Page:At the Fall of Port Arthur.djvu/109

Rh. But Captain Ponsberry soon cut him short.

"You keep a civil tongue in your head," he said, sternly. "Unless you do, I'll put you down on hard-tack and water." And thereupon Semmel became sullenly silent.

Towards evening of the day upon which Larry had the conversation about warships with Captain Ponsberry a Chinese junk, heavily laden with grasscovered boxes, was passed. Nobody on board could speak English, so the hail that was sent over the water brought no results.

"We are getting closer to the coast shipping," said the master of the Columbia. "I suppose we'll meet quite a few vessels from now on."

During the night an unexpected gale came up and the schooner was blown far out of her course. The gale came from the westward, so the vessel was blown to the east.

"This will make the trip a day or two longer," grumbled Grandon, after the gale had spent itself.

"Yes, but as we didn't lose a spar or a rag of canvas we can be thankful that it is no worse," responded Larry, who was always ready to look on the bright side.

The gale subsided after a blow of twenty-four hours and then the bow of the Columbia was once