San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-07-06

oaooon a-haiIing of us" cried the helmsman.
Swimming baboon in your eye, answered
the mate; 'some drowned mans ghost, moro
like, fooling round, maybe, In hope Of being
laid by drink"
The laugh again sounded, sort of un-
earthly carousing, hallooing, Like the nnean-s
ingless bawling of some drunken rascal stag
gering home in the small hours. What the
deuce is itr said the mate Saint that q
winking of fire out there where the noise is,
sirf' said the helmsman. The mate peered.
LAY, sure enough" said he; "what is it nowi
1t looks like the sheen Of phosphorus to the
dipping of an oar. Listen" They both bent
their ears The long, demoniacal, blood
chilling laugh came floating of the water to
the ship, and then a man cried out suddenly,
in the blackness forward, Heres some one
hailing of usl" The mate put his head into
the skylight and sang out to the skipper, who
rolled off the locker and came on deck By
this time the watch, disturbed In their nap,
had uncoiled themselves and were at the
rail Every man was invisible to his fellow,
close together as the sailors hung, but the
darkness did not hinder them from speaking,
and their voices rose in sort Of grumble,
hoarse with wonder, not unmixed with ap-
prehension.
what is it, Mr.. Jonesr" asked the cap
tain There's some out on the water
yonder, laughing" answered the mate;
listen. sir; now you have It." 1t could
scarcely be any longer doubted that the
sounds were uttered by a human being. 1t
was a mans lunatic laughter, a senseless,
bowling counterfeit Of mirth, and this time
it was followed on by an articulate cry,
though the fellow was too far off to be in
teIigible. why. yes; sure enough" cried
the captain, there's some one out there, but
what the deuce is he finding to laugh at, and
what's his craftT He raised his voice.
Anybody make out what that chap yonder's
aaoat I'M" Hes heading for US, exclaimed
one of the men, "his voice has growed az
clear ag'in since first heard" It'll be a
boat, I allow" exclaimed another man;
fancy heered the grind Of an oar in thole
pins just now, and there's a fash Of water at
times"
For some minutes there was. q dead still
ness, while the mate, taking the lamp out of
the pinnacle, held It steady over the rail lr
Iced, IL looked as though the Digit Of the
lamp bad silenced tho Fellow. There va.
nothing to be seen; stare as the men might
they could witness nothing distinguisnable
LII CQ6 Ink llk6 NOlu LuUO WHICH tuolE RdLS 6duh
blindly, saving the occasional sparkling OF
fiery water to what was unquestionabiy the
stealthy plying of an oar.S Presently the Old
skipper roared out, Boat, ahoyi what boats
thatTn His voice was echoed In the motion
less hidden canvas on high, but no answer
was returned from the sea. There was an
other interval of dead ssillness with FAINT
sound now and again which suggested that
L. 49, hair cr,ff IN and
ingiy sculled Certainly the scintillation OF
the oar bad vanished. and there was nothing
to intimate the existence OF the boat saving
the sculling sound "Confoundedly wonder
full all thisr' gasped the skipper, in voice
of intense excitement, putting and blowing
with the heat and with the ama1ement be
was full Of As he said this peal of mirth-
less laughter broke from the water, appar-
emily within pistol shot OF the ships side.
Hal hal hal Show light there. Hal hal
na! I'm Saint Anthony Hurrahi boya
Saint Anthony in tow Of apig, by the living
thunder. He's brought me thousand
leagues Hurrahl hurrahi Hal hal haf'
The dreadful laugh died out There's only
one way of dealing with this, !" cried the mate.
He dived into the cabin. was absent min
ute. and then returned with port fire, which
ne exploded over the side. Out gushed the
fountain of green flame, tincturing broad
area of the water with frightful radiance,
and flashing up within biscuit toss
the shape of what was apparently a
ships quarter ba at, black, with the tall.
seemingly half ked figure Of q man erect
on midship thwart with hands held
nigh, in the posture Of one who leaps as he
falls with shot in his heart IL was pict-
ure not to be expressed In writing; the wild
| coloring Of the port fire made an unimagin-
/! able vision Of it; and then again there was
the sudden CHASTITY Frightening out of the
| wild sight from the black canvas in which it
I had lain buried ''St Anthony, | tell ye,
! meni st. Anthony, ha, ha, bar cried the
I half nude creature, 6ourishing his arms as il
in ecstacy at the sight Of the green spout Of
I flame. "Hoi tbs good thing to be a saint,
thought Alone, alone-alone, alonei Pm
| the sovereign Of thu seas, and St Anthony,
too. Hurrah, boys Hal hal haT The port
| fire went out, and the blackness rolled down
| again dark upon the dazzle in the mems eyes.
"A mad sailor. sir" cried the mate; ''some
shipwrecked survivor with his brain gone.
Great Godl how horrible" "Lord, II one
could but seer exclaimed the captain; I'VE
must have him aboard, though Aft here.
some OF you; get boat lowered and secure
that poor fellow" ~Hai hai haIn sounded
out Of the darkness SIN monarch Of the
night I tell ye I'm St. Anthony, too, my
| Novl-norly-.-e. kh,Fa9 eh1