The Palatka news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1905-09-29
How He Got His
Nest Egg
[Originall

we We're respectively seventeen ana
fifteen he tyrannized over me. At tif-
teen | was fully as tall as he, though
not as well developed. At any rate,
l gave him good thrashing, and that
ended his annoying me, though his
ugliness toward me was increased.
% When began to earn a living was
attracted by the large sums paid to
divers and became diver. The truth
is, | was in love, and, being anxious
to marry, chose that which promised
to enable me to secure a nest egg
My sweetheart didn't approve of my
occupation at all, but, like me, wanted
the nest egg However, | had moth
er to take care of, and the nest egg
failed to appear. was pretty well
discouraged when something hap
pened that very nearly rendered it I'M
necessary
A ship had gone down close to shore
on which there was heavy insurance
4 diver was to be sent down repre-
senting the underwriters, together with
one representing the owners and the
captain. | was chosen to represent the
underwriters was standing on the
float in divers rig, all except the he'll
met, waiting for the owners diver,
when a boat pulled off from the shore,
and when it came near enough who
should be in it but Morgan Enright
He was as much astOnishcd to see me
us | was to see him. Neither knew
that the other was a diver, much less
that we were to so down together, but
we were boys no longer, and ! offered
him my hand He took it, but the look
on his face froZe the marrow in my
bOnes-a look that | did not fully un-
derstand till later.
Well, we struck bottom about the
same time on Il stretch of white sand.
The ship was in a good position for
inspection, for her bow had come down
on Il ledge of rock that lifted it above
the sand and only n few feet above
our heads 1t was no secret that was
there to look for foul play, and the
place to find it was on the ships bot
tom. | walked along, looking upward,
till at last my head was even with the
inclining bottom, and after that | was
obliged to stoOp. Enright accompanied
me, also looking. He soon got ahead
of me and motioned me to come ON,
shaking his head as if to say that he
had been looking carefully where |
was hunting and had found nothing.
| looked all the more carefully and at
one place poking my finger in an i'll
deutatiOn, found hole. | succeeded
in pushing my fist through the bottom
and into the ship. Enright turned back
and saw me STOPPING, with my arm
thrust into the hole. He came up TO
me and the first thing | knew seized
me around the body and gave me a
wrench that broke my arm. 1t oc-
Cured to me at once that he had been
sent down by the owners to foil an
attempt to discover, or at least report,
Oh the scuttling of the vessel. Quick
as Il fash Of lightning all that had
passed between me and him from the
first blow he had given me before |
was old enough to protect myself till
the day l had thrashed him came up
before me. And now he was to take
his revenge fifty feet under water. He
was to kill two birds with one stone
have his revenge and prevent my re
porting the scuttling of the ship.
Realizing that, handicapped as ! was,
[ would be no match for him in a
struggle, pretended to faint and sank
down on the sand. He raised his heel
and brought it down on the glass over
my face, but its thickness, together
with the resistance Of the water under
his foot, saved me. He failed in the
attempt. Then he took knife from
his pocket and cut the signal line. He
was too late, for | managed to give the
signal to be raised. When lie saw me
rising he cut the rope that was lifting
me, and | sank again on the sand
Then seeing that l was cut Off from
succor he gave the signal to be taken up
AS he was rising / saw one chance foi
my life. Encircling his leg with my
sound arm. l chung with the strength
| of despair. Had he been above watel
| he might have shaken me off. AS l
was, he was unable to do so. The mel
above, feeling the extra weight, pulled
hard. and before my enemy could d.
anything to prevent we were both a
| the surface.
| As soon as l saw that l was saved
| tainted. When | came to myself EN-
right had gone, but, turning my eye
toward the shore, l saw him pulling
for the dock with furious strokes. Hun
riedly called on those standing by t
stop him, and two of them, enterin
another boat, reached the dock In tim
to prevent him from getting away.
When the underwriters heard m
story they resolved to push both th
owners, the captain I the ship an
especially Enright to the wall The
had no end of money with which [
do the job and landed every one col
nected with the swindle in stat
prison. The courts couldn't hang Ell
right, as he deserved, because he ha
not succeeded in taking my life, br
! the judge gave him twenty years, an
he still has ten of them to serve.
That was my last trip under waite
No man could get me to put on he
met for any money, but it has not bee
necessary. l had saved the insuranC
to the underwriters, coming within a
ace Of losing my life in doing so. The
made up a purse for me, each putin
In $1,000. and as there were seven
them you can figure that I got my ne
egg. Besides, have been in their en-
ploy ever since. l was married thi
autumn and have lived comfortably 9
my salary and the interest of my ca
-