The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1909-01-07
lie Got Even.

tOOPJA ASSS ~ ~AAiASAASeAAA L 1883 <AoSO-
| ciation.]
Off Rio de Janeiro a dozen or more
sailors were lolling on the forecastle.
1t was a still. clear night. ul:d the full
moon f.ia,.t ali i.>:;ri IS l.: ut u, tily.
Il seen more light one night" said
one with rings in his ears
ooh, come, Philosopher Jack Is this
/ a starter for one O your spooky
yarns?"
There's some as knows SO much"
the philosopher rctortcd ccnte!nptuous-
~, las y can't tell em nothin'.
| What's this yere earth a-hangin' to?
Can v tell me that?"
| There was q silence. Gc3oting that
the question was above tia audience.
Philosopher Jack continued:
"Ill spin " 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 a
quarter deck. We was in Boring sea
for seals an not gettin' any. This
made the cap'n wo'se'n ever. He did
nothin' but cuss us from sunup till
sunset an durin' the night, too, when
he was on deck. There was one O.
the men, Tom Blake, the cap'n seemed
to hate wo'se'n the rest o. us, lean,
corpse-lfke lookin' Teller with great
big eyes that stared like the blinkers
O. dead man. We couldn't make out
whether the cap'n hated Tom wo'se
or was afraid O. him wo'se. Leasta-
ways, Tom would look at the capn
out O. them great eyes o. hisn, an the
cap'n would git into passion with
him at Oncet. But l 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 l
couldn't git up there, an if 1 did 1
couldn't hold on
"'You git up there yelled the capn,
setzin' belayin' pin, or I'll brain y'v
'"Tom went on to the ratlines an
when he got a little ways up he
looked down at the cap'n, an he said,
says he:
"'I'm goin' to my doom, but l tell
y, Cap'n Tomkins. some day I'll git
even with Up
"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 cloud O. icy
spray, an when it cleared Tom was
nowheres.
II 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. Leastaways he didn't
cuss US so much after that an was
kind o. cringin'-like.
AFTER spendin' a 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 81 degrees
north, longitude 10 west, midway be-
tween Point Hope and Cape SerdZe.
| Well, that's the night / was referrin'
to spell ago. / never seen such an
aurora in my life before 1t was
] e-1ashin' an a-fickerin' an a-futtern'.
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 'terrify him.
You see, although 1t was SO light. we
couldn't make out nothin'
81 believe the devils tryin' to
wreck u.s. he said, an. coming down
off the poop deck, he went for'ard an
stood on the bowsprit SOS he could see
better.
There seemed to be a white cloud
ahead. Leastaways 1t looked like
| cloud, but with the Aurora dancin'
about 1t wasn't always there. The
cap'n stared at 1t, tryin' to make it
out, I stood down on the fo'castle
lookin' too. First thing either Of us
knowed we heard grind. the bowsprit
snapped, an 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?'
1.-THE Ice, no! Out O. the misty look
| in mass 1t was an iceberg we struck.
| I heard as plain as l ever heard any
| thing the voice o. Tom Blake sayin'
softlike:
"T'm here, Cap'n Tomkins.'"
The speaker paused. Not a word
was spoken by his listeners for some
moments, oawed as they were by the
story, when Philosopher Jack con-
| tinued:
=. cit wouldn't make any difference to
me If was the only one as heard it,
but some o. the watch did besides me-
L thort O. that poor Teller slippin' into
the icy sea, an somehow knowed he'd
got even.
1--WE expected to find hole in our
bottom, but we didn't The bowsprit
was the only thing damaged. We
turned about, passed back through the
straits and continued on home. Now.
you fellers as knows everything. how
v goin'4 to explain what I've been tell
in W Dye think there's reward an
punishment In the other world with
| oYf q moor devil helm able tO pit n If