Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1894-11-15

"Now they been break 'Kanaka
Jacks sl1iff, him rot can earn nothing
at fishing any MORE" he mournfully
| added.
| Darrell took him to the bark and
tried to persuade his father to enlist
him as cabin-boy. But fearing that
the lads imperfect knowledge of Eng
lish would hinder his understanding
orders, the lieutenant at first objected.
His son, however, so earnestly pleaded
| for the boy that the first officer at last
| consented to give him a trial. It was
then found that he correctly guessed,
if he did not exactly comprehend,
| what was said to him, and, as he was
neat, active and obedient, the captain.
before many days had passed, told the
lieutenant he was very well satisfied
! with the little fellow. Now and then
he was permitted to accompany Dave
in his canoe, when, being very CRATE
| full to~his benefactor, he would some
times dive and bring him up presents
of beautiful shells from the rocks
under the ocean.
the Kanakas, who go in the surf al
most from infancy, are wonderfully
expert at swimming or diving, and
Jack could remain for a minute under
water, darting into and out of suo-
marine caves or gliding among the
silky tassels of the weeds far down in
| the deep -@ta
At one time, while out in the canoe
| with Jack, Dave, thinking he might
| conclude to take a bath, wore only a
light swimming suit, except that he
| had on his jacket over the thin upper
| garment.
The weather was very warm, for it
| was the season of the Australian sum-
mer.
Swar1ns of buzzing flies darllened
the air about the numerous large ant
hills between the coast and the noun
| tains, and the shellfsh on the rocks
looked as if they had been baked by
the heat. 49,,
Presently, when close to long,
| wide reef, Jack sprang out upon it to
| procure for his companion some of the
| beautiful shells called by the Aus
| tralian natives Irego, which he knew
| were to be found about fifty yards
| ahead, where the reef was inaccessible
for the canoe on account of it's being
skirted by low, pointed rocks.
After the Kanal1a was gone, as Dave
was taking off his jacket, too warm for
that sultry day, his midshipman's dag
ger, in its sheath, slipping from the
breast pocket of the garment, fell into
the sea. The lad, who was an excel
! lent swimmer, resolved to try to re-
cover the knife himself, instead of
troubling Jack to come away back and
get it for him. Having hastily stuffed
| his jacket in the bow, he looked about
into the clear water, which at this
place was about eighteen feet deep,
and he could see the red sheath, as it
slowly sank. In the canoe there was
| a coil of rope about twenty feet long,
| with which, by fastening it to a stone,
he would sometimes anchor his canoe.
I AS a precaution, he secured one end of
this line about his breast and tied the
other to the middle thwart of the
canoe. Should he be taken with cramp
or otherwise be hindered from coming
up, after going down, Jack, to whom
he now called out, making known his
| intention, could haul him to the sur
face by means of the rope. Without
waiting for the Kanaka's answer he
dived, but, keeping his eyes open as he
went under, he was not more than two
fathoms down when he was startled at
seeing strange monster emerge from
the shadow of a projecting shelf Of the
reef. Swiftly it swan diagonally up
ward, working large pair of hand
shaped fippers or fore-fns as if they
were paddles. The big head, the eyes,
the fat nose, the distended nostrils,
and even the mouth bore some resem-
b1ance to those of a savage human be-
ing. The animal, fully nine feet long,
was of dark color, except about it's I'M
der part, which was streaked with
white, and its body, thick in the mid
die, tapered to slender proportions to-
ward the crescent-shaped tail.
The boy hurriedly rose to the sur
face. When he reached it. he watched
the singular creature that had alarmed
him, and which was now nearly twelve
feet away, making for a clump of
water-soalSed grass that had evidently
drifted from some point far up the
coast. This grass was close to that
part of the line which hung from the
canoe with one end of it tied, as al
ready stated, about Dawes breast.
The slack coils between the: canoe
and the boy lay twisted into numer-
Gus turns and bights. little below
the surface of the water. The monster
was very near these, when it darted
forward with open mouth, showing
two rows of canine teeth, and caught
the clump of grass between its jaws.
':Kanaka Jack" who while nearly
hundred and sixty feet away had, as
he gathered the shells, been watching
for Dawes reappearance, was now fast
approaching that part Of the reef OPP
posite to which he had come up.
Hurry! Unfasten line!' he said to
Darrell. Him dugong-too close to
ine-'fraid get caught!''
Dave yainly tried to unite the line
about his breast. The knot having
hardened from being wet, was diff
cult one, and as he awkwardly tugged
at it there in the water, he anxiously
watched the creature that Jack had
called dugong.
He had often heard of but had never
before seen this strange mammal,
which is of the family of the manatus,
or sea-cow, which can go on shore as
well as in the water, and will eat hay,
grass and herbs. -
He now swan for the reef, from
which, while keeping himself aaoat,
he had drifted about fifteen feet The |
dugong, in a nearly perpendicular POI
sition, with its head and it's white
streaked breast above the water, but |
facing little away from the lad,
whom. evidently. it had not vet seen