Show count Cue luck inter f the N ea defiol the Se eadler tadler is wrecked and tie the count and his hi crew god find themselves casta cutaway ways on an a coral adoll toll CHAPTER XII continued 17 our overloaded cockel shel shell with a crew of six was the smallest auxiliary cruiser la in the war for cruiser we were and we were setting out to cap lure a ship sat sail back to copella Ur Mo pella pick up our comrades there and continue our raid to find bod end and take a ship on the high sea was a doubtful propose tion but we might get to some of the other islands not too well populated and guarded and find a vessel at anchor we could hoard her at night overpower the captain and crew noil and sail of with her we planned first of all to visit the cook islands some eight hundred miles distant and if 11 we found no co ship there continue oo on an other thousand miles farther to the fiji islands where there were sure to le be ships loading with copra for the ammunition factories of europe we figured on making around sixty om can tacal miles a day da so that it up ne had to go all the way to the foffi 11 would take os as approximately thirty days thus we should be back with a ship in three months at most we discussed our tactics thoroughly for the expected pap capture ture we would steal aboard halt half past three in the morning was the best hour men mea sleep their soundest then A couple of os as would go to t the officers cers cabins the rest to the forecastle we woul I 1 show our pistols disarm them and herd berd them below it would be goob to sneak to their clothing first anil and take away their belts and snip the buttons off their trousers then ahel you have teem put on their clothes they stand without belts suspend suspenders erg or buttons butt mus holding bolding up their trousers thus they are helpless we had to few bombs loade loode donly dony with powder borm harmless less but capable of making a ter rifle noise it if there Is any trouble you throw one 1 I hurts nobody bu the terrible explosion creates a gen eral panic A couple of men inen with their heads about them can do won ders with dozens in a panic another good thing Is to have bare a couple of fellows outside shout suddenly and make a great disturbance that creates excitement cit ement and throws people off their guard I 1 said to my bosn dont hurt an body unless you have to we dont want to spoil our clean record by killing anybody but by joe it if a captain or a watchman raises a rifle or a pistol dont wait ullie till he shoots getham get him first cin a bright summer morning august 23 1917 to be exact we all ail shook bands there was no cheering merely quiet earnest words of friendship and good luck it was the first time that we sixty four seamen bad since the Se eadler had set sail to run the blockade eight months before and it was only now at the moment of saying goodby good by that we realized how bow closely attached to one another we bad become we who were going could see a brooding question in th the eyes of those who were staying be hind bind how will that overloaded cockel thell steil stand heavy weather never mind we would probably find out toon soon enough the understanding was that if we vie tild did riot not return in three months something had happened to us they should wall for us until then afterward kling and his men were to get away from the kinli a ail best they could WP sailed out oot of the lagoon through th the coral entrance into the open often sea the bulk of the See Se adlor eadler lay there helpless on the reef the tide fide was high and the breakers swept over the coral she was wa a red brown no non from rust and weathering each floril ing billow raised her a bit and then she ehe sank bank bark back hopelessly ulab loud groans and creaks of despair an n the coral bed As A we passed her she seemed to t call over to us ug come aboard I 1 want to take you yon on your voyage donl don desert houi old friend andas a wave raised tier it seemed as though the fhe were struggling it to get on an even keel again arid and conj e to t us only to find that the flip coral held her tit in a relentless grasp tearia filled out eydi eyes glood by Se eadler 1 I 1 called tier er hope we shall never see you more alore and even it if we do you van can never still cull again nevermore ill III angs s acs res resound on your deck Neer nevermore more will you yon raise your and fly a hug flag from rom your masts A brisk wind carried us westward with a swelling ul of tint our saus the happy island the last ger fier man colony and the wreck of tie he sec 8 adler slowly dropped out of sight ovet the rini rim ol of tit tin horizon today the eadler Se adler still rein on the reef at copella Allo pella liella after we tanj gone lieutenant kling afraid tha the stunts ol of liei her mam might attract a passing worship warship blew them out with will dynamite the explosion set gel a fire that thai burned away part ol of file lie work A quantity of ammunition still millard blew up all and cracked the fre fore larl nf the he hulk y CHAPTER XIII from the society islands island to the cook ccok island illano s in an open boat it hns has been at t a 11 oburt ol of recent years to cross file atlantic sail anil even the pacific in a small hunt hant goinie ames under still bull and som ethues under 0 vy LOWELL THONAS THOMAS copyright by lou doubleday bleday dorin doran A co m to power tiny craft have donl done 14 it and at best it Is ool cot a comfortable kind bind of voyage lo in sporting events your ocean going small email hnat boat always had a cable vr or sit an imitation of one that Is ft hat we should have had but we were not so lut lu ky and bes besides lder the loud load we carried made existence aboard our nor that thai had been converted into a crul cruiser ter a cramped affair indeed there was only one place we could trust to be dry the buoyant air tanks ranks at the sides of the bout boat in these we packed our hardtack a few pieces of clothing photographic apparatus and the all Important tobacco it t affected the buoyancy of our craft but we bad to keep some things away from the sea water in the body of 0 the boat were placed hie file water tanks our large supply of cot weapons and ammunition cordage cordi ige far the hie rigging and several spare soils sails canvas shields at the side which could be drawn over at the lop iop and be made to form gome come kand kind of iii tent sheltered us os somewhat front froni waie wae und and dirty weather with out oat we shein lol have been drowned four foar mattresses could be stretched on the bottom where four foni men could sleep while two kept watch As a concession to elvill up load bar six leair of nf knives rod and forks firks six mugs a coffee pot and S ian in sliver gold and paper much of it in pounds sterli sterling Dg at six in the noir morning nIng the two men