Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1901-06-27
NIELSEN'S AMENDS
by FRANK t. BULLEN.

hip owned In Liverpool and bound
hence to Batavia. | was 'the boy"
He told me this story one night In the
middle watch:
"'Twuz like dis: We wuz a-creepin
Along up de coast ov Lower California,
lie weadder beln beastly, muffin but
,ne heavy squall on top ov anoder an
ae wind a-fyin 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 SHELTER,
&c 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. | come slidin down de top
mast backstays an dropped on to de
aeck Jest be'ind de mate as Scotty, my
ehum, landed in front ov him. De mate
lest let out an fetched Scotty In de
EAR. Pore little chap, he flung up his
arms, an, spoutin blood like whale,
dropped all ov heap in his tracks.
81 don't rightly know how 'twuz, but
next ting I'd got de mate ian he wuz
nearly as big as Sam by de two ankles.
R-swingin him aroun' my head 'sif he
wuz a capsan bar. He hit somethin-I
s'pose II wuz de tops'l halyard block
an II sounded like n bag ov eggs. De
rest ov de proceedin's wuz all foggy
| like TO me, 'cept dat | was feelin bout
as big an strong as 20 men rolled into
one, an | seemed to be a-smashin all
creation into bloody pieces. | herd de
poppin ov revolver shots in hundreds,
but didn't feel none ov 'em. Present
~ II all Quieted down, an dere wuz me
a-settin on dc deck in de wash ov de
lee scuppers a-nursin Scotty like baby
an him a-lookin up ut me sillylike. De
ship wuz all aback, an de rags ov most
ov de canvas wuZ slattin an treshln
like bullock whips, while long pennants
ov canvas chung to de riggln all over
her.
"Well, 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. ali 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 an 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 II down
comes a regular hurrikin squall, ketch-
In her fiat aback an rippin de kites off'n
her 'sif dey wuz paper. Most ov de fell
lers, seein de hand | had. Clipped In. an
II wuz n regular clean sweep. All tree
mates, carpenter an stooard an de ole
man, blast him, wuz dead, an dey said
I'd killed 'em all.
"But somethin had to be done, fur
none ov us thought de late officers ov
de Ezekiel Il. 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 II. we pervisioned couple ov
boats an set fire TO her, waitin till she
got well a-goin. an den lowerin an pullin
fur de beach. 1t come off all right, an
me an Scotty wandered up country till
we got steady work on n ranch (sort ov
farm an we lowed we wouldn't never
go to sea no more. We wuz very happy
fur bout a year, until Scotty began to
weaken on me. He'd picked up wild
some gal at place a few mile of, an
wuz out ov II. Last we fell out, an after
many words d ben slung between us
he up'n call me bloody murderer.
. 'Twuz all over in a second, an wuz
nussin him in my arms agen like | did
once before, but his head hung over
limp; his neck wuZ broke. An ben
talkin to him ever since an tellin him
how I'd gin 40 lives ef had 'em to see
him chummy wit me agen, but / never
get no answer"
He stopped. and almost Immediately
eight bells" struck, and | went below.
After dinner in the evening l was look
D ing over the side at the lovely cool
? depths smiling beneath, and the fancy
suddenly seized me to have n dip, as
Q had often done before. | could swim
] but very little, so | made a bowllne In
the end of a rope, and, making II fast so
3 that about a couple Of fathoms would
trail In the water. l stripped In the
chains, slipped the bowline over my
, head and under my arms and slid down
into the sea.
was enjoying myself in perfect
fashion when suddenly | saw 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 few up, and | slipped out OF the
; loop. heard a splash, and close be-
side me an awful struggle began, while
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 l
felt the coils of a rope fall upon me,
and with n sense of returning life I
clutched them and was presently haul
ed on board. | must have tainted, for
e when | again realized my surroundings
a Nielsen was lying on deck near me, a
}, wide red stream creeping slowly down
9 from him to the scuppers. Opening his
e eyes as | staggered to my feet. he said
a feebly, "Dis'll pay, won't 1t, boyT and
u died.-St. Louis Republic.