The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-07-20
CHAPTER Xxx.
Al MERRY EVENING.

CHAPTER Xxx.
MERRY EVENING.
BY tho t;me we had reached the bottom of
tho hollow, Tassard was blowing liko q
CLOVIS with tho uncommon exert.o2; and,
swea..l 2 that no felt the cod panc;"Gsin.; his
boa,.;, al that he should t. s.a.2 12l p.yaia
Il he oil lot mind, ho cl:t2 I'd into iAo rlip
aal L. - pcared. loved hiIl 30 Lts.o thai
.ecgetly l very heartily wished that nature
voald mako away with hi:a-I ,ncan that
something it would be impossible il mo to
lay to my conscience should befall hir--as
becoming comatose again, and 60 lying like
ono dead. Assuredly in such case it WAS
not this hand that would have wasted drop
of brandy in returning an evil, white livercd,
hectoring old rascal to life that smelled
foully with him and the like of him.
entered the ship, and found Tassard roast
ing himself in the cook house.
~ have been surveying the ice," said /,
drawing to the furnace, land have very little
doubt that il we wisely bestow the powder in
great quantities We shall succeed in dislocat-
ing the bed on which we are lying"
"Good" he cried
"But afterp said !.
"Whatln
"As much Of this bed as may DO dislodged
will not be deep; icebergs, as of course you
know, capsize in consequence of their becom-
ing top heavy by the wasting of the bulk that
Is submerged. This block will make but q
small berg should we liberate it, and / very
much fear that the weight Of this schooner
will oSerset It the instant we are launched"
"Body Of Moses!" he cried, angrily, knit
ting his brows, whereby he stretched the scar
to half its usual width, "what's TO be done,
thena"
"She Is a full ship" said /, "and weighty.
II the liberated ice be thin she may sit up on
it and keep it under We have a right to
hope in that direction, perhaps Yet there
is another consideration. She may leak Ike
a sieveln
"Whyr he exclaimed "She took the ice
smoothly; she has not been strained; she was
as tight as a bottle before she stranded; the
coating of ice will have cherished her; and
stout ship like this does not suffer from six
months of lying up!"
Six months, thought I.
"Well, il may be as you say; but if she
leaks, it will not be in our four arms to keep
her free"
He exclaimed, hotly, "Mr Rodney, if we
are to escape We must venture something.
To stay here means death in the end am
persuaded that this ice is joined with some
vast main body far south, aud that it does
not move. What is there, then, to wait fors
There is promise in your gunpowder proposal.
If she capsizes, then the devil will get his
own" And with a savage flourish of the
pannikin he put it to his lips and drained it.
His sullen determination that We should
stand or fall by my scheme was not very use
full 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 Ipulled out my watch, as must call
it, and observed that it was hard upon 1
o'clock
''Tis lucky" said he, eying the watch
greedily and coming to it away from the
great subject Of our deliverance, as though the
sight of the fine 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, fear"
"His flask and tobacco box I took away"
said l. "He had nothing Of consequence be-
sides"
'They must go into the common chest"
cried he; its share and share, you know"
"Ay," said I, "but what found on Men,
doza is mine by the highest right under
heaven. II had not taken the things they
would now be at the bottom of the sea-"
"What Of thatf' 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 pillage, and me, who risked my life in tn
/ said, Every WE'LL be it as you say" ap-
pearing to consent, for there was something
truly absurd in an alteration about a few
guineas' worth of booty in the face Of our
melancholy and most perilous position, though
it not only enabled me to send deeper glance
into the mind of this man than l had yet been
able to manage, but made mo understand a
reason for the bloody and furious quarrels
which have again and again arisen among
persons standing on the brink of eternity, to
whom a cup OF drink or the sight of a 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, an overhaul the pockets of the
bodies on deck" and picking up a choppe.
away be 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 crcdence There
was an immense treasure in tho hold, yet he
could not leave the pockets of the two poor
wretches on deck alone. l 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 /, with a
groan, should have left him to mako ono
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 finder boz: also O
gold snuffbox set with diamonds and few
Spanish pieces in gold. On seeing these
things I remembered thl5 had fond eomo
rings and money in Tassards pockets while
overhauling him tor means TO obtain fire;
but held my peace.
"Shoud not VIC have been imbcciles to
sacrifice these beauties!" no cried, viewing
the watch and snuffbox with q raptucou5
grin.
"They were hard to como Gt. | cxDect"
"No," he answered, pocketinS ITEM and
turning TO q piece of beef in tho oven. Il
knocked away the ice, and cfter little
wreaching got at tho pockets. DGt poor
Trentanove! dye know, his nc;c emo Gway
vita the mask Of iccl Ho is 10 lo::.:or lovely
to tho sightm He broke into r. outlaw, then
stuffed his mouth full, and talked il tho in
tervals Of chewing ''Thcr. was nothing
worth taking on Barros. They arc both
overheard"
"Overboard" cried.
"Why, yes" said he. "They arc no good
on deck. l stood them against tho rail, then
tipped them over"
This was an illustration of his strength l.
did not much relish.
~ doubt if 1 could havo lifted BGrros,"
said l.
"Not you'll" he exclaimed, running his ego
over me. "a dead Dutchma1 would have
the weight Of a fairy alongside Barros"
"Well, Mr.. Tassard," said /, ''since you are
so strong you will DO very useful to our
schemel There is much To be DONE"
"Give mo q sketch of your plans that
may understand you" he exclaimed, con-
tiDuing to eat very heartily.
First of ALL" said l, 1--WE shall have to
break tho powder barrels out of the magazine
and hoist them on deck. There arc tackles,
supposep
"You should be able to find what you want
among the boatswain's stores in the rum" no
replied.
''There are some splits wide enough to re-
ceiyo q whole barrel of powder" said L 81