San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-03-30
BOUN D.
BY w. CLARK RUSSELL,
author of "The WrccE of the GrosUenor,"
"Jach!s Courtship," my Watch Be-
iopo, 1.-THE Lady Maud Etc.

sIuence vi the AFTER pa. or the Sooner and
her farther inclination to larbcard Indeed
the hollow was now coming to resemble the
ways" on which ships are launched; and
you would have conceived by the appear
anoe of it that if it should slope a littl4 more
yet, off would slide the schooner for the yea :;
and in the right posture, too-that is, stern
on. But l prayed with all my might and
main for anything but this. 1t would have
been very well had the hollow gone in a gem
tie declivity to the wash of the sea-tO the
water itself, in short; but it terminated at
the edge of u cliff, not very high, indeed. but
high enough to warrant the prompt tourder
ing of any vessel that should launch herself
off it. Happily the keel was TOO soidly
frozen into the ice to render passage of thus
description possible; and the conclusion l ar
rived at, after careful inspection, was that
the sole chance that could offer for the de-
livery of the vessel to her proper element lay
in the cracking up and disruption of the bed
on which she lay.
Satisfied as to the state of the ice and the
posture of the schooner, viewed from with
out sent slow and piercing gaze along thu
ocean line, and then returned TO the ship.
The strong wind, the dance of the sea, the
grandeur of the great tract of whiteness,
vitalized by this flying of violet cloud shad-
Ows along it, had fortified my spirits, and
being free for while) of all superstitious
dread, determined to begin by exploring
the forecastle and ascertaining if more bodies
were in the schooner than those two in the
cabin and the giant form on deck. l threw
some coal on the fire, and placed AT OK
tongue along with the cheese and lump of
the frozen wine in pannikin into the oven
flor had mind to taste the vessels stores,
and thought the tongue would make all agree
able change), and then, putting a candle into
the lantern, walked very bravely to the fore
castle and entered it.
/ was prepared for the scene of confusion,
but l must say it staggered me afreSh with
something of the force of the first impression.
Sailors chests lay open in all directions, and
their contents covered the decks. There was
the clearest evidence here that the majority
of the crew had quilted the vessel in a VIC
lent hurry, turning out their boxes to cram
their money and jewelry into their pockets,
and heedlessly fiinging down their own and
the clothes which had fallen to their share
This had every right to suppose from the
character of the muddle on the floor; for,
passing the light over part of it, witnessed
great variety of attire of a kind which Ger
tainly no sailor i'll any age ever went to sea
with-n0t so fine, perhaps, as that which lay
in the cabins, but very good, nevertheless,
particularly the linen.
In many places, glittering among the
clothes, were gold and silver coins, a few sill
yer ornaments, such as buckles, and watches
things not missed by the pirates in the
transport Of their flight. In kicking a coat
aside discovered a couple of silver cruel
fixes bound together, and close by were
silver goblet and the hilt of a sword broken
short off for the sake of the metal it was made
of. Nothing ruder than this interior is i'm
aginable. The men must have been mighty
put to 1t for room. There was a window in
the bead, but the snow yelled it. May be the
rogues messed together aft, and only used
this forecastle to lie in. Right under the
hatch, where the light was strongest, was a
dead rat. / stopped to pick it up, meaning
to fling it on to the deck, but its tail broke
of at the rump like a pipe stem.
Close against the after bulkhead that sep
arated the forecastle from the cook room was
a little hatch. There was a quantity of
wearing apparel upon it, and l should have
missed it but for catching sight of some
three inches of the dark line the cover made
IN the deck. On clearing away the clothes I
perceived ring similar to that in the laza-
rette hatch! and it rose to my first drag and
left me the hold yaRyning black below. l
peered down, and observed a stout stanchion
traversed by iron pins for the hands md