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

was very safe DOdl lOT a peTSOH W
my height and weight, both buoyan'
and clever in a seaway; but she was
the most gross-grained, lop-sided craft
TO manage. DO as you pleased, she al
way made more leeway han anything
else, n turning round IND round was
the maneuver she was best at. Ever
Ben Gum himself has admitted that
8 was queer to handle till you knew
her way
Certainly 1 did not know her way
She turned in every direction but one
the one / was bound to go; the mos
part of the time we were broadside on
n 1 am very sure 1 never should
have made the ship at all but for the
tide. BY good fortune, paddle as
pleased, the tide was still sweeping
me down; and there lay the His
PAMELA" right In the fair way, hardly
to be missed
First she doomed before me like a
blot OF something yet blacker than
darkness, then her spars and null be-
gan TO take shape, and the e mo-
ment, as ii seemed (for the further ]
went the briSker grew the current OF
the ebb), 1 was alongside her hawser,
and had laid hold.
The hawser was as aut as a bow
string-so strong she pulled upon her
anchor. All round the hull, in the
blackness, the ripping current bub-
bled and chartered like a little noun
tain stream. One cut with my sea
gully and the "Hispaniola" would go
humming down the tide.
So far so good; but 1t next occurred
to my recollection that a taut hawser,
suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous
as q kicking horse. Ten to one, If
were so foolhardy as to cut the His
PAMELA" from her anchor, 1 n the
coracle would be knocked clean out of
the water.
This brought me to a full stop, and
If fortune had not again particularly
favored me, I should have had to
abandon my design. But the light
airs which had begun blowing from
the southeast and south had hauled
round after nightfall into the south
west. Just while 1 was meditating, a
puff came. caught the "Hispaniola"
and forced her up into the current;
and, to my great JOY, / felt the hawser
slacken In my grasp. and the hand by
which / held it dip for a second under
water.
With that I made up my mind, took
out my gully, opened II with my teeth,
n cut one strand after another, till
the vessel swung by two. Then l lay
quiet, waiting to sever these last when
the strain should be once more light
ened by n breath Of wind.
All this time l had heard the sound
OF loud voices from the cabin; but, to
say truth, my mind had been so en-
tirely taken up with other thoughts
that / had scarcely given ear. Now,
however, when 1 had nothing else to
do, / began to pay more heed.
One j recognized for the c~ockswain's,
Israel Hands, that had been Flint's
gunner in former days. The other was,
OF course, my friend Of the red night
cap. Both men were plainly the worse
for drink, and they were still drink
ing; for, even while / was listening,
one OF them with a drunken cry opentd
the stern window and threw out some
thing, which / OWNED to be an empty
bottle. But they were not only tipsy;
II was plain that they were furiously
angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, n
every now and then there came forth
such an explosion as / thought was
sure to end in blows. But each time
the quarrel passed off, and the voices
grumbled lower for awhile, until the
mex crisis came, an, in turn, passed
away without result.
On shore, l could see the glow Of the
great campfire burning warmly
through the shore-side trees. Some one
was singing, a dul old droning sailors
song, with a droop and a uaver at
the end OF every verse, and seemingly
no end to it at all but the patience Of
the singer. l had heard it on the
voyage more than once, and remem-
bered these words:
But one man OF the crew alive,
What put to sea with seventy-five."
And | thought It was a ditty rather
too dolefully appropriate for a COM
pany that a met such cruel losses in
the morning. But, indeed, from what
/ saw, all these buccaneers were as
allou as the sea breeze sailed on.
At last the breeze came; the schoon-
er sided N drew nearer in the dark;
l felt the hawser slacken once more,
and with a good tough effort cut the
last hbers through.
The breeze had but little action on
the coracle, and / was almost instantly
swept against the bows Of the His
PAMELA" At the same time the schoon-
Ell began to turn upon her heel, pin
ming slowly, end for end, across the
current.
l wrought like a fiend, for I expected
every moment to be swamped; and
since / found l could not push the cor
acle directly off L now showed straight
astern. At length / was clear of my
dangerous neighbor; and just as l gave
the last impulSion, my hands came
across the stern bulwarks. Instantly
L grasped it.
Why l should have done so I can
hardly say. 1t was at first mere in
stinct; but once 1 had it In my hands
and found 1t fast, curiosity began TO
get the upper hand, and / determined
l should have one look through the
cabin window.
/ pulled in hand over hand on the
cord, and, when 1 judged myself near
enough, rose at infinite risk to about
half my length, and thu commanded
the roof and a slice of the interior Of
the cabin.
BY this time the schooner and her
little consort were gliding pretty swift
ly through the water; indeed, we had
already fetched up level with the
campfire. The ship was talking, as
sailors say, loudly, treading the in
Vulnerable ripples with an incessant
weltering splash; and until / got my
eye above the window sill / could not |
comprehend why the Waterman had
taken no alarm. One glance, however,
was sufficient; and it was only one
glance that l burst take from that UNI
steady skiff. 1t showed me Hands
and his companion locked together In
deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon
the others throat.
/ dropped upon the thwart again,
lone too soon, for 1 was neal over
board. i could see nothing for the mo-
ment, but those two furious, encrim-
soned faces, swaying together under
the smoky lamp; and / shut my eyes
to let them grow once more familiar
with the darkness.
The endless ballad had come to an
end at last, and the whole diminished
company about the campfire had
broken into the chorus 1 had heard so
often:
men on the dead mans chest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle OF rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
~Io-ho-ho, n a bottle Of rum!"
l was just thinking how busy drink
and the devil were at that very mo-
ment In the cabin of the "Hispaniola,"