FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   >>  
ould foretell! _Course_.--S. 70 deg. E. Towards the rising sun and our brethren in khaki, toiling in the wet mud as we toil on the wet waters! _Deviation_.--1 deg. E. Wonderful the accuracy of the little instrument whereon men's lives do hang, wise in the lore of the firmament! _Patent Log_.--O. Nothing--as yet! What will it register ere the day be done? Or will its speckless copper lie rusting in the grey chill of the sea's dank depths? _Revs_.--I don't know, but the propellers swirl faithfully and unceasingly. _Wind_.--W. by E. Bearing a message across the vast Atlantic of hope and present succour from our new great Ally, the mighty Republic of the West. America, ah America! But we of the sea are men of few words, and this is not the place. _Force_.--3. A balmy zephyr, yet with the sharp salt tang of the sea that a sailor loves. _Sea_.--2. Softly undulating is the swell, scarce perceptible to inexperienced eyes, such as those of the land-lubbers on the towering decks of the great liners; gleaming dead copper and blue in the morning sun, flecked with spectral white in the distance--the easy roll of untrammelled waters! _Weather_.--C. Detached clouds. Almost had I written "B," seeing the perfect filmy blue all around the horizon; but a seaman's scrutiny showed me faint fluffy wisps o'erhead, luminous and marged with palest gold; and ever must a sailor be suspicious of the treacherous weather-god. _Thermometer_.--42 deg. Not yet is Winter here, but its threat approaches. _Barometer_.--30.01. Will it stay there? _Remarks_.--Once more we set out on our ceaseless vigil, our * * * * * _Remarks_.--(7.30 P.M.).--Another day has passed, another day's duty has been done. Nothing _apparently_ has happened outside the ordinary routine of the ship. One keen-eyed young officer has succeeded another on the bridge, with tired lines on a face grey beneath the great brown hood of his duffle--a face so youthful, yet with the knowledge of the command of men writ plain thereon. The propellers have swirled faithfully and unceasingly; the good ship in consequence has cleft the passive waves. But who knows what hideous lurking peril of mine or torpedo we have not survived, what baleful eye has not glowered at us, itself unseen, and retired again to its foul underworld, baulked of its thirsted prey? III. OF THE EDITOR OF _THE DAILY YAP_, ON OBSERVING THAT HIS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   >>  



Top keywords:

Remarks

 

copper

 
America
 

unceasingly

 

Nothing

 

propellers

 

sailor

 

faithfully

 

waters

 

fluffy


passed
 

palest

 

Another

 

marged

 

erhead

 

ordinary

 

routine

 

luminous

 

apparently

 

happened


threat

 

Winter

 

approaches

 

Barometer

 

Thermometer

 

suspicious

 

treacherous

 

ceaseless

 

weather

 
unseen

retired

 
glowered
 

torpedo

 

survived

 

baleful

 

underworld

 

OBSERVING

 

CORRESPONDENT

 

SPECIAL

 

thirsted


baulked

 

EDITOR

 

lurking

 

duffle

 

youthful

 

beneath

 

officer

 
succeeded
 

bridge

 

knowledge