The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-01-30

time went on ana no mischance oc- \
Cured the men gained confidence. al .
though the sight of tle triangular fin /
occasionally set their hearts beating .
uneasily. Il Is probable that the pres
ence Of the cask Disconnected the |
sharks. but certain It is that they did
not venture to modest the swimmers.
The miners soon settled down to
dull routine of starvation rations, the
monotony of their life only broken by
the weekly trip to Water island Would
the schooner never come? A flagpole
was rugged up in the hope OF communi-
eating with some passing ship, but
although a sail was sometimes seen
| on the horizon no vessel ever came
near enough to see their signals. In
the meantime, little work was done
more with a view to passing the time
than out of regard for the interests OF
the employers who had apparently 80
cruelty abandoned them on this unin-
habited and seldom visited isle.
Four months thus dragged YEARLY
away The men maintaining themselves
as best they could by shooting birds
and collecting eggs and shell-fsh.
One Saturday evening OConnell and
a man named Peters, having been "fos-
sticking" about the shores Of water
island" IN quest Of shell-fsh, delayed
their departure for the larger island till
a much later hour than usual. When
about halfway between the two islands
they encountered the full force of the
outgoing tide, and found their progress
with the full water-cask, to which they
we're harnessed by ropes, rendered ex-
tremely difficult After half an hours
struggle, during which very little way
was gained, Peters announced his in
tention of cutting himself adrift
/ O'Connell besought his mate to hold
on until the tide turned! but Peters,
, drawing bis knife, severed the rope
r which attached him to the cask Short
ly afterwards ne disappeared in the
f direction of Copper island.
OConnell, left to himself struggled
wildly for a time to hold his own, but
, the buoyant cask was towing him out
y to sea at an ever-increasing rate of
2 speed, and at last he was reluctantly
, Obliged 10 release himself. By this
Q time, however, he was an alarming
Y distance from the shore, and he saw
{ that mis- only chance was in remain
, ing afoat until the tide turned, when
9 he might hope, by its aid, to reach tbs
4 land. The night was clear and bril-
h liant moon was shining. Suddenly, tt
r his horror, an ominous triangular fiji
, broke the surface of the water no
n three fathoms length from where h
&c swan. Another and yet another ap
= peared, and the unhappy man pres
r Gritty discovered that he was in tn
n midst Of school of sharks! Utterl,
- exhausted as he was, his position wa
a. a terrible one. In describing his feel
ings to me, he said that ne should no
Il have believed 1t possible that an,
i combination of circumstances coul
,r have reduced him to such a state of ah
"a ject fear as that on which he nov
70 found himself Already he seemed
90 feel the cruel teeth rendering his nj
~ keG flesh, and he snuddeTed with ute
an terror. The scene was as light as da.
~ and the sharks were plainly visible a
no they circled round him. He saw on
monster suddenly change his directio
n and make straight for~him. But O'Coi
f. nell was like a flesh III the water, an
n drawing the sheathe knife from til
g." belt round his naked waist he Are
"a his arms above his head and sank liz
20 a stone. AS he rose again some Sc
M onds later he found himself direct
ar beneath he shark, and thrust his kni
M up to the hilt in the monsters stomaC
,ar The wounded shark at once made o
To- and some other prey possibly presen
10 ing itself, the others followed it's e
90 ample to O'Connell's great relief.
Id By this time the tide was on t
no turn, and after a long and eXhaustil
oro swim O'Connell shaken and wear
yod landed on Copper island shortly aft
not daylight, having been eight hours
I'm the water. His companions had,
course, given MIN up for lost, as g
~, cording to the account Of Peters, W
tbo had gained the shore in safety, he WI
alv when last seen, drifting rapidly {
~ to sea. O'Connell proceeded to the t.
tho and pulling aside the flap, looked
ono at the sleeping men. Peters was stu
81 herring as sweetly as though he had I
- a few hours before abandoned his ma
-, O'Connell picked up a piece of turf a
Co., threw it lightly on the sleepers ia
Ole Peters sat up, and seeing the "bo'
"a standing there, dripping wet, thoul
,aU, he looked upon a ghost, and with a
NJ of terror fell back in dead faint,