The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-05-03

| Of the sea appears terrible in it's spread
and fiatness. The long, huge, ponderous
swell OF it, which you did not notice from
| the deck of ship or steamer. gives new
! and awful impression of its elemental
| weight and bulk. Even in the quietest
weather there is throb OF solid motion
/ in the shining surface, which drops a small
boat INFO vast. shallow valleys, and again
! lifts it upon the breast of gradual but far
reaching slopes, and the very peace OF the
sleeping element becomes dreadful. But
/ when a swimmer beats the salt sea. far
! from land or help. his chin upon It's shin
/ ing top, his eyes just level with the long
| glitter OF the surface, the vastness and
| baroness and deadiiness of il become to
/ all but the hardest absolutely terrible.
| There is no man who, swimming in the
| ocean, has not experienced, even when he
| had safely close at hand, that irresistible
| horror 81 the littleness of his powers and
| at the largeness OF the chilly death lap.
| ping and washing all around him, before
aud behind, and right and left, as far away
on every quarter as TO where the sky
comes down to the sea. And it is worse
| when he thinks of the deep abyss OF
! LIQUID beneath his feeble feet-although,
for the matter of that. seven feet OF water
will choke the life from a wearied swim
mer as we'll as 1000 fathoms of the mid
| Pacific Actual death by drowning is,
! probably, like most other forms of dying,
not at all painful; but never does death
appear more visible and dreadful than
when YOU look along the face of the sea,
struggling with Its waters for every breath
| that is drawn and every yard that is won,
while the dance of the brine washes over
| the lips and nostrils, and filings its bitter
4 menace into the blinded ewes
Mina-Mina soon found that her man
could not keep the baby's head and his
/ own a. the same time above the water.
| The little brown imp was, nevertheless,
laughing and Growing at the sparkling
waves, without any mark of fear or trem-
| BILE, aud when she drew him down beside
her in the sea, and let him paddle for a
| cables length or SO. the tiny castaway
swan like a small fish, and oil three were
making fair progress. In the moment of
the capsze they had fallen into the sea,
| of course fully clothed, but both had
since loosened and cast aside in the water
their garments of tspa. for freer swim
ming although Nina Nina still retained
| her waist band, in which she kept her
| fishing. knife. The ocean was Quieted
| down again after the sudden blast, and it
| was not difficult TO rest sometimes BY
floating, the wife holding up their email
| companion. ONLY this would not do for
any long time together. because q current
was running before the light trade wind,
and they might drift TOO far to reach the
land at last
Presently Nina Mina's bright eyes per-
| ceive upon the water 10 the right-on her
husbands side-s dark edge, moving
slowly, like a blade of black seA-weed
tilted up.
"Oh! Mokuhalii great God of the fish.
| help US now" she cried. He kokua
help here is he msno, the shark"
"Your aumakua~ is the great fish. He
| will not hurt you, wife, but he will take
me or the little one"
Being of the Fish Gods line, she was
tabu to sharks, and they to her, and to in
jure the butcher OF the deep was forbidden
TO her, for there is plenty OF ancient belief
still among them. in spite of missionaries
| But now she was thinking only OF her hus-
band and her baby, and superstition fled
| 20 the winds for the dear sake OF those che
loved. OF all examples of similar relig-
ious courage in Hawaiian women, none is
better known than that of Kapiolani. the
daughter of the chief of Hilo, who broke
the spell OF Pele, the goddess of the great
| volcano, eating the sacred berries of the
dreaded goddess, and tlinging stones into
the seething fiery crater of Mauna Loa,
| thereby converting the people from their
antique fears. But that is another
story"
BEAT hard upon the water, He Luna
| Master Beat when he comes near, and
keep him little oil. will kill my auma-
kual Otherwise will he eat my precious
| son."
Atany other moment these words would
have seemed too impious to hear or pro-
nounce. Now, however, the enfeebled
and weary husband could only sign silent
assent. and put his elbow under the
child's arm, while Mina-Mina drew her
knife from her belt and held il in her
pesr-liks teeth. silently padding to meet
the shark. There is spot in these MUIR
deTOus brutes, well known to the island
ere, where the stroke OF a long blade
| driven hard into the white belly will find
the swim bladder, aud when that is
pricked the shark sinks or becomes disa-
bled. The cruel fish had seen or OWNED
the baby as a dainty prey, though ordi-
narily this Hawaiian species is too well
fed or too particular to care much for
! brown meat. As he came within twice
his own length of the father and child he
turned slowly over and slipped below the
surface. the pale. colored underside gleam-
1 luR w tuIOuGn tu6 green WhtoTs anu lusL
when you could discern the horseshoe
shaped mouth opening TO show the sharp
notched jaws and red palate of the man
eater, Mina-Minas knife was plunged,
with al the weight OF her lifted body. into
the sharks side, whereupon the savage
creature bounded half its length into the
air, and then. with q furious threshing oil
it's tail, vanished into the depths, leaving
streaks OF oily scarlet blood upon the
foam which lite leap had caused.
"Give me the child" she said but be.
fore placing him on her back again, for
the baby had grown somewhat wearied
and chilled. she rubbed her nose hard
against tho little nose, after tho fashion Of
Hawaiian kissing. and "sloha inc, oh, my
darling" she cried, "Hiwa-hiwa. my sweet
little black pig my life is nothing to give
for thee"
The lapd-which meant rest; which
meant safety. rescue, comfort, lite-had
come higher by this time, and there would
not be more than q mile and three-quar
tiers 20 traverse. Mina-Mina, with the
long black hair knotted on her head. still
full Of soaked hibiscus flowers, was swim.
ming bravsly. keeping the boys tiny
J hands upon her shoulders, and the sea
/ was still and the current safely passed
when her ear missed the regular boat OF
MANAGES arms behind her. she turned
her head over her shoulder, and saw that
lie was troading the water in tho manner
OF n strong swimmer exhausted, his chin