The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-10-23
CHAPTER XII
PIPER' CAY,

PIPER s CAY.
For three days the storm ragged un-
ceasingly, and then the weather mod
Grated. The ketch behaved in this fear
full turmoil of the ocean like the SPLEEN
did sea boat which Captain Colepepper
had declared her to be. But the inter-
val for preparation had been too short
Between the time when the two leaders
of the enterprise had decided that they
must give up for the present all hope of
being able to take the Eureka down to
the bottom for another deck load of the
Spanish gold and the moment when the
first blast of the tornado had struck her
there had been breathing space of
barely two hours And this had not
been enough
The damage to the imperfectly Sc
cured spars and rigging had in conse-
quence been very great. The whole Of
the gearing of the mizzenmast had
gone by the board, and at every roll the
broken bulwarks let in the big green
seas through half dozen gaping rents.
eve must run in somewhere to re-
fit" declared Captain Colepepper, re-
gretfully, for the necessity of abandon
ing the Santa Catarina just when she
was becoming profitable had been a
great disappointment to him. Ono use
to think of anything else till we've seen
to our repairs. .
A council was being held in the after
cabin, consisting of the two leaders,
Dolly and the undergraduate. Miss Cole
pepper was unwontedly silent and SEEM
ed to find difficulty in meeting
Guthrie's eye. This was the first time
they had seen one another since the
episode during the storm, so, perhaps,
the young lady's bashfulness was nat.
ural.
The captain, who while the canvas
remained unbent and the ketch was
transformed into diving bell had sell
dom ventured on an opinion, had now
resumed his authority. He was in COM
mand again now that his ship had re-
turned to her proper functions, and he
understood what was due to himself.
DR.. Tring. therefore, reverted naturally
to his sea position of mate.
.sH mi" said the doctor, showing
his wig over his brows and rubbing his
ear perplexedly. 81 don't altogether adj
mire the idea.
"Of whats" inquired Captain Cole
pepper.
s.Of running into any of these West
India islands. As I've told you before,
! know EN- rather well-Spanish, Eng
lish, Republican, all the lot. I was out
here naturalizing, if you remember
Can't we manage some sort of make
shift to repair our damages and rub
along somehow without calling any
where?''
ono, said the captain decidedly,
1--WE can't | wouldn't undertake to
sail the Eureka through another blow
in her present trim. Besides, our supply
Of fresh water is running short, and by
the time we had found the Santa Cata-
rina again and got the rest of the dol
lars out of her the barrels would be
about empty. We shall have to run in
somewhere in any case to get them filled
before we can point our bows to the
Bristol river again. What have you
against the islandsS''
They aren't healthy neighborhood
for folk in our position, Colepepper
that's all. Our enterprise has been pref
ty we'll talked about, and if it got
round, as it most assuredly would, that
the ketch had got any Of the Spanish
dollars under her matches we should
stand about an even chance of getting
our threats cut They re awful rapscal-
lions herea bout-Eng and all the lot
OF them. The islands used to be the head
quarters OF western piracy only a cen
fury back. and there are blackish tales
hanging in the air about the thing be-
ing done pretty freely even now. You
see, there are liberated slaves every.
where, and semicivilized niger is the
greatest savage in creation A black
man in his native African wilds is bad,
but niger who has been exported
and trained turns into the very warm
est kind Of demon if he gets the least
chance. And that's not hearsay evil
dence, mind you. I've seen it for my
self "
faye, said the captain, "the darkies
and the tinted folk hereabouts have a
pretty nasty reputation, I know. But
tuCAo . OduId1Cd. we SuOulu Uc snug
enough in Port Royal"
Revenue mulcts ON. treasure troye
difficulties with colonial admiralty
court yellow fever, which is usually
pretty virulent and about as good a
chance of a raid from niggers and
mean whites as we should have at
Havana itself. That's all that occurs tt.
me at present, Colepepper. think
could guarantee that little selection at
Port Royal"
The captain rugged some ends OF
beard from under his chin and fixed
them between his teeth. The Others
knew the sign. He was thinking and
did not intend to speak for a minute or
So
When the accustomed interval had
elapsed, he got up and pulled cylin-
drical tin case from locker. He select
ed one sheet from the contents and
spread it out on the table
.tSection 80 of Detailed West India
Islands Chart; British Admiralty, 'GS, "
ha announcad HTha latest could get