Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-05-03
CATCHING A C00LIE.

an hoard the ship John L. Redwood, 81
phillipsbnrg. engaged IN the East India /
,r,J, This was my first deep watcr |
,,,,age Before this had been In west. |
avn oecan vessels. During the dog |
watches my mind was filled with the |
,,.,,,ors 10 he seen In deep waterman. I
I hoard many yarns about the marvellous .
,-irts In Juggling Of the natives Of TIM .
c,pnfries we visited, and OF the fairly I
Jssporato agility OF the thieves that In. |
tested tho seaport towns of India aud !
China.
After an unovcntful voltage we NJ.
rived ut Bombay. aud one Of the crow
having been chosen for night Waterman
tho rest OF US wcro employed In working
cargo. The watchmnn's duty consisted
IN kcpniug vigilant watch from In the
evening until ucst morning. lie was
rcspona.blu for everything that was
stolen. Tho rest Of the tino he wns al
lowr,rto do rs he pleased.
Ny chum Bin Davis WAS chosen for
tis duty. and we rather onyicd him.
To eco him sitting down in the shade
smoking his pipe, while we were work.
ing our soul cnsos on uudcr a broiling
sun and with scarcely u breath Of wind
to stir the air, WAS enough t, mako any
one cnsious.
one Saturday afternoon Bill came 20
me a. | was taking quiet smoke and
asked me 20 stand his watch that night
A. Bill had boon n good hlhpmulc
conld not refuse him, although | was
dead tired All hands except tho cap
tain, the mate and myself, lctt for the
blach, bound on grand lark.
1t was still daylight, but even then
the ship seemed lonely and deserted.
The captain and mate were sitting ON
the poop abnft the after house, having
game and smoke lingotcd around
tho BOBBY hatch aud thought Of the good
times ashore and felt lonolicr every min
ute.
After sunset there was scarcely any
twilight. For ;he change between day
and night was almost instantaneous.
What little breeze had been blowing
throughout the day had died out, and
tho Sea was like an immense mirror.
The sly was cloudless, and It was ono
OF those perfect nights that arc only
seen In small iatitudes. The men-of.
war started drilling with their search
lights. and the sight. as the light fell on
some stately ship, making her stand ont
ia bold relief while the rest of the feet
wns an indistinguishablo mass Of shud-
o,ys, was ono never to be forgotten
Watching thc various doings in the hur-
Dor served 20 pass the time, aud soon
forgot my surroundings, 10 absorbed did
! become Ia the different things that
were going ON. Nothing disturbed tho
stiffness but now aud then a boatload
Of drunken iircmen going OIL 10 their
vessel aud dilputing with their boat
man Occasionally some one would
start a cong, AMI ~ q driftcd over the
water It's hnrshuusj was lost and only is
beauty remained.
One by ono these sounds died away,
and o. there was nothing left TO divert
my thoughts thoy came bacl, TO myself
aud the ship. The silence was Cypress
i've felt insignificant in the midst OF
81. How small | was, My mind wai
uneasy aud FESTIVE. In fuct, was merry
Gus, and I could not account for It. II
order to calm myself Us well rs 20 kill
time | began walking up aud down the
poop; but having worked hard all day
Twas soon tagged, aud began hunting
around FOR something that would occu
ny me. In my wlndcrings | found tw'
or three shoeti ofSa New York newspa
per- This wJs abrizo. rugged the bin
nlclo lgmpin tho wheolhouse, and fixinl
myself comfortably In the captains chat
crowded ON all sail for intellectual en-
joyment
The only thing | could find was stool
reports, advertisements and shipping
news, This was rather Of disappoint
mcnt, but started In TO read those.
found some Of them quito interesting
and presently 1 was taking solid com
fort In reading what felt 10 be u spC
cies OF news--dry as it was-frOr
home,
Tho door In front Of me was oper
md the moon had come up full. Every
thing IN is direct rays was bathed /
the brightest light, but the shadow
were horribly dark. happened
glance UP Us Ipuzzled over queorl
worried notice, and my eye caught, for
second only, the shadow Of the head AN
shoulders Of n cOolie. As | saw 1t, ther
flashed through my mind the yarns thu
a iisft aAAtAAA hANAN Allf AhNAlNA hAAlllAAl
thomselyCu, then oiling their bodies mn
swimming Off To vessels with the
"dhu' or daggers; pundcring the N
guarded crews and disembowoling u
who tried TO seize thom AS they slippc
through their hands. / jumped for III
deck, sheathknife In hand.
When got ON decl, there was no oI
in sight aud listened for some SCUM
but all WAS ~ quiet nv dccp undo
ground cell. II was as though both
US were even holding our hronth 80 tn
we should not botray our whereabou,
There was not oven holapping Of way
against tho ships sides. As / started
sneak TO tho after part Of the who,
house ! could hear my heart beat, NJ
tho sound Of my footsteps as my ba
feet lightly touched tho deck, Whom
reached the corner of tho whcolhouso
brought my knife down around tho &C
ner to the full extent Of my arm, n
feeling anything ! yontured TO 10
around tho corner. Not seeing any O
turned tho corner, and In this way
proceeded around the house, careful
Enihng around each corner before tul
ing Il,
After having made the round Of
wheelhouso. 1 doubled on my track q