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

sail. / made sure, Of course, that I
should be taken; but / was so dis
dressed for want of water hat Iscarce
knew whether to be glad or sorry at the
thought, n long before 1 had come
to a conclusion surprise had taken en-
tire possession of my mind and I could
do nothing but stare and wonder.
The "Hispaniola'' was under her
mainsail and two jibs, and the beautiful
white canvas shone In the sun like
snow or silver. When l first sighted
her all her sails were drawing; she vas
lying a course o northwest, and i
presumed the men OF board were go
ing round the island IN their way back
to the anchorage. Presently she began
to fetch more and more to the west
ward. so that 1 thought they had sight
ed me and were going about I'm chase.
At last, however, she fell right into the
winds eye, was taken dead aback, and
stood there q while helpless, with her
sails %shivering.
Clumsy fellows said /, they must
still be drunk as owls And / thought
how Captain Smollett would have set
them skipping.
Meanwhile the schooner gradually
fell off, and filled again upon another
tack, sailed swiftly for a 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
"Hispaniola" sailed by swoops and
dashes, n at each repetition ended
es she had begun, with idly tapping
canvas, IL became plain to me that
nobody was steering. And, If so, where
were the men? Either they were dead
drunk or had deserted her, l thought,
and perhaps If l could get on board
4 might return the vessel to her cap
tain.
The current was bearing coracle and
schooner southwark at an equal rate.
AS for the latter's sailing, IL vas so
wild and Intermittent and she hung
each time so long in irons, that she cer-
tainly gained nothing, If h did not
even lose. If only / dared to sit up and
paddle / made sure that L 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 | got, was welcomed almost in
stantly by another cloud of spray, but
this time stuck to my purpose, n set
myself with all my strength and eau
ton to paddle after the mustered
"~Hispaniola.' Once / slipped a sea so
heavy that had to stop and bail. with
my heart futtering like a bird; but
gradually l 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 a dash of foam
in my face.
l was now rapidly gaining on the
schooner; 1 could see the brass glisten
on the tiller as ii banged about, and
still no soul appeared upon her decks.
l could not choose but suppose she
was deserted. If not, the men were
lying drunk below, where l might bat
ten them down, perhaps, and do what
l chose with the ship.
For some time she had been doing the
worst thing possible for m~e-standing
still. She headed nearly due south,
yawning, OF course, all the time. Each
time she fell Of her sails partly filled,
and these brought her, in a moment,
right to the wine again. l have said
his was the worst thing possible for
me; for helpless as she looked in this
situation, with the canVas cracking
like cannon, and the blocks trundling
and banging on the deck, she still con-
tinued to u away from me, not only
with the speed of the current, but by
the whole amour of her leeway, which
was naturally great.
Continued next weekly