The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1900-05-24
Beneath the Surface
BY Frank T. Bullen.
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XNHAT I'm goin' ter tell ye hap
w pened - femme see-wall, L
doan-no-mebbe two, mebbe four er
five year sence. | wuz mate of a 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 min
nits befo' they KID move ag'in. '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 'twan't 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 er blossom to play any games
on, they KEEP at it, m we 'uz film up
fast. The land wuz bout ten miles off,
m they wuz bout fifty er mebbe sixty
fathom water b'tween the reef we wuz
fishin' on n the nearest pint. Wall,
long bout eight bells in the afternoon
I w a-standin' by the galley door
watchin' a Kanaker crawlin' inboard
very slow bein' most done up. Five er
six ov 'em w hangin' roun' bout ter
start below agen, N tn ole man w
a-Oarsfemin' 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 i'm S if he wuZ
skeered most ter de'th. N he wuZ,
too. There cum liclkin' inboard after
him a long gray slitherin' thing like a
snake 18th no head, but lot Nv saucers
stuck onto it bottom up. IN 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 a round turn above
his arms. n | saw him a-slidin' away,
The schooner wuz a-rollin' S if in big
,swell-which Their warn't a sign of, s
/ cd see. But them snaky things went
quicker N thinkin' all over her. n be-
TO yew cd say knife every galoot, in
cludin' me, wuz 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 wuz goin' on. N do the pow
4lest thinkin' bout things yew ever did
in yer life? Yes, n that's haow l wuz
then. When tibet cold gristly sarpint
cum coddlin' roun' me, N the saucers
got to me IS if they'd suck out me very
bowls. I'd ag'in Mount Morgan ter
died; but ! couldn't ev'n go mad. / saw
the head ov the Thing them arms b.
lOnged ter, N 'twuz wuss n the hor-
rors, cause | wuz sane n cool n c'llect-
ed. The eyes wuz black n a foot or
more across n when looked into 'em
I seed meself a-comin'."
He was silent for minute, but shak-
eng as if with palsy. l laid my hand on
his arm. not KNOWN what to say, and
he looked up wistfully, sayin:
f'Thenks, shimate; thet's good" Then
he went on again:
''The whole Thing went back'ar
takin' us along: n 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 a 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 to
Iarberd some. m looked like big arm
CT gts ha1 no, ;.b
full to save. Down | went, that clingin'
snaky coil round me tighter n my
skin. But wut wuz strangest ter me
wuz the fact that not only 1 didn't
drown, but / felt no sort er disconven-
fence frum being below the water. M
at last, when l reached the coral,
though dessay I looked corpse enough,
'twuz only my looks, fur felt, lackin'
NY not bein' able ter move, breathe, err
speak, ez peart n fresh ez l do naow.
The clutch that he'd ben squeezin' me
so ALTERED tight begun to slack, n l
felt more comf'ble; m eff t admit ben
for the reck election Nv them eyes n
that berryin'- ground ov a mouth, l
doan'no but wut | might ha' been
Almost happy. But lay thar, with the
rest Nv my late shipmates, sort err
ready for consumpshun, like the flies
in the corner of a spiders web; n tibet
guy lac pqy'ful heap ov a bad time.
"After awhile the quiet of the place
begun ter breed strange noshuns in
my he'd-jest like IS if I wuz dreamin',
Enough wide awake Y ever l wuz in all
my life. / jest 'Peared TO be way back
at the beginnin' NV things, befo' they