Year: 1871

s'THE STRANGEST ADVENTURE"


."Yes, could tell you plenty of sto-
ries like that I've seen few adven-
lures in my time"


"You have indeed; but won't you
give me few more? It's early yet"
We were sitting in the half-demolished
summer-house of little village inn on
the coast of Brittany-in all probability
the only wakeful inhabitants of the
whole place, for sitting up till eleven
P. M. is an enormity unknown in that
primitive region. My companions stern
swarthy face and tangled black beard,
seen beneath the uncertain light of the
rising moon, might have made him ap-
pear, to any person of unsteady nerves,
rather an uncanny" comrade for a
midnight tete-a-tete; but in spite of his
repellent manner and miner-like rough
ness of speech, there was an indescriba-
BILE something in his tone and bearing
which convinced me that, however he
might have fallen, or been forced into
his present non-descript way of life, he
had Ito use the common phrase) "been
a gentleman once" This, however, was
mere conjecture on my part; for in all the
marvellous diorama of personal adventure
which he had spread before me-riotous
reveals in Australian taverns, succeeded
by days of deadly peril in antarctic seas
fights with pirates in the Straits of NAL
acca, following upon weeks of luxurious
Incidence amidst the lotus-eater of
Brazil sledge drives across Russian
steppes, and bear hunts in American
forests-there was not the slightest hint
at his early life or original station in So
ciety. 1t was at the close of vivid de-
scription of hurricane off Cape Horn
that my Ulysses paused in his narrative,
and [ reiterated my request for another
page from this eventful autobiography.
What? not tired yet ? It's not every
one that could stand hearing a fellow
talk SO long about himself"


WE'LL" said l, "I'n only ask you
for one more tell me the strangest ad-
venture you ever had.'


The wanderer started slightly, and
then said, in an altered voice. "You've
made a better bargain than you think
for. l a0iU tell you the strangest of all,
and let us see how you like it. l don't
ask you to believe it, because [ know
that when you put these sort of things
into books people laugh, and talk of
Baron Munchausen, and all that. I've
read the Baron," he went on, noticing
my look of surprise, and many another
book that you'd never give me credit
for; but in book this story Pm going
to tell you would be impossible; and
it's just because it seems impossible that
it is true"


$50 says Byron" interrupted I,
speaking lightly, in order to dissipate
the effect involuntarily produced upon
me by the terrible emphasis of the
mans tone and manner.


"I've read Byron too," he rejoined,
though you mayn't think it. That
description of the sunset in Greece was
always favorite bit of mine.


"But | must get to my story. You
remember how those two fellows robbed
my tent, and how fired ali the six bar
rels of my revolver into them as they
ran off? Well, it was just after that job
that I shifted my tent away from the
rest, thinking I'd be more comfortable
by myself for a Bit You'll say this
was rather venturesome after I'd been
robbed once already; but then, you see,
these beauties that | fired at thought
they'd fairly cleaned me out. Nobody
knew that I'd got lot more buried un-
der big gum tree, some two hundred
yards off; so the whole camp thought |
was dry, and you may be sure | did not
undeceive them. Well, | moved my
tent up to the tree where the gold was,
and there staid | still stuck to my
| digging, to make up for what I'd lost. ]
got middling lot of dust every day, but
took care to let nobody see more of it
than 1 could help; so folks got to think
| was down on my luck, and left off
minding about me at all.


zone night I'd been working pretty
late, and got chilled right through and
though | rolled my blanket well around
me after turning into my hammock, [
couldn't get warm anyhow; and so |
shivered awav till fell asleep. Then |
| fell to dreaming that was in trance,
like a man | once read about in Amer
lea, and that they thought me dead, and
| were going to bury me. tried my
hardest to move or scream out, or some
thing. but no good; and | heard the cof
fin lid slap to, and the first spadeful of
earth fall on it, and then awoke.
I" 1t was a fine, bright morning, and
through the opening of the tent l could
see the sun shining, and hear the picks
and cradles getting to work as usual.
But my dream wasn't all fancy, for I
felt as if were bound down, and could
not move an inch /; and yet it wasn't
quite that either-it was more as if [
had no substance left, but was all air.
and shadow. If ever living man felt
| like ghost, / did then. -


"Well, ] didn't think of being fright
ened just at first | felt more put out
and foolish, like man who's had
tumble, or got splashed all over by a
cart. 1t seemed so queer for a great
strong fellow like me to be laid by the
heels that way, and at first the thought
of it almost made me laugh; so there l
lay like l.g for ever so long, listening
to all the noises from the camp, till at
last (about noon it must have been, by
the SUM- l began to feel hungry, and
commenced looking very hard at my
damper and cold mutton, which lay
| upon a log t'other side of the tent.