St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-06-16
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Beneath the Surface
BY Frank T. Bullen.
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nlNTHAT I'm goin' ter tell ye hap.

INTHAT I'm goin' ter tell ye hap.
Wv pened - lemme see-wall, ]
doan-no-mebbe two, mebbe four er
five year sence. wuz mate of pearl
in schooner b'longin' ter Seyuka, lyin'
daouwn to Rotumah. Ware we'd ben
workin' the reef wuZ middlins deep
deep huff ter make eour b'ys fail On
deck when they come UP with load, N
iethere like dead uns fer bout ten min
nits befo' they KID move ag'in. 'Twuz
slaughterin' diyin'; but the shell wuz
thick n no mistake; n eour ole man
wuz hustler-s'long's he got shell he
didn't yally a few dern Kanakers peg
GIN eout meow n then. We'd alost
three with sharks, N ef-'twan't thet
til b'ys wuz more skeered of old Hard
head than they wuz of anythin' else I
doan reckon we sh'd a-got any more
stuff thet trip t all. But z he warn't
on, they KEEP at it, m we 'uz film up
fast. The land wuz bout ten miles Off,
m they WIZ bout fifty, er mebbe sixty
fathom water b'tween the reef we wuz
fishin' on m the nearest pint. Wall,
long bout eight bells in the afternoon
/ uz a-standin' by the galley door
watchin' Kanaker crawlin' inboard
very slow bein' most done up. Five er
six ov 'em uz hangin' roun' bout ter
start below agen, n tn ole man uz
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 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' inboard after
him long gray slitherin' thing like
snake 18th no head, but lot Nv saueers
stuck onto it bottom up. N befo' I'd
time ter move, bein' most sort er para
lyzed, several more of the -dern things
wus a-sleakin' around al1gJoYer the
deck. The fust one got he skipper
good N tight 18th round turn above.
his arms, N ] saw him a-siidin away,
The schooner wuz a-rollin' IS if in a big
swell-which ther warn't a sign of, S
I cd see. But them snaky things went
quicker N thinkin' all over her, n be-
fo' yew cd say knife every galoot, in
cludin' me, wlz a-goin' long with 'em
back to where they'd come from.
Say, d.yew ever wake up all alive,
'cep' yew eouldns move ner speak, only
know all wuz gdin' on, N do the pow
fest thinlSin' bout things yew ever did
in yer life2 Yes, m that's haow / wuz
then. When thet cold gristly sarpint
cum coddlin' roun' me, m the saucers
got to me IS if they'd suck out me very
bowls, I'd a-g'in Mount Morgan ter
died; but couldn't ey'n go mad. Isaw
the head ov the Thing them arms b.
longed ter, n 'twuz wuss n the hor.
rors, cause wuz sane N cool n c'llect-
ed. The eyes wuz black n a foot or
more across n when Hooked into 'em
/ seed meself a-comin'."
He was silent for a minute, but shal1-
ing as if with palsy. I laid my hand on
his arm, not KNOWN what to say, and
he looked up wistfully, sayin:
'DThenks, shimate; thet's good" Then
he went on again:
''The whole Thing went back ards
takin' us along; n I remember think,
in ez we went of the other Kanakers
below that hednft come back. herd
the bubbles s each of us left the sun
shine but never a cry, never another
SCUM. The las thing / remember see
in 'bove me wuz til eend of the schoon-
er's mainboom. which wuz guyed out to
larberd some. N looked like big arms
struck stiff an helpless, though wish |
full to save. Down went, that clingin'
snaky coil round me tighter N my
skin. But wut wuz strangest fer me
wuz the fact that not only. / didn't
drown, but felt no sort erf disconven-
ience frum being below the water: n : |
at last, when / reached the coral, |
though dessay looked corpse enough.
'twuz only my looks, fur l felt, lackin'
my not bein able ter move, breathe, er
speak, ez peart m fresh ez I do naow. |
The clutch that he'd ben squeezin' me
so all-fired tight begun to slack, n I |
felt more comf'ble; N eff t 'adn't ben |
FOR the recollection NV them eyes N
hat berryin'- ground ov a mouth, ] |
loan'no but wut / might ha' been
Almost happy. But Lay thar. with the
rest Nv my late shipmates, sort er
ready for consumpshun, like the flies
N the corner of a spiders web: N thet |
guy Lac pow'ful heap or bad time.
"After awhile the quiet Of the place
begun ter breed strange noshuns in
my he'd jest like s if wuz dreannin'. /
though wide awake 2 ever I wuz in all I
my life. I jest 'reared to be way back
# the beginnin' nv things, befo' they
Fuz anythin' else but water, n wut
life there wuz in them early days he'd
,er dew ifhoat air er sun er light. I'd /