The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-02-24

a''erspppet the ya@l was sent
lail sain and worked until about
4 qeiark. Two. thirds Of The car.
90 bqds been transferred, and our
q ain meant to hang right by
ipplll Be had secured everything Or
q iitgf weather drove him away.
sIheFe bad bten a fair breeze all
.dqy sna itstill held, coming from
~ s9lssh east, There was doubt.
,les sinart surf on be other side
N lhelsland, but on our side the
ssa 'Pr vas quiet onongh.
Aheesthe crew turned in the
inaN Biltsgus left on deck as an
ipsapr watch, The men Topped
d'stn u aseE come Without a
ithitg gtetwfen them and Che planEs,
andin half an hour their snores
were hearty and dcontinuous. Then
cautiously rose up and Joined
Bill, The yawl was towing astern,
with the oars IN the thwarts, and
| was determined on escape. To
my surprise ] found him eager and
anxious to 60 with mo.
While captain and mate both ap.
peared asleep, we dared take no
tisks. II we got away in the boat
il must be bare handed, Any at.
tempt to look up water, provisions,
and the mast and sail might upset
gu whole plan.
While Bill walked the deck
@histling to himself, I drew the
ya%l under the stern and Slid down
the painter. In a minute or two
he came after me, and then cut the
rope and pushed US of. We at
once began to float to the north.
west, and in a quarter Of an hour
were out Of sight Of the schooner
IL would not do to use the oars yet,
however and we were waiting to
increase our distance, when all Of
"a sudden the waters around us
grew alive with sharks. l have
sailed in most seas and have seen a
sailors share Of sharks, but never
before nor since did | witness such
a congregation Of The voracious
monsters. They seemed determin.
ed on destroying US, and every
minute dealt the boat such thumps
that We looked to see the planks
crushed in. They jumped half
their length ont Of the water at the
glnpale Of the bpal, and twice the
.liae bssk rested on tlissseal.
~ thestefn for several seconds.
We realized tina. we must make
some demonstration, even at the
peril Of being overheard on board
the schooner, and, getting out the
oars, we punched aud jabbed with
all our might. As soon as We got
well out from the land the wind
bore us along at a faster pace, but
the sharks were not to be left be.
hind. II there was one there were
2OO They bit at the oars and
splintered the blades, and if the
men on the schooner had not been
over tired they must have been
awakened by the row.
We had drifted perhaps two
miles when terrible thing hap
pened. We two sat on one lhwart,
Bill minding one side and l the
other He was bending over the
rail, punching every shark within
reach, when | heard a scream, and
turned my head in time to see him
pulled overheard, A shark had
jumped far enough ont Of water to
seize him. There was a terrible
cummotion in the water for few
minutes, every fish anxious to Sc
cure a morscl, and for a time was
entire neglected and driving along
alone. By and by three or four
sharks came after nae, but they no
longer attacked the boat, nor did
the number increase.
When | got my nerve back / put
the best oar over the stern and
sculled away, keeping to the north.
west, nor did | rest beyond a few
minutes at time until daylight
came. | was then entirely out Of
sight Of the schooner, and making
a good pace Of it. | saw half a doz.
en- coasters on the bay, but made
no signals. The Louisiana coast
was in full sight, and | preferred
driving ashore to being picked up.
| knew how the coasters felt toward
Erecker', and if were picked up,
my story would probably land me
in the courts.
Soon after noon l fetched the
shore in a bit of bay, but lsoon re.
allied that was no better off than
out at sea. l was hungry and
thirsty, but there was neither fresh