Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-04-29

bows. I propose to sink these barrels
twenty feet deep, where they must hang
nom piece or spar across the aperture"
He nodded.
Have you any slow matches aboard?''
Plenty among the guuner's Stores" he
replied.
There are but you and me-" said /;
these operation viii take time. We must
mind not to be blown up by one barrel
while we are ~suspending another. We
shall have to lower the barrels with their
matches on fire, aud they must be timed
to burn an hour"
"Ay, certainly-at least an hour he
exclaimed. Two hours would Ee better"
well, that must depend upon the num-
Der OF parcels Of matches We meet with.
There viii be- good many mines to spring,
and n must not explode before another.
lis the united force Of the several blasts
which we must reckon on. The contents
Of at least four more barrels Of powder we
must distribute among the other ehinks
md splits in such parcels q they will be
able to receive"
And then?"
And then" said !, 1--WE must await the
explosion, and trust to the mercy of heaven
10 help u.s."
He made a hideous face, as if this was
q sort Of talk to nauseate him, and said:
DO you propose that we should remain on
board, or watch the effects from sdistance?''
why. remain on board, of course" i
answered. Suppose the mines liberated
the ice on which the schooner lies and it
hoated away, what should we, watching
ut q distance, dc?"
True" cried he, ''but it is cursed peri
lOus. The explosion might blow the ship
up
'.No, it will not do that. We shall be
bad engineers if We bring such q thing
about. The danger will be-prOvidipg
the schooner is released-in her capsizing,
as l have before pointed out"
Enough CT ed he, charging his pan
nikin for the third time. ave must chance
her cspsiziDg."
at / had crew at nay back" said /, 81
would carry an anchor and cable to the
shoulder of the cliff at the end of the slope
10 hold the ship if she swan. / would
also pat 8 quantity of provisions on the
ice along with materials for making us
shelter and the whole Of the stock of coal,
so that We could 90 on supporting life here
if the schooner capsized."
Thea" said he, ''yOu would remain
ashore during the explosion"
Most certainly. But as al these pre-
pa~rations would mean . degree oflsbOr i'm
practicable by us two men, l am for the
bold yenture-prepSre aud fire the mines,
return to the ship, and leave the rest to
Providence"
He made another ugly face, and in
dulged himself in q piece of profanity that
iuexprsssibly disgusting and mean in
the mouth Of a man who was used to cross
himself when alarmed and swear by the
saints. But perhaps he knew, even better
than |, how little he had to expect from
Providence. He filed his pipe, ~exclaimiDg
that when he had smoked il out We "hould
fall to work.
Now that 1 had settled q plan, 1 was
eager to put it iuto practiee-hot and wild,
indeed, with the impotence and hope OF
the castaway animated with the dream OF
recovering his liberty and preserving bis
life; and | was the more anxious TO set
about the business at once, on account OF
the weather being fair and still; for If 1t
came on to blow q stormy wind again we
should be forced, as before, under matches.
But l had to wait for the Frenchman to
empty his pipe. He was so complete q
sensualist that 1 believe nothing short OF
terror could have forced him 10 shorten the
period of q pleasure by q second of time
RE went on pufing so deliberately, with
such leisurely enjoy ment of the flavor OF
the smoke, that l expected to see him fall
asleep; and, my patience becoming ex-
hausted, / jumped up, but by this time his
bowl held nothing bat blsck ashes.
'Now," cried he, Ito work"
And he rose with q prodigious yawn and
seized the lantern. Our FIRST business was
TO hunt among the boatswain's stores in
the run for tackles to hoist the powder
barrels OPP with. There was q good col
lection, as might have been expected in q
pirate, whose ommerc lay in Singing
goods from other ships holds into her
own; but the robes were frozen g hard N
iron, to remedy which we carried an arm
ful to the cook house, and left the tackles
to lie and soften. WealsO conveyed to the
cook house a quantity Of ratline .stuff-a
thin rope, used for the making OF steps IN
the shroud ladders; this being a line that
would exactly serve 10 suspend the smaller
parcels of powder in the splits. Before
Touching the powder barrels W. put a
lighted candle into the bulls eye lamp
over the door, and removed the lantern TO
a safe distance. Tassard wGs perfectly
well acquainted with the contents OF this
storerOOm, and on my asking for the
matches put his on one of several bags OF
them. They varied in length, some being
six inches and some making . big coil.
There was nothing for it but TO sample
and test them, and this l told Tassard
could be done that evening. The main
hatch was Just forward of the guuroom
bulkhead; we seized q handspike each and
went to work to pry the cover open. II
was desperate tough labor-as bad as try
ing 10 open an oyster with a soft blade.
The Frenchman broke ont into many
strange old-fashiored oaths in his own
tongue, imsginipg the hatch 10 be frozen
but though l don't doubt toe frost had
something to do with it, its, o~bstinacy was
mainly owiDgto time, that had soldered 1t,
80 to speak, with the stubbOrnness that
eight and forty years will communicate to
a fixture which ice has eherised and kept
sound.
We got the hatch open at lsst-be
pleased to know that l am speaking of the
hatch in the lower deck, for there was a n
other immediately over 1t on the upper OF
main dtck-and returning TO the powder
room, rolled the barrels forward ready for
singing and hosting away when we
should have rugged q tackle aloit. We
had not done much, bat what we had done
had eaten far into the afternoon.
al am tired and hungry and thirsty"
said the F~relchman. Let us knock eff.
We have made good progress. No use
opening the main deck hatch tonight; the
vessel IS cold enough when Theoretically
corked."
VERY we'll" said |, bringing my watch
10 the lantern and observing the time to
be sundowu; 50, carefully extipguishing
the candle in the bulls eye lamp, We took
each of us q bag of matches and went to
the cook loom.
There was neither tea nor coffee in the
ship. 1 so pinned for these soothing drinks
that I would have given all the wine in
the vessel for a few pounds OF either one