Ottumwa weekly courier., 1877-08-15
own ut a rate which almost eouallea

down at rate which almost equalled
that Of the late "lightning express
train. The line ran out with deaf
enfhg hum the loggerhead smoked,
and the boat laid her bow deer in the
water. Suddenly the strain ceased
the whale was coming up, and every
eye conncd the sca for a glimpse of
the monster. lie came up like rock
ct, struck the boat on the keel amid
ships with his nose, and hurled It
thirty feet into the air. AS it came
down 1t capsized and turned bottom
uppermost. The men Immediately
swan for it, and, with the exception
OF tho captain, reached it, where they
|squatted, holding onto the keel, and
presenting the appearance of a lot of
penguins nesting on chunk of kelp,
The captain also swan up, but finding
the keel crowded, resolved not to risk
an upsetting by venturing upon it.
So he put an oar under each arm, and
treading water, kept near the boat,
cheering the crew, who, as was natur-
al to men in their situation, were
nervous and dishcartened. They float
ed this way several moments, and
were gradually getting over the first
shock, when the stroke oarsman. a
gigantic negro, called out, Look dar,
a shark" Nothing SO horrifles sail
er as the appearance Of that raycnous
fish in hours of peril, The crew
looked and saw huge bottle nosed
shark floating pparently not more
than fathom below the surface. The
captain saw it also, and felt his chan
ces of escape dwindle to a cypher !:
nevertheless he did not lose courage,
and instead of fastening the event
which seemed beyond prevention. re-
solved to escape it if possible. He
knew that sh lark would never bite at
an unsteady bait. The nose of the
creature is in its way !: it must turn on
its side to snap, and then only when
the object is stationary. 1t NAV be
for second only, but that is enough.
the shark darts like lightning, and in
a moment seizcs its prey. The can
tain knew this, and knew that his only
salvation depended upon his keeping
constantly in motion. The least pause
would be fatal, so with the two oars
under his arm he kept afloat, moving
about necessarily, his eyes fixed on
the dark object beneath him, which
followed wherever he moved. Such
a situation would be apt to affect the
senses terribly, yet the captain says
he never was calmer, never less
troubled, never less afraid of death.
His mind, however, was unusually
active; every circumstance of his life
came before him with the clearness of
MONDAY. The scenes of his youth in
particular passed before him in vivid
coloring. He saw the old farmhouse
in which he was born ]; the hill, woods
and meadows surrounding it: the
distant village, the church spire, the
flocks on the plains, the winding riv-
: er, the cows browsing in the fields
he heard the clatter of the mill, the
songs of the mowers, the birds sing
ing in the groves, and the echo of the
gun among the hills. He heard, too
, the voice of one dearcr to him than
all else on earth; the voice of one
but all this took place while a ra.
pacious monster was floating within
few feet of him, waiting only for a
moments pause in his movements tc
rend him in pieces.
The second boat, having now res.
cued the wrecked men, approached
the captain, who ordered its crew t6
!. shoot by him at full speed, and as i,
passed him he would grasp it and
}. spring in, the critical moment being
when he would lose his motion anG
the shark would be likely to seizt
him. However, that risk must bt
taken. The mate faithfully carried
9 out his instructions. The men strained
: every sinew. They were whalemen
and as such, topgallant oarsmen, ant
J. the speed at which they sent the boa
/ driving through the water woult
J have shamed the flight of the swiftes
seabird. The boat itself was scarcely
q seen, buried in a double wall O
I foaming spray, tho oars bending lik,
. reeds and the gunwale quivering a
e eAch stroke. 1t took q steady nerve
y an eagle eye, and lightning grasl
u to secure the flying craft, but the cap
n tain had all these, and as it passed
), seized the starboard gunwale. ant
: was thrown like shot into the boat
/ At the same instant the sharks nos
rose above the water, and its jaw
U snapped with sound that was audi
= bic for considerable distance. Tn
Z captain, as he himself remarked, es
=. capped "only by scratch" The YER
Is instant he was stationary the shar
snapped at him, the velocity of hi
\ subsequent motions only saving hir
Z from q hideous death.