on watch tilled filled the coffee pot and ap plied tire fire to it frons a soldering lamp with the slightest breeze and it a rock ing of the hant it was impossible to bring the water to a boll then we were glad to get tepid coffee bean soup instead ol of coffee after toilets had bad been made with salty sally sea water we squatted in the be cockpit for break fast of coffee and Pard hardtack tack tion was difficult to in so small a boat it was impossible to t spread the charts out properly and with the slightest carelessness s the wind might mt ht take out priceless navigation papers overboard we had bad to use the sextant and othet navigation instruments to in a boat that often pitched so much we could scarcely stand the papers charts tables logarithms and so on got sopping wet and when we dried them to in the sun they grew swollen and dald atilt to handle it was cool coal at night but oot cot un an pleasant plea sin so as our clothes were dry the weather was fair but an occasional whole would come along side and douse us as with the spray ot at his spout then in our damp clothing we felt the chill of the olgh night L the te days were broiling hot hot but even while wb ae taking advantage of what little sh shade a we had bad we grew heavy and t torpid orp it we had bad above all things to be ca care e ful of our water supply we never dared drink enough to quench our thirst completely and were in fact f act continually thirsty by way of amusement we had read lugs logs aloud from the one book we had bad brought along fritz routers reuters comic story A trip to constantinople and at night the squealer wheezed wheezed arid and blared and wa we whiled away the tedi ous hours singing old german talk folk songs I 1 after three days we sighted alto the first island of the cook group and a british possession there was was nu na ship in 0 o sight eight too bad but bur perhaps a ship might be expected scion boon any ay we had to make port and gel fresk fresh food aside from the danger ol of storm if our voyage continued tor for any length we feared most of all berl bert berl find and scurvy which our diet of hard tuck lack would inevitably bring upon un unless we varied it with fresh vege tables A crowd of outi natives vesi fine looking polynesians stans watched curiously as our litt lecraft little craft arp drew v up to the dock kir chels anti anil I 1 went ashore and straight to the house of the british resilient resident lie ile lay bod out in tits his shirt and trousers on a borneo f ong long chair on hf bis porch and even pel get up lien hen we fie he was a good look ing fellow but bill lazy as the he devil the tit ot the south seas bad gainly gilt et him sly my nnnie name Is van ti houten I 1 begun and this thin Is if my chief officer the resident looked at me sus ns it was a true british mistrust ordinarily your englishman Is the best of fellows fellous a pleasant chap to meet a perfect host but in ID wartime you had to admire them teem they iney were on the lookout for everything their brains seemed made only of suspicious auspicious pi Kirc heiss who spoke english heifer better than I 1 did continued we ore are americans of dutch birth A few months ago we made a bet at the holland club in san francisco that we would sail from honolulu Hono lulo lo in and open boat via the cook islands to tahiti and back to honolulu the wager is for twenty live thousand dollars would you my dear sir air kindly give me a certificate that we have been here to in accordance with the terms of our net bet also we should like to toy lay to in a supply of fresh nater ater canned goods and fresh bruil the resident downed looked us as over with a watery eye and replied well a man must be a hell bell of cl a tool to go in for that kind of sport sure Kirc heiss said politely hot but just the same we should shoud like to have the certificate wont you give it to us or tell 1 e 11 who wh to will wi 11 oh to hell with you dont bother me ive just bad dinner and want to take my nap even his bis british mistrust with which he be first regarded us subsided into the indescribable something that thai comes over a white man inan who yields yield to the soft enervation of the tropics re he now looked at us as merely as mail mad fellows who wanted him to do something too crazy to merit his consideration a any news from the bloody warl war he asked why are they so stupid as to carry on DD with this fighting busl bosl ness in the end it ft will only heir beir yellow races ile he continued like this and spoke highly of the germans naturally we did not noi express any pro german sentiments we simply must get this old bird to give us as that certificate I 1 said to my comrade inlow in low german pretend ing jn that thai it was dutch yes he replied to in the same dia lect elect it may come in mighty useful later on the resident as be told use us bad served in the boer war and should have known better but he took our oar for the language of holland holin in 0 IL presently he scribbled a note saying that we had bad called on him in the course of our arting cruise any chips expected in port pon soona soon asked quite casually now ellow in hell do I 1 know the rest resl dent responded wearily everything goes to the bloody war and we dont donl see anything around here but these kanal kanallis Ka lis he continued in tills this strain and curt curie 0 his boredom on the island the resident was still rambling lubling ra tin in in his lazy monotone when along came a man who wore a cossack cassock and had a beard down to his waist he was a french missionary priest who was overjoyed when we saluted sainted him with a few words word of frenn the resident t and an english trader were the only two white men on the island figland besides himself and neither talked any french allons allons he be shouted by joe to hoys a you must pay me a visit wd and straightway straightway be seized our arms and took us over to his mission house houp there he poured out glasses of excellent wine you tou are americans he cried you light fight for la a francel france you are holland ers ali ah it Is too bad that your coun try is tint not in the lie war with france cut but I 1 can see that you love la Is belle fraum france what will be your next stop asked the jovial missionary in parting 1 I 1 think we will put in at i replied that wits wn the nearest island and the next field of action in our hunt tor for a ship chip flue exclaimed the priest cord cordially lal 1 I 1 have a friend there you must call on him just jost goen tion my name come tie he will he delighted delleh ted to see you tie he 1 Is a Halla toler loo A too and our know edge 01 0 the dutile rang linge was wag so go strongly suited salted with a aerman at arrol I 1 in trial case when we gut gilt to tit e certainly would he any thing hut but hollanders probably prohn bly nor TO BE CONTINUED |