The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-01-26

l
face, the hukes churning the water till
1t boiled like the wake of q screw
steamship. But as soon as these great
tins were clear of the surface the shark
fell quiet and helpless.
Charlie came up with the cutting-in
spade and as the fish hung still over
the side cut him open from neck to bel
" with single movement. Another
Chinaman stood by with long ham
died gait, hooked out the purple black
liver, brought it over the side and
dropped it into one Of the deck tubs.
The shark thrashed and writhed, his
| tukes quivering and his gills distended.
Wilbur could not restrain an exclama-
ton
Brutal BUSINESS he muttered.
'Hoh,' exclaimed Moran scornfully;
i'cutting-in is too good for him. Sailor
folk are no friends of such carrion as
| thatv'
Other lines were baited and dropped
| overheard, and the hands settled them
| selves to the real business Of the ex-
petition. There was no skill in the
| matter. The sharks bit ravenously
| and soon swarmed about the schooner
In hundreds. Hardly a half minute
passed that one of the four Cinnamon
that were fishing did not signal a
catch, and Charlie and Jim were kept
busy with spade and gaff By noon
the deck tubs were full. The lines
were hauled in, and the hands set the
| tubs in the sun to try out the oil. I'm
der the tropical heat the shark livers
| almost visibly melted away, and by 4
O'Clock in the afternoon the tubs were
| full of thick, yellow oil, the reek of
| which instantly recalled to Wilbur's
| mind the rancid smell Of the schooner
| on the day when he had first come
aboard of her. The deck tubs were
emptied into hogshead and watts that
stood in the waist Of the Bertha. the
tubs secured and the lines and bent
shark hooks overhauled. Charlie dis
| appeared in the galley, supper was
cooked and eaten upon deck under the
| conf1agration of the sunset, the lights
| were set, the Cinnamon foregathered
In the fo'c'stle head smoking opium,
and by 8 o'clock the routine of the day
was at an end.
So the time passed. In a short time
Wilbur could not have said whether
the day was Wednesday or Sunday
He soon tired of the unsportsmanlike
work Of killing the sluggish brutes
and turned shoreward to relieve the
monotony of the succeeding days. He
and Moran were left a good deal to
their own devices. Charlie was the
master of the men now. Mate" said
Moran to Wilbur one day after din
| ner Of turtle steaks and fish eaten in
the open air on the quarter deck
| mate, this is slow work, and the
schooner smells terribly foul. Well
have the dory out and go ashore. We
can tumble cask into her and get
some water. The butts three-Guarters
empty. Let's see how it feels to be in
Mexico
"MeXico?'' said Wilbur. ''Thats SO
Lower California is Mexico. I'd for
gotten that!'' ...
They went ashore and spent the aft
| ernoon in filling the water cask from
ing abalones, which Moran declared
| were delicious eating, from the rocks
left bare by the tide. But nothing
| could have exceeded the loneliness of
that shore and back land, palpitating
under the flogging of a tropical sun.
Low hills of sand covered with brush
stretched back from the shore On the
eastern horizon, leagues distant, blue
masses of mountains striated with
mirages swan in the scorching air.
The sand was like fire to the touch.
Far out in the bay the schooner hung
mOtionless under bare sticks, resting
| apparently upon her inverted shadow
only. And that was all-the fat, heat
ridden land, the sheen of the open Pa
ciic and the lonely schooner.
"Quiet enough" said Wilbur in low
voice, wondering if there was such a
place as San Francisco, with it's paved
streets and cable cars, and if people
who had been his friends there had
ever had any real existence.
"DO you like it p asked Moran quick
ly, facing him, her thumbs in her belt.
cts good fun. How about your
Its no different than the only life
I've known. I suppose you think it's
queer kind of life for a girl. I've
lived by doing things, not by thinking
things or reading about what other
people have done or thought, and 1
guess it's what you do that counts
rather than what you think or read
about. Where's that pinch bar? Well
get couple more abalones for supper
and then put off,
That was the only talk of moment
they had during the afternoon. All the
rest of their conversation had been of
those things that Immediately occupied
their attention.
They regained the schooner toward
o'clock, to find the Cinnamon perplexed
and mystifed. No explanation was
forthcoming, and Charlie gave them
supper in preoccupied silence. AS they
were eating the abalones, which Mo-
ran had fried in batter, Charlie said:
"Shark all gone! No more catch UNI