The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-05-16

iiiSS lilG y THAI
| position / could easily have my way
| with him, and as the tragical adj
| Ventures had Worn Off almost all my
terror for the dead, I took him by the
waist as ii he had been a sack of bran
and. with one good heaye, tumbled him
! overheard. He Went in with a sounding
| plunge the red cap came off and le-s
! NAMED floating ON the surface, and as
| soon as the splash subsidized i could see
! him and Israel lying side by si1s, sboth
| wavering With the tremuious move
meut of the water. O'3rien, though
| still quite a young man, was Very bald.
There he lay, with that bald head
across the knees of the man who had
killed him and the quick fishes steer
| ing to and fro over both.
l was now alone upon the ship; the
! tide had just turned. The sun was
within SO few degrees of setting that
already the shadow of the pines upon
the western shore began to reach right
| across the anchorage and fall i'll pat
| terms on the deck. The evening breeze
had sprung up, and though it was Well
warded off by the hill with the two
peaks upon the east, the cordage had
begun to sing little softly to itself
and the idle sails to rattle to and fro.
l began to see q danger to the ship.
| The jibs 1 speedily doused and brought
tumbling to the deck; but the mainsail
| was a harder matter. Of course, when
the schooner canted over the boom had
| swung out-board and the cap of it and
a foot or two of sail hung even under
water. / thought this made it still
| more dangerous; yet the strain was so
| heavy that half feared to NEEDLE. AT
| last I got my knife and cut the hall
| yards. The peak dropped instantly, a
great belly Of loose canvas floated
! broad upon the water and since, pun
as I liked I could not bulge the down
haul, that was the extent of what
could accomplish. For the rest the
/ "Hispaniola" must trust to luck, like
| myself.
BY this time the whole anchorage
/ had fallen into shadow-the last rays.
l remember, falling through glade
of the wood and shining. bright as jew
els, on the fowery mantle of the wreck.
1t began to be chill, the tide was rap
| idly tlecting seward, the schooner set
| Ting more and more on her BEAM
| ends.
I scrambled forward and looked over.
1t seemed shallow enough, and. holding
the cut hawser in both hands for last
! security, L let myself drop softly over
board. The water scarcely reached my
| waist the sand was firm and covered
with ripple marks and l Waded ashore
in great spirits, leaving the "Hispani-
/ OLA on her side, with her mainsail
trailing wide upon the surface of the
4 bay. About the same time the sun
went fairly down and the breeze whis-
| tied low in the dusk among the tossing
| pines.
| At last, and at least, i was or the
! sea. nor had / returned thence empty
| handed. There lay the schooner, clear
at last from buccaneers and ready for
| our own men to board and get to sea
again. had nothing nearer my fancy
| than to get home to the Stockade and
! ho9 al of INV achievements Possibly
| might be blamed bit for my truantry,
| but the recapture Of the "Hispaniola'
was a clinching answer, and I hoped
| that even Captain Smollett would con-
TESS had not lost my time.
| So thinking, and in famous spirits, I
| began to set my face homeward for the
| block-house and my companions. l re-
membered that the most easterly of the
rivers which drain into Captain Kidd's
| anchorage ran from the tWo-peaked
! hill upon my left, and bent my course
in that direction that I might pass the
stream while it was small. The wood
| was pretty open, and, keeping along
the lower spurs, soon turned the cor
/ ner of that hill, and not long after
waded to the mid-calf across the water
| course.
| This brought me near to where l en-
| countered Ben Gum, the maroon, and
| / walked more circumspectly, keeping
4 come nigh hand completely, and, as
! opened out the cleft between the two
/ peaks, l became aware Of waver-
ing low against the sky, where, as I
! judged, the man of the island was
cooking his supper before q roaring
fire. And yet I wondered. in my heart,
! that he should show himself SO care
less. For If I could see this radiance.
might it not reach the eye of Silver
himself where he camped upon the
shore among the marshes?
Gradually the night fell blacker; 1T
was all I could do to guide myself even
roughly toward my destination; the
double hill behind me and the Spy
glass on my right hand doomed faint
4 and fainter: the stars We're few and
| pale: and in the low ground where
/ wandered / kept tripping among the
bushes and rolling into sandy pits.
Suddenly a kind of brightness fell
4 about ME. I looked up. q pale glirn-
mer of moonbeans had alighted OH the
summit of the Spyglass, and soon aft
/ ter ! saw something broad and silyery
! moving low down behind the trees, and
/ knew the moon had risen.
With this to help mel passed rapid
/ ly over what remained to me of my.
/ journey; and. sometimes walking;
Sometimes running, impat3ently drew.
near to the stockade. Yet as / began
to thread the grove that lies before 1t,
4 was not so thoughtless but that 4
Stacked my pace and went a trifie war
ily. 1t would have been a poor end to
my adventures to get shot down by my
4 own party in mistake.
The moon was climbing higher and
higher; its light began to fall here and
there in masses through the more
! open districts of the wood, and right in
front of me a, glow Of a different color
appeared among the trees. 1t was red
and hot, and now and again IT was a
little darkened-as it were the embers
of bonfire smoldering.
For the life of me I could not think
what it might be.
d At last l came right down upon the