Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-07-24

rne upper, they were Of a SO a6d
shape ominously suggestive of the
creatures voracity.
1T is good thing" said Brand,
calmly hewing at the huge jaws, that
nature did not build the Careharodon
galeidoe on the same lines as an al
ngator. If this big fellows sharp enl-
broidery were not situated so close to
his stomach he would have made a
meal of me, Jim, unless I carried a
torpedo
Hes a blue shark commented the
other, ignoring for the nonce what he
termed ''sone of the capn's jawbreak-
ers.''
eyes. 1t is the only dangerous
species found SO far north.
His teeth are like 50 many fixed
bayonets. Of course you would like to
keep 'em, but he would look fine in a
museum. Plenty of folk in Penzance,
especially visitors. would pay bob
a head to see him.
Brand paused in his labor.
Listen, JIM" he said earnestly. 81
want both you and Jones to oblige me
by saying nothing about the shark.
Please do not mention my connection
with the affair in any way The story
will get into the newspapers as it is.
The additional sensation of the fight
would send reporters here by the score.
I don't wish that to occur"
'Do you mean to say
s'Mr. Jones will report the picking up
of the boat and the finding of the baby.
together with the necessary burial of
a man unknown
|. ''What sort of a chap was hey' in
terrupted Jim. @
"I-I don't know-a sailor-that is all
can tell you. He must have been
dead several days."
''Then how in the world did that
baby keep alive?
81 have been thinking over that prob
lem. 1 imagine that, in the first place,
there was a survivor, who disappeared
since the death Of the poor devil out
there" He pointed to the sea. 'This
person, whether man or woman, looked
after the child until madness came,
caused by drinking salt water. The
next step is suicide. The little one,
left living, fell into the bilge created
by the shipping Of a sea and adopted,
by the mercy of Providence, method
of avoiding death from thirst which
ought to be more widely appreciated
than it is. She absorbed water through
the pores of the skin, which rejected
the salty elements and took in only
those parts of the compound needed by
the blood. You follow me?
<'Quite. It's a slap-up idea"
sit is not new. 1t occurred to a
ships captain who was compelled, to
navigate his passengers and crew a
thousand miles in open boats across
the Indian ocean as the result of a
fire at sea. Well, the child was well
nourished, in all likelihood, before the
accident happened which set her adrift
on the Atlantic. She may have lost
few pounds in weight, but star
vation is slow affair, and her plump
ness saved her life in that respect.
Most certainly she would have died
today, and even yet she is in great
danger. Her pulse is very weak, and
care must be taken not to stimu-
late the action Of the heart too rap
idly"
When Brand spoke in this way Jim
Spence was far too wary to ask per-
sonal questions. Sometimes, in the
early days of their acquaintance, he
had sought to pin his friend with clum-
sy logic to some admission as to his
past life. The only result he achieved
was to seal the other mans lips for
days so far as "reminiscences were con-
cerlc;,, "
Ect caiy Jonas ana Spence, but
,Tiion,a aso::. the third assistant, who
was :.,ai:. b:s month ashore. together
With the su.,.,.;;i ia e:',;-ies who helped
70 preserve tie rotation CO two months
eek duty .aa.. o.e ashore, soon real
zlti that Brand, v-hom they liked and
looked up to. had locked the record of
his earlier years and refused to open
the Ciary for any oce.
Yet so helpful was he, SO entertaining
With his scraps Of scientific knowledge
and more ample general reading, that
those whose. turn On the rock was CO.
incident with his relief hailed his re-
appearance with joy. During the pre-
ca5:n~ =: to- ilo act-!al,- entertained
ten W.. :. ~. translation of tho
twenty-fcur books of the "Iliad," and
great was the delight of Jim Spence
when he was able to connect the ex-
ploits of some Greek OF Trojan hero
with the identity of one of her majes-
tvs ships.
In private they discussed him often,
and a common agreement was made
that his wish to remain incognito
should be respected. Their nickname,
''the cap'n,'' was a tac;t admission of
his higher social rank. They feared
lest inquisitiveness should drive him
from their midst, and one supernumer-
ary, who heard from the cook of the
Trinity tender that Brand was the
nephew of baronet, was roughly bid
den to ''close his rat trap, or he might
catch something he couldn't eat"
So Jim now contented himself by re
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