The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-07-05
NIELsEN'S AMENDS
BY FRANK r. BULLEN.

sailor on board of an American built
ship owned in Liverpool and bound
thence to Batavia. l was sthe boy"
He told me this story n night in the
middle watch:
"'Twuz like dis: We wuz a-creepin
along up de coast ov Lower California,
de weadder bein beastly, muffin but
one heavy squall on top ov anoder an
de wind a-fiyin all aroun' de compass.
One forenoon bout seven bells we'd
ben a shortenin down at de main an
wuz all a-comin down heller skelter,
de mate an t'ird mate standin by in
de skuppers as usual to belt each man
as he touched de deck fur not bein
smarter. l come slidin down de top
mast baekstays an dropped on to de
deck jest behind de mate as Scotty, my
chum, landed in front ov him. De mate
jest let out an fetched Scotty in de
ear. Pore little chap, he flung up bis
arms, an, spoutin blood like a whale,
dropped all ov a heap in his tracks.
II don't rightly knoWhow 'twuz, but
next ting I'd got de mate ian he wuz
nearly as big as SAM by de two ankles,
a-swingin him aroun' my head 'sif he
wuz a caps'an bar. He hit somethin-I
s'pose it wuz de tops'l halyard block
an it sounded like a bag ov eggs. De
rest ov de proceedin's wuz all foggy
like to me, 'cept dat l was feelin bout
as big an strong as 20 men rolled into |
one, an l seemed to be a-smashin all
creation into bloody pieces. l herd de
poppin ov revolver shots in hundreds,
but 1 didn't feel none ov 'em. Present
~ it all quieted down, an dere wuz me
a-settin on de deck in de wash ov de
lee scuppers a-nursin Scotty like a baby |
an him a-lookin up at me sillylike. De
ship wuz all aback, an de rags ov most
ov de canvas wuz slattin an treshin
like bullock whips, while long pennants
ov canvas chung to de riggin all over
her.
"Well, l begun to git scared, cause l
couldn't sort it out at all, until some ov
de oder fellers come from somewhere,
an we sot down along de spars, while
dey told me, all de while keepin DER
eyes on me an lookin 'sif dey wuz ready
to git up an scoot if moved. 1t pear
ed I'd simply sailed in 'sif I'd been
made ov iron IN slaughtered dem Off
GERS right an left with muffin but me
bare hands an takin no more notice ov
DER six shooters dan If dey'd ben pea
guns. An right in de tick ov it down
comes a regular hurrikin squall. ketch-
in her fat aback an rippin de kites off
her 'sif dey wuz paper. Most ov de fell
lers, seein de hand l had, Clipped in, an
it wuz a regular clean sweep. All tree
mates, carpenter an stOoard an de ole
a blast him, wuz dead, an dey said
I'd killed 'em all.
But som thin had to be done, fur
nom ov is thought de late officers ov
de Ezekiel B. Peck wort hangin fur. SO
we made to shift to run her in fur de
land. due east. When we got widin 20
mile ov 1t, we pervisioned a couple ov
boats an set fire to her, waitin till she
got well a-goin, an den lowerin an pullin
fur de beach. It come off all right. an
me an Scotty wandered up country till
we got steady work on asranch (sort ov
farm an we lowed we wouldn't never
~ " SON AO A4OACs VIC W. SCly AdpPJ |
fur bout a year, until Scotty began to
weaken on me. He'd picked up wild
some gal at a place a few mile off, an l
wuz out ov it. Last we fell out, an after
a many words d ben slung between us
he up'n call me a bloody murderer.
'Twuz all over In a second. an l wuz
nussin him in my arms agen like l did
one before. but his head hung over
limp; his neck wuz broke. An l ben
talkin to him ever since an tellin him
how I'd gin 40 lives eff l had 'em to see
him chummy wit me agen. but never
get no answer"
He stopped, and almost Immediately |
eight bells" struck, and l went below.
After dinner in the evening l was look
ing owe the side at the lovely cool
depths smiling beneath, and the fancy
suddenly seized me to have a dip, as l
had often done before. could swim
but very little, so l made a bowline n
the end Of a rope, and, making it fast SO
that about a couple of fathoms would
trail in the water, l stripped in tie
chains. slipped the bowline over MY
head and under my arms and slid down
into the sea.
l was enjoying myself in perfect
fashion when suddenly l saw a huge
black shadow stealing upward from
under the ships bottom toward me,
and Immediately, my bowels boiling
with fear. ! lost all my strength, my
arms flew up, and ! slipped out Of the
loop. heard a splash. and close be-
side me an awful struggle began, while
l lay In -full possession of all my senses,
just floating without motion. Nielsen
had sprung into the sea and seized the
shark, being all unarmed. Suddenly !
felt the coils of a rope fall upon me,
and with a sense of returning life l
clutched them and was presently haul
ed on board. l must have tainted, for
+--