At the Fall of Port Arthur: or, A Young American in the Japanese Navy

Day after day passed and the Columbia kept on her course, making as straight a passage for Nagasaki as possible. One day there would be a fair breeze and the next a dead calm.

"This is unusual weather for this quarter of the globe," said Captain Ponsberry to Larry. "Like as not it will end in another hurricane."

"In that case what will you do, release Semmel and the others?"

"I may release Peterson and Shamhaven, but not Semmel, for he was the real ringleader."

There were strong signs of a storm in the air that night, but they brought forth nothing, and on the following morning the sun came up as full and bright as before. The breeze came by fits and starts, from first one direction and then another, and the man at the wheel had all he could do to keep the schooner to her course. Sails were shifted half a dozen times, but without making any improvement.

"The weather is certainly queer," said Grandon. "Puts me in mind of the time I was caught in a tidal wave in the South Seas. Before the wave struck us we had just such cuttings-up."

"I trust we don't strike a tidal wave," answered Larry. "If it was high enough it might swamp us."

"True; but when you're on the deep blue sea, lad, you've got to take whatever comes," replied the first mate, solemnly.

Dinner was a quiet affair for all on board, and shortly after the repast Larry went to the forward deck, to have another chat with Luke. While the two were talking they were joined by Captain Ponsberry; and soon the three were conversing about old times once more.

"Do you remember the swim we once took in the Pacific?" said Larry to Luke. "The time the sawfish smashed the boat and came after us?"

"Reckon I do," was the Yankee tar's response. "We had a lively swim fer it, didn't we?"

"And the time we visited the island and you turned the turtles?" went on Larry. "And do you remember that snake that chased us into the water?"

"I do, Larry. Tell you what, we've had our share of adventures. When Admiral Dewey – What is it, captain?"

Luke broke off short and looked at Captain Ponsberry inquiringly. The master of the Columbia was gazing over the port bow in an earnest, puzzled fashion.

"Do you see that little black cloud, Striker?"

"I do, sir!" And now Luke became all attention and so did Larry. "Kind o' funny lookin', ain't it?"

"It is odd," answered the captain. "Do you see how it seems to be dancing around in the sky?"

"Is it a cloud?" questioned Larry. "If so, I never saw its like before."

"I'll take a look at it through my glass," went on the captain, and sent a sailor for the article.

The cloud came swiftly closer and they heard a most unusual roaring and hissing. Then of a sudden the cloud seemed to dip down into the sea. When it came up, the waters of the ocean followed, and there loomed up before those on the ship a waterspout ten or fifteen feet thick.

"A waterspout!" cried half a dozen in concert.

"And a mighty powerful one, too," said the captain. "I trust it don't come this way."

"It is coming this way!" yelled Larry. "Look! look!"

The young second mate was right, the waterspout appeared to be headed directly for the schooner. But then it shot off to the westward, churning the water into a foam behind it.

"It's going away," murmured Luke, when once more the waterspout made a curve and then shot directly toward them. It was off the port bow and less than a hundred feet away. It looked as if the old Columbia was surely doomed!

CHAPTER X

SOMETHING ABOUT WAR AND FIGHTING SHIPS

"It's going to strike the ship!"

"It will cut us to pieces!"

"Throw the schooner over on the other tack!"

These and several other cries rang out on the deck of the Columbia. All felt their hearts come up into their throats as the roaring, swirling mass of water came closer and closer, until the spray drenched them completely. The ocean was churned into a white foam and the wind seemed to suck and blow in all directions at once.

But, just as it looked as if the schooner would be buried beneath a veritable mountain of water, the waterspout took another curve and slid away, along the side of the ship and off the stern. The man at the wheel came close to being carried overboard by the deluge he received and the Columbia bobbed up and down like a cork. But in another moment the waterspout was an eighth of a mile distant.

"What a – a narrow escape," faltered Larry, when he felt able to speak. "I thought we were bound for the bottom sure!"

"Thet's the closest I ever was to any waterspout," came from Luke, as he wiped his wet brow. "Reckon we can thank Providence we ain't in Davy Jones' locker this minit!"

Captain Ponsberry did not say much, but kept his eyes fixed on the waterspout, which was making fantastic curves across the bosom of the Pacific. At times it was close by and then it would go half a mile or more away. It was a fascinating scene, full of dread, and gave more than one onlooker a chill down his backbone.

"I wish it would go away completely," went on Larry.

But this was not to be. The waterspout kept within sight for a good half-hour, although it did not come near them again. At last it grew less and less, off to the southwestward, and finally vanished altogether. The glass was used in that direction, but nothing save a clear horizon could be located.

"We are clear of it at last," said Captain Ponsberry, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Waterspouts are mighty dangerous things," said Grandon, after the scare was over. "When I was on board of the brig Ben Franklin we ran into a spout off the coast of Brazil, and it knocked off the bow and the forward rail and nearly sank us."

"I met one once, off the coast of Cuba," said the captain. "That went ashore and tore up the trees like so many weeds for a hundred feet around. A waterspout is nothing to be fooled with, I can tell you."

On the day following the appearance of the waterspout the weather changed. There was a slight storm and then a stiff breeze sprang up which was cheering to all on board. Every stitch of canvas on the Columbia was spread and the schooner bowled along right merrily.

"I'd like to know how this war is going on, and how Ben and Gilbert are faring," said Larry to Captain Ponsberry. "A whole lot may have happened since we left Manila."

"Well, you'll probably get word from your brother when you reach Nagasaki, lad; and we'll get word from Captain Pennington, too."

"I hope neither of them has been wounded."

"So do I; but when one goes to the front he has got to put up with the fortunes of war. Being a soldier of fortune, as it is called, is no baby business."

"Do you suppose the Japs are continuing to bombard Port Arthur?"

"More than likely – if the place hasn't fallen into their hands. They want to make sure of their footing in lower Manchuria, and they can never do that so long as the Russians hold a single seaport down there."

"I suppose Russia has a pretty good-sized navy as well as an army?"

"Yes, Larry, one of the largest navies in the world. But their fighting ships are no better than the ships of Japan. You see, the Japanese navy is not near as old as the navy of Russia. Almost all of the ships are of the up-to-date types. Most of them have been built since the war between Japan and China in 1894 and 1895."

"That would make them only about ten years old."