' 'Dash me,' says he,'
them's two fine names for the kid--Nosmo King Brown'--a bit of all
right, eh? So he goes home an' tells the missus. After the
christenin', he took a pal or two round to the same bar to stand treat.
That time the two halves of the door were closed, an' any ass could see
that the letters stood for 'No Smoking.' Well, the other fellows told
me his language was so sultry that his prop caught fire."
So all was well with the _Kansas_.
* * * * * *
Crawling quietly into the Straits of Magellan at daybreak, the ship put
forth her best efforts in the run through the narrows. Passing Cape
San Isidro, she signalled her name, and it was easy to see the
commotion created by her appearance. The real furore began when she
approached Sandy Point. A steam launch puffed off hastily from the
side of a Chilean warship, and the commander brought the news that he
had been sent specially from Coronel to search the western coast line
thoroughly for the _Kansas_. He was about to return that day, to
report his failure to discover any trace of the missing vessel, and he
listened in amaze while Christobal gave him a succinct history of the
ship's doings.
Pages:
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405