The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-18

| coral, every boulder, that in queerest
| shapes yew ever see lay scattered aroun &.
| At last, never hayin' quite los sight of tibet
| horrible ungodly Thing in the cave yander,
| I see it KEN eout. | never kuOwed thar
wuz a God till then. Sence tibet time.
whenever / see some mouthy critter prov
in, ez he calls il, Door child, tibet Their
amt n CANT be. any God. | feel that
sorry fer him / cd Jest sail right in n
lam the foggy blether out'n his fool skull.
But, ez wuz a-sayin', eout KEN the Thing,
till I see the hull greet carcass oy it. big
ger N the bigges sparm whale | ever see.
lest a-haulin' n a-warpin' along by them
wanderin arms over the hills n hallers
oy the reef lords me. 1t fioated between
me n wut light Their wuz. which wuz
suthin' ter be thankful fer. fer I'd a-gin
my life ter be able to shet my eyes from
it n wut wuz comm. II hung right over
me, n felt the clingin' suckers closin'
all aroun' me, when all of a sudden they
left me agin. The greet black shadder
moved ter one side N daown through that
clear water cum a sparm whale. graceful
n easy's as an albaeore. I never thought
much OF old squar heads looks before. but
I'm tellin ye, then he looked like a shore
'onugh angel 'longside tibet frightful craw
lin, clammy bundle of sea -sarpients.
But / hedn't much time ter reflect. fer
tibet whale had come on bizness. n Their
want any presentation bout him. When
he got putty cluss up TO the Thing
that wuZ backin' oneasily away he
sorter rounded to like boat comm long
side. only sted ov comm rcun' he come
over. clar he'd over fiukes. His jaw wuz
hangin' daown, baout twenty foot with all
the big teeth shinin'. n next l knew he'd
got thet gol-durned Thing in his mouth
with a grip right benin them awful Eyes.
Roun' come the tangle of arms like the
sails of windmill lacin', cluthin', tearin'
at the whales head But they might so
we'll hey Rugged the SOlander Rock 1t
made no sorter diffrunce ter him. n his
jaw KEEP on workin fer all IL wuz worth |
a-sawin' Off the tremenius he'd OF the
Thing. Then the light went eOut. My
gosh, tibet water wuZ lust turned inter ink.
n though yew cd feel the sway n swirl
ov tibet greet struggle like the screw race
ov some big liner they want nOthin ter
be seen. So / reckon the Thing I'd been
puzzlin' ter fine a name fer wuZ jest the
Gret Mogul CIV all the cuttlefish. n beu'
kinder hard prest WIZ a-shellin' the hull
contents ov his ink-tank.
wall. 1 WIZ sorter interested In this
mush n very much wanted ter see il |
through, but thet satisfacshun wuZ de- !
MED me. All the churnin' n thrashin |
went on jest above me in pitch-dark N |
grave-Quiet Bineby the water ceased to |
bile aroun n got clearer, till after a |
while cd see greet shadders above movin' |
swiftly. The sea took on anuther color |
quite fermiliar ter me. sOrter yalleT, a !
mixin' ov red n blue. Funniest thing |
wuz the earn way I wuZ a-takln' ov it all. |
jest like man lookin out bloom at a 1
big fight er spectayter in a lasty show /
hevin no pLsnal concern in the matter I I
all. Presently sneakin' along comes "a !
,,-l,,t ,-tff tor IsafF
touched me l knew it fer wut it wuz. n |
then / wuz in de'dly fear less the hope NV /
life after all sh'd rouse me eout NY this /
yer trance or whatever il wuz. 'Twuz ]
whaleline from some whale ships boat a
fishin' overhe'd. II KEN right to me. Il
teched me n | felt s if must come to n
die right there n then. But it sweep right
Under me, m then settled daown coil AFT
er coil. till l wuz fair snarled up in it.
By this time the water'd got so sOupy
tibet | couldn see nothin'. but 'twa'lt long
befo' | felt myself a-risin'-eout Nv the
belly Nv Hell ez Jonah SEE.
up ' KEN at a coed lick till all NV a
sudden sees Gods light. smells His air.
N hears voices NV men. Gosh, but want
they CALLED when they see me. Blame ef
l did'n half think they'd femme go ag'in-
The fust one ter git his brains ter work
WIZ the bow oarsman Il niger, who lean
ed over the gunnel. his face greeny-grey
with fright. n grabbed me by the hair.
Tibet reused the rest, m | wuZ hauled in
like a whiz Then their tongues got ter
Vaughn, m yew never heard so many fool
things said in five minutes outside er
Congress.
ut didn' seem ter strike any ov EN- tibet
I MOUNT be SO very dead after all. though
fortnitly fer me they conclooded ter take
me aboard with 'em. So laid thar in the
bottom ov the boat while they finished
haulin' line. Their wuz clumsy Teller
among 'em tibet made a slip. hittin' me an
ugly welt on the nose as he wuz failin'.
Nobody took any notice till presently one