The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-03-09
CHAPTER Xxx.


The sea was void upon the quarter
what need to tell it. 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
| tcntion from II. Never shall / doubt
the ruffians would have made an end
Of it there and then, and have muir
dered me as they had murdered the
criminals upon the ship, IL the argu-
| ment had been carried but another SEN
tence. / had seen knives unsheathed
| at my words. had heard the promptings
| Of rogue 70 rogue, that low muttering
| Of the human beast who has scented
prey, and whose nostrils are distend-
| ed by the lust of 1t. 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 l understood, when I
pointed to the port quarter and sent
them gaping there in 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 fact was clear
| above all other. 1t had been no lie
| when said that my friends were COM
| Ing to me- Athwart the great ship, not
| 30 yards from the starboard bow, lay
| the long boat which had been sent out
| to me. took 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, leaped boldly from the
bridge and left the issue to the God
of my destinies.
So the tragic hour began for me,
ind such were its circumstances! The
rushing waters booming rs dirge in
my ears, my clothes dragging me down
as burden ipsupportable; darkness
and the dread sea all about me; black
sky meeting my vision as rose gasp
| Ing to the surface-no knowledge now
| Of where the boat lay or in what di-
fection to strike out; no certainty that
my friends had seen me or were alive
| 10 my Situation-nothing but silence
and the long rollers carrying me, and
far away distant shouting, ar echo
| Of pistol shots, a rejoinder of strong
| voices and then a silence. so deep, SO
| profound that the verv wavelets were
as cataracts beating at my brain.
This, surely, was the moment when a
I man might have told himself that he
was cast out utterly from man and the
! world, true derelict of the vast ocean,
| q voice crying in a monstrous silence.
a holocaust to wind and wave and the
gaping sea. The deepest dungeon ashore
could not have inflicted a wound of
| desolation so terrible.
| 1 was there within cables length
II those who would have given their
very lives for me, and yet as far
away from them as though / had stood
at the foot of Mount Terror and cried
to the skies for my salvation. Not a
sound, not whisper of life did the
wind bear to me. A strong swimmer, I
! lay deep in the water, the spindrift
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 1t was before the end
came, / shall never know. I recollect
that / had the sense not to swim, but
merely to keep afloat as near 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 I 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
| ragged me from the sea, and Larry
himself had steered the boat which
| discovered me. Despite the fog, that
| iynxeyed captain Of mine had dogged
| every movement Of the Diamond Ship
and stood SO close to her, throughout
the adventure, that he could sometimes
have tossed a 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 Of 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
| Of her.
Rowing swiftly to the yacht, the mer
| fought their way through the little
knot Of anxious men, and had me rub
bed down like dog and safely in my
own bed almost before L realized 1t
Whatever emotion agitated me was
chiefly the emotion of friendship, and
Of the sure knowledge that Joan For
dibras was on the ship, that she moved
and breathed near by me, and, with
Gods help, would remain my prisoner
70 the end Of my days. For, be assured
that, despite old Timothy, who roaret
| for the rot water and the lemons in {
voice that could have been heard II
the truck, little Joan had taken a.
proud command Of that cabin five min.
utes after l entered 1t, as any com.
mander Of a ship who hoists his pen.
nant at Plymouth. Nor had anyon,
the right to drive her thence or to tax,
that p,ace she occupied so gracefully
l suppose ii would have been earl,
In the new day when Joan took charge
Of me, an6 old Timothy brewed tn,
/ punch and Larry came and went from
the cabin ~ the bridge as a man full
Of anxieties' and yet in some sense con
cent that it should be so. These fool
tsh nurses or mine had so far toftl m,
nothing. nor did they hear me talkin,
with enuaD'mity. An immersion IL
the sea is often regarded by a sailor
Of all men as a dreadful tragedy Few
~ his trade can swim, nor does h,
yer regard the water &c ether than al
,nemy. So now Larry would hav,
kept me in my bed, smotheret
In blankets and dosed like al
old salt with Timothy's rum. 1t Il
little wonder that / became almos
angry at their solicitude, and wa
ready to behave like a spoiled chile
which does not know its own good for
tune.
"why do you do all this, Joang'
asked her, when half an hour of 1t ha,
passed. IAN: child to be petted an,
spoiled because its pinafore is wet
Tell Captain Larry that am coming
UP to the bridge. You cannot suppos