Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-07-12
CHAPTER XIV.
AN TROUBLED BY THOUGHTS OF THE
TREASURE.

be making tolerably good weather of it. Not
much water came aboard now and again
would hear the clatter of 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 sudden-indeed, before had half
smoked my pipe out-and / do not believe
gave thought to my situation before slum-
bered, so wearied was |. The cold awoke me.
The fire was out, and so was the candle in
the lantern, and / was in coffin darkness.
This the finder box speedily remedied l
looked at my watch o'clock, as l was a
sinner! so that my sleep had lasted between
three and four hours.
went ON deck and found the night still
black upon the sea, the wind the same brisk
gale that was blowing when l quit the helm,
the sea no heavier, and the schooner tumbling
in true Dutch fashion upon it. looked 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 l returned the sun was up,
and the sea visible to its farthest reaches.
1t was fine wintry piece; the sea green
and running in ridges wi tn frothing heads,
the sky very pale among the dark snow laden
| clouds, the sun darting ray now and again,
which was swung into the north by the shad-
ows of the clouds until they extingushed it.
Remote in the northwest hung the CLEAN of
an iceberg-there was nothing else in sight.
Yes that comforted me exceed
| ingly, though it was not very many days ago
that like object had heavily scared mean
albatross, noble bird, sailing on the wind
ward close enough to be shot. The sight Of
this living thing was inexpressbly cheering;
it put into my head 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 same bird that 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 have 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.
WE'LL supposing it so, should not have
been the only man who ever scared his good
| angel away and found it faithful afterward.
Iunlashed the tiller and got the schooner
| before the wind, and steered until little be-
| fore noon, letting her drive dead before the
sea, which carried her northeast Then, Sc
curing the helm amidships, / ran for the
| quadrant, and while waiting for the sun to
show himself | bserved 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 if
| 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 /; and when | had eaten some din
| ner l took chopper, and going on to the
| forecastlc 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 clew of it fell.
| l 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 vet
more, until there was good surface show
| ing; then to sudden hard blast of wind the
whole sail flew open with a mighty crack
ling, as though indeed it was formed of ice;
but to render it useful / 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 q half
Finding that the ship continued to steer
herself very well, and the better for the spirit
sail, thought would get the body of the
old Frenchman overheard, and so obtain a
clear hold for myself, so far as corpses went.
l carried the lantern into the forecastle, but
when pulled the hammock off him | confess
it was not without a stupid fear that should
find him alive. Recollection of his astound-
ing vitality found something imperishable i'll
that ugly anatomy, and though he lay before
me as dead and cold as stone, yet had fancy
that the seeds of life were still in him, that
twas only the current Of his being that had
froze, that if l were 70 thaw him afresh he
might recover, ard that if | buried him
should actually be dispatching him.
But though these fancies possessed they did
not control me- took his watch and what
ever else he had in that way, carried him on
deck, and dropped him over the side, using
as little ceremony as he had employed in the
disposal of his shipmates, but affected by
very different emotions; for there was not
only the idea that the vital spark was still in
him; could not but handle with awe the
most mysterious corpse the eye had ever
viewed-one who had lived through q stupor
or death sleep for eight-and-forty years, in
whom in a few hours Time had compressed
the wizardry he stretches in others over half
a century; who in night had shrunk from
the aspect of his prime into the lean, puck
cred, bleared eyed, deaf and lettering ex-
preston of 100 years
All that day and through the night that
followed the schooner drove, rolling and
plnging before the seas, into the northeast,
to The pulling of the spritsail l made sew
eral excursions into the forehold, but never
could hear the. sound of water in the vessel.
Her sides in places were still sheathed in ice:
but this crystal armor was gradually drop
ping off her to the working of her frame in
the seas, so that, since she was proving her.
self tight, it was certain her stanchness owed
nothing to the CLASSY plating.
l should but fatigue you to follow the sew
eral little stories of these hours one by one
how got my food, snatched at sleep, stood
at the helm, gazed around the sea line, and
the like.
The sea worthiness of the craft, coupled
with the reasonable assurance of presently
falling in with ship, rendered me SO far
easy in my mind as to enable me to think
very frequently of the treasure, and how
was to secure it. If fell in with an enemy's
cruiser or a privatcer l must expect to he
stripped. This would be the fortuae of war,
and l must take my chance. My concern
did not lie that way-how was to protect
this property, that was justly mine, against
my own countrymcn, suppose had the good
fortune to carry the schooner safely into Eng
lish waters! | had brother-u-law, Jere-
miah Mason, Esq, a Turkey merchant in
small way of business whose office was in
the city of London, and if could manage to
convoy the treasure secretly to him he would,
knew, find me a handsome account III his
settlement of this affair. But it was impos-
sible to strike out plan. l must wait, and
attend the course of events.
was resolved at ali hazards to stick to the
schooner; and, with view of providing
against the curiosity of rummaging of any
persons who should come aboard, l fell to the
r III \