The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-11-21
THE
THE
SAIL0R'S W00iNG
A SEA sTO RY.

Being clear on tho ship, with the rake Of her
hull in our command II chose, and free OF her
bruadsiic NJ the same time, hailed the boats ~
leave oil towing anl come 0iid al think |
we shall DO, Mr.. Jon, s. p suit. quite safe,
SIR said he quietly; and nt that moment,
standing as we did out 81 srho', with the set.
ting moon in sight past ~" lnllman, shining
in rusty yellow glare 30 her hanging siilt,
twas strange how tho oils Of our different std.
tions pass,d OIL. W. were foot TO foot, in fact
i was full v aware, if never before, what M cne- |
my Jones would mikc-he had hell : llring aui
know nguc.s in him, AMI nll tho wrong side Of
the hedge 20 me, az the time, seeing | hVl
such iicbl',h patt 10 play with the Inhianin.
| caught myeclf on the instant measuring, |
youth aud activity, not to say regular breed |
ing to the service, AMI clear conscience |
besides a.sinst him and his thews aul |
snews bul as for turning and twisting |
with the man before me, saw II W - the tad,
likely 10 threw him 20 winlward of me
My voice changed, and | lowered IT, rs said,
"Mr. Jones, | happened to sail half the voyage
asa passenger in that ship, and I've no common
reason TO I've an xiOus about her getting sale Into
port. There's one single heng in her Mt this
moment I'd willingly lose my life TO save from
anything like what one could iauey-ay, so help
mo God, suppose Id no chance q ever se.tiit,
eyes on her again ~ Jones never stirred a
feature, but looked past me into The CLEAN Of
the moon over my shoulder
ledge to YOU frankly ~ from olc scamtn 10
another, the question Is, arr YOU for mr--r
NOT 7" eve speak rs man with man, 1t seems
Mr.. Collins = said Jones quietly, thon | an,
for you " anil H. struck his hand all at once
into mine "hcrus hand that never hed
whatever the tongue may have dono--hh Or
good, ] am for you, sir, and No moro of it 1
knew rs well as you / II me, Mr. Collins, by
the looks Of the passengers, that You hid aailcd
aboard that ship in son' wlv or o,hcr--ilid
whats more, sir / sur Here he stopped
looking at me with his back to tho sinking
CLEAN of light beyond tho ships hull, from tn,
neon m she touched the water, and ] saw no
thing but the shape Of his head under tn
straw hat, with shadow blurring his fac
together; though l felt him eyeing M
out Of II all the time. What som,
would think more worth, while than If yor
were Spanish platc-shlp, he went on aud h
lowered his voice nearly TO whisper as h,
added, " l tell you what Mr.. Collins, It's m,
conviction that, ugou chose, you might do wh5t
you liked with that ludaman and all aboard
hor {" stepped back with shivcr through
me, rs the sudden settLs Of tho moon blendol
everything black In with Joncs's shoulders,
leaving his head instead Of hcr against a glm-
mer oflght, till for moment it seemed pecr-
ing at me of the horizon, with the whole lump
Of shadow betwiNt the two craft for body,
and I must say I thought Of oh slo-
ries about the Tempter in human forrS.
"Devil !" sid J. hoarscly, whilo the Last
CLEAN 10 westward went out aud 1t got h
dark I could have ilnccl Jones had vanished
from the bulwarks without stirring a foot n
fact, on my moving to the place, touched the
cool planks with my haul-he was actually
gone Nothing was visible beyond our own
decks save slight glimmer such as one would
make in sculling with single oar and saw
at once he had taken the small boat alongside 10
90 aboard the lndiaman All the rest was that
thick heavy darkness Only TO lie found in a calm
In the Indian Ocean, towards morning; You may
not only say you see II, hut could stir it, as II
wcre, with a stick.
A horrid notion Of Jons's purpose crept
through my mind at first; but on second
thoughts l easily saw this wasn't the OCCASION
for him 10 choose, IL he had really meant III,
and accordingly there was the more reason 10
trust him. Indeed, us stood listening AMI
watching, after Westwood and the planter went
below, the Indiamans pinnacle lamp seemed TO
60 slowly out, while at the same time the sound
OF her watch speaking on the fOrecastle apph-
rently got distincter, till | could hear them
clear of the ships hull and rigging, like lo,y
voices muttering in the air betwiXt her aud US
Twas only her having sheered gradually bow
on to the schooner again, however as a
calm near the equator has always something
like pulse in it--but II struck me there were
men out on her jib-boom, which being of course
the very privatest part of any in ship, for talk
why to lind more than ono going out there, Of
a daIk night, and with no work to do ney r
looks otherwise than suspicious. Nothing I
this kind surprised me nj present in the Serin :
apatam, with the opinion bal Of her hut the
curious thing was, that the follows must have
supposed il the tarthest point they could get out
OF sight n us, M well as from their own decks
she having had her beam 10 the schooner wha
the moon set. The desperate feelings that ste
upon man in such a case, AMI the feir-
ful notions that breed in his head, with
ha sFuItRl Of ia AMI he
way he holds on by a single rope, you can
scarcely conceive; though II cry had come from
the lndLanan at that moment, dare sayiI
should have sprung in head foremost, to get 10
her-when all at once, from up in the air again
thought heard the smart click Of "A flint aud
steel, at any rate saw the sparks showerng
from II IN the midst of the black space belofe
me--even the pair Of fists as they Knocked to
gether, then mouth blowing the match, till
there was light in a lantern between -four
heads leaning towards each other over the spur.
Queer enough It would have been 10 see,
in ordinary circumstances, hut you'll readily
fancy what thing il looked all of sud
den, right out in the midst of the pitch-blaek
might, one didn't know how or wherein fact
two Of them faced each other in the stream Ot
light from one side Of the lantern, like the two
edges Of rent In the dark, and another was
like sprawling blot in the ccntre-you iIst
saw they were iaces and heads, with a foot Of
twoof the thick round boom slanting up betwikl
them; but rs for their bodies, they were all Of
a piece with the perfect hlaekness beyond.
could see one of them hold up the lantern and
pass II round the three others faces, bringing cut
their ehins and noses, Os IL TO be sure who they
were-a piece Of caution which served almost
equally well Tor me, for l remembered each OF
them byheadmark among the crew, only di1nt
see the said fellow himself ,-even when be
drew out some Paper or other in one hand, seem
mgly uniolded Il with the help of his teeth, ADD
sPIeed i over the jlb-boom under the lanterI
whereupOn the whole four Of the heads drew
close together Ia black lump round the light,
peeIing down upon the paper, and muttering
away as much at THAR ease, no doubt, as ifthey
had been In tap-room. All | wished fer was
5000 rihe-barrel in my hand at the time, 10
nave knocked the light out from the midst Of
mem, and sent the bullet by accident through
INC tArpAulin hat behind it-espeeially Whs9 a
ApA4ns Ted Upper was showed out On the Wlito