The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-11
CHARKS MIXED UP
~ IN HIS FATE.
A Chief Boatswain's Mate Testifies
to the Ability of = japanese
Fortune Teller.

to the Ability of = japanese
Fortune Teller.
"A seventh son of Jap fortune telle
and zodiac spieler once told met wa
under a green ambrose silk hood tent II
Nagasaki, and, as the stars were his bosom
swing mates, gave him half yen to nam
me the standing lights aloft that were my
particular lookouts. according to his char
this crinkly faced old saki boozer, ant
the face Of him was like q wilted waffle
told me that mine allow and aloft, wa,
the Sign Of the Fish, which, seeing that
] was sober at the time, and that he him
self was swaying with the saki and some
three parts drunk, struck me as being a
bum half a yen IS worth, = said chief DO sun d
mate OF the United States Navy. Il wa
about to hand him q clout and tell him
what I thought of that kind Of clairvoy-
ance, when it occurred to me what he meant
and that he was right. He wasn't trying
to tell me that was deep-sea soak. but
that mo and the fish had already mixed
1t up lot, and that We were due to get
together some more and right frequent.
And that showed that he wasn't such
q swab of star spieler, even if he was
20 logged with the oozy rice juice that he
went to sleep on my hands before backed
out of the green ambrose silk hood-tent.
The fish that he meant was the shark, for.
even then, sharks had been after me some
thing sinful and scandalous; and, by way
OF making the remarks OF that saki-sodden
old Jap good. they've been after me ever
since, of and on. coming and going
They've got so familiar with me that
I'm not afraid of the ornery muckers any
more. I'm just about as much afraid Of
q sea-tiger now, as you'd be Of a ships
kitten tapping condensed milk out Of q
wardroom saucer on the galley deck
only, OF course, I'll do lot more moving
when the sharks around and looking me
over than l will in the presence of the
Kitten.
-The first time shark ever got gay with
me was when was tike OF prentice
on the old Swatara, down in the harbor
Of Callao. was a starboard side-cleaner,
and one afternoon was cooked in swing,
swabbing paint. and with my bare feet
twiddling not above a twelfth of fathom
from the water.
'All of a sudden noticed a little glitter
ing, goggle-eyed and snout-nosed fish a-rub-
bering around lot in the little space OF
water directly below where my feet were
swinging. He looked so perky and fresh
and impudent that was for throwing q
cake of salt water soap at him. but then
] got to figuring that the cat could look at
the king, and that it wasn't doing me any
harm to have this little fish watch me polish
on my cleaning station, and 80 let him
look; and presently became so busy in
trying to light up cornshuck cigarette
without the officer OF the deck spotting me
that forgot about hira.
Hey, you cub he called out to me
after he had gazed into the water for q
very short space, you'd better be gittin'
them tootsies O. your'n some few away
from tn waters edge, IL you don't want
= 60 shy pair O. feet f'r tn balance o.
the cruise. See that pilot fish a-lookin'
1t you an a-beckonin' t. his big mate down
below2'
This old gunner's mate was great
stringer of the prentices, and I was so
SURE that he was stringing me that barely
looked up at him. 1t was good thing
that I didn't look up, just then-Id prob
ably be in the Snug Harbor, with two wooden
ones now, if had looked up at him just
ut that minute.
For, continuing to look down as worked.
] saw something white-gray swishing to
the surface Of the blue understanding
ten foot Of it all teeth, rows and rows OF
'ern-and then / got busy
Shin up. you whelp! the old gunner.
mate bawled to me through the funnel
that he made of his hands; and just as l
grabbed the port rope swinging the boz
suns chair and started to 60 hand over
hand up to the rail, there was shower
Ing Of waterspout right below me-and
! had my first view OF belly-up maneater.
He rose about half fathom out Of the
water for me, but I already had hold
Of the rail. and he missed me by quite
stretch. But as long as l was a sidecleaner
never swabbed paint from bo'sun's
chair after that with bare feet.
MY bare feet were the bait, and that
poor little cuss Of an enslaved pilot fish
had guided his master and protector. the
shark, in my direction.
About three years after that got some
more shark education, at Papiti. Tahiti:
A gang of seamen gunners--I was out OF
my premiership then-got jealous OF the
swimming stunts OF bunch Of the French
jibbering gallery natives one day, and 80
we got the permission OF the officer OF the
deck, lowered away the long boat, sped her
to the coral beach. stripped and went in
ourselves, about eighteen Of us.
1T was very hot and gummy weather,
and so we were not thinking about sharks,
although a thousand Of them assembled
around the ship every time the cook dumped
q bucket OF galley refuse through the swill
lube. Anyhow, we were all pretty young.
.In addition to being young, I was CHESTER
then than I've ever been since particularly
because there wasn't a man or boy on board
the old hooker that could teach me anything
about swimming That's how it came that,
% soon as we jumped into the water on the
Papiti beach that day, I proceeded to out
swim all the rest, Just to show EN-.
Il didn't turn to look back until ! was
lbout 800 yards from the beach. The only
reason why / turned around then was
because l heard lot OF noise from the
beach.
when I turned, saw about a hundred
naked natives and all of the ships boys
lined up on the beach at the edge Of the
water. jumping up and down and Hacking
their arms at me and yelling with all their
might. But something else that saw was
D lot more important to me than all that.
There were, as it seemed to me, about
million huge, wet and shiny shark fins
between me and the beach. Some of them
more than ten yards from me. The
Ans were moving slowly on the surface OF
The water.
well. could see my pipe-out then in
plain view. felt kind O. reproachful to ward
the scapular l wore around my neck--it
Iure ought to've kept me out OF trouble
ike that, thought. / stopped and tread