Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1128 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

* a af! fis bh 10 we EMES—SC‘CO darkness that precedes dawn having supervened, and feeling weary with the struggle and satisfied that it | had ended in victory—whether the serpent was dead or had made off to sea—the captain and Julian lay down and slept soundly until near midday. When awoke the air filled with aries of birds, which Julian thought sounded like a chorus of thanksgiving. There was a long irregular line of whitish gray in the water drifting out to sea, over which the birds were hovering in great excitement. The captain pronounced it to be the upturned corpse of the monster. They removed the barricades, and came out on the broken deck. It had taken, Julian estimated, more than one hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition, and many thrusts of the long knives to win the conflict. But it was over, and henceforth they could now rest in peace, and with renewed hopes they re- vurned to the island and their tent on the summit. by . oa vtT< *) Trey was CHAPTER XV. THE TIDAL WAVE—ANOTHER SURPRISE. Tr balance of the day was occupied in gathering together combustibles for the beacon fire, of which the captain had previously spoken. It was placed on the highest point of ground, not far from the tent, and composed of the most inflammable material to be found on the island. That nicht they slept, especially the captain, in the confidence of a security which had before been unf it. They were quite busy the next forenoon, but after dinner they set out for the rock at the east end of the island, taking with them a spade and a few yards of sail-cloth, for the purpose of burying the skeleton, which purpose, as will be remem- bered, had been postponed by their fight with the sea serpent. They found everything as they had left it on the vecasion of their former visit to the place. The bright sun, which had that day gilded the tree-tops, and the glassy surface of the little har- bor, and the whole top of the rock with a cheerful! aspect of welcome, to-day shone dull and mistily, and the atmosphere, far from being clear as on the former visit, had in it a drowsy haze which the captain remarked as presaging something un- usual. A nebulous gathering in the southern horizon, too. seenied to indicate, he thought, a sudden change. As there had been no “hick weather since their arrival on the island, he told Julian they must pre- pare for it by housing themselves more strongly on their return. With these incidental observations, they then ave their attention to the especial purpose that ad brought them to the rock. Tenderly, and with reverent hands, they gathered up the relics of frail mortality, wrapping them in the piece of sail Descending the rock, they carried them to a oint midway between the grove and tent, where e sunshine rested all day. They opened a grave in the yielding sand. With uncovered heads they knelt, and the cap- tain uttered a brief prayer—part of the burial service at sea—and the solemn task was soon com- pleted. They returned to the rock. The slab in the niche, whereon the skeleton had rested, was distinctly outlined, but fitting so closely that it was found impossible without other tools to raise it. Julian remembered the chisels that were in the sailor’s chest on the beach, and asked Captain James if he thought they would answer. ‘* Just the thing, if we only had them,’ response, “T'll go for them at once,’’ declared Julian, start- ing off at a rapid pace, and a moment after the captain, looking down, saw him running through tre grove, whistling cheerfully, as was his wont. | The captain paced about a little outside, and then coming within the walls, sat down on a stone geat commanding a view from the small, round windows of the little harbor, and waited for the boy's return. ow long he sat there he could not afterward recall, thouch not for long; but he was suddenly startled by hearing a terrible roar, unlike anything be had ever heard. * was his the | Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. | upon him. “What a narrow escape! But great Heaven! Julian! Where is Julian?” with anguish in his face. Julian was not there! But as he withdrew his glance, he .caught sight of him, Safe! hardly three rods distant he saw him caught | by a broken branch, and clinging in the top of one | of the tallest trees. He called to him, and Julian answered cheerily enough, but with evident amazement at his almost miraculous preservation, in his tones. The boy shook himself toose from the friendly limb that had caught him, and climbing down, came | dripping and thankful to the top of the skeleton rock. The two castaways shook hands and embraced | point of the rock, and was gazing toward the tent, } } | | each other. he first heard the roar of its coming. He had secured the chisels and put them in his pocket, and when he saw the long, dark line with its white erest advancing, he started to run, but if over- took him before he had taken a dozen steps. He had