The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-11
Beneath De Surface.
BY FRANK T. BULLEN.

with wuz pow'ful fond NV one er the
| Bible yarns he called the Book NV Jobe,
n he USE ter read tibet off ter me 'twell
I nearly got 1t through my he'd solid.
| Anyway, much ov 1t KEN back ter me
neow-bits 'beout the foundayshons oV
the world, n the bouns ov the sea, m
| such like.
IN all the time overnight me in the
| mouth ov a. greet cave, with them res
less thutty-foot feelers ever a-twistin m
| wriggln around, wuZ the Thing itself,
them awful eyes jest a-showin' like
moons made ov polished Jet in the dim
| ness. Some ov my shipnlates wuZ gone,
the skipper among EN-; but some, like
me, wuz layin' quiet n straight; while
all about us the fish, ov every shape m
size, wuz a-glidin' slow n stealthy like.
as If ever on the watch 'gainst some en-
envy er anuther.
ut seemed so long ] laid thar tibet
felt able to remember every bush N
| Dough ov coral every boulder, that in
queerest shapes yew ever see lay scat
| tered aroun. At last, never havin' quite
| los sight of thet horrible ungodly Thing
in the cave yander, l see 1t KEN eout. 1
| never knoWed thar Wuz q God till then
| Sence tibet time, whenever l hear some
| mouthy critter provin' ez he calls it, poor
| child! thet Their amt, N CANT be, any
| God, I feel tibet sorry fer him I cd jest
sail right in n lam the foggy blether
| out'n his fool-skull. But, eX I wuZ a.
sayin, eout KEN the Thing, till I see the
| hull gret carcass ov it, bigger N the
| bigges' sparm whale / ever see jest q
haulin' n a-warpip' along by them wan
/ derin' arms over the hills N hallers ov
the reef lords me. 1t foated between
me N wut light Their wuz, which suthin
! ter be thankful fer, fer I'd a-gfn my life
| ter be able to shet my eyes from 1t n
wut wuz comm. 1t hung right over me,
m l felt the clingin' suckers closin' all
aroun' me, when all of a sudden they. left
me ag'in. The greet black shadder moved
| ter one side n daown through that clear
water cum asparm whale, graceful n
easy's as an albacore I never thought
much of old spuar'head's looks before,
| but, I'm tellin' We, then he looked like
shore nough angel 'longside tibet fright
full crawlin', clammy bundle of seaosar-
| pieuts.
But hedn't much time ter reflect, fer
that whale had come on bizness, n Their
want any representation bout him. When
he got putty cluss up to the Thing that
Wuz backin' oneasily away he sorted
rounded to like boat comm 'loug-side,
only 'sted ov comm roun he comes over,
clar he'd over flukes. His jaw was hang
Ing daown, baout twenty foot with all the
big teeth a shinin', n next / knew he'd
got the gol-durned Thing In his mouth
Roun' come the tangle of arms like the
sails of windmill lacin', clutch
in, tearin' at the whales head.
But they might as we'll hev,
Rugged the Solander rock 1t made no
sort er diffrunce ter him, n his jaw KEEP
on workin' fer all ii wuz worth a-sawin'
off the tremenJus he'd of the Thing.
Then the light went eout Ny gosh! thet
water wuz jest turned inter Ink, N
~ fnn hn ~ ylVNl
ov tibet greet struggle like the screw race
oV some big liner they want nothin ter
be seen. So l reckon the Thing I'd been
puZZlin' ter fine a name fer wuz jest the
Gret Mogul ov all the cutie fish m b4in
kinder hard prest wuZ shelin' the hull
contents of his ink-tnk.
Wall, l WuZ sorter interested in this
mush n very much wanted ter see it
through. but thet satisfacshun wuz denied
me. All the churnin' n thrashin went
on jest above me in pitch-dark n grave
quiet. Bimeby the water ceased to bile
aroun n got clearer, till after a While
l cd see greet shadders above movin'
swiftly. The sea took Oh anuther color
quite fermiliar ter me, sorter yaller, q
mixin' oV red n blue. Funniest thing
wuZ the earn way / wuz a-takin' ov it
all, Jest like a man lookin' outn a bloom
at a big fight, er spectaYter in a g lanty
show heVtn' no pusnal concern in the
matter t all. Presently snealkin' along
comes white streak cluss ter me. Long
bero' 1t touched me l knew 1T fer wut it
wuz, n then 1 wuz In de'dly fear less
the hope NV life after all sh'd rouse me
eout Nv this yer trance or whatever It
Wuz. Twuz a whale-line from some
Whale-ships boat a-fishin' overhead. Il
KEN right to me- 1t teched me n felt
g If l must come to n die right there
n then. But it sweep right under me,
n then settled daown, coil after coil, till
l wuz fair snarled up i'll it. By this time
the Water'd got so soupy thet I couldn't
see nothin' but 'twa'n't long befo' I felt
myself a-risin-eout Nv the belly NV hell
ez Jonah SEE.
Up KEN at a good lick til all NV a.
sudden l sees Gods light, smells His air.
n hears voices Nv men. Gosh. but
want they CALLED when they see me
Blame eff l did'n half think they'd lemme
go gin. The fust one ter git his brains
ter work Wuz the bow oarsman, a niger
who leaned over the gunnel, his face
greeny-gray with fright, n grabbed me
by the hair. Tibet reused the rest, N
wuz hauled in like whiz. Then their
tongues got ter Vaughn, m yew never
heard SO many fool things said in five
minutes outside er congress.
1t didn't seem ter strike any oV 'em
thet I mount be so very dead after ALL
though fortnitly fer me they conclooded
ter take me aboard with 'em. So l laid
thar in the bottom Nv the-boat while
they finished haulin' line Their wuz a
clumsy Teller among EN- tibet made a
slip, hittin' me an ugly welt on the nose
as he wuz fallin'. Nobody took any no.
tice till presently one Nv EN- hollers,
Why, dog my cats, eff tibet corpse amt
got a nose-bleed.' This startled EN- ALL
fer l never met a galoot so loony ez ter
think a ded man cd bleed. Hows'ever
they jest lit eout fer the ship like sixty
n histed me aboard. Twuz er long
time befor they got my works a-tickin
ag'in, but they done it at last, N once
more wuz a Twin man among Twin
men.
"Naow, ov course, yew doan' b'lieve
my yarn-yew CANT; faint in nacher,
but, young Teller, thars an ALFRED heap
o things in the world that CANT be be-
left in 'twell yew've 'speriunced 'em
yerself thet's trews gospel fer all tibet"
politely deprecated his assumption of
my disbelief in his yarn, but my face be-
lied me, / know; so bidding him "Slong,"
with a parting present of my plug of to-
baeee Git was all had to give), left him
and by the falling light made all speed I
could back to my ship.