Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1894-11-28
A Shark Story.

couple out yonder. We were ship
mates together on board the Raja-
pootah Indiaman. His father,
who is dead and gone this twenty
year or more, was carpenter aboard
of her.
"Chips," we used to call him, and
if you don't mind listening to an
old salt who's been round the world
enough times to make a landsman
giddy at the very thought Of it I'll
just tell you of little adventure
we had with one of them man-eat-
ing monsters.
Well, one day we were becalmed
on the line, when says young Bill
he was young-says he, II shall
have a swim round for a cooler, v
for, believe me, the sun was that
hot we had to throw buckets Of
water on the deck to keep it from
catching fire.
In fact, pig we killed the day
afore we hung aloft and roasted
him in the sun, catching the gravy
in the bucket, and he was done
beautifully.
So in he goes, head first, with
his clothes on, and me and his old
man looked over the side, just abaft
the forerigging, to see him come tc
the top of the water again.
But no Bill could we see, and in
stead of him came up tremendous
shark with it's sides sticking out as
if he had a cargo inside over and
above his regular bill O lading.
1t was then as clear to us as the
nose on our faces that poor Bill
had dived clean down it's throat.
The poor old man had a fit right
away, and we carried him below
and put him in his hammock and
then ran up ON deck again in the
hope that we should be able tc
catch the fellow.
But it was nowhere to be seen,
so after watching some time to nc
purpose we went down below to see
how the old man was getting on
and to our astonishment and sorrow
we found his body nearly cold and
as stiff as the flying jibboon.
We sewed him up in his ham
mock, putting the grindstone that
he used to grind his tools with in.
side to make it sink and laid the
body on a hatch, with the union
jack spread over it for pail.
Then the skipper read the funer.
al service, all of us standing round
dreadfully cut up, me especially
for young Bill was my messmate
and l was very fond of the old man
AS soon as the skipper had finish
ed the last words, which | shall
never forget--they was so solemn
the hatch was tipped up, alt
overheard the body went with {
splash, and all was over-at leas
we thought so.
But almost Immediately after
ward up comes another shark
/ bigger one, it seemed, than the frs
certainly it was thicker.
The boatswain at once ran fO
the shark hook and baited it with {
junk of pork and slung it over th'
stern, and it was not many minutes
afore we had him hooked and haul
ed on deck.
Well, the first thing we did wa
to cut his tail off, for he was flap
ping it about so that it shook tn
ship from stern to stern, and w
were afraid it would shake her t.
pieces.
After we had done that w
thought we heard q very strang
noise inside of him-a sort O graf
ing sound, like boat being drag
ged over shingly beach.
So we set to and cut off his heat
and then ripped him up, when, wha
dye think, what should we see, t,
our great astonishment and delight
but Bill and his father sitting up
right like two Janahs, the young
ster turning the grindstone and th
old man sharpening his knife, in
tending to cut their way out of tn
creatures belly.
You say | said the old man wa
dead. Please don't interrupt me
and I'll tell you all about it.
There's no doubt but what h
seemed dead, but it was only hi
blood froze with horror, and tn
shark warmed him to life again.
What made him most uncomfort
able, Bill said, was the slipperines
and topsy turvyness Of the plac,
for there was no rest at all, for on
minute he was standing on his hea
and the next on his feet and the
tossed from one side to the other
some times getting jammed betwee
/. his ribs, and he wondered the mes
didn't. disagree with the fish itself.
1 But at last came the climax, an
Bill thought it was all over wit
: him, for down its throat was she
a heavy body like a sack O. Goa
right atop of him, nearly smothe
ing him so that he had scarce roo
to move or breathe, and he mus
;. have been sometime insensible, /
said, when he was woke up by
loud report.
He thought for moment tn
creature had swallowed a powd'
barrel, and it had exploded, but
, was only the canvas shroud the ol
man was sowed up in, which hs
blown up like paper bag:
The noise in its insides, Bill sal
s must have astonished the shar
N for ba ooo;p foupd him calf standir