The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-05-02

moved 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,
l was drenched and terrified and fell
instantly back into my old position,
whereupon the coracle seemed to find
her head again. and led me softly as
before among the pillows. 1t was
plain that she was not to be interfered
with, and at that rate, since | could in
no way influence her course, what hope
had | left of reaching land?
l began to be horribly frightened. but
l kept my head for all that First,
moving With all care, l gradually
bailed out the coracle with my sea-cap;
then. getting my eye once more above
the gunwale, l set myself to study how
it was she managed to slip so quietly
through the rollers.
Z 1 found each wave. instead of the
big, smooth, glossy mountain it looks
from shore. or from q vessels deck,
was for all the world like any range
of hills on the dry land, full of peaks
and smooth places and valleys. The
coracle, 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,
toppling submits of the wave.
well, now" thought l to myself, 1T
is plain l must lie where l am, and not
disturb the balance; but it is plain,
also, that l can put the paddle over
the side, and from time to time. in
smooth places, give her shove or two
toward land
No sooner thought upon than done.
There 7 lay On my elbows, in the most
trying attitude, and every now ana
again gave a weak stroke or Two 10
turn her head to shore.
It was very firing and slow work,
yet / did vsiply gain ground and as we
drew near the Cape of the Woods,
though I saw ] must infallibly miss
that point I had still made some nun
dred yards of casting. / was, indeed,
close in. I could see the cool. green
tree tops swaying together in the
breeze, and felt sure l should make
the next promonotory without fail
1t was high time for | now began to
be tortured with thirst. The glow of
the sun from above, it's thousand-fold
reflection form the waves the sea wa
ter that fell and died upon me, cak-
ing my very lips with salt, combined
to make my throat burn and my brain
ache The sight of the trees SO near
at hand had almost made me SICK WIN
longing; but the current had soon car
ried me past the point, and as the, next
reach Of the sea opened out L beheld
as light that changed the nature OF my
thoughts.
Right in front of me. not half mile
away, ] beheld the "Hispaniola,' under
sail / made sure, of course, that L
should be taken: but | was so dls-
tressed for want of water that lscarce
knew whether to be glad or sorry at the
thought, and long before | had come
to a conclusion surprise had taken en-
tire possession of my mind and l could
do nothing but stare and wonder
The "Hispaniola' was under her
mainsail and two iibs, and the beautiful
white canvas shone in the sun like
snow or silver. When l first sighted
her all her sails We're drawing; she was
lying a course about northwest, and l
presumed the men on board were 60
ing round the island on their way back
to the anchorage. Presently she began
to fetch more and more to the west
ward, so that l thought they had sight
ed me and were going about in chase.
At last however, she fell right into the
winds eye, was taken dead ahaCk, and
stood there a while helpless, with her
sails snivering
Clumsy fellows" said l, they must
still be drunk as owls And J. thought
how Captain Smollett would have set
them skipping.
Meanwhile the schooner gradually
fell off, and filled again upon another
tack, sailed swiftly for minute or
so, and brought up once more dead
in the winds eye. Again and again
was this repeated. To and fro, up and
down. north, south, east and west the
''Hispariols" sailed by swoops and
dashes, and at each repetition ended
as she had begun. with idly tapping
T. I. ~, t,> 4,
nobody was steering. And, If so, where
We're the men? Either they were dead
drunk or had deserted her, l thought,
and perhaps If / could get on board
l might return the vessel to her cap
tain.
The current was bearing coracle and
schooner southwark at an equal rate.
AS for the latters sailing, it was SO
wild and intermittent and she hung
each time so long in irons, that she GER
tainly gained nothing, If she did not
even lose. If only / dared to sit up and
paddle l made sure that I could over
haul her. The scheme had an air of
adventure that inspired me, and the
thought of the water breaker beside
the fore-comrdnion doubled my grow
ing courage.
Up L got, was welcomed almost in
stantly by another cloud of spray, but
this time stuck to my purpose, and set
myself with all my strength and eau
ton to paddle after the mustered
'Hispaniola.'' Once T slipped a sea so
heavy that I had to stop and bail. with
my heart huttering like a bird; but
gradually 1 got into the way Of the
thing. and guided my coracle among
the waves, with only now and then a
blow upon her bows and dash of foam
in my face.
I was now rapidly gaining on the
schooner; I could see the brass glisten
on the tiller as it banged about, and
still no soul appeared upon her decks
! could not choose but suppose she
was deserted. If not, the men were
lying drunk below. where i might bat