The times., 1897-05-16
PART I.

should spaad two-thirds Of my income, halt
of the preachers OF New York would rise
upandanathernatizem for seeiingto widen
and make more apparent the sulf which ex-
lists between the rich aad the poor
/ have good health and considerable
modicum OF strength. ! have managed al
ways to steer reasonably clear of the shoals
of dissipation; rasping my keel now and
then, but upon the wlole coming OFF sound
and tight. For these ten years | have es-
capped the artful in genuousaeSs of the debu-
tante, the wiles of the designing mamma,
and the swift and deadly onslaught of the
widow. l am, moreover, of a gayaad cheer
full disposition, and because of all these
things one would suppose that | should be
happy. The fact is, however, that | ara
not. | am a victim of ennui l have been
bored to death; bored by the city and by
the country by my CLUBS, by society aud
by my frieads; bored by everything, animate
and inanimate; bored always, save for the
brief period when / was passing through
the strange experience which | am now
about to describe.
1t was uron the 18th day of June last
that the adventure happened, or, rather,
10 speak more accurately. commenced
Acting uron a sudden Ehin, passing
anu lOI Iit fpOnt VI etNttilS
out of the deadly routine of my ordinary
life, clothed myself in the shabbiest and
necessarily the most comfortable outing
rig which could find in my wardrobe,
took steamboat, the Monmouth" 1
think il was and went down alone, shortly
after noon, to Sandy Hook. Had l wished
/ could have steamed down in my yacht,
the Ariel This, however, was not what L
T x,-ilB Bal fn cot a ia uynr aS
possible from my usual life and surround
ings, to mix with the plebian crowd, to
sprawl upon the beach and to yarn with
the fishermen of the Hook Ia short, I
was in search of something altogether
out of the ordinary, and, as will showlater
on. | certainly found it.
The afternoon was not wildly exciting
one, but ia one way and another / nan-
aged to divert myself in reasonable but
mild degree. VIII waste no words in de-
scribing bow l passed the time, az have
so much TO say of the strange events of
the night and day which followed. The
last boat left Sandy Hook for New York
at O'Clock, and l missed it. That is the
only essential roiat and the only one nee
essary for me 20 set down.
l had no mind to stay there all night;
and the only alternative which pre-
sented itself was to hire someone to row
me over to Staten Island For some reason
or another, none Of the fishermen or
loungerS about the place seemed TO be
willing to accommodate me. 1t looked a
simple aud easy matter TO me; IS the even
lug was n fine one, there was no breeze to
speaker, and only long, gentle, undulating
swell stirred the surface of the bay The
idiotic idea now came TO rue OF procuring a
boat and rowing myself alone over To the
island / now encountered another diff
Guilty, no one seemed willing to let me a
boat. l found one at last, belonging Go a
one-eyed old bayman, which suited me
exactly. As he would not let it to me,
asked him what he would sell it for, and
he named price which was certainly twice
what it was worth. l Immediately paid
him what he demanded, and so became pos
SCISSOR Of the" Mary Ann" tight and we'll
built craft about twelve feet in length
Ali these negotiations took time, and it
was half past seven before l pushed off
from the sand and started upon my venture
some voyage. 4 dozen or more seafaring
men gathered uponthe beach asIembarked,
aud seemed to look upon me with a sort of
commiseration Foremost among them
stood the old cyclops from whom 1 had
bought the boat, and, as 1 giided away
from the shore, his sIghtless and fishlike
orb seemed to be fixed upon me with
persistent and baleful glare | was re-
minded OF the evil eye OF the jettltori,
and, if I had believed in such matters, 1
would certainly have given over the en-
berprise and returned.
1 had calculated the distance from Sandy
HOOK to the nearest shore Of Staten Island
TO be somewhere between seven and eight
miles When l had rowed at a pretty good
rate for about half an hour, and when !
seemed TO have put something over two
miles between me and the spot whence |
had embarked, l turned my head to note
what progress L was making to ward the |
Island and was surprised to find that its |
shores looked every bit as far away as |
they did before | set out Looking for the |
cause of This phenomenon, 1 now found that |
IL was becauseI had drifted a mile ormorc |
out of my course to the east; so thatI was, |
In reality, no nearer port than when COM |
menced rowing. OF course | knew at once |
that there must be strong current set |
ting in the direction of the Atlantic and |
this current must have been produced by |
the ebb tide. ] now saw why no one had |
been willing to row me across, and /
also realized the fact that there Was |
considerable work to be done il expected /
to reach Staten Island that night, or, in /
fact, any other night.
Filled with the consciousness of this fact,
/ buclIed down TO the task with right good |
will, and keptup pretty strong and regular |
stroke for one whole hour or more, without |
pause. Meanwhile the darkness had come
down, and a few stars shone out, though
for the most part the sky had ciouded over
The breeze OF the early evening had de-
velopcd into a brisk wind from the east
and the meeting ofthe wind and the current
had got up quite respectable sea $50 that
my boat bobbed up and downin a manner
that was highly unsatisfactory. 1 now
thought il advisable to rest for moment,
and To take survey OF the situation.
AT that momentI caught sight of a sail
coming rapidly toward me from the soutn
AS it came on, made it out through the
gathering darkness to be an ordinary two
masted schooner. Its appearance gave me,
naturally, a good deal OF satisfaction,
and / Immediately hailed it,
"Schooner ahoyi'
Once, twice, thrice, l shouted it out
But there was no answer: and then before |
i thought ofit, the great black bow was al
mosruponme; and very nearlyran me down |
before L could getout of the way The hull |
of the schooner passed me, scarcely twenty
feet to starboard, and, a S the heavy boom |
swept over my head, l noticed a ropes end, !
s>me four feet long, hanging from the end, |
and reacneddp, mechanically, and caught
hold oft, and held it fast; 81, that my beat
immediately Ieaped forward and inward