Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-05-03

upon my fate as II approached.
so l must have lain for hours, con-
tinually beaten to and fro upon the
pillows, now and again wetted with
lying sprays, and never ceasing to ex-
pect death at the mex plunge. Gradu-
ally WEAKNESS grew upon me; a numb
ness, an occasional stupor, fell upon
my mind even in the midst of my ter
rors; until sleep at last interviewed,
and in my sea-tossed coracle / lay and
dreamed OF home and old Admiral
Benbow.
THE CRUISE OF THE CORACLE.
1t was broad day when l awoke, and
found myself tossing at the southwest
end of Treasure island. The sun was
up, but was still hid from me behind
the great bulk of the Spy-glass, which
on this side descended almost to the
sea in formidable cliffs.
Haulbowline Head and Mizzenmast
Hill were at my elbow; the hill pare
and dark, the head bound with cliffs
40 or so feet high and fringed with
great masses of fallen rock. / was
scarce a quarter of a mile to seward,
and IT was my first thought to paddle
in and land.
That notion was soon given over.
Among the fallen rocks the breakers
spouted and beloved; loud reverbera-
tons, heavy sprays flying and falling,
succeeded n another from second TO
second, and 1 saw myself, If / ventured
nearer, dashed to death upon the
rough shore or spending my strength
in vain to scale the betting crags.
Nor was hat all; for, crawling to-
gether on fiat tables OF rock or letting
themselves drop into the sea with loud
reports, / believed huge Shiny monsters
soft snails, as 1t were, of incredible
bigness-two or three score Of them to-
gether, making h rocks echo with
their b~arkings.
l AVE understood since thai they
were sea lions and entirely harmless.
But the look Of them, added to the
difficulty OF the shore and the hard
running of the surf, was more than
enough to disgust me OF hat landing
place. l felt willing rather to starve
at sea than to confront such perils.
In the meantime 1 had a better
chance, as 1 supposed. North Of Haul
bowline Head the land runs in a long
way, leaving at low tide a long stretch
of yellow sand. To the north of that
again there ome another ~cape-Cape
of the Woods, as 1t was marked upon
the c~hart-buried in tall green pines,
"lllNu uGoNtlluSu W lll0 llldI6lu VI the
sea.
/ remembered what Silver had said
about the current that sets northward
along the whole west coast of Treas
ure island; and seeing from my posi-
ton that / was already under it's in
fuence, preferred to leave Haulbowline
Head hin me. and reserve my
strength for an attempt to and upon
the kindlier looking Cape of the
Woods.
There was q great smooth swell upon
the sea. The wind blowing steady and
gentle from the south, there was no
contrariety between that and the cur
rent, and the pillows rose and fell I'M
broken.
Had it been otherwise, I must long
ago have persisted; but as it was, 1t is
surprising how easily and securely my
little and light boat could ride. Often,
as / still lay at the bottom, and kept no
more than an EYE above the gunwale,
L would see a big blue summit heaving
close above me; yet the coracle would
but bounce q little, dance as If on
springs, and subside on the other side
into the trough as lightly as a bird.
/ began after q little to grow very
bold, and sat up to try my skill at
padding. But even a small change in
the disposition Of the weight will
produce violent changes in the be-
havior Of a coracle. And / had hardly
before the boat, giving up at
once her gentle dancing movement, ran
straight down a slope of water so steep
that it made me giddy, and stuck her
nose, with a spout OF stray, deep into
the side of the neXt wave.
/ was drenched and terrified and fell
instantly back into my old position,
.whereupon the coracle eemed to find
her head again, and led me softly as
among the pillows. 1t vas
plain that she was not to be interfered
with, and at hat rate, since / could in
no way influence her course, what hope
had / left of reaching land?
1 began to be horribly frightened, but
kept my head for all that. First,
moving with all care, I gradually
bailed out the coracle with my sea-cap;
then, getting my eye once more above
the gunwale, / set myself to study how
1t was she managed to slip so quietly
the rollers.
/ found each wave, instead Of the
big, smooth, glossy mountain it looks
shore, or from a vessels deck,
was for all the world like any range
Of hills on the dry land, full Of peaks
md smooth places and valleys. The
c~oracle, left to herself, turning from
side to side, threaded, so to speak, her
way through these lower parts, and
avoided the steep slopes and higher,
SUBMITS of the wave.
"Well, now" thought / to myself, ut
s plain 1 must lie where 1 am, and not
the balance; but it is plain,
also. that / can put the paddle over
side, and from time to time, in
places, give her a shove OF two
land"
No sooner thought upon than done.
There 1 lay on my elbows, in the most
.rying attitude, and every now and
again gave a weak stroke or two to
urn her head to shore.
1t was very firing and slow work,
yet I did visibly gain ground and as we
rev near the Cape of the Woods,
hough 1 saw I must infallibly miss
hat point, I had still made some hun
lred yards Of casting. / was, indeed,
in. I could see the cool, green
rec tops swaying together in the
,reeze, and l felt sure ] should make
he next promonotory without fail.
1t was high time for / now began to
tortured with thirst. The glow of
he sun from above, it's thousand-fold
form the waves, the sea wa
err that fell and died upon me, cak-
ng my very lips with salt, combined
O make my throat burn and my brain
che. The sight Of the trees so nea
[ hand had almost made me sick with
but the current had soon car +,
led me past the point, and as the next
each of the sea opened out 1 beheld
s light that changed the nature OF my
thoughts.