Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1890-11-07

with MS wife except Narlock who. no
understanding Eaeiish. could lie bette
spared than one of his shipmates
Still adhering to her resolution not /,
take him, Mary finally set out with tn,
cabin boy in the dingey, which had beer
lowered for her, and, ere long. sh,
reached the reef
Through his glass the captain had nov
and then watched his wife, as the boy
with his hatchet Knocked off pieces Of
coral for her. when. all at once. without
the slightest warning. "cat squall
struck the sea- A mist, which had been
gathering round the hills of the island,
had been blown about the reef, now hid
ing Mary and Tom from the watchers
gaze, and the ship tore along before the
blast with the men aloft taking in sail.
Like all squalls of this kind, this one
was of brief duration, and, 10 minutes
after it burst upon the vessel it had died
away, leaving light breeze by which
the ship closer hauled, was heade up
toward the reef. The captain anxiously
watched for his wife, but, seeing no
sign of her, he turned pale.
AYE, remarked the old sailor who
had acted as spokesman to the skipper
the night before. @The bad luck has
commenced. This comes of having a
Jonah aboard
He looked, as he spoke, at Warlock.
whose keen, glittering eyes were turned
toward the reef.
You're right, Ben, answered the
sailor whom the old fellow addressed.
~You can make sure that the captain
will never see his wife or boy again.
both. as take it, havin' been drowned
in the squall.
All hands were now looking off toward
the reef.
The captains heart sank.
"Itcan not be that she is lost, he cried
to his mate.
The latter took long squint through
the glass.
Heaven help the poor lady, he said
Il see nothing of her.
Suddenly Warlock sprang down from
the rail, forward, upon which he had
been standing, and, with three bounds,
reached the quarter deck. He uttered a
shrilI cry, gesticulated with his arms,
and pointed off the weather bow from
which strip of mist had just cleared.
Looking that way, the captain saw
spectacle which made his heart bound
as if it would break through his ribs.
Clinging to the dingey, which was
turne bottom up, was his wife, while
about fifty fathoms behind her, on the
reef, and pointing at something between
It and the mperiled lady stood Tom, the
cabin boy. That something-what was
it? One quick look through the glass
revealed it to the captain, who quickly
recognized the long black fin cleaving
the water like knife in the direction Of
tlle struggling woman.
A shark" he cried. "a sharki Down
with the quarter boatl
Tie boat was soon lowered, and in spite
o. ,,.iis lame leg, which greatly impeded
his movements, he managed to scramble
:lto the light vessel after his men.
Among the latter was Warlock, provided
with his harpoon, which he had brought
up from the forecastle.
The breeze now had died away, and,
under the vigorous strokes of the oars
men, the boat fairly seemed to fly.
The captain, while urging his crew,
turned his gaze alternately upon his wife
and the shark. Mrs Wilkins, still cling
ing to the keel of the overturned dingey,
was much exhausted, and must soon let
go her hold. She did not see the monster
behind her cleaving the water with its
ugly fin SO rapidly that it evidently
would reach her before the approaching
boat In faint voice she called to her
husband to make haste, an appeal which
went to the very hearts of the men and
put vigor in their arms
we will be toolatel" groaned the cap
tain. Pull, boys, pull"
Never before did oarsmen so exert
themselves; but the boat was fully Is
yards from the poor woman when the
shark, now near enough to her to pre-
pare for seizing its victim, was seen to
make the terrible rotary movement for
diving, in order to snap at her SUBJ
merged limbs.
Then Warlock sprang to his feet
With quick eye measuring the distance
between him and the shark, he raised
MS DafDed weapon hlgh
As he would have to dart over the
woman to strike the monster behind her,
this seemed TO all perilous feat to per-
form, especially at SO long a range.
To the captain it looked as if the
deadly barb was pointed straight at his
wife's head, and he called out:
No, no, Warlockl You will strike herG
Down. man, down with that ironT'
But tile wild New Zealander either
did not understand, or would not heed
the order.
His harpoon, hurled with wonderful
force, whistled on its way, and, almost
grazing Mary's head, passed clean
through the white upturned belly of the
shark, as the latter turned over.
Leaping nearly its full length from the
surface, the monster fell crashing back,
staining the water with its blood, and
then, with the almost supernatural vi
tality and perseverance of its species.
with the iron protruding from its form,
and the life tide still flowing from it, the
creature endeavored to dive to seize the
coveted human prey.
The water bubbled and foamed as the
shark. impeded by its wound and by the
iron, strove to reach its intended victim;
and the captains heart almost stood still
with the dread that the effort would b
successful
This seemed the more likely, as Mira
Wilkins, now unable to hold on longer,