f the feeling that she was still very far away--in a sort of shippish
other-world.

The thing happens now and then. Sometimes half a dozen years will go by
without a solitary wanderer of this sort crossing the ocean paths, and
then in a single season perhaps several of them will turn up: vacant
waifs, impassive and mysterious--a quarter-column of tidings tucked away
on the second page of the evening paper.

That is where I read the story about the _Abbie Rose_. I recollect how
painfully awkward and out-of-place it looked there, cramped between
ruled black edges and smelling of landsman's ink--this thing that had
to do essentially with air and vast colored spaces. I forget the exact
words of the heading--something like "Abandoned Craft Picked Up At
Sea"--but I still have the clipping itself, couched in the formal patter
of the marine-news writer:

"The first hint of another mystery of the sea came in to-day when
the schooner _Abbie Rose_ dropped anchor in the upper river, manned
only by a crew of one. It appears that the out-bound freighter _Mercury_
sighted the _Abbie Rose_ off Block Island on Thursday last, acting
in a suspicious manner. A boat-party sent aboard found the schooner
in perfect order and condition, sailing under four lower sails, the
topsails being pursed up to the mastheads but not stowed. With the
exception of a yellow cat, the vessel was found to be utterly deserted,
though her small boat still hung in the davits. No evidences of disorder
were visible in any part of the craft. The dishes were washed up, the
stove in the galley was still slightly warm to the touch, everything in
its proper place with the exception of the vessel's papers, which were
not to be found.

"All indications being for fair weather, Captain Rohmer of the _Mercury_
detailed two of his company to bring the find back to this port, a
distance of one hundred and fifteen miles. The only man available with
a knowledge of the fore-and-aft rig was Stewart McCord, the second
engineer. A seaman by the name of Bjoernsen was sent with him. McCord
arrived this noon, after a very heavy voyage of five days, reporting
that Bjoernsen had fallen overboard while shaking out the foretopsail.
McCord himself showed evidences of the hardships he has passed through,
being almost a nervous wreck."

Stewart McCord! Yes, Stewart McCord would have a knowledge of the
fore-and-aft rig, or of almost anything else connected with the
affairs of the sea. It