The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-03-20
|. TIE OoPPERIHG PIT

Il was wandering through the suburbs
i of one of our smallest and most ve11erar
bic seaport towns, xhenI came upon the
i graveyard. One of the graves particu-
larry attracted NV attention, 1t was
covered oys . large and fiat stone,
which bore an inscription reading asl
tolI0Wss essss aaaas ss4s ]
Here lies the body and worldly sub
stance Of Captain William Mereen, q
skipper OF this port and father Of Polly
Mereen. who sailed from here In the Gor-.
perfssg Pc, il July. 1861 In 1901 he
was born In this town. where he died iii.
1871. The body shall remain here until
| resurrected by the last trump. and the
worldly substance shall stay with it un-
I'll his daughter Polly shall raise this
stone and take from under it her own. =
AS 4 was turning away from the grave
saw on the road an elderly man APP
preaching. I had met him before. He
was weather-b beaten. parsonage, with q
sea-faring demeanor, and his name was
Wonderment Sanchez. / saw he was In
. hurry, but Istopped him and asked if
ne could explain the inscriptionzon this
tomb. -
s.It'scur' us, !" he said, .sthat You should
ask me such thing at this time. The
CoppeyiD' Pet is q lynn off the bar; I've
beea 2 wa1chin' fur her fur years, and 4
cans be mistook in her. - She'll come
over at high water, and I've been to
hunt our pilots, but all three of 'cm have
gone up the river fishing. pm,no pilot
but I'm goin' out to the Pet in my boat
The captain ought TO know the bar, fur
he was raised here. and perhaps he'll
bring her in himself. If you like III
take you out with me, and T. I'll tell you
all about that tombstone on the way
replied that nothing would please
me better, and in fifteen minutes we
were rowing over the harbor toward the
bar. >. sss "a g.. - -
.sBilly Mereen," said Wonderment.
s'was an old friend OF mine. He made
many wages and brought back many
Gurus things, principally made out Of
whales jaw bones He had a great lik-
ing fur such matters, and he'd had
his own bones made of whales jaws If
he could have done it. He had one
child. named Polly, and her motherdied
when she was little Nine years ago.
when Polly was about eighteen, she
married young Alba, of this town, and
sailed away as is stated on that stone.
Two years after that the old man died,
and he left all he had to Polly. As I've
been told, everythina was turned into
money, which was put into an iron box,
and buried under his gravestone- Ac-
eordin' to directions he left, the money
is to wait there fur her, fur hundred
years, fur some of the women Mereens
livea long time. If she don't come fur
itin the hundred years, the money is to
be given to the oldest man in the town,
and when he dies to the oldest one left,
and SO on until it's al gone. =
Thought old Billy Mereen was the
Il Il
of; but did not say so. suggested,
however, that the iron box might be
stolen. $50
agssSome folks thinks,s' said the old
man.. ..that there's nothin' much in that
box, and some folks thinks there's lots.
But however It's, there is no man in this
town would touch that grave 'E@S
i was greatly interested in the story,
and was almost as anxious as old Won
deIment himself to get out TO the Cop
1oe7Isag Pet and see what would come of
it ALL ssas sSs@ SO 81 z tE@ ss-a8
We were soon out at sea, and as we;
approached the vessel saw that Won
derment had not been mistaken. Her
name, the ssCoppersasg Pet. was painted
in fresh white letters on her bow. AS she
lay to, before moderate breeze we were
soon on board.
When we reached the deck Wonder
ment asked for the captain sss sssF
ratAll right sirt'said asailor, .sshe is
coming. y -.
5 Shell The old man and opened wide
our eyes, but none too wide for the sight
we saw. & Up short companion-way
there stepped q young woman. who with
a quick and sea-trained step came to-
ward us. She wore a close-fitting dress
of blue and broad straw hat s7 s.sa s
b Why, il this isn't Wondermentm She
exclaimed, advancing toward the old
man with outstretched hands. Ss
Il m real glad to see you Polly said
Wonderment, lyon re looking finely
And how s?'---g sff4 ~, Es.ss ssa
He is not living" said Polly" quiet
". II am 50 glad you came on board
This is your friend, suppose. - - .as,.s.
Wonderment introduced me-
Come into the cabin, she said, aand
! viii tel you everything that has hap
When two glasses OF grog had been
brought, Polly told her story. It was
not a very long one. Her husband had
died about three years after they first
sailed away in the COppering Pet. This
happened when they were in the Japan
csc seas. She would have sold the yes
sci and returned TO her home, but she
ACA12d III W DIS uObe easy W llakc StIilSDIG
arrangements of this kind; and then,
before any plan could be carried ont,
she heard of her fathers death. When
she recovered from this new shock she
did not want TO come home, and If she
sold her vessel, she felt that she would
have no abiding place in this world, SO
she determined to keep the OoPperf1sg
Pet, the only home she had; and having
q competens mate and o good crew, and
being accompanied by . middle-aged
Scotch woman, who acted as both maid
and companion, she had sailed and trad
ed In those Eastern waters until few
months ago, when she had determined
to see once more her native town.
While Captain Polly was speaking I
had watched her closely. She was real
ly very handsome Woman and her face
was but little sunburned. iesr = S
ssAnd now, she said ST want to
hear everything that has: happened
here" s..sssss.s.sf, Co.
Thereupon wondermeus told the story
of Captain Mereen's death and the
singular disposition of his worldly sub
stance. ssssss So 3D.
This is a strange story said Capt.
Polly, s'and must think il over before
/ say anything about It. And now, Won
derment, did you come out to take Pet
over the bar?'s a.e-t - 80 s s
81 didn't come fur that, . said the old
man, inspired by the grog. t.but though