The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-05-31

"coon arter breakfast. while the cr'"
Of the Samoa was preparing I" "",sn
anchor and 7 was in the cockpit OF 'i'>
Yacht gazing idly across tho CLASSY wal
crs T spied what al first appeared I" %
a riant fin thrust above the surface d.
some little distance away.
look out there and tell mo wha' YOU
see said pointing to the strange "p-
partition.
well. sir. II the periscope or SUD
marine had suddenly appeared IN oN'
vicinity the excitement aboard 'ne "a
moa could not have been greater Every
body rushed to the rail on the side or
the Yacht Off which lay the strange OBJ
jcct.
Its devil Of a big sharp or
whale. somebody said.
mo whales wcrC ever seen IN th'S'
waters was the instant reply. and az
for sharks-wCll that must be the great
era nddaddy Of all Of Gun. he's SO DE-
~ had not had any big gam" sport
in a long time and instantly b"cam" in
tensely interested in the strange oo)ect
living out there in tho water. We could
sec his hugo bulk projected partly above
the surface Ike a water-l"Gg"d capsized
vessel.
Tin going TO see what that thlnE -
and nut a harpoon in him, declared
watching my mon TO see how they 'ooh
the suggestion.
1T could not help smiling at thH evil
dent reluctance some OF my crew showed
about tackling such big game. but 'helr
hanging back simply put m" on my mot
tie and made be more than ever deter
mined to try at the creature, Whatever
it was.
"Lowcr tho lifrboat,' ordered
Who's game TO go with me-"
Two men stepped forward In
couple OF minutes we three put on from
the yacht, while the rest Of the crew
Rugged the rail and watched US start
on our great adventure.
THE creature was evidently drowsy
and was moving on slowly through tho
water as to make scarcely ripple on
the sunlit surface. We brought the boat
pretty close without In the least disturb
ing him.
Now for IT, said. standing up In
the bow with a harpoon poised ready
10 drive it into his vitals.
You may be sure Il was an exciting
moment, for didn't know what might
happen when the creature felt the sharp
steel piercing his hide. | dared not fail
TO strike and strike deep. and nerved
myself to hurl the harpoon with all my
strength into the animals body.
WIKI. the weapon flew from my
hand and struck true TO my aim. II
went deep and held firmly.
Immediately we hatkcd away somc
little distance, playing out the line That
held the harpoon and Wei we did so.
for the monster dashed out with It's tail
and made such a commotion in IN" water
that VIC must have been swamped had
we not backed out Of danger.
THE creature. maddcncd with pain.
thrashed the water until II fairly boiled.
lis enormous body was the center of
swirling maelstrom made by its convul-
sive gyrat!ons. The monster churncd
the water to foam and set up such I,
swell that our boat rocked drunkenly 1,
and was nearly upset moro than once. |
Suddenly he dashed off like a shot !
towards the open sea, the line fairly |
smoking as we paid II out through the ,
bits Easing the line as best we could. !
We made II fast and Boon were being
towed through the water In the wake .
Of the creature at the fastest pace any
US ever cNpcSlCu W I'N '''"'N - 49,
sirplane. Now began that thrilling.
and ncver-to- be-foFgottcn ,
chase which was 10 last with hardly |
lct-up for two days and a nEht--thlr- !,
ty-nine hours. !
after the first burst OF speed the =,
creature slowed down. We thought he !
vas firing out. and so brought the peat /
up close enough 10 put another harpoon !!
into him, nj the same tine firing num- =,
her OF bullets a. his head.
I'm the meantime the Samoa had !,
weighed anchor and was following us $" /
az 10 render any assistance necessary
in capturing tho game. but as the crea- |
ture showed little signs Of exhaustion |
,hcrc vas nothing tho crew of the Samoa
could do but keep US IN sight
Tho second attach; with hsrpoon and /
bullets served only 10 cncrg.zc the crca- ,
turc. and he put on speed I'M IL IL n" /,
to Gny thai VIC were going {
at tho ratio Of thirty or forty rIilcS nm :
hour for most OF tho time The yacht ,
was soon outd!starc"d and GnAlIy a. ""
drew away Il disappeared In IN" h"rI- ,
ION and we d.d nos see i again Tor ,
many hours
Tho day wore on without further
incident, AMI after the n:Ht thr"i OF
adventure had passed "" s"ti!'d down ,
to steady Job III u, ana - ''~'' ~
he Il question Of which should Glrc IN !
nrst. i
Night crmc on. calm md r"nocNnl' nnd !
tho moon rose over An untrouhl"d H"''
sayo cor That huge, rnysterious creature
plouehinE ,radly through tho dark
water, draag.ae our p't!fuliy small boat
In Itp WAKE. We woro far from lind;
in fact, We did moi know whore wa wore
and could only toll h. the position OF
tho stars tho direction OF cur general
courAc.
"nnco wran night had rotuHd com
I.ic;oly down and VIZ were beginning 10
feel anxious IN 10 tho outcome OF our
adventure. tho l!gtia Of vnSael WIN
Killed. on the HORIZON rnd nllnd up win !
hon,, that cur trnah.nr would Aoon DO
over. for wo weru certain II was INC I
Yacht aamoR searching for ns. II was
snin. south, and we cano hrnndsido OF
thn vessai ue reroGn'z@i he' a. ooh'
Of tho Morgnn line bound for Key west
Twice more during tho NIGHT Wa
oassed boats and hailed them, hut they
too went on their way without answer
ing our calls, The irony Of our situa-
tIon was made manifest next day when
We learned that tho boat we had soon
IaA was really and truly tho Samoa
looking for US, We had passed herl