The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1900-07-03
Beneath the Surface
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"IHTHAT I'm goin' ter tell ye hap
wv pened = femme see-wall,
doan-no-mebbe two, sDebbe four er
five year sence. / wuz mate of pearl
in schooner b'longin' ter Seyuka, 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
hethere 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 hustler-s'long's he got shell he
didn't vally few dern kanakers peg
GIN eout meow n then. We'd alost
three with sharks, N eff 'twan't tibet
TIL 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, N we 'uz film up
fast. The land wuz bout ten miles off.
n they wuz bout fifty, er mebbe sixty
fathom water b'tween the reef we wuz
fshin' on N 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. Five er
six ov 'em w hangin' roun' bout ter
start below agen, N tn ole man w
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 i'm S if he wuz
skeered most ter de'th. N he wuz,
too. There cum lickin' iDboard after
him long gray s,itherin' thing like
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 round turn above
his arms, n ] saw him a-slidin' away
The schooner wuz a-rollin' IS if in big
swell-which Their warn't sign of. +
l 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, WIZ a-goin' long with 'en
back to where they'd come from.
"Say, d'yew ever wake up all alive
'cep' yew couldn' move ner speak, onl,
know all wuz goin' on. m do the pow
fest thinkin' bout things yew ever die
in yer life? Yes, n that's haow WI;
then. When tibet cold gristly sarpin
cum coddlin' roun' me, m the saucer
got to me IS if they'd suck out me YER.
bowls, I'd a-g'in Mount Morgan tie
died; but 1 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 Iwuz sane n cool n elect
ed. The eyes wuz black n foot o
more across n when ] looked into 'er
1 seed meself a-comin'."
He was silent for a minute, but shak
ing as if with palsy. ! laid my hand o.
his arm, not KNOWN what to say, an
he looked up wistfully, sayin
''Thenks, shimate; thet's good" The
he went on again:
''The whole Thing went back'ard
takin' us along; n remember thinl
in ez we went of the other KanakeI
below that hedn't come back. her
the bubbles S each of us left the SUI
shine but never cry, never anothe
SCUM. The las thing / remember Sc
in 'bove me wuz TIL eend of the school
er's mainboom. which wuz guyed out
larberd some, m looked like big ar
struck stiff an helpless, though wis
= full to save. Down l went, that clingil
snaky coil round me tighter N N
skin. But wut wuz strangest ter n
: wuz the fact that not only / didn
!. drown, but felt no sort er disconve'
: fence frum being below the water. :
Z at last, when l reached the cora
. though dessay looked corpse enoug
5 'twuz only my looks. fur I felt, lacki
my not bein' able ter move, breathe,
I speak. ez peart m fresh ez | do mao
{ The clutch that he'd ben squeezin' II
! so ALTERED tight begun to slack. N
L felt more comfble; m eff t 'adn't b.
8 for the recollection NV them eyes
{ that berryin' ground ov a mouth,
= doan'no but wut l might ha' be
g almost happy. But lay thar, with t
rest NV my late shipmates. sort
+. ready for consumpshun, like the fl
/, in the corner of a spiders web; n th
;: guy me pow'ful heap ov bad time.
:. after awhile the quiet of the pla
v begun ter breed strange noshuus
], my he'd-jest like S il wuz dreami
though wide awake Y ever I wuz in
a my life. jest peared to be way ba
Z at the beginnin' NV things, befo' th
= wuz anythin' else but water, n W
il life there wuz in them early days h
ter dew 'ithout air er sun er light.