Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1020 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

16 of the South Sea Islands—are so much at home in the water as these Mexicans of the Southwest Coast. They would swim and dance in the water around us by the hour, begging to have some one toss a shilling to them, I have re- peatedly tossed a small silver coin overboard in- to the sea, when one of these children of the waters would dive like a fish, catch the coveted coin before it reached a depth of many fath- oms, return to the surface, display it triumph- antly, and then put it in his mouth for safe- keeping and clamor for some one to try him again with a similar bribe. The people are very ignorant, contented and happy. They have few or no cares to distract their attention. Their wherewithal of subsist- ance grows on the trees above their heads: and for clothing—they wear so little that it can hardly be taken into account as an item of ex- pense, We intended to sail from Acapulco on a cer- tain day in the latter part of January, but a severe storm sprung up in the afternoon which made it much more prudent to lie fur a while longer under the shelter of the excellent har- bcrage in which we were, Nevertueless all hands were got aboard ship and everything put in readiness for a staré on the morrow, wind and weather permitting. It was on this evening, when a number of us were imerrily gathered round our table in the forecastle discussing our grog and pipes, that old Bluefish, upon earnest solicitation, spun us one of his exceedingly improbable yarns. Clearing his throat with a long pull at his glass of rum, and lighting a fresh pipe, he com- menced his yarn of ‘ THe PHANTOM Sale. ‘* P’y’aps most on yer,” said he, ‘‘ has hearn tell on the Phantom Ship, but I'll bet my old boots ag’in’ a new tarpaulin and westcut that none on yer ever was aboard o’ that craft, as my moth- er’s son was,in the person of myself. How- somedever that is neither this way nor that, for I must pick up the eend of my yarn at a shorter beginning. ‘* It happened all along o’ the schooner Jolly Admiral. I was a cabin-boy on her. We had been to Hong Kong for a load o' tea and was somewhar atwixt Bombay and the Cape of Good Hope on a bright moonlight nightin the month of June when we first see’d the Phantom Ship. We didn’t know her true character until we came within a quarter of a mile of her and saw her flimsy, threadbare canvas and the devil’s blue-lights burning on her bowsprit and after- jib. We could see the captain and the crew go- ing about on her in a ghostly sort of way. They all looked very melancholy and didn’t pay any attention to us whatsoever. ‘* We could hear their voices, too, and jist let me tell yer, if you had heard them ’ere voices’ you wouldn’t want to do it ag’in in a hurry. Well, all of a sudden, although there warn’t no breeze to speak of, the sails of the Phantom Ship bellied out, and away she scudded to the southward like a streak of blue thunder stuffed with lightning, leaving us jist nowhars at all. ‘* We was somewhat taken aback, but not so much surprised nuther, for, yer see, we had been made acquainted with the fact that them ‘ere seas was particularly haunted by the devil’s eraft, and we was, therefore, sort of prepared for meeting her. But somehow, as soon as the critters faded away from our sight I jist whis- pers to myself, ‘ If ever I gits the chance I’m go- ing to board that’erecraft, or I ain’t a Bluefish, but only a blarsted mackerel.’ ‘‘ Tt warn’t long afore I had the chance. Only two nights arter the one aforesaid, the sea was swept by oue of them’ere orful hurricanes or simooms as is nat’ral tothem parts. Although we was pretty well prepared to meet it, the darned thing struck us so suddenly that we was: almost throwed on our beam-eends. The night grew as black as pitch. You couldn’t ’a’see’d your hand afore your faceif you was as white as asnowdrift, 1 never see’d, afore or since, sich orfulwaves. You’d go down inter the hol- lers of ’em and think you'd never come up ag’in. And the wind—well,it’s no use tryin’ to de scribe one o’them ere simooms. Suffice ter say that it lifted us clean out cf the sea more than ouce, and sometimes carried us, like a Mother Carey’s chicken, for a mile or two over the waves, without