The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-03-23
= .JACKSON,"
The Story Of a Sea Dos.
ny W. cnasIl RussrnIl.

TcopYright. 1879. by iac Authors Al'innrc.l
"Wescott, strange to say, bore his
lsnfferings moro patiently than l had
participated. was touched by what
tsecmed to me his devotion, his obe
jdicnce, and spoke kindly to him. But
The paid no attention to anyone or any
thing, lying like huge beast curling
lup in the bow of the boat.
''Ah, sir, those were terrible hours. 1
Ishudder as 1 call them to mind, and the
RECOLLECTION of them makes me moro
.tgrateful than ever to old Uncle Robert
2or making it possible for me tc quit tho
isea forever.
"Wc had now been four days knock
ling about in this terrible fashion, when
tone morning was aroused by a Shrek
land cries of Captain! captainp The
lbuclle of my belt had been drawn up
ITO its hole in order to keep my poor,
COLLAPSED stomach from grinding itself
ITO pieces, and had left the steward on
watch and was catching few winks Of
sleep, when that fearful shrek caused
me to start up with a jerk.
"The beast was loose! Yes, these
words describe the situation. exactly.
While I had been sleeping the giant
imulatto had walked up in frenzy,
(which the others had made futile eff
forts to control, had filed tarpaulin
fhat with sea water and taken long and
deep draughts of it. In a few moments
lhe was raving mailman, frothing at
the mouth and tearing his own flesh
with his glistening teeth. 1t was
sight to strike terror to the stoutest
heart. What feared at first thought
twas that he would swamp the boat, for
The threatened every moment to rise
from his kneeling position. To turn the
boat over meant quick and sure death
for us all, for not one of us had strength
enough TO swim a stroke. But no, the
sSaIliac had other ends in view. With a
ssep, prolonged grow1 he threw him
-alf upon the poor steward, and Selling
the terror-stricken man with his huge
hands he drew him into his lap as if he
weighed no more than four stone
's,Then / felt my hair stiffen and my
heart struggle to keep up its beat, for
horror of horrors, what did see? That
huge beast in human form with rapid
motion bent The stewards head back
and then set those terrible teeth of his
into the poor mans throat In an in
slant was upon him. My own strength
and vigor astounded me, but although I
trained blow after blow upon the mulat-
to's head with the butt of my pistol it
had no more effect than the tapping of
a lady's gloved hand.
meantime, the stewards face grow
lblaclSer and blaclier. There was not an
instant to be lost, and setting the barrel
of my revolver at the mulatto's ear, I
pressed the trigger.
cit seemed an age before heard the
sharp crack of that pistol. 1 suppose
my hand was paralyzed, but it came at
last, and the big black monster dropped
his prey, and rolled into heap in the
bottom of the boat. For few mo-
ments saw nothing more, but gradu-
ally pulled myself together and max
ing motion to the others to help me,
we laid hold of the huge corpse and
.tumbled it into the water.
S"Ah, that was fearful deed, but I.
aever regretted it, sir, never"
Hero Mr.. Robert Ridley, retired mar
liner, paused, drew long breath and
then continued as follows: !
Towards nightfall we fell in with a.
vessel. We sighted her at SHUTDOWN,
and she was then IL mere spot upon the
distant sea, and we thought no more of
her when darkness came; but next
morning she was showing within an
easy pull, and we then saw that she
was a wreck. all three masts gone, and
her thick shrouds trailing over the
side. as though her hole was full of
scrpents crawling away from her AS
we. passed under her stern we read the
name: Grace Tucker, Boston, She sat
high upon the water, and seemed new
ship; anyway, her copper was new, and
the wet flash of it to the sun might
have been seen for miles.
eve sprang aboard, all mad for wat!
er, and then for food. Figure our Joy
when tell you we found Il scuttle- butt
full of cold water, with dipper ready
at hand to drink from. There was a
dead man lying in the galley; he was
half-castc, and the atmosphere was SO
bad with him that two of us tumblcd him
over the side without ado. Aft was a
long declihouse; ! entered it to rum
mage for food, and the first thing saw
was the body of a man lying upon the
deck stone dead, with living dog sit
ting alongside of him. When the dog
saw me, he crawlcd like dying crea-
eure on to the mans breast, and fccbly
showed his teeth He was something
after the breed of water spaniel, but
his eyes were red. and seemed on fire.
and l felt scared somehow on seeing
him alive, and, though | saw how weak
he was, had no heart to push past him
lest he should fly at me.
IL called through the door to one of
my mates: jackson! Jackson! mean
Ing that between us we should secure
Che dog, but had no sooner uttered the
word Jackson than the dog crept off
: fhn dna0 my I