The Stampeder

The Stampeder, by Samuel Alexander White, first published in 1910. Britton's steam-yacht tore out its lungs in protest at the black smudge of a coasting vessel reeling straight across its bows. The siren bellowed thrice in a choking fury of warning and denunciation till the echoes boomed over the Algerian harbor and floated high up to the Mustapha Supérieure, where English lords slept at peace in luxurious hotels. Disconcerted by this tremendous volume of sound, the coaster vacillated, veered and yawed as if under some drunken steering-hand, to leap forward unwarily and bury her weather-beaten prow in the white side of the Mottisfont. The terrific impact swept the yachts forecastle clear of snoring sailors, and, after shooting the temporary owner lieadlong from his berth, commenced to polish the companionway passage with his features, an operation which he instinctively though not wholly wakefully resented by a frantic grasping for something substantial.