Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-10-17
A SHARK IN THE SURF
A PEARL BUYER is TOSSED INTO
THE SEA AS FOOD FOR IT.


Parsee Merchant.
A wild sea was running high in the
open harbor of Madras The sea always
runs high there, and in the last two
miles must always be made in surf
boats. The morning when the steam
ship Tigress dropped anchor and ran up
her signal for the boats, great angry
waves were bowling along before fresh
monsoon, and even the surfboats found
it hard to keep dry.
Among our passengers from Ceylon
for Madras we had dapper young fell
low, who was as good judge of pearls
as l ever saw. He had been to Ceylon
buying for an English house, and was
now on his way to the Persian gulf to
complete his stock. He was to leave us
at Madras to go overland to Bombay.
He knew how to buy pearls, but he did
not know how to take care of them. Be-
fore he had been on board day he had
told me all about his luck in Ceylon and
had shown me his entire assortment.
One of the pearls was simply gorgeous.
Had it not been for faint dot of blue
upon one side it would have been worth
small fortune. He was delighted with
my appreciation and enjoyment of the
stones, and he showed me his treasures
several times during the short voyage.
Twice he left me alone with them. 1t
was not, however, through any particu-
lar confidence in me, for | suspect he
made quite as free with his treasures
among several of the passengers. One
was Parsee, who was forever going
between Ceylon and Madras, for what
purpose | could never discover, though
had met him several times.
Whatever else he was l was sure that
the Parsee was a great rascal, and was
surprised and sorry for the young pearl
man to find him making most intimate
friend of the fellow.
Together they stepped down the lad
der to enter surfboat as we neared
Madras. The young man went down
first with his case of precious pearls in
his hand. The Parsee was stepping in
to the boat when'he paused and spoke
to its black captain.
81 have forgotten something" he said,
turning to the younger man. 81 must
come by another boat; | will meet you
at the hotel"
He gave the surfboat push with his
foot and began to climb the ladder.
A sailor who was standing by me
muttered:
There's a shark in the surf yonder."
But instead of looking away over the
water he looked directly down upon the
Parsee and then at the young pearl man.
OF course there was shark in the
surf. There are always sharks in that
surf, but to me the sailors sentence
meant something more than that.
The Parsee simply walked behind the
saloon house, stood there two or three
minutes, then left the steamer by an
other boat My curiosity was thoroughly
aroused. Glass in hand | watched the
two boats, quarter of mile apart,
still wondering what the sailor meant by
ga shark in the surf"
Presently one of the great waves lifted
the first surfboat, but instead of taking
the usual advantage of it to dip their
oars and pull l distinctly noticed the
boatmen sitting like statues. The al
most naked fellow standing in the stern,
with long oar to guide the craft, sud
denly leaned upon the oar, and the boat
turned, was caught broadside on the
wave and the next instant was capsized.
l saw the passenger, with the pearl case
still in hand, plunge head first into the
water.
Like so many eels the black boatmen
wriggled about in the water till they
righted their boat, then clambered over
the side and began to bail it out.
Not one of them seemed to give
thought to their passenger
The next moment piercing shrek
sounded even as far as our steamer, and
to my horror l saw the young fellows
body lifted out of the water not ten
feet from the surfboat. 1t made one
whirl in the air, disclosing the head of
shark holding it across the back, then
sank again.
AS the next boat passed the place l
saw the Parsee throw something over
board that left white spot on the wa
ter, which remained as long as watched
it, convincing me that it was a buoy of
some sort set for some purpose.
A few days later we We're anchored in
the Hoogly river, off Calcutta.
l was walking down the principal
English thoroughfare when | saw the
Parsee emerge from the door of lapi-
dairy. He evidently recognized me, but
he turned quickly in the opposite direc-
ton and walked away.
"a shark in the surf" muttered,
and with only vague idea half formed
in my mind | entered the shop and in
quired of the dealer if he had an assort-
ment of pearls on hand.
"How fortunate!" he exclaimed. 81
was never 80 low as this morning. Pearls
are in very great demand. But l have
just purchased large lot of the finest
pearls l ever saw. l purchased them
very low for cash, and l cannot only
give you the first choice of this magnih-
cent collection, but great bargain be-
sides. They are beauties! Yes!'
Eyes" replied, ''they are beauties
especially this one with dot of blue
upon one side. Too bad that it has the