Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-12-07

4 SA~"Afs paAaAact VIII
the steamer aud keeping exactly
abreast with it. Then began a Gu
rious scene, so curious that the two
Americans almost forgot the dol
phin's existance in the interest ex.
cited by the movements Of the other
passengers. They were all Brazil
ians, some of pure Portuguese blood.
some pure Indian, or negro, and the
rest of various degrees of mixture
OF the white, red and black races.
For Manoels excitement had arous.
ed their attention; aud though they
could not understand his English.
they could follow his gaze aud his
outstretched arm. One by one they
sat up aud -ruhhad- d-iL-:---ryes: one
after another gained sufficient in
terest to stand up and look at the
unknown object, aud one after
another, men, women al children,
Portuguese traders, negro slaves.
Indian hunters, half-breed rubber
gatherers they dropped fiat on their
faces on the deck, groveling in ab-
ject terror and muttering various
versions of the prayer common to all
religions-'deliver US from evil
Some said from evil, others from
the evil one, but all forms had tn,
same purpose. They lay upon tn,
deck and prayed, those who could
crawled within the shelter of tn,
bales of merchandise that heaped
the deck, but not one dared to cross
any open space that could be seen
from the level of the stream. And.
as they hid their faces, there began
and spread thrilling whisper. e
Bouto Diablo! FL Bouto Diablo.
1t spread from man to man, from
stem to stern of the vessel; it came
to the ears of the captain and he
bolted himself in his tiny cabin: 1t
reached the pilot and he deserted
his post; it crept down the ladder
through the fierce heat of the en-
gine room and the sweating stokers
refused to lay another stick of wood
In the furnaces while the she-devil
was in sight.
The consequences might have
been disastrous, but for the engi-
neer, stolid German, who knew
little and cared less about the devils
of this heather country, as he called
it; one devil more or less made no
difference to him. Engineer Lowen-
field saw the cowardly helplessness
of the captain and crew, and took
matters into his own hands. He
promptly kicked the pilot, who lay
on the floor beside the wheel, out of
his way, and steered the boat toward
the nearer shore, where, not having
anyone at hand to shut off the
steam. he ran her aground upon a
mud bank. After that, the terrified
crew took heart; for they knew that
no dolphin, not even the dreaded
BoutO Diablo, would be found in
water too shallow to float their ves-
sci; and, after several hours hard
work, during which they alternately
cursed Lowenfeld for making the
labor necessary, and blessed him
for riding them of the witch, they
managed to get her afioat, and pro-
ceeded on their way.
The Witch Dolphin had disap.
peared, and the two Americans, &C.
cupied in watching the antics of the
crew and wondering at the super
stition of their fellow passengers,
had failed to note either the time or
the manner of her disappearance.
But Manoers heart was heavy, for
the two Americans, during all the
excitement, had remained standing
4
in full sight of the witch.
III.
This Ega is a monotonous sort
of place to stay, in, Harry remark
ed Bellinger, leaning out of his
hammock to reach for fresh cigar
from the table beside him. We've
been here three weeks now. Isn't
it about time we were moving on:
We don't expect to spend the rest
of our lives here. suppose:'
Watson pulled his cigar medita-
lively.
What's the hurry: he asked.
You haven't anywhere in partic-
ular to go to, nor anything to hurry
you home, and neither have /. Why
can't you roam about here a little
more and amuse YOURSELF
There's nothing amusing to be
found here yawned Bellinger. Il
believe the only reason I'm staying