The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1909-03-11
He Got Even.
Copyright 1908. by American Press Asso.

Ou ltlO Qe JuuelFO uONen OF more
sailors were lolling on the forecastle
1t was still, clear night, and the full
moon made all nearly as light as day
81 seen more light one night" said
one with rings in his ears.
"Oh, come, Philosopher Jack Is this
starter for one O. your spooky
yarns"
"There's some as knows so much"
the philosopher retorted contenptuous-
ly, "as y can't tell 'cm nothin'.
What's this yere earth ahangin' to?
Can v tell me that?"
There was silence, denoting that
the question was above the audience.
Philosopher Jack continued:
"I'll spin y a yarn as is a yarn an
If v can explain it when | git through
I'll turn y over my grog an duff for
the rest O. the cruise. Y don't know
what the earth's hangin' on to, an y
don't know what becomes of US when
we go aloft.'
1.-THE cap'n o. the Clara Keep was
the worst tyrant that ever walked q
quarter deck. We was in Boring sea
for seals an not gcttin' any. This
made the capn wo'se'n ever He did
nothin' but cuss US from sunup Till
sunset an durin the night too. when
he was on dec. There was one O.
the men, Tom Blake, the cap'n seemed
to hate wo'se'n the rest O us, a lean
corpse-lke lookin' Teller with great
big eyes that stared like the blinkers
! n w l,,,t
whether the capn hated Tom wo'se
or was afraid O him wose. Leasta-
ways, Tom would look at the cap'n
out O them great eyes O. hisn, an the
capn would git into passion with
him at oncet. But always noticed
that he trembled in his rage.
Zone day the cap'n ordered Tom
to go aloft. The mercury stood 20
degrees below zero, the ship was
a-rollin, and the spray was maxim
Ice high upon the ratlines, even on to
the spars.
"Tm so cold said Tom, that
couldn't git up there, an If | did l
couldn't hold on
You git up there yelled the cap'n,
seizin' belayin' pin, or I'll brain w
tom went on to the ratlnes, an
when he got a little ways up he
looked down at the cap'n. an he said,
says he:
"T'm goin' to my doom, but tell
y, Cap'n Tomkins. some day I'll git
even with w
, He climbed on up the ratlines an
craWled out on to the yard, where the
cap'n had ordered him. A big wave
struck us, there was a cloud O. icy
spray, an when 1t cleared Tom was
nowheres
Il couldn't make out whether the
cap'n was satisfied at gittin' rid O.
Tom Blake or whether he felt in the
dumps about it. Leasta ways he didn't
cuSS us so much after that an was
kind O cringin' like
after spendin' good while in
Boring sea we passed through the
straits. One night we was beatin'
northward into the Arctic ocean Our
latitude was som eres about CT degrees
north, longitude ITO west, midway be
tween Point Hope and Cape Serdze
Well, that's the night | was referrin
aurora in my life before 1t was
a-fashin' an a-fickerin' an a-iutterin'
sometimes like million O. little white
flags or straight searchlights shootin
up to the sky. The cap'n was on deck
an it seemed to kind 0 'terrify him
You see, although 1t was so light, we
couldn't make out nothin'.
81 believe the devils tryn' tc
wrecl; u.s. he said, an, coming dowr
off the poop deck, he went for'ard an
stood on the bowsprit SOS he could see
better.
"There seemed to be white cloud
ahead. Leastaways it looked like +;
cloud, but with the Aurora dancin
about it wasn't always there The
capn stared at It, tryin' to make II
out. stood down on the fo'castle
lookin' too First thing either of us
knowed we heard a grind the bowspri
snapped, an a lot O ice fell on the
!. deck. One chunk that must "a weigh
ed ton struck the cap'n an knocked
him overheard
1--WE didn't all of us hear it. Bill
O'Brien said he did, but Pete Gallo
way, who was standin' near as any OF
US, says he didn't"
What, the ice comm aboard:'
"The ice. no! Out O. the misty look
in mass it was an iceberg we struck
| heard as plain as l ever heard any
thing the voice O. Tom Blake sayin
softlike
"T'm here, Cao'n Tomkins
The speaker paused. Not word
was spoken by his listeners for some
moments, awed as they were by the
story when Philosopher Jack con
tinued:
at wouldn't make any difference tc
me If was the only one as heard It
but some O. the watch did besides me
l thort @ that poor Teller slippin into
the icy sea, an somehow | knowed he'(
got even.
1--WE expected to find a hole in oul
bottom. but we didn't The bowspri
was the only thing damaged We