The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1885-04-18

minute more out went the Ilgh
again; then on it came for abou
ten minutes, until finally l mad
up my mind to go and see what i
was.
81 started for the openin', but jus
before got to it it became. darl
again, and / fancied / saw a darl
shape like big fish dart by thel
| thought it might be a-squall out
side, and the low clouds that they
have there had been doin' the shad
in business. I crept through thu
hole, takin' care of my pipes, anc
grabbed the rope I'd left hangin
there to pull me up on the hull
when there came a kind of whirl o.
rush, just as if u Current of watel
had been let in on me from some.
where. | turn half around Just in
time to see big fish risin' above
me. 1t was too late to do anything
I'd left my pike below, and before
l could move step l saw in the
dark form rushin' at me. / was in
the most exposed part of the wreck
not single thing to do but face the
music, and as / thought whatever il
was it was goin' to strike me, turn.
ed the best protected portion to-
ward it, and that, of course, was my
copper helmet.
"There was kind of rush; then,
instead of a blow, / felt a wrench
that almost twisted my head off, a
terrible scratchin' sound, and l felt
myself bein' born off bodily by the
head. The thought that 1 was bein'
eaten alive by some horrible mon
ster came over me, and with force
that | found afterward must have
been mostsuperhuman, as it near
ly jerked the watchman overheard,
l gave the signal on the line"
Here the speaker stopped in his
narrative and said:
snow, | reckon CAPTAIN Sam had
better go on. He kin tell We the
rest better than I.kin."
"Wall, | reckon l kim" answered
that individual, "considerin' what
fix ye were in. Tho first warnin'
we had that anythin' was wrong"
he continued, twas seein' Tom Ram
sey, who was settin' on a camp
stool smokin' and holdin' the line
go a sprawlin' over the deck and
nigh ON to overheard. Up he got
swearin' that Jed was drunk or
crazy down at the bottom for yank-
in so on the line, but we knew
somethin' was up, SO we clapped on
to the line, and ye'd thought there
was sperm whale on the other end.
1t was just as if Jed didn't want to
come up, and was a-jerkin' and
haulin' to stay where he was. Then
there came steady strain like, but
we stuck to it, and in about three
minutes had him in sight, when one
of the hands yelled, "A sharks got
himp and ran for the harpoon.
The rest of us gave way hard on
the rope, and in a minute the cook,
him that yelled, got back with the
iron, and then right afore us Jed
appeared on the surface with a
shark about eighteen footlong. The
cook let fly the harpoon, the water
flew the men yelled and we jerked
Jed fairly out of the water; and just
as we gave the last lift-he was COM
in up feet first see his head was
jammed in the sharks mouth. The
critter, dropped him as soon as it
struck with the iron, and Jed fell
like lead. I tell ye we WANT long
in gittin' that armor off. l didn't
wait to unscrew it, but knocked in
one side-light with a marline spike,
and so gave him a little air."
-Good-morrow fair maid, with lashes
brown,
Can you tell me the way to Womanhood
Town.
Oh, this way and that way-never stop.
'Tis picking upstiches grandma will drop
iIlt.. l-s-....... IL. L L =. Il L