Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1923-12-14
CHAPTER XVII
"Pieces of Eight"

OWln6 " the CduL OI the VESSEL
the masts hung out over the water
and from my perch on the cross-trees
| had nothing below me but the
surface of the bay. Hands, who wa,
not so far up, was, in consequence
nearer to the ship, and fell between
me and the bulwarks. He rose once
to the surface in a lather of foam
and blood, and then sunk again foI
good. AS the water settled, l could
see him lying huddled together on
the clean, bright sand in the shadow
of the vessels sides. A fish or two
whipped past his body. Sometimes,
by the quivering of the water, he ap-
peared to move a little, as if he were
trying to rise. But he was dead
enough, for all that, being both shot
and drowned, and was food for fish
in the very place where he had de-
signed my slaughter.
| was no sooner certain of this
than | began to feel sick, faint, and
terrified. The hot blood was running
over my back and chest The dirk,
where it had pinned my shoulder to
the mast, seemed to burn like hot
iron, yet it was not so much these
real sufferings that distressed me,
for these, it seemed to me, l could
bear without a murmur; it was the
horror l had upon my mind of fall
ing from the cross trees into the
still, green water beside the body
of the cockswain.
I chung with both hands till my
nails ached, and l shut my eyes as II
to cover up the peril. Gradually my
mind came back again, my pulses
quieted down to a more natural time,
and / was once more in possession OF
myself.
1t was my first thought to pluck
forth the dirk; but either it stuck too
hard or my nerve failed me, and
desisted with a violent shudder
oddly enough, that very shudder dld
the business. The knife, in fact,
had come the nearest in the world
to missing me altogether; 1t held me
by a mere pinch of skin, and this the
shudder tore away. The blood ran
down the faster, to be sure, but
was my own master again, and only
tackled to the mast by my coat ana
shirt
These last 1 broke through with
a sudden jerk, and then regained the
deck by the starboard shrouds. For
nothing in the world would l have
again ventured, shaken as l was, up
on the overhanging port shrouds,
from which Israel had so lately fall
en-.
went below and did what could
for my wound; it panied me good
deal. and still bled freely, but 1t
was neither deep nor dangerous, nor
did it greatly gall me when l USED
nv arm. Then l looked around me,
and as the ship was now, in a sense,
my own, began to think OF clearing
it from it's last passenger-the deau
man, O'Brien.
He had pitched, as I have SAID,
against the bulwarks, where he lay
like some horrible, ungainly sort OF
puppet; life-size, indeed, but how !
different from life's color or hfe's
comeliness! In that position, could
easily have my way with him, and as
the habit of tragical adventures had I
worn off almost all my terror for the I
dead. | took him by the waist as II s
he had been a sack of bran, and with
one good heave, tumbled him over '
board He went in with sounding
plunge. the red cap came off, ana [
remained floating on the surface, '
and as soon as the splash subslded, l
/ could see him and Israel lying slae /
nv side. both wayering with the {
tremuIous movement of the water. S
O'Brien, though still quite young t
man. was very bald. There he lay /
with that bald head across the knees S
of the man who killed him, and the t
quick fishes steering to and FRO over .
both. a
7 was now alone upon the snip; t
the tide had just turned. The sun
was within so few degrees of setting n
that already the shadow of the pines a
upon the western shore began 10 b
reach right across the anchorage and b
fall in patterns on the deck Inc n
evening breeze had sprung up, ana T.
though it was we'll warded off by the v
hill with the two peaks upon the
east. the cordage had begun to sing k
softly to itself and the idle sails 10 G.
rattle to and fro. - "
began to see a danger to the
,hip. The jibs 1 speedily doused ana u
brought tumbling to the DECK Dut C
he mainsail was a harder matter; Il
If course, when the schooner canteu n
,yer. the boom had swung outDoaru' 2
md the cap of it and a foot or TWO D
If sail hung even under water; O.
bought this made it still more dan b
ferrous. yet the strain was so neavy h
hat I half feared to meddle AT last p
cot INV knife and cut the halyards: Of
me peak dropped instantly a great W
,ellv of loose canvas floated broad OF
Ipon the water; and since, pun as
liked, 1 could not bulge the doWn- d.
Iaul. that was the extent OF what l fa
Guild accomplish. For the rest the 81
Iispaniola must trust to luck IKE CT
myself. W
BY this time the whole anchorage W
lad fallen into shadow = the last IL
avs, | remember, falling through bl
.lade of the wood, and SHINING tn
right as Jewels on the flowery m
Mantle of the wreck. 1t began to
e chill. the tide was rapidly fleet- al
ng seaward, the schooner setting so
lore and more on her beam-ends; by
1 scrambled forward and looked tn
yer. It seemed shallow enough, ana a
Gliding the cut hawser in both or
ands for a last security, let myself co
rop softly overheard. The water
reached my waist; the SAND st