Evening star., 1905-11-04
any knowledge, even of the nearby city, as

any knowledge, even or the nearby city, as
any child
One looked as rough as the other Neither,
In his rude garments and with his hard.
lined face and ptratical surroundings. would
have inspired confidence enough in the
chance wayfarer to make him comfortable
If he had to spend a night alone with him
in the hut, surrounded by wide plain of
sea, with the distant twinkle Of tiny lights
the only visible sign Of commonplace hui
man life, and nothing but the Tapping sea
wind for company. Yet he would have
been safe with either though he had been
burdened with gold-safer than he could
have been In the very middle of the city's
roaring life.
The writer has left valuables and money
many times in the care of one whose chief
pleasure was to go ashore once month to
fight till nobody Was ieft to fight or till he
had been so well mauled that he could not
fight longer himself This one was a pi-
rate. indeed-a poacher on the seed oyster
grounds of other states, whittier he went
every year with other choice spirits like
himself, and where they fought with fist
and club and gun to take what they wanted
and what the other fellow wanted to keep.
In the months when there was no oyster
Ing he was sand pirate-one of the class
that run their sloops or schooners in to
beach and scoop up much OF 1t as they
can load aboard before the owners appear
in force sufficient to drive them Off
But these were not infractions of the
moral law, as he and his kind understood
1t. They claimed that the seed oyster beds
were natural beds belonging to no man.
and when the neighboring states decreed
otherwise they paid no more attention to
the solemn edicts of Legislature, supreme
court and sheriff than they would have
paid to the cry of pettish child And
when they wanted sand they did not care
how many deeds and titles. duly sealed and
delivered. might be waved at them. They
went and took and the only may" that
had any effect on them was the may" of
double-barreled shotgun. loaded as full
as 1t would hold with slugs.
But steal? Take anything that belonged
to another man? They would have defend
ed property intrusted to them like faithful
dogs.
A Mans Work.
II there are no graces about any Of them.
it is because they do a mans work on the
bitter waters where one must go forth with
his harness on for war. Ever the sea eats
hungrily at those unsteady plantations Of
the oyster farmer. Ever the tide sweeps
irresistibly at his hidden crops. Ever IN
the opaque green depths there glide star
fish and drumfish, borer and worm to at
tack the sunken farm.
Scarcely has the last OF the crop been
gathered in the spring before the work of
keeping the farms clean begins. to last
through the months without the "r'' in
them Samples must be fished up from the
bottom to see how they are growing. Sloop
and schooner and naphtha launch must
| drag the queer mop-nke things that are
known as tangles to and fro to fish up
starfsh before they shall eat the oysters.
Over night the five-armed creatures may
creep on an oyster bed In such hordes that
in a week they will sweep away all the
shellfsh In acres on acres OF bottom Only
constant watchfulness and sometimes des-
perate and inhuman work will beat them
then.
Many times It happens that sloopload
after sloopload of stars is carried to the
marsh and dumped there and still without
avail. That mysterious breeding ground Of
the deep sea has suddenly spewed them
out of its unknown caves by millions. and
at night when the men go forth with lam
terms to continue the fight of the day. the
light shining down to the bottom CLEANS
not on mud or sand or oysters. but on a
living. writhing. moving mass OF red and
yellow stars, spreading as far as the men
may search
1t takes some time for a star to eat an
oyster. The shellflsh has a hinge muscle
that defes the strength OF the strongest
man. 1t Is as much as one can do to pry
open an oyster even after he has inserted
a steel implement between the two shells
The starfish folds himself around the
oyster, which shuts tighter than ever when
It feels his approach. Then the star pulls
pulls. pulls steadily on both shells, ffll the
strength of even that wonderful hinge-mus-
Gle relaxes and the oyster opens tiny bit
Into the tiny opening the star thrusts his
stomach, turning himself almost inside out
and sucks the poor moliusk into himself.