the quarter bunt was hoisted within (he t itTrnll, arl there lashed hard and fait, for tt ore ivi-ro Increasing In-creasing tokens of a coming tempest, and ero midnight It rnme with n vengeance. ven-geance. The sky nt flrsi was all a deep, dark Hue, woudrrf illy darx for that region, ond the stars, oi re tally Hie planets, shone with lingular clearness and beauty; hut In tho northwest quarter of the hcaens wn eoi Id sto the coming blast. From the horlrnn to the zenith, there oroso with terrible r pldlty n mighty bank of sahlo cloud funning a last and gloomy nrch. at it e base) of which I a pale and phosphor rnt light seemed seem-ed to play upon the h Mng sea . This light brlghtci i and sunk alternately, al-ternately, Now It win Id shoot downward down-ward with n lurid gin e. steadily no' brilliantly, under the Hying vapor, and then It dlrd away with an opal tint Sheet lightning r, n pale and ghastly green, extending river tin or twelve points of tho linrltnn Umbel nnd played play-ed upon It. Ihen we heard the ruib of rain, ns If a greet bko li.nl been falling from n vast hlght Into the sei. and the next the roar of the mighty blast! whilo furrowing i p the ocean In Its passage, tho tempest rame swooping swoop-ing down upon us and around us la a species of whirlwind Ilravcly tho Kugenle met It, for ner captain and men handled her nobly She had her topgallant sails furltd her courses up, the topsails lowtrrd upon tho cap, and the reef tackles closo out; but sho swae.l fearfully when careening benenth tho lint breath of the mighty blast and riding over thosa blnck mountains nf water which In fierce succession It Impelled tnwtrd her. High ha went over a s'oplng cbect of font one moment, and ths next saw her plunging Into a deep, black valley of that midnight sea. so diep that tho wind seemed to pass over us, tho canvas Happed to tho mist, and we only caught Us weight nnd ptr when riding quickly on tbo crost of tho next mighty roller Meanwhllo tho green-forked lightning light-ning flatbed an brightly that at times wo could see every rope In tho venel, our own blanched nnd pale faces, as we held on by ring bolti and belaying pins to save ourwlvei from !" "eniitnnHi- btirig washM ov, rt, .ard t,, (be blinding blind-ing h"'ts of m ., i. f,m and rain that He titea the ,le,g over which tho M w' also In, ek.ng heavily every intnt Hseli that th, p,1t,n, , i , buoyancy, her decks werl half full of water sad th ,mrl boat amidships filled so fast that a man w 1th a bucket could scsree keep It bsleil l"nll"rsg the whirlwind, wo went round fits times n thirty five minutes with tbt .ficrynrd squared nnd the beadyanh braced .harp up Then the Ms, masa of sulphuroui cloud In which we were enveloped ircmed to amend and with tho same rapidity ih which It approached, paneel lr into the iky, ' the chnm-ber chnm-ber of the thunder " as tho bard of Cona umea it, became agnln clear, blue and turry though marked by oc-casloml oc-casloml rassses e f Hying vapor Tho .aln enssd. and the Hugenlo hnveel unon a foam covered s, over which there passed from time to time, short rqualli, compelling ua to lower tho double reefed topsails nnd run beforo the wind Now a stilt glass of grog was served round la all and l turns wa contrived contriv-ed to get some drr eledhlng In tbe nd nf the middle watch-about watch-about four n clock a m thero wns suddenly visible upon our larboard bow a flint and vapory light that shot upssrrt it. the sk from tlmo to time like Jets of steam. This ilasuhir HPpeurHiice waa high aboto ths hnrlsem nnd first caught tbo nnxloos eye uf (.apt Weston "Ilaht do you see that?" said ho to car. ' Wtxl Is It'" 'The Peak of Adam-Tenerlffe." "The great volcanic leak In tbo Fortunate For-tunate Isle' 'OldTenny Iteef In the Canaries, wa calls It, sir said Tattooed Tom, who was nt the wheel "It ain't a volcano now, hut it ean't give 'over Its old trade of imokltig altogether, nnd blows up sttim like a screw propeller or Just m a shale does water through bis piracies " "Tom means what tho Spaniards term tbt ventat, or nostrils, of tho peak, through which tho aqueous vapors va-pors come with a butting sound, and tbeso csuio a species of light," said Hlslop. "Well thank heaven, though w are far out of our course, that blast has done no more than wet our storm Jscketi and scrape some of our patnt I off." 1 "V hnve come out of It uncommon I well, sir," vatd Tom, as ho stood with I Ma (set planted firmly apart on the dec." his hard brown hands grasping tbo wheel, with tho helm amidships, as we wero still lforo tho wind, nnd tbo light of tho blnnclo flaring upward on his wcnther-lienten face, with its trance xebrn-tlkr stripes at lenst, on 10 much of his grim visage ns tho peak of lila sou'-westcr nnd a scarlet cravat that wns round his throat nnd Jaws permitted us to see "The Inst tlmo I sns In such n brress was a pampero oft tho mouth of the Ilia de la Plain, but then we had our forianll split to ribbons, and tho ship was canted over on her beam tiils nl nost Tho mainsail main-sail was blown nj-lit out nf tho men's hands, nnd dipped In tho sky Ilka thunder, whllo the croft a flvo hundred hun-dred ton ship sho was and alt copper-fastened copper-fastened wns Juit nu tho point of cap-siting, cap-siting, when with crash that made our hearts nclm snap went the Jlbboom ana topmasts hit nt ino cups, just as you'd break n 'barca-plpo at tho bowl Bho righted after tha but four of our best men