Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

Bar 7 ce is The crew now crowded forward, with similar well-wishes, and the unfortunate cockney was iwirly hustled over the ship’s side into the frail 2ig, which was almost swamped by his weight. ‘There are the oars, sir,” sung out the cap- tain, ‘‘lhope you will find them easy to your hands, Farewell! Bon voyage! Cut her loose, lads!” The order was executed at once, and the boat, with its occupant, drifted off. At the same mo- ment we let out our main sheet and continued onourcourse. We looked back over the stern, and saw the little boat going up and down, in and out of the troughs of the great swells, with its occupant sitting in the stern, looking the very picture of despair, You needn’t suppose that Captain Joker was eruel enough to leave the cockney in this pre- dicament, He merely wanted to learn him a lesson in good manners, And, just as the gig and its occupant were almost out cf sight, we rounded to and bore down for her, tacking against the strong breeze, To show you the captain’s kindness of heart, just es we were pre- péring to round to, a sail was signaled cn our starboard bow. Ten chancest> ore it was en- other prize, end the temptations tu keep cn our course wero exceedingly strorg ia us all, es- pecially in the skipper, who was as fond of prize-money as any man I ever saw. Never- theless, Le ordered us t) round to and bear up forthe gig. The mean old dog of a first mate undertovk to argue him into leaving the English- man to his tate, when he was met with a stern rebuke, ‘‘Mr, Saunders,” (that was the name of the first mate) said he, ‘‘if ycu have nothing but such heartless cruelty to urge, [ will beg you to defer your suggestions to a mere fitting occa- sion. I am compelled to say, sir, that your heartlessness—not to say avarice—is astonish- ing, sir, astonishing!” But the merry captain could not remain long in a bad humor, even with such a flinty-minded oll Sawney as Saunders. When we had got pretty close to the gig, the forlorn, disconsolate 2spect of Adolphus de Courcy was too much for a mirth loving nature to endure with solemnity, end Joker burst into laughter, as did the entire ship's company, who were all congregated for- ward, looking over the bows. ; At a look trom the captain, Tony Trybrace sung out: ‘* Would your Honor like to come aboard 2” A motion of the Britisher’s head signified his assent to the proposition, and, with great ciffi- culty, owing to the roughness of the running sea, we grappled the boat, and hoisted the en- tive compoodle, bag and baggage, to the deck of the Queer Fish, The cockney had long ago resigned himself t> despair, and when he found himself safe and dry at last, the revulsion was too great, and he Lurst into tears. Cap:ain Joker went up and tcok him by the haud, kindly. ‘My dear fellow,” said he, ‘‘ I had no inten- ticn of cutting you adrift more than tempora- rily. It seemed to me that the tone which you z:sumed to me, on board my ship, was so very extraordinary for a prisoner to address his cap- tor with, that a little lesson of this kind wouid uot be bestowed in vain. Trust me, my dear s.r,if I have caused you any pain, you coww- peed me to do so, and I’m sorry for it. As tong as you remain upon my ship, pray consider my cabin your own. I would treat you as a guest rather than as a prisoner. Pray dine with me to-day. And dinner is almost on the table.” This magnanimity almost crushed the poor prisoner. He dried his tears, and said in a inucd saanlicr voice than heretofore, as he grasp- ed the hand of bis generous foe: ‘Captain, you’ave the goodness to treat me like ha gentleman, This’ereis returning good fcr evil vith a wengeance, hand I beg to hack- nowledge that I ham halmost crushed by your noble hand helated sentiments,” With that, they went down into the cabin to- gether, and, from the way wo heard the corks por} ing. they must have lad a jolly time. Tne lesson was not lost upon the cockney. fiis tone to everybody was thereafter greatly improved. Heremained for some time with us, sud, though we were frequently amused at his wanity and his antipathy to the letter H, we found him, in the main, a pretty good fellow, CHAPTER V. ANOTHER PRIZE—FISHING FOR SHARKS. if was onthe third morning following tkeevent narrated in our last chapter that we fell in with another— cur second prize, She was a noble East Indiaman, a ship that could almost have picked up our saucy little