Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-03-17
CHAPTER Xxx.

The sea was void upon the quarter
what need to tell 1t. But my eyes had
already detected the black outline Of a
ships boat upon the starboard bow,
and my very life depended upon the
ruse which should divert the mems at
tention from II. Never shall J doubt
the ruffians would have made an end
Of 1t there and then, and have muir
dered me as they had murdered the
criminals upon the ship, If the arSu-
ment had been carried but another SEN
tence. / had seen knives unsheathed
at nay words, had heard the promptings
| OF rogue to rogue, hat low muttering
| OF the human beast who has scented
prey, and whose nostrils are distend-
ed by the lust of it. Let the talk run
on, and they would be up the ladder
and upon me, cost what 1t might-up
and on me, and their knives at my
| throat. This ! understood, when /
pointed to the port quarter and sent
them gaping there in a body-as chill
dren who are not content to hear, but
with their own eyes would see.
My freedom, nay, my life depended
upon the ruse. Such q fact was clear
above all other. 1T had been no lie
when / said hi my friends were com
ing 10 me. Athwart the great ship, not
so yards from the starboard bow, lay
the long boat which had been sent out
to me-. / tool one last look at the hud-
died forms below me, debated the pos
sibilities in one of those swift mental
surveys to which long habit has trained
me, and stalking all upon the venture,
risking every peril both of the men and
the sea, I leaped boldly from the
bridge and left the issue to the God
Of my destinies.
So the tragic hour began for me,
sue were its circumstances! The
rushing waters booming as a dirge in
my ears, my clothes dragging me down
as a burden i~nsupportable; darkness
and the dread sea all about me; q black
sky meeting my vision as l rose gasp
ing to the surface-no knowledge now
OF where the "a lay or in what di-
rection to strike out; no certainty that
my riends had seen me or were alive
to my situation-nothing bat silence
n the long rollers carrying me, and
far away a distant shouting, an echo
Of pistol shots, q rejoinder of strong
voices n then a silence. so deep, so
profound that the very wavelets were
as cataracts beating at my brain.
This, surely, was the moment when a
man might have told himself that me
was cast out utterly from man and the
world, a true derelict OF the vast ocean,
a voice crying in a monstrous silence,
a holocaust TO win and wave and the
gaping sea. The deepest dungeon ashore
| could % have inflicted q wound of
desolation so terrible.
/ was there within a cables length
OF those who would have given their
very lives for me. and yet as far
away from them as thought had stood
at the foot of Mount Terror and cried
to the skies for my salvation. Not a
sound not q whisper of life did the
wind bear to me. A strong swimmer. !
Law deep In the water, the Sp;narift
cold upon my face, the ripples of the
crest soaking my hair, the blue black
sky for my zenith. And how far had
those minutes carried me from human
ity and all human interests!
How long IL was before the end
anne, / shall never know. I recollect
that / had the sense not to swim, but
merely to keep afloat as nea as might
be TO the scene of my rashness. The
intervening moments brought me from
A state of content to one OF despair,
and from that again almost to a state
Of insensibility-and l know only that
a great rough hand took me from the
sea at last, that white faces bent over
me-, and that, kindliest of them all, was
the face of Joan Fordibras-my little
Joan of the Valley Housewife stopped
and kissed my lips, and with a young
girls tears expressed the welcome by
her heart unspoken.
1t had been Okyada's hand which
dragged me from the sea, and Larry
himself had steered the boat which
discovered me. Despite the fog, that
lynxeyed captain of mine had logged
every movement of the Diamond Ship,
and stood so close to her, throughout
the adventure, that he could sometimes
have tossed q biscuit to her decks,
When the rabble chased me to the
bridge. his keen ear had detected the
commotion. He heard me leap from
the ship, and guessed instantly the
nature or the situation which drove
me to this extremity. His express
commands had kept the long boat in
the sea from the beginning, and in the
sea she swan when / nae most need
of her.
Rowing swiftly to the yacht, the men
fought their way through the little
knot OF anxious men, and had me rub
| bed down like a dog and safely in my
| own bed almost before l realized it
Whatever emotion agitated me was
chiefly the emotion OF friendship. and
| OF the sure knowledge that Joan For
dibras was on the ship. that abe moved
and breathed near by me, and, with
| Gods help, would remain my prisoner
to the end OF my days. For, be assured
| that. despite old Timothy, who roared
for the rot water and the lemons in a
voice that could nave been heard In
| the truck, little Joan had taken as
proud command of that cabin five min.
utes after I entered 1t. as any com
mander of a ship who hoists his pen
nant Fl Plymouth. Nor had anyone
the right TO drive her thence or to take
! that place she occupied so gracefully
suppose IL would have been early
IN the new day when Joan took charge
OF me, and old Timothy brewed the
punch and Larry came and went from
the cabin 20 the bridge as a man full
of anxieties. and yet in some con
tent that IL should be so. These fool
lsh nurses of mine had so far told m,
nothing. nor did they hear me talking
with equanimity. An immersion ii
the sea is often regarded by a sailor
OF all men, as a dreadful tragedy. Few
or his trade can swim, nor does HI
ever regard the water as other than al
enemy. SO now Larry would have
kept me I'm my bed, smotheret
In blankets n dosed like al
Did salt with Timothy's rum. 1t i
little wonder that / became almos
angry at their s~olicitude. and wa
ready to behave like a spoiled chill,
which does o know It's own good for
tune.
WIN do you do all this. Joan?"
asked ner. when half an hour OF II ha,
passed. "Am ! q child 70 be petted ans
spoiled because Its ~pinafore Is wet