Cut Bank pioneer press. [volume] (Cut Bank, Mont.) 1909-current, 1913-04-04

tell We anything? May as well tell you right now,
l spose-ran y pearlpoacher, that's what: run
out of the Straits by a blasted British gunboat
that COPIED my Kanaka crew and nearly bottled
me
Yes, boy, not one of yer hold-yernose, rock
at-yer-feet, two-minute diver boys, but a regular
t1n-hat, lead-shoes, rubber-suited, stay-for-ever
shark; and if that box of Doodle is still where
you figure on, bet your last thirst Wen get it,
and get it all, by SATAN"
The afternoon of the eighteenth day out from
Maize we raised the rocky peaks of East Island,
four thousand feet high, and as it was never GER
tain that a landing could be made, we stood on
tll DUSK and hove to for the night, getting every
thing ready for a full days hard graft on the
morrow.
But it was not the next day that we took up
our berth, nor for two more after that. Dirty
weather, commoner down in that God-forsaken
penguin hatchery than suckers on Broadway. set
in with a bump, and for three days our little
Pearl had to fight tooth and nail to hold her po-
sition within hail of the islands.
On the fourth day the breeze blew out and left
just a good working air, so we hauled up and
stood in for the rocks again, this time getting
close enough to let go our warp and take the
lines ashore.
BY the official report of the wreck. we were
pretty sure that We were right on the spot, and
this was established when, after sounding all
round the schooner, the lead fouled something,
and brought away a piece of sea-rotted rope from
a depth of twelve fathoms.
On the principle that a job well started is half.
way done, we soon had the diving gear laid out.
and at dead low water | manned the wheel of the
alr-pump, after Screwing up my mates helmet,
and our quest was on when Red clambered over
the low rail and slipped into the cold depths.
AT the end of an hour the signal came to haul
up, and when Saunders bobbed over the rail and
had his h~ead-gear removed, he reported that we
were almost plumb over the poop of the wreck,
and nv ranpiDp abpad tuoptU fnot oomI1 5rop -
line down her cabin skylight.
We shifted our position and went below to get
a bite of tucker against the next spell, while my
mate voiced his opinion that:
We would have been better fixed had we
toted some explosive along. for the ruddy ship
is steel, and quite likely had a strong room I'M
der the cabin"
We expected, however. to strike some snags,
as there are mostly always plenty of spikes to
a bouquet. After our
brief spell for grub, Saunders got over the side
again and took crowbars along, intending, as he
said, To bust something or eat the bars"
Next time he came to the surface he brought
up a rusty chronometer, the mahogany case Of
which was quite good. and said he had located
the safe, which was build into the steel bulk.
head of the shippers cabin.
What do you think of the chances of hook
ing anything, Red?' I asked, when he had
crawled out of his casing.
Tell you tomorrow, son." he grunted, Seems
a tougher lay than cracking open pearlshell. but
ii the weather gives us a good fair tilt at it,
there's a chance of busting her with the bar, !
think"
AS soon as it was light enough to grope. an
other start was made on the wreck, and we
knew that it would be a case of pulling up the
chest or giving up the chase at the end Of that
days work.
Red took along everything we had that was
likely to be useful below, and remarked as he
put his head into his hat:
What don't come adrift this spell will have to
wait for dynamite or Gabriel's big bassoon, for
| won't come up till the bars bend double,'
What titanic efforts he must have put forth
down below were well proven by the bundle of
crowbars he sent up on a line, bent to horseshoe
shape; and attached to the line was the handle
of a safe. He did not come up for some time
yet, however, and Triton only knows what he
actually succeeded in doing, but when at long
last he signaled and was hauled up, he had a
small tin box made fast to his waist.
No sooner was he free of the h~ead-gear and
able to speak, than he blurted out:
Good Gordons beer, bo', she's too much for
me! Every blasted trick did | work on that iron
locker, but I might as well dig into the great
pyramid with a m for all the impress
sion | could make with those bars!"
If the safe had been as easy to break as the
box was, we would have had those spondulicks
aboard by now, for one crack with the end of a
bar concertina-eG our find, which contained the
ships papers and sundry private documents, evil
IDENTIFY the captains.
No good could come of hanging round any
longer, after we decided the job was too big for
our limited means to tackle, so we lost not a mo.
ment in getting our lines and hauling Off to the
anchor. Then, before hosting our canvas, we
took the casks ashore for water, filling them at
the same place as those poor devils must have
used years before, and taking a look at the site
of their camp. where they had made a dugout in
the cliffside for the lady and child of the party.
We might have SnaDt fjroo 1cpLiuo
around this place had the weather looked pref
tier, but Saunders had his eye to windward and
suddenly he jerked me by the arm and growled:
Say. young fellow, we don't want to duplicate
the Robinson Crusoe act this trip-not for senti-
ment anyway; and that's just about what we'll
do if we don't get our hook and edge off this
spot of dirt in a number one hurry, or I'm no
Mother Shipton."
Pointing to the westward, Red askeC me If
had ever seen the Roaring Forties" OH a tear:
and sure enough it looked like goodnight for us
If we failed to ratCh off shore before the storm
hit down ON us.
Nh nnla llo,U ~. fa