Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-05-16
"A SHARK S TORY

hAoAA5tcAs CH{tca SudTkb.
We'll, one day we were .becalmed on
the line, when says young BiIl-ha was
young-says he, II shall have q swim
round for q cooler" for, believe me. the
sun was that hot we had to throw
buckets of cola water on the deck to
keep 1t from catching fire.
In fact a pig we killed the day afore
we hung aloft and roasted him in the
sun. catching the gravy in q bucket,
and he was done beautifully.
So In he goes head FIRST with his
rlothes4o on. and me and his old father
looked over the side Just abaft the
foreriggirg to see him come to the top
ofsfhe water, again.
But no Bill could we see, and Instead
OF him came up a tremendous shark
with his side sticking out as II he had a
cargo inside over and above his regular
bill o. ladlng
1t was then as eleareto US as the nose
on .our:f faces that poor Bill had dived
cleantdownits throat.
Thespoor old man had q at right
away,tand we carried him below and
pat him in his hammock and then ran
up on deck again In the hope that We
should be able to catch the fellow.
| But 1t was nowhere TO be seen, SO
after watching some time to no pur-
pose we went down below to see how
the old man was getting on, and to our
astonishment and sorrow we found bis
body nearly cold and as stiff as the fly
| ing tibboom
We sewed him up In his hammock,
putting the grindstone that he used to
grind his tools with inside to make it
sink. and laid the body on hatch, with
the union jack spread over it for pail.
Then the skipper read the funeral
service. all of us standing round, dread
fully cut up, me especially, for young
Bill was my messmate, and | was very
fond of the old man.
AS soon as the skipper had finished
the last words, which 1 shah never
forget-they was so solemn-the hatch
was tipped up, and overheard .he body
went with a splash. ana al was over
at least, we thought So
But almost immediately afterward
up comes another shark-a bigger one,
it seemed, than the first-certainly it
was thicker
The boatswain at once ran for the
shark hook and baited it with Junk
OF pork and slHng it over the stern,
and 1t was not many minutes afore we
had him hooked and hauled on deck.
Well, the first thing we did was TO
cut his tail of, for he was tapping IL
about so that It shook the ship from
stem to stern, and we were afraid it
would shake her to pieces.
After we bad done that we thought
we heard very strange noise inside Of
nina sort o. grating sound, like a
boat being dragged over a shingly
beach.
So we set to and cut off his head
and then ripped him up, when. what
dye think, what should we see, to our
great establishment and delight. but
Bill and his father sitting upright like
two Jonahs, the yeungster turning the
grindstone and the old man sharpen
ing his knife, intending to cut their
way out OF the creatures belly.
You say said the old man was
AEtG- kGuSt Jun
I'll tell you all about it.
There's no doubt but what he seem
ed dead, but It was only his blood
froze with horror, and the shark warm
ed him to life again.
WHAT made him most uncomfortable,
Bill said, was the slipperiness and
topsyturvyness OF the places for there
was no rest at all. for one minute he
was standing on his head and the next
on his feet and then tossed from one
side to the other. sometimes getting
Jammed between its ribs, and he won
dered the meal didn't disagree with
the fish itself
But at last came the climax. and Bill
thought 1t was all over with him. for
down In Its throat was shot a heavy
body like sack o. Goals right atop OF
him. nearly smothering him, so that
he had scarcely room to move or
breathe, and he must have been some
time insensible, he said, when he was
woke up by loud report
He thought for moment the crea-
ture had swallowed powder barrel
and 1t had exploded, but 1t was only
the bursting of the canvas shroud the
old man was sewed up In, which had
blown up like paper bag.
The noise In It's inside, Bill said, |
must have astonished the shark. for he |
again found himself. standing upon his
head, so he knew It was making for
the surface, and on reaching there 1t
opened its enormous jaws for air,
when "a food of light entered between
the rows of teeth, which enabled Bill,
on gaining his feet. to take stock OF
his lodgings. and the very first thing
that he saw was his old father crawl |
ing out from under the canvas Ike a
chick from its she'll.
The old man had caught sight of the
grlndstone and soon put t int work
ing order, and on the fish once more
coming TO the top and again ADMITTING
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