privateer, and carried her at her stern hke a yawl, bad it not been for the difference of the cannon we carried. But, of course, that made all the difference in the | world. Ske was loaded with silks, spices and pre- served fruits, and was immensely valuable. We had a brisk chase after her, but brought her | to in an hour by a shot from our irresistible | amidships gun. A large number of passengers were on board, which made a disposal of her somewhet uncomfortable. We had to deplete our ship’s company again by putting a prize- crew on board. But we, here again, had some consolation in this, inasmuch es we received several recruits from the crew of the prize. We had struck a bee-line southwardsome days before, and were now approaching tie equator —the days not growing much cooler ia conse- quence, One day, when we had got becalmed, the whole ship’s company (almost) went in bathing, and a thrilling incident wes tLe result. The captain, always glad to make the men happy, had caused the mainsail to be slung over the side, with either end upheld by thesover- hanging’ yards, the belly of the canvas making a long dipin the brine, thus making a delight- ful shallow for the more timid swimmers to ex- ercise their talents in, while bolder spirits might strike out to any distance they pleased. A great peri] was involved in this operation of mid-sea tropical bathing, on account of the sharks, which are always more or less numerous in the wake of a ship. Well, we «ll had an excellent time in the wa- ter, and were notina hurry tocome out. The captain had got tired of laughing at us, and had gone below for a siesta. Oid Snollygoster, after having got through with bis ablutions, was lazily watching us from the rail of the ship, He was probably as able a swimmer as ever lived. He now amused us with sundry suggestions and cautions with re- gard to sharks, warning us not to go too far from the ship, and solemnly averrinug that his assistance need not be counted on, in evert we were attacked. Several of us hud swum to a considerable distance from the vessel, when suddenly some cne sung out: ‘* Sharks! snarks!” I thought it was a joke at first, but upon turning and casting a look seaward, I, sure enough, discovered several of the ominous black fins cutting water toward us. I gave the alarm and struck out for the ship, with the strength of forlorn hope, followed by all the rest, To experience the horrible sensa- tions of such a situation isan event which no after events, however stirring, can ever obliter- ate. Itishorrible! horribie! Thatisall Il can say. Every instant you expect to hear the snap of the ravencus jaws in your rear’, and the next to feel them on your limbs, I think I n ver in my life swam so swiftly as upon that occasion. The ship was not distant—only a few rods, but it seemed a league to our excited imaginations, At length, however, with a wild cry of relief, I felt the canvas of the outstretched sail under me, end, clambering quickly up the side, was safeon the bulwarks. My comrades followed right at my heels, and the next mumient I had the satisfaction of secing them safe at my side. All of them? No, notall. A feeble cry behind apprised us that one was less fortunate than the rest. It was Dicky Drake. He had succeeded in almost reaching the sail, and was now all but surrounded by the infernal, swiftly-moving black fins of the monsters, who were actually pushing him about with their muzzles. They evidently thought that they had asure thing, and might as well have a little spert with their morsel before devouring it. he poor fellow floated on the waves, paralyzed with hcrroer and fright, unable to move hand or foot for his own salvation. Itis very probable that this circum- stance helped to save his life. We were allso horrified at the spectacle that we were powerless to render any assistance, even if it were possible, ‘* Avast there, you lubbers!” said a clear, rough voice behind us. Upon looking back we saw that it was the giant negro, Snollygoster, who spoke. Unbe- known to us, he had stripped himself, and now stood naked, with a long clasp-knife, open, and between histecth. With one bound he was in the shallow of the sail below, and, with another, he grasped pcor Dicky Drake by the hair of the head and drew him in, and we let Gown a rope and had the satisfacticn cf drawing the poor devil, more dead tian alive, to the deck. But the matter did notend here. Rightin the midst of the sharks sprung tke heroic ney Blake, the Boy Privateer. 