our keel touchin’ a single crest.” ‘Is this story true?” I here interposed, with a solemn voice, quite aghast at the imagination of the old salt. . ‘In course it is, yer lubberly son of a sea- cook! Does yer suppose a cove as old as I be woald toll yer anything as wasn’t right-down Biok net Barney Blake, the Bey Privateer. * 4 ; , : : % ‘‘ As 1 was a-sayin’, the force of the wind| ‘‘ Young man, says he, slowly recoverin’ was orful. little craft as ever cut blue water, and we weathered it bravely. Sometimes, when the wind would sort of sink away a little, we would drive right through tue big waves, until even our main-tops were ail under water; but, as our hatches were clewed down and our deck was pretty tight, we allers came out cf our bath as fresh as ever. Then the gale would start up again, and away we would go over the tops of the waves. ‘‘it was on one of these occasions that our lookout sung out, ‘ Lights on the starboard bow!’ In course, we was all curious enough at first; but, jist as we rose up on a big crest, what should we see but the Phantom Ship, hold- in’ right across our course, and we jist ready to run inter her larboard bulwarks with the next pitch we made. She had all her blue lights burnin’, and there was a sort of yaller haze all around her. Notwithstandin’ we was under bare poles, and found it hard work to keep from bein’ blown skywards at that, the stranger had every stitch of canvas spread, and didn’t seem to suffer anywise nuther, ‘We hadn’t time to make many observations, howsomdever, be- fore we struck the cussed thing right in her side, and began to shoot through her, jist asif she was made of smoke. I was standin’in the bows of tbe Jolly Admiral atthe time. ‘ Now or never!’ | sings out to myself; and, simul- taneous, I madea jump ard caught the ratlin’s of the stranger, while the Jolly Admiral passed on her way and left me swingin’ like a pendu- lum in the air. ‘**T tell down on the deck of the stranger, but immejiately resumed my lezs and took a survey of things in gineral. Ait tue crew moped about the deck, attendin’ to their duties, while the captain bellered out his orders through a trum- pet made of condensed wind, lined with p’izen and streaks of lightning. ‘* At first none on’em paid any attention to me, But at last the first mate—an orful-lookin’ cuss—came right up to me, grabbed me by the gullet, and dragged me to the quarter-deck, and stood me up afore the skipper of the Phan- tom Ship. ‘** Here, Cap,’ says he, ‘is a little cuss of a cabin-boy, as was left behind by that infernal craft as jist ran through us.’ ‘* (L forgot to mention as how the hole, which the Jolly Admiral made in passin’ through the stranger, healed itself up ag’in in the most sn- pernatural way in the world.) ** Well, the phantom skipper looked at me a moment without sayin’ a word, even so much as a civil ‘ How d’ye do?’ He was the orfulest- lookin’ cuss it was ever my fortin’ to stumble across. His flippers were those of a skeleton, and his head was a reg’lar death’s head, with eyes as burned like two coals of fire, while a pair 0’ cross-bones was suspended across his bosom, I suppose they was some sort o’ medals given the cuss on account o’ meritorious con- duct. At length the critter spoke to me, an’ his voice was orful strange. You could hear it very distinctly, but it sort 0’ seemed to come. from a long ways off, jist like the voice of a eerit. ‘** What’s the name o’ that ’ere ship what jistranthrough us?’sayshe, ina melancholy way. ‘“* Please yer Honor,’ says I, respectfully touchin’ my cap, ‘it warn’t a ship, but a schooner—the Jolly Admiral of New Bedford.’ ‘** Ha, boy,’ says he, ‘ dostest thou dare to banter me with thy jokes. Howsomdever, what’s your name?’ ‘* * Biuefish,’ says I. ‘**The son of old Sol Bluefish of Nantucket, the man as was hanged?’ says he. ‘*¢ The same,’ says I. ‘** Ha! is it indeed so?’ he ejaculated, leanin’ his chin on his breast,in a meditatin’ mood. ‘He was @ nice man,’ he added; ‘he was also a particular friend 0’ mine,’ ‘** Allow me to take your flipper,’ says I, puttin’ on a free-and-easy air. ‘It allers gives me avast amount of pleasure to meet any one as was on good terms with the old man.’ ‘* With that, I grabbed him by the bony hand, but immediately let the thing drop like a piece of a thunderbolt, forit burned like a coal _of fire. He contemplated me with an affection- ate smile, ‘* * Yes,’ said he, ‘ I knowed the old man well. And how’s your mother? Do you know,’ says he, ‘I came mighty near marryin’ that gal once myself? ***God forbid!’ says I, with a unconscious shudder. ** When I said these ’ere words, the skipper’s knees trembled, and he almost fainted away. Howsomdever, we had as jolly a ; himself, ‘be very careful how you utters tie name o? that individual on this ’ere shij.rr we'll all be knocked into the middle of kingd:+ come. Tell me,’says he,‘ what was youros;.. - in boardin’ this ’ere craft?’ ‘*< T was jist sort o’ curious ter see about the state of yer health,’ saysIl. ‘ And now,11 1. all the same to you, suppose you put me ashore.’ **¢ Thou hastest thy wish, my son,’ says he, in a kindly voice. And with that he taps me gently over the head with that ’ere trumpet of his, and I immediately sunk inter a deep state of non-sensibility. ; ‘‘ When I woke, I found myself sleeping quietly in my hammock on board the Jolly Ad- miral, and when I tells my story, all on ’em ‘laughs at me, and even denies that there was any Phantom Ship at all. ; ‘¢ But, in course, that didn’t make no differ- ence to me, since it was all true.” ‘‘It was a dream,” suggested Tony Try- brace. ‘* Certainly,” said I. ‘* Avast. yer lubbers! what I knows?” And with this conclusive argument, Biue- fish ‘*turned in.” CHAPTER XVII. HOMEWARD BOUND. THE next day, the tempest having abated, and everything being snug on board the Queer Fish, we weighed anchor, took the northeaster- ly trades on our top-gallants, and started on onr return round the Cape. Every one was exceedingly jolly, as is usually the case on board a vessel homeward bound, aiter a long and prosperous voyage. Very little occurred worth recording. We didn’t meet with a single prize on our way to the Cape, but had another merry time with our Patagonian friends. On the voyage up, on the Atlantic side, how- ever, we captured four more prizes, one of them a very large and valuable ship, loaded down al- most to the gunwales with coffee and spices, When off the Bahama Banks, we were chased by a fast-sailing British war-vessel, and had our mizzen-top knocked off by her bow-chasers. But we successfully returned the compiimenf with our swivel, and, as nothing could overhaul the Queer Fish before a stiff breeze, succeeded in making our escape. We arrived at Boston in the early pa of March, after one of the most memorably suc- cessful voyages on record. Our prizes number- ed thirty-six in ali, and, of these, all but one safely reached American seaports. So, with our pockets stuffed with prize- money, you may guess that we had a jolly time. My yarn is over, and you will hear no more at present from The Boy Privateer. THE END, Doesn’t I know as Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. 909 Midshipman Dare, the Pirate Catcher. 925 The Young Cowboy Captain. 9858 ae Two Midshipmen; or, The Corsair-Chaser’s First. ruse. 949 The Three Lieutenants 959 The Mascot Middy 3; or, The Four Commanders, 966 Fighting Jack Shubrick. 972 Fighting Jack’s Middies; or, Dandy Dick’s Dash. 999 Jack Lang, the Privateer Rover. NEW ISSUES. 1016 The Boy Bugler in Cuba; or, The Cowboy Clan On Deck. By Col, P. Ingraham. 1017 Re ective Ma‘t’s Man-Hunt’} or, Downing the Des- perate Dozen. By Ned St. Meyer. 1018 Dendweed Dict, J.’s, Big Four, By E. L. Wheeler 1019 Burd Bayard’s Close Call. By Capt. Hawthorne, 1020 Barn :y Blake, the Boy Privateer. By H. Johnstone. 1021 Doctor Pau!, Detective. By Leon Lews, 1022 Mean ™nngerfleld’« Desperate Game. Dangerfield Burg, JUST ISSUED. 1010 Kit Bandy’s Big Stix; or, The Rustlers of Jackson Basin. By Ol) Coomes, 1011 Deadwood Dick, Jv.’s, Dutch Pard; or, Rooting Out the Rascals of Skeleton Gorge. By H,L, Wheeler. 1012 The Cripple’» Deat-Sura Clinch; or, Trapping the Old Fraud. By Charles Morris. 1018 Buffalo Bill’s Texas Team. By Col. P. Ingraham. 1014 Middy Ned, tke Runaway; or, Hairbreadth Escapes Afioat and Ashore. - By T. J. Flanagan. jada ale Reporter-Detective’s Big Pull. By Wm. P. : rown. A New Issue Every Tuesday. The Half.Dime Library is for sale by all newsdealers, five gents per copy, or sent by mail on receipt of six cents each, La mf |F By Maj.