Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-08-11
PART III.
MY SHORE ADVENTURE.
CHAPTER XIII.
HOW I BEGAN MY SHORE ADvEN-
THEE


The appearance of the island when !
came on deck next morning was al
together changed. Although the
breeze had now utterly failed, we had
made great deal of way during the
night, and were now lying becalmed
about half a mile to the southeast of
the low eastern coast. Gray-colored
woods covered large part of the sur
face. This even tint was indeed
broken up by streaks of yellow sand
break in the lower lands. and by many
tall trees of the pine family, out-top-
ping the others-some singly, some in
clumps; but the general co!oring was
uniform and sad. The hills ran up
char above the vegetation in spires of
naked rock. All were strangely
shaped, and the Spy-glass, which was
by 300 or 400 feet the tallest on the
island, was likewise the strangest in
configuration, running up sheer from
almost every side, and then suddenly
cut off at the top like pedestal to put
statue on.
The "Hispaniola" was rolling soup
pers under in the ocean swell. The
booms were tearing at the blocks, the
rudder was banging to and fro, and
the whole ship creaking, groaning, and
jumping like a manufactory. l had to
cling tight to the backstay, and the
world turned giddily before my eyes;
for though l was good enough sailor
when there was way on, this standing
still and being rolled about like bot
tie was thing l never learned to stand
without qualm or so, above all in the
morning, on an empty stomach.
Perhaps it was this-perhaps it was
the look of the island. with its gray.
melancholy woods, and wild stone
spires, and the surf that we could both
see and hear foaming and laundering
on the steep beach-at least, although
the sun shone bright and hot, and the
shore birds were fishing and crying all
around us, and you would have thought
anyone would have been glad to get to
land after being so long at sea- my
heart sunk, as the saying is, into my
boots; and from that first look onward,
| hated the very thought of Treasure
Island
We had dreary mornings work be-
fore us, for there was no sign of any
wild, and the boats had to be got out
and manned, and the ship warped three
or four miles round the corner of the
island, and up the narrow passage to
the haven behind Skeleton island |
volunteered for one of the boats, where
I had, of course, no business. The
heat was sweltering, and the mer
grumbled fiercely over their work.
Anderson was in command of my boat,
and instead of keeping the crew in
order. he grumbled as loud as the
worst.
Well" he said, with an oath, Its
not forever"
I thought this was a very bad sign;
for, up to that Gay, the men had gone
briskly and willingly about their busl-
ness; but the very sight of the island
had relaxed the cords of discipline.
All the way in, Long John stood by
the steersman and conned the ship.
He knew the passage like the palm of
his hand; and though the man in the
chains got everywhere more water
llldL W d. bo"u IL III Tile JON IL never
hesitated once.
There's a strong scour with the
ebb," he said, "and this here passage
has been dug out, in amanner of speak
ing, with a spade"
We brought up just where the an
chor was in the chart, about third of
mile from either shore, the mainland
on one side. and Skeleton island on the
other. The bottom was clean sand
The plunge of osr anchor sent up
clouds of birds wheeling and crying
over the woods; but in less than min
ute they were all down again, and all
was once more silent.
The place was entirely land-locked,
buried in woods, the trees coming
right down to high water mark, the
shores mostly fiat, and the hill-tops
standing round at distance in sort of
amphitheater, one here, one there. Two
little rivers, or, rather, two swamps,
emptied out into this pond, as you
might call it; and the foliage round
that part of the shore had a kind of
poisonous brightness. From the ship,
we could see nothing of the house or
stockade, for they were quite buried
among trees; and if it had not been
for the chart on the companion, we
might have been the first that had ever
anchored there since the island arose
out of the seas.
There was not breath of air NOV
ing, nor sound but that of the surf
booming half a mile away along the
beaches and against the rocks outside.
A peculiar stagnant smell hung over
the anchorage - smell of sodden
leaves and rotten tree trunks. / OBJ
served the doctor shifting, and shifting,
like some one tasting bad egg.
81 don't know about treasure" he
said, 'but I'll stake my wig there's
fever here"
If the conduct of the men had been
alarming in the boat, it became truly
! ..