The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-08-31
CHAPTER XVI.
I AN TROUBLED BY OF THR
TREASURE.


I AM BY THOUGHTS OF THE
TREASURE.
The weight of the wind in the rigging
steadied the schooner somewhat, and pre-
vented her from rolling too heavily to star
board, while her list corrected her larboard
rolls. So as l sat below she seemed to me to
be making tolerably good weather of it. Not
much water came aboard; now and again l
would hear the chatter of a fall forward, but
at comfortably long intervals.
/ sat against the dresser with my back upon
it, and being dead tired must have dropped
asleep on a s~udden-indeed, before l had half
smoked my pipe out-and l do not believe l
gave a thought to my situation before / slum-
bered, so wearied was l. The cold awoke me.
The fire was out, and so was the candle in
the lantern, and I was in coffin darkness.
This the finder box speedily remedied. l
looked at my watch-7 o'clock, as / was a
sinnerI so that my sleep had lasted between
three and our hours.
/ went on deck and found the night still
black upon the sea, the wind the same brisk
gale thai was blowing when I quit the helm,
the sea no heavier, and the schooner tumbling
in true Dutch fashion upon it. Hooked very
earnestly around, but could see no signs Of
ice. There would be daylight presently; so
/ went below, Lit the fire, and got my break
fast, and when / returned the sun was up,
and the sea visible to its farthest reaches.
1t was a fine wintry piece; the sea green
and running in ridges with frothing heads,
the sky very pale among the dark snow laden
clouds, the sun darting a ray now and again,
which was swung into the north by the shad-
ows Of the clouds until they extinguished it.
Remote in the northwest hung the CLEAN of
an iceberg-there was nothing else in sight.
Yes-something that comforted me exceed
ingly, though it was not very many days ago
that a like object had heavily scared mean
albatross, a noble bird, sailing on the wind
ward close enough to be shot. The sight of
this living thing was inexpressibly cheering
it put into my head a fancy of ships being at
hand, thoughts of help and of human compan-
ions. In truth, my Imagination was willing
to accept it as the anne bird that l had fright
ened away when in the boat, now returned
to silently reproach me for my treatment of
it. Nay, my lonely eye, my subdued and suf-
fering heart, might even have witnessed the
good angel of my life in that solitary shape
of ocean beauty, and nave deemed that,
though unseen, it had been with me through
out, and was now made visible to my gaze
by the light of hope that had broken into the
darkness Of my adventure.
Well, supposing it SO, I should not have
been the only man who aver scared his good
angel away and found it faithful afterward.
1 unlashed the tiller and got the schooner
before the wind, and steered until a little be-
fore noon, letting her drive dead before the
sea, which carried her northeast. Then, Sc
curing the helm amidships, l ran for the
quadrant, and while waiting for the sun to
show himself I observed that the vessel held
herself very steadily before the wind, which
might have been owing to her high stern and
the great swell of her sides and her round
bottom; but be the cause what it might, she
ran as fairly with her helm amidships as il I
had been at the tiller to check her-a most
fortunate condition Of my navigation, for it
privileged me to get about other work, while
at the same time every hour was conveying
me nearer to the tracks of ships and farther
from the bitter regions of the south.
/ got an observation, and made out that the
vessel had driven about fifteen leagues dur
ing the night. She must do better than that,
thought I; and when had eaten some din
ner I took a chopper, and going on to the
forecastle lay out upon the bowsprit, and
after beating the spritsail yard block clear of
the ice, cut away the gaskets that confined
the sail to the yard, heartily beating the can
vas, that was like iron, till a clew of it fell.
/ then came in and braced the yard square,
and the wind, presently catching the exposed
part Of the sail, blew more of it out, and yet
more, until there was a good surface show
ing; then to a sudden hard blast of wind the
whole sail few open with a mighty crack
ling, as though indeed it was formed of ice;
but to render it useful I had to haul the
sheets aft, which ! could not manage without
the help of the tackles we had used in sling
ing the powder over the side; SO that, what
with one hindrance and another, the setting
of that sail took me an hour and a half,
To be Continue