Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-06-22

liquid that itself looked like blood, but
was little paler, looking indeed more
like blood mixed with water.
"And now upon the captains face
there come a look of relief, and, Men,
says he, this here amt quite as terri
BILE as we thought That weren't no
blood of poor Will Winters what drop
ped upon my shoulder, but only the sap
what this strange tree exoods. Look
here!' and with that he rubs his finger
on the moisture and shows it to us, and
sure enough it was the sap of the tree
Itself but red as blood.
All the same it do look like blood,
says one on u.s. But now the captain
because, maybe, he would not give in
to no sooperstitions nor yet encourage
them in his men = laughed at their
ideas.
"'Why, men, he says, 'have you new
er seen, at home or abroad, plants and
trees what have a liquid in them like
blood What about the schumack of the
Americas, or the beet of our own dear
land, to say nothing of the cochineal?
Go to! These ideas is unworthy of Brit
ish sailors.
yet, all the same, laugh at and han
ter us as he might, there was many of
that ships crew who did believe most
Bclemnly that the blood from that tree
was, in some way or other, connected
with the disappearance of poor Will
But. mateys all, there was summat
else to do than to stand a-gaping up
into the tree and sperkerlating about it.
search party must be made to go
around the island to see if by any
chance he could be on it, though it
wernt no way likely that he was, and
afterwards they was to take one of the
boats and row around it to see if by any
other chance he was floating in the wa
ter or under the water, into which one
could see deep, for it was as clear as a
trout stream at home, and also there
was the leak to be found and calked
and the Loving Friend to be somewhat
repaired.
$50 to work we all sets, some on US
feet, shouting and yelling-that is to
say, all but one, Mark Deacon, and he
he, shipmatas, was Arranging by
one arm to one of the lower branches
of that tree, his feet being some dis
lance from the ground, and the branch
itself was shaking violently. But it
was not even this that was so hor-
rible as it was for us to perceive
that he was not holding on to the
branch, but that the branch itself
was opening and shutting like vast
mouth-though never dropping him
and that already, it had swallowed his
hand and arm up to the forearm, and
that it was gradually drawing the whole
Of his body into itself So have I seen
snake draw in the body of an animal,
for to nothing else can I compare this
hellish sight.
'Hold on to his legs, bawled, as 1
ran up to him, 'and some on you-you
with axes and knives-swarm up the
tree and lop off that branch. Lop it of,
break it off, do anything, but stop what
it is about.
''But to lop off branch from tree
that is as thick round as an ordinary
mans body is no easy task, work as
hard as one may, and, though two men
had already got up the tree by the help
of the other shoulders, and were hack
ing and slashing away at the branch
with good will, they made but little
progress and, as they hacked and slash
ed, with every blow they made, the
blood poured from the vast cuts until
at last the sand below was deluged with
it and looked more like quarter deck
after a three hours fight with gang
of Sallee rovers than the shore of
desert island. But at least one good adj
vantage did occur from their efforts,