Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1900-11-01
Beneath the Surface
'XEIHAT I'm goin' ter tell ye hap
wv pened = femme see-Wall,
BY Frank T. Bullen.
NS'7SMSzlS 7IS NJ 's1S ~ 7IS SlS as aIS "a

"XHIHAT I'm goin' ter tell ye hap
w pened - lemme see-wall, |
doan-no--mebbe two, mebbe four er
five wear sence. wuz mate of pearl
in schooner b'longin' ter Sevuka, lynn
daouwn to Rotumah. Ware we'd ben
workin' the reef wuz middlin' deep
deep huff ter make eour b'ys fall on
deck when they come up with load, n
lie there like dead uns fer bout ten mill
nits befo' they KID move agin. Twuz
slaughterin' divin'; but the shell wuz
thick n no mistake; n eour ole man
wuz a hustler-s'long's he got shell he
didn't vally a few dern Kanakers peg
gin eout meow N then. We'd alost
three with sharks, N eff 'twant tibet
tn b'ys wuz more skeered of old Hard
head than they wuz of anythin else l
doan reckon we sh'd a-got any more
stuff tibet trip t all. But z he warn't
the kind err blossom to play any games
on, they KEEP at it, n we 'uz film up
fast. The land wuz bout ten miles of.
n they wuz bout fifty, er mebbe sixty
fathom water b'tween the reef we wuz
fishin' on m the nearest pint. Wall,
long bout eight bells in the afternoon
| w a-standin' by the galley door
watchin' Kanaker crawlin' inboard
very slow bein' most done up. Fiveer
six ov 'em w hangin' roun' bout ter
start below agen, n tn ole man uz
a-blarsfemin' gashly at 'em fer bein'
so slow. Right in the middle ov his
sermont seed i'm go green in the face,
N make a step from the rail, with both
hans helt up in front ov inn S If he WIZ
skeered most ter de'th. M he wuz,
too. There cum lickin' inboard after
him long gray slitherin' thing like a
snake 18th no head, but a lot Nv saucers
stuck onto it bottom up. N befo' I'd
time ter move, bein' most sort er para
lived, several more of the dern things
wus a-sleakin' around all over the
deck. The fust one got the skipper
good N tight 18th round turn above
his arms, II saw him a-slidn' away.
The schooner wuz a-rollin' S if in a big
swell-which Their warn't sign of, s
/ cd see. But them snaky things went
quicker N thinkin' all over her, II be-
TO yew cd say knife every galoot, in
cludin' me, WIZ a-goin' long with 'em
back to where they'd come from.
"Say, d'yew ever wake up all alive,
'cep' yew couldn' move ner speak, only
know all WIZ goin' on, m do the pow
fest thinkin' bout things yew ever did
in yer life? Yes, m that's haow | wuz
then. When tibet cold gristly sarptnt
cum coddlin' roun' me, n the saucers
got to me S if they'd suck out ME very
bowls, I'd a-g'in Mount Morgan ter
died; but l couldn't ev'n go mad. saw
the head ov the Thing them arms b.
| longed ter, m 'twuz wuss n the hor-
rors, cause wuz sane n cool N c'llect-
ed. The eyes wuz black n foot or
more across N when l looked into 'em
seed meself a-comin'."
He was silent for minute, but shak-
ing as if with palsy. l laid my hand on
his arm. not KNOWN what to say, and
he looked up wistfully, sayin;
"Thenks, shimate; thet's good" Then
he went on again:
1.-The whole Thing went back'ards
| takin' us along; m l remember think
| in ez we went of the other Kanakers
below that hedn't come back. herd
| the bubbles S each of us left the sun
shine but never cry, never another
SCUM. The las thing | remember see
| in 'bove me wuz tn eend of the schoon
er's mainboom, which wuz guyed out o
larberd some, m looked like a big arm
struck stiff an helpless, though wish
| full to save. Down went, that clingin'
| snaky coil round me tighter N my
| skin. But wut WIZ strangest ter me
| wuz the fact that not only / didn't
| drown, but felt no sort er disconven-
fence frum being below the water. IN
at last, when l reached the coral,
| though dessay looked corpse enough,
| 'twuz only my looks, fur felt, laclAin'
my not bein' able ter move, breathe, er
| speak, ez peart m fresh ez do naow.
The clutch that he'd ben squeezin' me
so ALTERED tight begun to slack, m |
felt more comf'ble; m eff t 'adn't ben
for the reck lection NV them eyes m
that berryin' ground ov mouth, l
doan'no but wut l might ha' been
Almost happy. But lay thar, with the
rest NV my late shipmates, sort er
ready for consumpshun, like the flies
in the corner of a spiders web; m tibet
guy me pow'ful heap ov bad time.
"After awhile the quiet of the place
begun ter breed strange noshuns in
my he'd-jest like IS if wuz dreamin',
though wide awake z ever wuz in all
my life. l Jest 'peared to be way back
at the beginnin' Nv things, befo' they
wuz anythin' else but water, n wut
life there wuz IN them early days he'd
ter dew 'ithout air er sun er light. I'd