The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-06
A DEAD MANS FACE.
1t Is Seen, But Is Drawn Down by the
Sharks.

1t Is Seen, But Is Drawn Down by the
Sharks.
We had run out TO sea about seven miles,
when the wind died entirely away and left
the sloop rising and falling on the ground
swell The sails flapred and 81. tied, the big
mainJoom swung TO and fro like peudu-
lum. and pullpys and blocks sang ''cheep!
cheepl cheepw Ike crickets in the grass On
q summers night. The water was wonder
fully blue and transparent, and as one
Eraned over the side and looked down, the
eve penetrated to a depth OF at least fifteen
feet.
We were dead-fat becalmed. Some of the
party stretched out on the cushions to sleep,
others brought ont newspapers and cards,
and we had been tossing about for half an
hour when a boy, who had been standing
with bis arm thrown around the mast and
surveying the waters, suddenly turned to
us with face whittier than snow and gasped
out:
'There's-there's a dead man floating out
therew
He was right Not over ten feet away
floatpd 4 corpse. 1t was that OF man fully
dressed, excepting cover for the head.
What was strange. he flOated on his back at
an angle of about forty-fYe degrees, thus
throwing his head and face to the surface
His feet were toward us. They seemed TO
be incased in heavy shoes. Every time the
swell heayed him up his held rose clear Of
the water, and we looked full into his
CHASTITY face and wide-Open eyes. As he
dropped into the trough Of the swell be was
hidden for half moment as II the bcdy had
tired ii floating and gone 10 the bottom.
Rescue it? Yes. Humanity, no matter
how evil, deserves at least a burial IN the
sands But we cannot move ar inch in his
direction. There is not a breath Of air, and
we have no way to move the heavy slOop. n
heavy fish-line is made ready and thrown at
him in hopes the hooks VIII catch. 1t is a
qneer thing. The line is thrown again and
again, but each throw IS a miss. 1t Is passed
from hand to hand, but every throw is
failure.
Look at itv'
:; 0ne Of the mysterious currents of the
ocean IS at work. 1t is carrying the body
aS;eTn of US. Some invisible power SEXES
the feet and turns the body slowly about
and carries it slowly landward. Two more
lines are made ready, and while we watch
aud wait there Is not whisper to break the
silence.
ut is coming backr'
So it is. Caught by cross-current, it
whirls round and round and then drifts
back Ii was broad on our starboard side
when we first saw it. Now, as we watch
and feel bit shivery at the uncanny sight,
the dead man comes slowly up on the other
side, making a complete haif-circle. The
feet are still toward us-the CLASSY eyes
seem TO stare straight into the boat as the
body leaVeS up.
IhToA! throw! throwl The lines are
flung at him-oyer him-across him, but the
hooks wont catch. The failure arouses
feeling of superstition, and as the captain
coils his line away lie whispers:
mo use o trying any more! The Lord
doesn't mean that lie shall have grave on
land"
The body floats in nearer-retreats-
moves ahead and astern-whrls Slowly
around Ike a wheel. Men turn their backs
to it and sit down. Now it slowly advances,
and when it stops L could have reached it
with an oar. Ii is the corpse OF middle
aged man with black hair, a fine mnstache,
and there's jewel Of some sort glistenlng
from his ne kite.
One more effort! MOL II is too late! All
of a sudden the glossy surface of the sea is
-broken-whitened into foam, and
the face Of the dead man disappears. The
sharks have pulled him down.-Detroit Free
Press.