wero swept away to le-eward, and never seen ngaln And now, Master Mas-ter Itodnoy, with all )imr book learning, learn-ing, or you, Master Hlslop, with nil jours, can you tell the why such things ns tornadoes, hurricanes pampe ros nnd the like, nre se-M to orment the poor hnrd-worklng (i-li- w audi ns mo?" "I ran,' wild Hislop, turning his handsome, but wet und weather beaten beat-en face to tho steersman "You can, lr," teiteiatod Tom loudly nnd Incredulously "Yes, In four lines Llitent "'Perhaps this tlorm was sent with hcalltif breath From distant climes to scourge disease nnd death; TIs ours on Thins unerring laws to trust; With thee, great 1ird wlinteycr Is, Is Just.' " "Paltb, you nro right, sir," snld honest hon-est Tom I-imbourne touching his tarry tar-ry hat In respect In tho mato, mingled with that piety which. In his own rugged rug-ged way, a seaman Is never Without. CHAPTKK VII I (In Ashore The wind lulled nwav Into a gentlo brceici, real after reef was shaken out unUl a full spread of rgaiaa once more covered tlin spars of ttie Ihurenlo; nn I to (repair somo trilling damages of. tbo night wo crept In shore As day brightened through clouds half rain, half mist, and wholly gray, or obscure, wu sgw tbo land looming high and dark. Heyond It In tho distance dis-tance there wns a space of -vivid light; In the foreground, surf white ns snow was breaking nn the bench, nnd high over nil, In mld-nlr towared tho wondrous won-drous Peak of Allan, nn the eastern sldo of which tho sin (ns et unrisen to us) was shining brightly when wo enme to anchor In t e harbor of Santa Crux, We moored In thirty threo faehomi I water, about bslf n mile fro, a tbt I hor, which In most plst.s is steep I with green and lorely slopes itslnt, high above It Aa Capt Weston proposed pro-posed to weigh next morning, lie at lowed ma to go ashore, but sent wilt me, to be a guide and rntnpanlo. r otc Latarwurne, ths tattooed sailor, who had been frequently before at the Grand Canary and In whom he rsuosv ed great tru.t lis gave me a Conner bag containing, some provisions a flask of spirits, and a telescope, and thus provided, old Tom and I, with ruih emotions ol pleasure as two newly escaped schoolboys school-boys might feel, landed on the shore, which seemed to heave sink, and rlso under my feel feir after the late slorm I still felt that which Is termed "tho roll of tho ship " It was In this harbor of Santa Crui thnt tho fimuui old Hngllih Admiral Illako encountered, and within six hours turned and sunk seven great tJpanlsh ritli'ons, though they were anchored unar the protecting cannon of soven torts mid a strong ensile. In tho walls of which somo of bis shot wero shown Imbedded for many years after. I cast longing eyes to the summit of tha mighty Pesk of Adam. It seemed to rise sheer from tho sen. over which, literally piercing tho clouds. It towers to tho height of moro than twelve thouiand feet, but tbo Idea of attempting attempt-ing to climb It within so short a spaco of tlmo na wo hnd to spend on shoto never occurred to me, but what n feat It would have been to rclato when I returned to Urlesmcrol Tha morning was early yet; the sun was barely nbave the now cloudless horizon, so tho shadow of this stupendous stupen-dous cono was cast not only over ths wholo Island, which seima to form merely Its base, but lo tho far hurlton, perhaps beyond It, for thero nro writers writ-ers who nsaert Hint In clear weather Cnpei Ilojadore, that dreary and barren bar-ren promontory of Africa, ninety miles dlalnut, la visible from Us summit. Did tho wnies of tha sen ever overflow over-flow thnt mighty peak? At such a question the mind becomes lust In conjecture. As I am not writing n descrlpllvo book uf travels, but merely a plain narrative of my own very recent adventures, ad-ventures, I need not detail at great length, either tho mngnltudo or tho aspect as-pect of this great Islaud-mountala of tho Atlantic, From cliffs of dark-brown basalt, against which tho ocean pours In vain Its foam and fury, wo ascended th steep alopo of tbo volcano for a few inllus. Then at our feet, as It were, wo could rco that fertile Island, whsro a perpetual spring seems to smile, and where tho fragrant myrtle, tho golden orango tre-ea, and the dark funereal cypresses form the mere hedgerows of thosa plantations whero tho sugarcane, sugar-cane, tho broad leaved plantain, ths luscious Indian fig, the trailing vine, ths fragrant cinnamon, and tho pretty coffco bush, were all flourishing In a luxuriance that filled us with wonder and pleasure. Further oft was the boundlris aea, of that deep blue which tt borrowed from ths aky above, and mirrored In He depth were. Ihe.shlpplng In tbo roadstead, road-stead, with thtlr white canvas nsng-Ing nsng-Ing loose to dry In tho sun; tho green woods and dirk rocks reflected downward, down-ward, nnd the old furretnl castle of Santa Crut, wlln the scarlet and yellow yel-low banner of Caitllo and Leon on Its time-worn rnmpnrts. Tho summit uf Iho great cone, on tho clothed sides of which we never tired of gating soon became lost In vapor; far above the dark green belt of many miles, named tho lteglon of Laurels, nnd that other belt or forest of timber, whero pines, chestnuts, and oaks of vast slto mingle their varied foliage together, tbo mountain seemed all of a violet tint, which paled away Into faint blue as Us apex mingled nnd became lost amid the gossamer clouds. (To be continued ) |