The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-06-21
Heaven help the poor lady, he said.
& see rll,tlllnr Of Ln1..,'

reached the quarterback. He uttered a
shrill cry. gesticuIated with his arms,
and pointed Of the weather bow, from
which q strip Of mist had just cleared.
Looking that way, the captain. saw
spectacle which made his heart bound as
il 1t would break through his ribs.
Chnging to the dingey, which was
turned bottom up, was his wife, while
about fifty fatholns behind her, on the
reef, and pointing at something between
it and the imperilled 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 a knife, in the
direction Of the struggling woman.
"A sharlsl'' he cried, "a shark Down
with the quarter boate'
The boat was soon lowered, and in
spite of his lame leg, which greatly i'm
peded his movements. he managed TO
scramble into 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 chewing the water with it's
ugly fin SO rapidly that it would evil
IDENTIFY 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.
I'VE win be too later groaned the
captain. Pull, boys, pn1ll'
Never before did oarsmen so exert
themselves; but the boat was still fully
fifteen yards from thepoo woman, when
the shark, now near enough to her to
prepare for seizing its victim, was seen
to make the terrible rotary movement
for diving, in order to snap at her sub
merged limbs.
Then Warlock sprang TO his feet. With
| quick eye measuring the distance be-
tween him aud the shark, he raised his
barbed weapon on high.
AS he would have to dart over the
woman to strike the monster behind her,
this seemed to all a perilous feat to per-
form, especially at SO long a range
To the captain 1t looked as if the dead
ly barb was pointed straight at his wife's
head. and he called out, mo, no, War
lockl You will strike herl Down man,
down with that ironr'
But the wild New Zealander either did
not understand or would not heed the
/ order.
His haxpoon, hurled with wonderful
force, whistled on its way, and almost
grazing Mary head. passed clean through
the white. upturned belly Of the shark as
the latter turned over.
Leaping nearly its fun length from the
surface, the monster fell crashing back,
staining the water with its blood, and
then, with the almost supernatural Vi
tally 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 bnbbled and foamed as the
shark, inpeael 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 be
successful
This seemed the more likely, as Mrs.
Wilkins, now unable TO hold on longer,
let go of the dingey's keel and sank under
the surface, and disappeared in the foam
ing vortex of water about the struggling
shark
Save her-saye my wifer' shouted
| the captain.
| But none of the men to whom he spoke
was willing to sacrifice their lives-for
such they thought wcsld be the result
of their swimming to atts1npt rescus
under the very JAWS OF Inc iiercesS OF
ocean monsters.
In spite of his injured leg the skipper
| would doubtless have plunged overheard
and persisted in his crippled efforts to
| save his fair partner had not the New
Zealander gently restrained him, and
then dived headlong from the bow.
Keeping his eyes open as he swan
under water he soon beheld the form of
the captains wife within few yards of
! the shark, which, with ready jaws, was
edging its way toward her He grasped
her with one arm, and to make his way
to the surface with her was for this
| powerful native but the work Of few
moments Just as he and his burden
had been drawn into the boat the batfied
| pursuer came up alongside, viciously
thrashing the water with its fiukes ere
it Owed out Of sight.
Mrs. Wilkins, at first half senseless,
recovered ere the boat reached the ship,
and hearing the voices of the sailors,
who now were cheering the man whom
they had been going to throw overheard
| on the night before as Jonah, she soon
learned from her grateful husband how
the noble fellow had rescued her-risk-
ing his own life for her sake.
Had we sent him ashore, as you pro-
posed, you would have been lost, added
the young captain.
'sYou are right" she replied. "Oh,
what a mistake made! Had he gone
with me in the dingey the accident
would not have happened, for he would
have known how to manage the vessel.
But when the squall struck us, just after