felt himself caught up and borne irresistibly onward, and gave himself up for lost, when he was suddenly arrested by his clothes catching the broken branch, to whith he had instantly fastened with all his might and clung for life until the passing water yielded him up, They knelt on the spot and gave thanks to the Giv- er of all good, for their preservation. Laying aside his outer clothing, which was, of course, thoroughly drenched, Julian produced the chisels, and after some little difficulty they succeeded } / | | Julian was on the beach, he told the captain, when | | in raising the slab, which proved to be about four | inches thick, and turned it backward on its edge. A cavity, perhaps a foot in depth and width by three in length, was disclosed. There was a seaman’s cutlass, in a good state of preservation, and some few iron and brass articles for culinary use, but the main object revealed within was a stout box of iron, bound at the corners and | edges with brass. It occupied more than half the space within. The captain took hold of it to lift it out, and ut- | tered an exclamation of surprise at its great weight. | “J was correct, Julian,’’ he said, significantly, ** in ' thinking that sure results would certainly follow your search for your uncle, We are evidently on ‘You think this, then, some of the old pirate’s long-hidden treasure, sir?’ questioned Julian, taking hold of one end of the box. ‘Bearing in mind/the name and date on the face of the cliff, below,” replied the captain, “it looks like it, my boy.”’ He took hold of the other end of the box as he the eve of a new discovery.”’ | It had in it something of the sound of a falling | cataract—of distant thunder rolling momentarily nearer, and of the hissing sharpness of an advanc- iag tempest. At the same moment myriads of birds, screaming | discordantly, flew affrighted past. Captain James, with a premonition of danger strong upun him, sprung to his feet and rushed out. As he did so, he saw the trees of the grove before and around him bowing low, to what seemed an immense wall of seething, driving foam, which parted by the rock upon which he stood, and throwing its spray ever him, went rushing past ike a mid-winter avalanche. What had happened? He instinctively sprung toward the low stone door and grasped it clingingly, as he asked himself the question. Had the island suddenly sunk, or had the ocean suddenly risen to whelm him? Before his startled mind could solve the thought, the gigantic wave had passed, the trees of the grove eappeared, and he saw the mighty volume of “ater go rolling on. | ‘*A tidal wave!” he exclaimed, as the truth burst > Sean + Oellien . 4 Ya ‘Tas i> : Pudieck aris pyaate™ we eT ba in OS =. _ « . EEE. spoke, and it required their united efforts to raise it from its long repose. Resting it upon the edge of the niche, the light, which had grown faint, fell somewhat more strongly ad it, and disclosed an inscription engraved on the id. ‘See if you can make it out, Julian,” said the cap- tain: *‘a tremendous fog is rising seaward, and our stay here must be brief,’ he added, glancing out at the window. Julian bent over the box. There was an engraved death’s head and cross- bones, and underneath, in writing, a terrible denun- ciation of any one who should open the box—save he whose name was engrav a on the side. Julian moved to permit the fast waning light to fall upon the name, It was in large, antique letters, much corroded, like the rest, by time and the elements, but it flashed upon him like lightning from a dark sky. That name!—wonder of wonders!—was Benny Ha- VEN! CHAPTER XVI A BOAT AND A RESCUB, A storm so tremendous as that which had over- Punjab seathless. But the course of the latter vessel was not in the direct path of the hurricane, when she first felt its foree, When it did strike her, however, she was compelled to close-reef every sail, batten down the hatches, and seud before it under bare poles: \ She was drivem widely from her course, but. those In an instant he had clambered to the highest —EE, “A boat. sir, sure! and a movement on board. Two men I think, sir.”’ Springing lightly to the deck again, the comman- der ordered the yards squared, and the man at the wheel to run down to it. A few minutes showed that the look-out was cor- rect, that it was, indeed, a boat with somebody on board. In a few moments more they were within hailing distance. Two men were plainly seen standing up and wav- ing a signal. The sensation.on board the Punjab had increased to quite an excitement, and passengers as well as erew were all clustering to the bulwarks on that side, and Uncle Benny had been joined by the two young girls, Maggie and Jesso. “How came they here, Uncle Benny, have they been wrecked?” inquired Maggie. “Must have come in the boat, my dear,”’ was the old sailor’s practical reply. ‘‘ But, wrecked of course, and perhaps the only survivors.” “Oh, I hope not!” cried the two girls in chorus. They looked over the side, By this time the boat was coming under the quarter, and willing hands were dropping ropes into her, which were eagerly grasped. Uncle Benny gave one glance into the boat below and reeled backward, pale and shaking with emo- tion, ‘That name, Maggie,’ he gasped hoarsely—* that name on ber gunwale, can you make it out? my eyes are dim.”’ Maggie uttered a cry. She could, alas! too surely, ‘‘The Hong Kong!” The name on the boat showed the ship to which it had belonged. The old sailor trembled for a moment like a main- sheet shivering in the wind, with the two young girls clinging to him on each side in excitement and | alarm. Rut his was not the soul. to‘ blanch when, duty called, He rallied again on the instant, and bidding * his two wards,”’ as he had lately called them, to remain quiet where they were, he went forward to where the two men were being.drawn on board, It was the steward and purser—who it-will be re- membered disappeared from the gaze of Julian when the mast of the Hong Kong went by the board. The same crash, it appeared, had carried away the yawl boat, and they had found themselves in the water near it, and had seized upon it as drowning men grasp at st raws—with a gripe that nothing but death can loosen. They had clung to it until daylight, when they had sueceeded in righting and bailinss her ont, They were yery much worn and exhausted, and were immediately taken into the commander’s cabin, Uncle Benny, at his request, accompanied them. While being suitably refret#ed, they told their | story. taken the Hong Kong, was not likely to have left the | on board were too thankful to have outridden a | tempest in which they knew many a gallant ship had gone down, to feel any special regret at a divergence | ee | that was not without remedy. The morning after the storm, as we know, rose brightly upon the ocean, and the commander having taken his bearings, not without surprise at finding himself blown so far from the regular track, was about resuming his course, when the voice of the look-out at the mast-head was heard hailing the offi- cer of the deck. “ What is it?’ questioned that official through his trumpet. - A boat, sir, I think, but I can’t just make if out.” “Where away?’ demanded the officer, springing into the rigging. “Two points on the weather bow, sir.” | By this time the commander was on deck, and or- | dering the man at the wheel to bear up two points, he fook the glass, and sprung up beside the officer, | | } | | | | while a number of those in hearing, including Uncle | Benny, clustered closer. ‘** Mast head there!”’ | ** AY, ay, sir.”’ ‘*Can you make her out yet?” In response to the eager Verran, | of Uncle Ben- ny, they told how they had last seen Julian standing with Captain James, on the bow, only a moment be- fore the Hong Kong struck, The only glance they had of the land induced them to think it a huge, rocky reef, outlying a juttin coast or small island, for they had been a es aroun and past the point by a strong current, clinging to their overturned boat, and barely escaping being dashed to pieces among the breakers. And in hardly as many seconds as it took minutes to tell it, reef, island and breakers vanished away leeward. Then arose the question between Uncle Benny and the commander, at this unsatisfactory conclusion, how far the mer must have drifted before they suc ceeded in righting the yaw), and how far they had come since. The rescued men could not say. They had no means of knowing. The commander got out his charts and made an extended examination, but could find no mention of any reef or island in the vicinity he supposed him- | gelf to be. What should be done in view of all the facts? It hardly required the earnest solicitations of Uncle Benny, backed by the urgent entreaty of the Princess Osaeea to induce Lieut, Berry, the commander, to attempt to find this unknown land. And it was at once determined te cruise two or three days at least, in that locality, in the hopes ot finding it; or, per- haps, of falling in with one of the other boats that had been launched, Many of the passengers, as wvell as the lieutenant- commander, had already heard from either Uncle Benny, or Maggie, Julian’s history, and the roman- tic undertaking of his search for his uncle, Captain Kidd, The singular name of his uncle had, perhaps, given erwise would have had—added to which one-half of the erew, ut least, among whom the story had par- tially got wind, were of the firm opinion that the search was simply a treasure-sceking expedition, for the gold and hidden store of the old pirate himself, and were not slow to declare their desire to join in a search for the searcher. The story of Julian’s encounter with the lanc shark, and of his rescue by Captain James at th eritical moment, when the merciless fingers of hig betrayer were tearing his. mother’s Bible and its treasure from his unconscious clasp—had created ordinary regret due a stranger, that they heard of the disaster to him and his vessel The princess, it appeared, was especiall by the intelligence, she having met Capte on what she called a memorable occasion, saddened n James wh} J * i : A i