5 Snollygoster. Hedove outof sight. In an in- stant the water became suffused with blood. ‘‘ By Jove! they’ve nabbed him!” exclaimed old Bluefish, excitedly. But they hadn’t done anything of the kind. The next instant the woolly head of the negro made its appearance above the surface, It was shark’s blood that was dyeing the water. Again the darky disappeared, and the water grew red- der and redder, as another of the monsters floated, belly up, with a terrific gash in his paunch. The negro seemed to be as much at home in the sea as the fish themselves. It was a terrific combat, but cne of intense interest. In vain would the monsters roll over on their backs and snap at their inexorable fce, or at- tempt to cut him in two with a sweep of their tremendous flukes. He was away again as quick as he came, attacking them from under the surface. In this he now hed an advantage, as the water was so bloody that the fish could not see the blows by which they were being momentarily stricken to death, by the terrible right arm of heroic negro. At length, five of them were floating, dead cr dying, on the surface, and the rest of them, with one exception, beat a retrea¥, and did not venture within severa: rods, but the grand combat was yet tocome, The one shark that lingered was by far the biggest of the group. I think he was, without doubt, the largest of the species I have ever seen, and I have seen plenty to choose from. He was thirty— five fect in length, if an inch, and when he open- ed his jaws the cavity within was a terrible af- fair, with its double rows of tusks. He seemed determined to take upon himself the championship of the whole family and ad- vanced warily upon the negro, who did not flinch for a single instant. At length and as quick as lightning the monster leaped entirely clear of the sea and brought around his tail like the sweep of ascythe. The darky was out of reach just intime. As it was, theragged edge of the avimal’s fluke just grazed his temple, drawing the blood. But before the unwieldy monster could recover himself for a renewal of the attack the knife of the negro was buried in his side. The wound was not mortal, but it must have been a painful one, to judge by the way the brute lashed the sea in his fury. It, however, served to render bim more wary than before. He now began to swim rcund and round his toe inthe hope of wearying him. But the negro stucd bolt upright in the water, tread- ing it with perfect ease, end ever keeping his face to the sburk, At length the latter, losing patience, charged, hoping 10 Lezr down Snoily with bis snout. But quick @s a wink, just as the animal was upon him, the negro disappeared, and the great effu- sion of blood that instantly followed made us aware that he bad received his death-blow from beneath. I shall never forget the shout with which we greeted the invincible Snollygoster as bis woolly headappearedabove theblood-dyed waters, while the conquered monster drifted off from the side of the ship, lashing the sea feebly with his tail, but fast expiring. Snolly slowly came cut of the water and up the ship’s side, The captain, who Lad witnessed the Jast com- bat, shook him warmly by the band when he reached the deck, while we all gatbered around bim with rousing cheers. Little Dicky Drake caught him by the hand and fairly sobbed. IL must say that | had a strong impulse to catch the great negro in my arms and bug him for very joy. But Snolly rapidly replaced his clothes, with the simple remark: ‘* Dis nigga nebber sce’d de fish he was afeard of.” You may think that this is quite sufficient for one fish story, but it ism’t. We weren’t done with the sharks vet. As the blood faded out of the water the school of sharks again clustered akout the ship, and the captain determined to afford the men greater sport by catching one, if possibie. ‘Ow will you do it?” exclaimed our prison- er, ‘‘’Ow will you ’ook one when you ’aven’t any worms to bait with?” ‘Hal ba! ha!” laughed the captain. ‘‘ It’s true we haven’t any fishing worms, nor grass- hoppers, for that matter. But you lave been complaining of the mosquitoes all day, my dear sir, and why not use them? However, wemight as well try ‘em first with a little bacon. So Pickle, just order some one to fetch up the car- cass of that pig that died last night,” The bait was duly brought up on deck, much to the astonishment cf the Fritisher.