The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-02-25
A SEA
MONSTER
BY F. a. Mitchell

1
Three-quarters OF a century AGO
while piracy had lost its vitality. II hat
not become extinct All ships at tina
time were sailers. and pirates wer,
usually long. low. narrow vessels, will
raklsh mssts, and their character coult
often be discerned by the merchant
vessels they preyed upon.
One misty morning Malay pirate
was lying at anchor near the coast
Of japan when sounds were heard in
dicating the near presence of ship
Then came a stentorian voice. "All
hands for'ard to raise anchorr The
pirates did not know what that meant
for they did not understand English,
but they listened for something that
would indicate the nature Of the neigh
boring vessel. which they could not
see for the fog. Presently they heard
a snorting that was unfamiliar to them
and stirring OF waters as II whale
were beating them with his tail.
Smoke, mingled with the mist, 6oated
! toward them.
! The pirates wondered at all this. and
the more superstidous among them,
hearing the snorting and the iashing
Of the waters. thought they were near
some sea monster which. like the drag
ons Of old, vomited Gre and smoke But
the pirate captain. hearing the famil-
lar sound Of turning capstan. knew
that a ship was near him. and IL she
were not a man-of-war he determined
to make prize Of her. So he ordered
his anchor hauled IN In order to be
ready to give chase the moment the
fog lifted.
But the fog was in no hurry to lift.
Nevertheless the leviathan. or wtat-
ever she was, continued to snort and
swish her taft. the sounds slowly re-
cedlng. The pirate. not willing to let
her go without better knowledge Of
her character. decided to follow Since
there was no breeze boat was low.
cred. a hawser attached TO It and the
ship. and she was pulled along In the
wake OF the monster which threw back
the waters with her tail. with which
she seemed to be prnpelling herself.
Presently the fog thinned. and the
pirates could discern dim body ahead
of them vomiting smoke.
"She's mountain of swami ex-
claimed one. "She's padding with her
web feet that take the place of sails"
Whoever heard OF a swan breathing |
he al tttr tprx Ia
'or squawking chug. chug. chug.
chug?" said another.
BY this time there was some wind,
which blew the fog with 1t, and. though
1t did not render the form of the mon.
ster palmer. the captain. who had more
hoIsted that be might get nearer. He
succeeded In approaching her stern. II
but the current of water she kicked
back with her feet was stronger there,
her snorting sounded louder, and the
terrified crew protested 80 strongly
captain was obliged to drop back to
safer position.
Suppose she should turn and blow
fire at usw exclaimed one "She would
burn us to ashes!"
"Or IL she should come beside us and
close one Of her wings over us she
would send us to the bottom"
At that moment the smoke from the
monster ahead. veering. enyeloped the
pirate. Most of the crew fell on their
knees. and the others. running to the
lalyards. let down the sails. The cap
ain swore at them for cowardice. but
lis own features indicated fear They
dropped behind the mammoth swan.
Ter chuggng sounded more family,
md at last they lost her altogether
Half an hour passed. during which
he pirate captain served double dose
4 grog to infuse courage into his men.
or he had heard voices and the turning
( the capstan. and since danger far is
auch less terrible than danger near he 9
ad recovered and regained the belief
hat the sea griffin was In reality q
hip. Then suddenly the fog lifted,
nd there on the starboard quarter was
ship Her masts were puny things.
OF capable OF carrying sails TO give
er a Roadway of five knots. But she
idn't look like ship any of them had
yer seen. She had no sails set. aad /
ct she moved. Indeed, white line of
,am extended astern from nHdship,
nd 1t appeared to the pirates Mt once
iat she was padding with feet. not
zen because they were under water
he was moving on course that would
Ike her directly across tile pirates
NV. and the captain OF the latter gave
ders TO moist all sail and stand to-
ard her.
The order WAS cbeyed oy the crew.
hich had been braced b. the grog.
Id II looked as IL she would be 5n
sy prey. when suddenly from col
nm ami6ships poured forth thick
1oke that changed the situation. The
rate crew looked OF with horror.
1T comes from her backm cried a
ilor aghast
There's nre in be- belly" exclaimed
other
Then. right where that belly was sup {
sed to be. there bnrs! glare that -
ut every pirate to his knees. praying
his God or his gods not 10 let the
81 II r