Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-04-11
ICE BOUND,
By W. CLARK RUSSELL
Author er "Ihe Wreck Of tie Grospenor.
'aeE: do,S : c.syT,nrt'hip,".My ..y,nt 1, my Watch Be-
fCONrruuppN

s''u VI Aail py my scneme was not very use
iui to me. had looked for some shrewdness
IN him, some capacity Of originating and
weighing ideas; but found he could do little
more than curse and swagger and ply his
can, In which he found most Of his anecdotes
and recollections and not . little Of his cour-
age. pulled out my watch, as must call
II, and observed that 1t was hard upon
o'clock.
"Tis lucky" said he, eying the watch
greedily and coming TO 1t away from the
great subject Of our deliverance, as though tho
sight Of the f1no gold thing with its jeweled
letter extinguished every other thought in
him, "that you removed that watch from
Mendoza. But he will have carried other
good things TO the bottom with him, l fear"
'His flask and tobacco box took away"
said j. "He had nothing Of consequence be-
sidesn
'They must 60 into the common chcst,r
cried he; it's share and share, you KNOW
"Ay," said i, "but what l found on Men
doza is mine by the highest right under
heaven II l had not taken the things they
would now be at tho bottom Of the sea-"
"What Of thatr' cried he savagely. "If
We had not plundered the galleon she might
have been wrecked and taken all she had
down with her. Yet should such consider
alton hinder fair division as between us
between you, who had nothing to do with
the pillnge, and me, who risked my life in itr
said, Very well; be it as you say" ap-
pearing to consent, for there was something
truly absurd In an alteration about few
guineas' worth Of booty in the face Of our
melancholy and most perilous position, though
It tnot only enabled me to send deeper glance
Into the mind Of this man than had yet been
able to MANAGE but made me understand
reason for the bloody and furious quarrels
which have again and again arisen among
persons standing on the brink Of eternity. to
whom cup Of drink or the sight of q ship
had been more precious than the contents Of
the Bank Of England.
set about getting the dinner
"While you are at that work, - cried he.
starting up, "I'll overhaul tho pockets of tho
bodies on deck;" and picking up chopper
away he went, and heard him cursing in
his native tongue as he stumbled to the COM
panion ladder through the darkness in the
cabin.
His rapacity was beyond credence. There
was an immense treasure in the hold, vet he
could not leave the pockets Of the two poor
wretches on deck alone. / did not envy him
his task; the frozen figures would bear a
deal Of hammering, and besides he had to
work in the cold. All, though l, with a
groan, should have left him to make one
Of themi
I had finished my dinner by the time he
arrived. He produced the watch had taken
from and returned to the mates pocket when
] had searched him for a finder box: also a
gold snuffbox set with diamonds and a few
Spanish pieces in gold On seeing these
things remembered that had found some
rings and money in Tassards pockets while
nya i'm, fp 20 ,bt
but held my peace
"Should not we havo been imbeciles to
sacrifice these beauties" he cried, viewing
the watch and snuffbox with O rapturous
grin.
"They were hard to come at expectp
"No," he answered, pocketing them and
turning to piece Of beef in the oven. 81
knocked away the ice, and after little
wrenching got at the pockets. But poor
TrentanoveI dye know, his nose came away
with the mask Of icei He is no longer lovely
to the sight" He broke into guffaw, then
stuffed his mouth full, and talked in the in
tervals Of chewing. "There was nothing
worth taking on Barros. They are both
overheard
"Overboard." I cried.
"Why, yes" said he. "They are no good
on deck stood them against the rail, then
tlppeu tueiu over.
This was IN illustration of his strength I
did not much relish.
~ doubt if l could have lifted Barros,"
said I.
"Not your he exclaimed, running his eve
over me. "a dead Dutchman would have
the weight of fairy alongside Barros"
"Well, Mr. Tassard," said /, ''since you are
so strong you will be very useful to our
scheme! There is much to be done"
q "Give me a sketch Of your plans that I
may understand you" he exclaimed, con-
tinuing to eat very heartily.
First of ALL" said l, 1--WE shall have to
break the powder barrels out of the magazine
and hoist them on deck. There are tackles,
] supposeF'
"You should be able to find what you want
among the boatswain's stores in the rum he
replied.
"There are some splits wide enough to re-
ceive whole barrel Of POWDER" said /. 81
counted four such yawns all happily lying in
a line athwart the ice past the bows. pro-
pose to sink these barrels twenty feet deep,
where they must hang from a piece of spar
across the aperture"
He nodded.
"Have you any slow matches aboardr'
"Plenty among the gunners stores" he re-
piled.
"Ihere are but you and me-" said I;
''these operations win 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, and they must be timed to burn an
hour"
"Ay, certainly-at least an hour" he ex.
claimed. "Two hours would be better"
"Well, that must depend upon the num-
Der OF parcels of matches we meet with.
There will be good many mines to spring,
and one must not explode before another
IT'S tho 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 chnks and
splits in such parcels US they will be able to
receive"
"And thenr'
Sand then," said !, 1--WE must await tho
explosion, and trust to the mercy Of heaven
to help usn
He made a hideous face, as IL this was a
sort Of talk to nauseate him, and said: "Do
you propose that We should remain on board,
or watch the effects from distance"
"Why, remain on board, Of course" / an
swered. Suppose the mines liberated the
ice on which the schooner lies and it hoated
away, what should We, watching at dis
tance, DOR
True" cried he, "but 1t is cursed perilous.
The explosion might blow the ship up"
mo, 1t will not do that. We shall be bad
engineers if we bring such a thing about.
The danger will be-proyiding the schooner
is released-in her capsizing, as have before
pointed out"
"EnoughI" cried he, charging his panni-
kin for the third time ave must chance her
capsizing."
"If had a crew at my back said ], II
would carry an anchor and cable to the shoul-
der of the cliff at the end Of the slope to hold
the ship if she swan. j would also put a
quantity of provisions on the ice along with
materials for making us shelter and the whole