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

| coral. every boulder. that in queeresi
| shapes yew ever see lay scattered arOun
| At last, never hayin quite los sight of thel
! horrible ungodly Thing in the cave yander
I see it KEN eout. I never kuOwed thar
| wuz a God till then. Sence thet time.
| whenever I see some mOuthy cTitter prov
| in. ez he calls it, Door child, thet Their
amt, n CANT be. any God, l feel that
sorry fer him I ed jest sail right in n
lam the foggy blether Out'n his fOol-skuii.
But, ez | wuz asayin', eOut KEN the Thing,
till 1 see the hull gre't carcass oy it. big
ger n the bigges' sparm whale I ever see.
Jest a-haulin' n a-warpin' along BY them
wanderin' arms over the hills n hallers
ov the reef lords me. It fi0ated between
me n wut light Their wuZ. which wuz
suthin' ter be thankful fer. fer I'd a-gi'n
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 ag in. The greet black shsdder
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 shore
'onugh angel 'lOngside thet frightful craw-
lin, clammy bundle Of sea -sarpients.
But | hednt 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 a boat comm long
side. only 'sted oy comm rcun he come
over. clar he'd over fukes. His jaw wuz
hangin daown baout twenty foot with all
the big teeth shiuiu n next | knew he'd
got thet gol-durned Thing in his mouth
with grip right benin them awful Eyes.
Roun' come the tangle of arms like the
sails Of a windmill lacin', cluthn', teariu
at the whales head. But they might 10
well hey Rugged the Solander Rock. 1t
made no sorter dffrunce ter him, n his
jaw KEEP on workin' fer all FL wuz worth
a-sawin' OFF the tremenius he'd OF the
Thing. Then the light went eOut. Ny
gosh tibet water wuz just turned inter ink
n though yew cd feel the sway n swirl
oy tibet greet struggle like the screw rae
ov some big liner they want nOthin' ter
be seen. So 1 reckon the Thing I'd been
puzzln' ter fine a name fer wuz jest the
Gret Mogul CIV all the cuttlefsh, n beiu
kinder hard prest wuz a-shellin the hull
contents ov his ink-tank
wall. / WIZ sorter arrested IN this
mush n very much wanted ter see it
through, but thet satisfacshun wuz de
MED me. All the churniu' n thrashn'
went on jest above me in pitchdark II
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. s0rter yaller a
mixin' ov red n blue. Funniest thing
wuz the earn way I wtlZ a-takin' ov II all !
jest like a man iOokin' out n bloom at a
big fight er a speCtayter in g'lasty show
In nuau41 II ha for .
all Presently Sueakiu' along comes "a
white streak ciuss ter me. Long befo it |
touched me l knew it fer Wut il WIZ. n
then I wuz in de'dly fear less the hope NV
life after all sh'd rouse me eCut wv this (.
yer trance or whatever il wuz. 'TwUz a
whaeine from some whale ships boat d. (
ishn' overhe'd. Il KEN right to me. l. /.
teched me n | felt IS if | must come to n {
die right there n then. But il sweep right /
under me, n then settled da9wu coil att /
er coil. till | wuz fair sHarled up in It. /
By this time the water'd got so soupy /
tibet | couldn see nOthin'. but want long
befo | felt myself a-risin'-eOut ~ the /
belly Nv Hell ez Jonah ser.
up | KEN at a good lick till all Nv a
sudden 1 sees Gods light. smells His air.
n hears voices Nv men. Gosh, but want
they CALLED when they see me. Blame et
| did'n half think they'd lemme 90 ag in.
The fust one ter git his brains ter work
wuz the bow 0arsman niger, who lean
ed over the gun Il, his face greeny- grey
with fright n grabbed me- by the hair
Tibet reused the rest n WIZ hauled In
like a whiz Then their tongues got ter
Vaughn, n yew never heard so many fool
things said in five minutes outside er
Congress.
1T didn' seem ter strike any ov EN- tibet
MOUNT be so very dead after all. though
fer me they conclOoded ter take
me aboard with 'em. So laid thar in the
bottom Oy the beat while they finis he'd
haulin' line. Their WIZ a clumsy Teller
among em tibet made slip. hittin' me an
ugly welt on the nose as he wuz falin
Nobody took any notice till presently one