The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-07-12

ger went to WOrK to rlg Une dlr-puHp to keep me in breath Waal, it were simply dreadful a-tryin' to do any thing aboard a ship wot were standin' on her head, an dancin' slowly up an down over the swells. But arter a good deal O hard work an a awful sight O talk, the ingineer got the pump set up on a bulkhead. Mean time the crew lowered Bill Martin and me into the after hold were the alvin rig were. Waal, you never see such tangle O things in the whole course O your life. There were tin cans, rattlesnakes' teeth, goatslIins, ropes, old iron. boxes, bags, blocks, an all sorts O riffraf piled up, in the worst kind O confusion wot ever was knowed since the destruction O Sodom an Gomorrah.
 "Howsumever, Bill an me managed to find the alvin rig, an to git back into the cabin with it. The followin' | day the sea were quite calm, an the | long easy swells didn't interfere none with our plans. The purips were started, an climbed out O the main hatch, w'ich were just O water, an, shet up in the divin' suit felt my way | forrard-or rather downward-to the ships bow. climbed over, an worked my way around underneath till l got to the hole. It were about five feet in diameter an putty nearround. l shook my head, an pulled the string tur 'em to take me back. Wen l got into the ship ag'in l sez to the captain, sez l: | I don't b'lieve we kin do much with | that hole But he seZ to me, sez he: | wy, it ain't no crater O Mount Ve- soovus, wot blows things out as fast as ye put 'em in, is it? Now, you jess go down ag'in an pass CT line under the ship. We kin haul big mainsail un- Ter an plug up the hole with that
 "Waal, didn't think the shippers scheme wud work, but my business were to do wot he sez. So 1 tux the | line an down went ag'in. Wotever induced me fur to look around while l were under the ships bow I don't know, but did, an l were not pertik- lerly pleased wen l sees shark a-ris- ing. He were a-comin' straight at me from blow, an tell ye yanked that | string so quick an hard it were a-wonder didn't bust it. were right in front O the hole at the time, an the shark comin' up headon like gray streak O lightnin', Jess in time the hoistn' rope pulled taut, I swung my self away from the hole, an as l went up the ships side, wot dye think l see?"
 "What?" cried the boys.
 "The bloomin' shark went head fust into the hole, an there he stuck. He lashed his tail about an struggled, but it didn't do no good, eos wy, them bent-in plates had i'm by the neck an he were caught. I reported this ere remarkable condition O things to the skipper, an sez he to we all:
 By the great horn spoon, boys, our leak are stopped fur us by old Nep- tune hisself.'
 | "Howsomever, he sent me down once more to see eff the shark were still fast, an if he quite filled up the | hole. I found that he did, an re- ported so to Cap'n Waterbury Boggs. So he gives orders right away to rig the after steam pumps, an screw on line O hose to the pipe wot runned through the buikhead from the second compartment to the third. It were good six hours afore this work was done, COS wy, everythin' had to be did at right angles to it's proper position. Howsumever, it did get finished, an then it were night an we had to stop. We turned out 'arly in the mornin' an started up the pumps. The water came through the hose in great style, an we got jolly a-squirtin it out O the cabin ports.
 "Waal, of course we was all so bloomin' stoopid that we forgot to pre- pare fur wot were bound to happen. Wen the water got low enough in them two forrard compartments, bang! down came the ships stern into the water with a smash, an she war a-ridin' on her keel ag'in. An there she was with the stern pumps screwed up on the side O one O the compart- ments, an the donkey engine, too, so that the live coals come a-tumblin' out an putty near sot the ship afire, not to | speak O us dll Delu CnTOWtu uctlS ONeT head wen the starn stopped. How, sumever we wasn't badly hurt, an we got them live coals out putty quick. But we had sweet job gettin' that donkey engine down from were it were hung up like picter on the wall. An then it took us nigh onto five days to get the cargo to rights a'gin. How sumever, we done it, an then the cap'n headed the ship fur Rio, w'ich were the nearest port, fur repairs"
 And what became of the shark?" asked Henry. s... .s ....
 "Oh, he staid right there in the hole tell he were pulled out by powerful tackle in Rio harbor. An then he kind O lay around like dead fur a couple O hours, arter w'ich he shook hisself an swan around the ship fur a week, till Isaac Hooper, w'ich the same he were fond O his joke, sez he to me, sez he: T b'lieve that there shark are a-waitin' fur to put in his bill fur salvage, sez he to me, jess like that, him bein' fust mate an me second"
 And the Old Sailor indulged in an- other of his quaint silent laughs.-W.