Roving Jack, The Pirate Hunter — page 129: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ROVING JACK, THE PIRATE HUNTER. 149 I ee ee He was fully fifty yards before his pursuers, _ Could he succeed in reaching the boat and push- ing it off, he might be saved. The pirates evidently perceived his intentions, and resolved, if possible, to prevent him from carrying them into practice. Shots were heard, and bullets whistled close past. Simon’s ear, But though horribly scared, the ex-sweep ncvyer, for one moment, relaxed his pace, He ran headlong against the boat, pushed her by main force into the water, and, with two awkward strokes of the oars, placed himself beyond the reach of his foes. The pirates stopped upon the beach, and began to reload the weapons they had discharged. “They mean to shoot me, I shall be killed after all!” the unhappy youth groaned, as he watched these warlike preparations, He applied himself vigorously to the oars, al- though unaccustomed to the task, Bang! went a musket, The bullet crashed through the stern of the boat, knocking splinters up into Simon’s eyes. In his fright he dropped the oars and fell into the bottom of the boat. i Other weapons were discharged, and, although the bullets did not touch Simon, they whizzed by his head in such a style as to make him feel very uncomfortable, Then they ceased firing after a few minutes, and the fugitive ventured to raise his head. To his horror he saw that one of the Spaniards had stripped and was wading into the water with the evident intention of swimming after the boat. On came the man; he was out of his depth, and swimming vigorously, Suddenly he uttered a loud shriek, and threw up his arms, : Then there was a short struggle ; the water be- came red and foamy, Those who heard the cry and saw the blood- stained wave, knew that he had been seized and devoured by a shark, This catastrophe was in Simon’s favour. None of the pirates seemed inclined to follow the example of their daring but luckless comrade. The boat in which Simon was gradually drifted further and further from the shore; the bullets occasionally fired after him dropped into the sea some yards astern. He was saved from the hands of his bloodthirsty pursuers. Then came a new source of alarm. Drifting out to sea in an open boat without sail or oars! When would he reach land again? What unknown coast would he be cast upon? Or would he fall a prey to the grim destroyer— hunger, and leave his bones to be picked by sea birds ? With despair in his heart, he arose, and began to look about him. Hurrah ! hurrah ! After all starvation might for a time be averted, for there, in the boat, was a small cask containing water, a package ef biscuit, and some pieces of salt pork, Simcn’s courage began to revive, the more as he also discovered a rusty cutlas and a few carpenter’s tools. In fact, from the furniture of the boat, it ap- peared as though the pirates had mutinied against their comrades, and had been sent adrift to shift for themselves in the best way they could. So Simon began to be of better cheer, and thought thas he was not so badly off after all. Poor fellow! His had been a rough life—few comforts, and many hard blows and huffets from the world. He little knew the hardships he had still to undergo, The boat drifted on and on until the island he had left behind appeared only a dim indistinct mass on the horizon. Tbe sun began to sink, and from its position in the sky, Simon began to be of opinion that he was floating in a south-westerly direction. Night came on, the moon and stars were hidden from sight, and Simon laid himself down in the bottom of the boat to sleep. CHAPTER LXIX, SIMON SMUT ON THE OCEAN BOAT. IN AN OPEN THE day had fully dawned, and the sun was high in the heavens, when Simon awoke from his sleep. He sat up, swallowed some biscuit and. water, and then looked around him. The boat seemed to be drifting on towards land, There was a low sandy island right before him. Simon little cared what that land might be, so that he could set foot upon its shores. He was most heartily tired of the ocean, and wished that he had never trusted himself upon its smiling, trea- cherous surface. At length the bows of the boat grated upon the sand, and Simon leaped ashore. He hauled the boat up a little way so that the waves might not carry it ont to sea, and then sat down upon the sand, For nearly an hour he thus sat in deep and melancholy reverie, till the scorching heat of a tropical sun, pouring down upon his head, roused him to a sense of his situation, Simon began to turn his thoughts upon his present position, and to what would be the measures most advisable to take, He hauled his boat a little further up on the beach (luckily the craft was not a very heavy one), and fastened the painter to the old cutlass, which he fixed in the sand up to the hilt. He then proceeded to survey the island, or rather sand-bank on which fortune had thrown him. It appeared to be about half a mile long, and rather more than a quarter of a mile broad, There was not a vestige of any kind of vegeta- tion to be seen, neither tree nor bush, nor evena blade of grass. It seemed as though at high tide the sea dashed nearly over the island, In the centre there was a high mound washed up by the waves, and, as the tide was still rising, Simon resolved to remove his quarters to this spot, He carried up the water-cask, the biscuit-bag, the-tools, and the pieces of pork. | Then he applied all his strength to the task of dragging up the boat; but he could not make much protress. All he could do was to lift forward alternately the bows and the stern of the boat, and so make a very slow way forward. At length, however, he accomplished his task, and, sorely fatigued, laid himself down to rest. But the sun was too hot, so he had to arrange a shelter in the best way he could. Se COMmicooo