The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1909-01-21
He Got Even.


moon I..a..v all :.>..4. -, I-:,s..i d., LA.,
81 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 50 much"
the philosopher rctortCd cCitenptuous-
ly, las v can't tell 'em nothin'.
What's this yere earth a-hangin' to-?
Can v tell me tLat?'
There was a silence, d"soting that
the question was above the audience.
Philosopher Jack continued:
"I'll spin v yarn as is a yarn, an
if y 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'
"The cap'n O. the Clara Keep was
the worst tyrant that ever walked a
quarter deck We was in Bering 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 wose'n the rest O. us, a lean,
corpse-like 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 wose. Leasta-
ways, Tom would look at the cap'n
out O. them great eyes O. hisp, an the
| cap'n would git into a passion with
him at oncet. But 1 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-rO1lin', 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 l did l
| couldn't hold on
"'You git up there yelled the cap'n.
seizin' belayin' pin, or I'll brain y!
TON 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:
"'rm goin' to my doom, but l tell
y, Cap'n Tomkins some day I'll git
even with y'!'
"He climbed on up the ratlines an
crawled out on to the yard, where the
| ho6 ArIa xyo
struck US, there was cloud O. icy
spray, an when it cleared Tom was
/ nowheres.
81 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 l was referrin'
| to a spell ago. l never seen such an
aurora In my life before 1t was
| a-flashin' an a-fiickerin' an a-f1utterin
| sometimes like a 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
couldn't make out nothin'.
"T 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 a
| cloud, but with the Aurora dancin'
about 1t wasn't always there. The
cap'n stared at 1t, tryin' to make 1t
out. stood down on the fO'castle
lookin' too. First thing either Of us
knowed we heard grind. the bowsprit
snapped, an a lot G. 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
OBrien 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 it was an iceberg we struck.
I heard as plain as / 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, awed as they were by the
| story, when Philosopher Jack con-
| tinued:
| ut wouldn't make any difference to
me If was the only one as heard it,
but some o. the watch did besides me.
| thort O that poor Teller slippin' into
the Icy sea, an somehow l knowed he'd
got even.
1--WE expected to find a 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
/ " goin' to explain what I've been tell
in " Dye think there's reward an
punishment In the other world with
out a poor devil bein' able to git lit
tie revenge here? Not much"
| Whether or no there was anything
| Of value In this argument. 1t was spo-
ken in such tone Of authority and the