Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-01-29

QlrectiOn, ana Lnere, sure enough, was snip
and what was stranger STILL the. ship, alse
had q familiar look. 7, There could no longer b
any doubt; that was the point for which the,
started, and that was their ship. The mel
sank back in their seats, andin open moilthe,
terror gazed in each others faces. The car
penter was the first to recover himself
Goingaft to the stern sheets, be ran his hant
and arm down alon. the stern post AM
brought up the blight Of a whale line, one enc
| of which was made fast to the boats keel
and the ether probably on board the, ship
The mystery was mystery no longer :
When they left the ship, half mile Of lint
had been played out after them and then rnad'
fast, and through the long, dark hours of tn
night they had been, tchurning the water il
the same spot, gaining never a fathom, thu
six knot current rushing past giving all thu
appearance-in the dark particularly 60
ing through the water at . respectable rats
of speed. -. =,
|: ~ The wrath of the captain upon this discov
cry was terrible to witness. His face, tina,
was at the first purple with rage became alb
solute! 5iNify his eyes seemed starting from
their sockets, his hands clenched and teetf
ground against each other like those of
person suffering from the most frightfu
spasm. Several times he essayed to speak
but his voice failed him. At length he man
aged to say in hoarse whisper, as he pointed
to the ship. .:.,....,
Pull back ~ . -.'-..f @'-. -.-@ 81
The men obeyed the order with dreadful
forebodings of the awful punishment which
awaited their shipmates-all of them, for the
captain was not man to seek out one often
der; all suffered alike under him. i-1. '.:...
When they reached the ship, no one was a,
the gangway to receive them a.'f T.. Ill }. .
"Go forward and rout out those scoundrels, ,
shouted the captain. ..,...- .-........... -.
The men returned with the intelligence
that the forecastle was empty-chests and all
gone.
"Smith ~ roared the captain.
But no Smith answered He shook the
cabin door; it was locked, He shook again
and shouted and listened. A faint voice was
heard in reply.
d" Carpenter, split open that door," he said
in quite calm tone, for, to tell the truth, he
was getting frightened at the series of strange
things that had and were happening. .. .
The carpenters broad axe played but a
short time in the vicinity of the lock before
the cabin door flew open, and there on the
middle of the cabin floor lay the mate and
the black steward clasped in each Others S
arms, their cheeks resting lovingly side by
side, in which position they were securely
bound. ..'-' -"
" What's the meaning of all this, Mr..
Smith p asked the captain, as they entered
the cabin. .. ..'.-..
" Cut me loose from this here baboon and
| will tell you," said the mate, writhing in his
bands .- .-..--.1 s,.-.-.. = -.-..
The knife was applied, and the mate boun-
ded to his feet, when his first act was to dip
into poor Cuffee and lend him a half dozen
clips over the head-not, as the mate said
that the darkey had done anything, but he
had no business to be niger if he was go,
ing to be tied to him all night
Well, sir, the way of it was, directly after
you left the sh:p-I don't think you could
have been gone much more than half mile
or so. .'.-j --.- -..,t. ,---ty:.... ..- III J.
"No, don't think 1 could" said the
captain, bitterly, and gritting his teeth,
" A boat came alongside from that whaler
that came in yesterday, with some chaps
aboard to see the men forward Well, sir,
went forward to drive 'em away, as you don't
allow the men to have any visitors. Well, sir,
they mittened me and the stewart, tied us
neck ana crop into the cabin, and locked the
door, and that's all know about it. If the
men are not aboard here they are PROBABLY
aboard the whaler.
At this moment their attention was attract
ed by the approach of a vessel with full top
sails, sweeping down the stream within ca
ble's length of them. Itwas the whaler the
mate had spoken of, and her fore and main
rigging was manned by the crew of the des-
erted ship.
" Three groans for the bloody old hooker" )"
shouted Jack Brace, from the foretop of the
whaler, and they were given. .....
" say, cap'n, you thunderin' old bison,"
again'.shouts Jack, "was that line strong enough
last night ? thought it would hold to your
moorings."
And with an ironical laugh from all hands,
the ship passed on. .-..4 70,