Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-03-31

| feet but perceiving within this range the out
| line of a little door, l concluded that here
were the berths in which the master and his
mates slept There was nothing to be done
| in the dark and l bitterly lamented that
had left my finder box and flint in the boat
for then could have lighted the candle in
the lantern.
perhaps" thought /, "one of those figures
may have finder box upon him.
Custom was now somewhat hardening me;
moreover, was spurred on by mortal anx-
| iety to discover if there was any kind of
| food to be met with in the vessel. So
| stepped up TO the figure whose face | had
| touched, and felt in his pockets but neither
on him nor ON the other did | find what
wanted, though was not a little astonished
! to discover in the pockets of the occupants of
so small and humble ship as this schooner
fine gold watch, as rich as the one l had
| brought away from the man on the rocks,
and moro elegant in shape, a gold snufTbox
set with diamonds, several rings Of beauty
and value lying loose in the breeches pocket
of the man whose face was hidden, a handful
of Spanish pieces in gold handkerchiefs of
fine silk, and other articles, as if indeed
these fellows had been overhnuling parcel
of booty and then carelessly returned the
contents to their pockets,
But what | needed was the means of OBJ
tanning light, 50, after casting about, |
thought | would search the body on deck,
and won't to it, and to my great satisfaction
discovered what | wanted in the first pocket
l dipped my hand into, though | had 10 rip
open the mJuth of it away from the snow
with the han er.
| returned to the cabin and lighted the
candle, and carried the lanterni into the black
passage or corridor. There were four small
DOORS belonging to as many berths l
opened the first, and entered compartment
that smellal so intoleraby stale and fusty
that had to conc into the passage again
and fetch few breaths to hunor my nose
TO the odor As in the cabin, however, SO
here found this NERVOUSNESS of air was not
caused by putreiactiOn o. any taning quail
ties of a vegetable or animal kind, but hy
the dcadneSs of the pent up air Itself, as the
foulueSs of bilge water is owing to its being
imprisoned from air in the bottom of the
hold.
| held up the lantern and looked about me.
A glance or two satisfied me that | was in a
room that had been appropriated by the
steward and his mates. a number of dark
objects, which on inspection | found to be
hams, were slowed snugly away in battens
under the ceiling or upper deck; cask half
full of flour stood in corner; near it lay a
large coarse sack in which was quantity of
biscuit, piece of which bit and found it
as hard us flint and tasteless, but not in the
least degree moldy. There were four shelves
running athwartships full of glass, knives
and forks, dishes and so forth, some of the
glass very choice and elegant, and many of
the dishes and plates also very fine, fit for
the greatest noblemans table Under the
lower shelf, on the deck, lay sack of what
/ believed to be black stones until, after turn
ing one or two of them about, it came upon
me that they were or had been, should say,
potatoes.
Not to tease you with too many particulars
under this head, let me briefly say that in
this larder, or stewards room, | found among
other things several cheeses, a quantity of
candles, a great earthenware pot full of
peas, several pounds of tobacco, about thirty
lemons, along with two small casks and
three or four jars, manifestly of spirits, but
of what kind could not tell. L took stout
sharp knife from one of the shelves, and
pulling down one of the hams tried to cut it,
but | might as well have striven to slice a
piece of marble | attempted next to cut n
cheese, but this was frozen as hard as the
ham. The lemons, candles and tobacco had
the same astonishing quality of stoniness,
and nothing yielded to the touch but the
-four. l laid hold of one of the jars, and
thought to pull the stopper out but it was
frozen hard in the hole it fitted, and / was |
five minutes hGmmering it loose. When it |
was out | inserted asteel-usod for the sharp |
ening of knves-and found the contents solid |
ice; nor was there the faintest smell to tell |
me what the spirit or wine was.
Never before did plenty offer itself in so
mocking a shape 1t was the very irony of |
abundance-substantial ghostliness and a
Barmecide's feast to my aching stomach
But there was biscuit, not unconquerable |
by teeth used to the fare of sea life, and |
picking up whole one | sat me down on the |
edge of cask and fell a-munching. One re-
Election, however, c0mforted me-namely, |
that this petrifaction by freezing had kept |
thu victuals sweet. / was sure there was
little that might not be thawed into relish
able and nourishing food and drink by q
good fire. The sight of these stores took such
q weight off my mind that no felon reprieved |
from death could feel more elated than l.
My forebodings had come to naught in this
regard, and here for the moment my CRATE
full spirits were content to stop.
FRO BE CONTINUED