The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1895-03-09

"~~"t
like the kelpie Jennie Macalister an
me heerd down 4 the crook o. Feugh
January come twalve year"
"Ay," said another fellow, 1T be I'M
common speerit like. I'm thinlSin', sir,
wi all respect, that Cocltney Jo, poor
chap, has gone down all standing by
now. and IL d be better 10 bout ship,
for I'm kind o. particular like about
meetin' such gentlemen o. fortune"
And ay," piped in another, they
do say as 'ow there be an awfu' sight
o. dead seamen In these here seas"
That was enough. Search farther
they would not The fear OF the seas
was In their hearts, and i might as
well have spoken TO the oars; indeed,
the oars in their hands had more heart
than they.
But now a new and more terrible
] danger threatened u.s. We had lost
our bearings. The ship was nowhere
TO be seen; nothing but the fog thick
as the curtain over hell" as one of the
sailors remarked in his horror at real
izing our situation. To add 20 our
danger, darkness was coming on. A
yellow tint in the westward showed
that the sun was sinking. twas only a
lighter obscurity in what was all OBJ
security.
We had been two hours away from
the ship. So much ! could just make
out by placing the face of my watch so
as 30 catch the shine of the sun, and
rushed out OF the mist upon us, bore
MS up, and then rolled away into the
darkness astern. now saw that there
was no hope Of gaining the ship before
the night closed in. The fog, / knew,
was settling deeper, and IL struck me,
too, that tho cold was becoming more
intense. The captains foreboding also
fell upon me with chill, colder even
than that murl1y atmosphere.
The men now sat quite still. They
had shipped their oars and had given
themselves up TO that stolid apathy
which Is only despair in another guise.
/ heard the teeth chattering In their
heads, and knew that If we had to
fight for dear life, as very likely we
should have IL the wind sprang up,
they would be useless in their present
state.
"Come, men, said, as cheerily as
my mouth could pipe the syllables, for,
to say the truth, felt more Ike sing
ing at funeral than piping TO dance,
"belay that downhaul and put stop
per on those rat-traps. We're not dead
yet; the fog can't last much longer,
and the skipper won't leave MS, be sure
Of that
This seemed TO cheer them bit.
"Ay,n said the old Scotchman, ANA
there's a moon the night, thank the
Lord for that. There's naethin like a
bit moon to lift the cap o a fog, and
kelpies are aye feared at the bright
round thing They say they Gamma bide
the twa cen o. IT,"
LAY, lads" bore up. but Murdoch's
right, for had forgotten the moon;
"the seall be bright as a looking-glass
by eight bells. And as for supper, we
me must just tighten our belts bit =
"A canny mons ave to the fore, I
said Murdoch, and just looked sfter
my weam afore ! jumped into thd
boatie.n
And he produced five large ships bis
cults.
why" said, as l slapped my
pocket, that's capital; well not do
badly, for that reminds me there's a
good dram for each OF us.
had picked up bottle Of whisky
from the saloon table before leaving
the ship, In case there might be need
fit.
The men frightened up visibly al
this. One Of them even ventured "A joke
at the "speerit," but Murdoch stopped il
with round turn.
Nay, nay, lad, dinna We laugh at 4
speerit, they're gay, uncanny creatures
and it's aye venturesome speaking /
them, for they're awful sharp at III
hearin'."
Two great shadows at the same IN,
ment shot through the last yello'
streak of the sun, and the men seemt
20 take IL for granted these were u
speerits that were "awfu' sharp at u
hcarin'," for they stopped talking all
would hardly be prevailed upon evh
20 whisper.
There was now absolute darlSness.I
don't think / was ever in anything
like IL. Az sea the night is muh
lighter than on land, but now couidt
even distinguish the palm of my had
placed close 20 my face. II was a.
possible 20 steer; the sea around ps
like black caldron. / could only IN |
by the boats motion that we were NV
ascending, now descending the gnt
rollers.
now cast out sea anchor, an
structed of two oars dashed toget,r, |
and patiently waited for the moonis- |
ing wasn't at all sure, howeve II |
the moon would break up the foe |
might not tell the men so i My |
prayed IL might. / must have SPIT, |
for remember nothing more till Ielt
myself rudely shaken. and voic-it |
was that Of old Misunderstanding
/ something In my ear.
sect We up, Master Norris uid-
ness sakes, sir, but yc're awfu' III at |
! - Il. 4. "a