The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-03-20

the harpoon at arms length, shove hil
head. In his right hand, while using hid
left 70 signify to me the direction In
which TO steer. Suddenly ) large porss
poise broke the water about fifteen feet
ahead OF US, to blow. Tom instantly darted
the harpoon att, but instead Of driving
tho iron through the body IN avital spot,
as confidently expected he would do.
IT struck the porpoise on one side, about
two feet from the tail. The surprised
and frightened fish instantly darted Oh
In the direction 1T the vessel, running
out the full length Of the line, and as It
brought up with q jerk, started the boat
ahead. towing US along after it 1T quite
fair rate Of speed. In its frantic
efforts to escape, the porpoise leaped
out of the water at full length several
times, but finally settled down to /
steady pull just under the surface of the
water. We:were enjoying the sensation
OF being pulled along in this novel man.
ner, and specializing as to the length OF
time it would take to tire the porpoise
out, when suddenly Tom exclaimed in
an excited manner:
.''Quick, pass me the hatchet!'' s5sssss
1t was lying on the seat near me, and
picking 1t up, passed it along to Tom.
who, hurriedly grasping 1t, severed the
line where it crossed over the bow OF
the boat, at single stroke. At the
same moment up rose the .::Old Com
modore" nearly half his length out OF
the water. with hts jaws closed upon
the middle of the porpoiso's body, hold.
ing 1t aloft crosswise, and shaking ii
as a bull dog might shake a rabbit OF
other small animal. Then falling back
| with a heavy plash they both disap.
peared from view under the water. I,
was fearful sight and cold shudder
ran over me as realized the helpless
situation Of q man struggling in the
water, exposed to the voracity of such a
monster.
We saw no more Of the "Old Com
modo:e" that day, but the next morning
he could TO discerned swimmi~ g around
the vessel as usual, but beyond the reach
| of harm. This occurrence effectually
cured us of oil desire for happening a
porpoise. and we never repeated the at.
tempt while remaining on that station.
AS Tom expressed it:
1--WE ought to have known better than
to bleed POI poise in the water with SC
many sharks round. just hang a dead
porpoise or turtle up so that the blood
will slowly drip into the wafer, and in
twenty-four hours you will see every
shark within a hundred miles crowdine
around the vessel, and all crazy fol-
something to eat.''
A statement slightly exaggerated
but true in the main, as the writer has
several times verified by actual observ
alton.
1t was noticeable ever afterwards that
when boat left the vessel, no matter
for what purpose. or how long absent,
the ''Old Commodere'' would disappear
from sight until the boat returned. One
calm morning, as he was lying motion.
less on top of the water about fifty
yards distant from the vessel, apparently
summing himself, I seized rife, and
aiming carefully, fred at his huge dor
sal fin, one side of which was exposed to
view at full length above the surface.
The ball struck the fin near the base,
and glanced along the side, blowing a
large white streak in it. He sank
quietly down under water without ap-
parent alarm, and shortly afterward was
observed swimming lazily about, as
though nothing unusual had occurred.
you've left your mark on him, any
way, even if you can't catch him, and
there's some satisfaction in that" said
Tom, who had witnessed the shooting
A few days afterward was detailed
to go inside the inlet with the cutter,
our largest boat, for fresh water The
crew consisted of eight men, including
Tom-five rowing, one in the bow for a
lookout, and the two others in the stern
sheets with me, all armed with short
breech-loading carbines, revolvers and
cutlasses. We left the vessel about
dark; and as the sea was quite moderate,
crossed the bar safely, and steering
along between the lines of breakers on
| the shoals on either side of the chan
mel, with fair tide, were soon inside.
1t was bright moonlight, and as it
would soon be high water, l decided to
attempt to fill up at spring about two
miles up the North Lagoon on the bank
of a small creek, where we would have
strip of hard. sandy beach to land
upon.
Approaching the place with caution to
prevent surprise, we were fortunate in
finding no evidence of the presence OF
the enemy, and landing, soon filled the
casks we had brought along, and just as
the tide had commenced to ebb, started
ON our return to the vessel.
Upon heading out the channel toward
the bar we found that quite rough
easterly swell had arisen during the
time we had been inside, which was
likely to make the passage of the bar,
particularly as the moon had become OBJ.
scured by clouds, dangerous in the dark
ness for our heavily laden boat. So de.
Gliding to wait for daylight, the boat was
anchored in mid-channel. just outside
OF the entrance, to avoid the mosquitoe.
and sandfies which swarmed upon the
shores of the inlet. With one man on
watch, the rest of US stretched out upon
the thwarts and casks to rest and sleep
as best we could. The long night final.
~ wore away, and waiting until it was
fairly daylight, I reused the crew,
weighed anchor and pulled down toward
the bar to take look at it. Arriving
there, we found that moderate swell
was still running in from of the shore,
which at times broke with considerable
force upon the shoalest spots on the bar,
yet felt no great concern about at.
tempting the passage, as we had often
crossed it safely in far rougher water.
1t was now about half-tide running
food, with light breeze blowing of
the land, and altogether favorable
time for making the attempt. Accord.
ingly, we proceeded, with five men row.
! ing, and the rest of the crew in the
after part of the boat, to tighten the
bow in order that it might lift easily &c
the incoming seas. Taking advantage
of comparatively smooth time, we
forced the boat across the bar at the
utmost speed attainable. and fortunately