Beadle's Half Dime Library Vol. XL, No. 1020 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

6 a rope about an inch and a half in thickness he fastened a large boat-hook. We then slung the rope through a block and made the latter fast to the jibboom. We thus had a first-rate purchase wherewith to fetch up anything short of a few tons’ weight, Having made all ready, we hooked on the bait, and with a dozen stout seamen holding on to the other end, to be ready for anyemergency, welowered her slowly down, The stench of the putrid meat had already set the sharks wi d for first bite, but as we wanted to tuke our choice and capture one of fair size, whenever a little fellow would jump at the bait we wouldquickly haul up and let his jaws gnash together with nothing between them. Abt last, however, one rousing big fellow, who had evidently scented the battle from afar, came rushing up at railroad speed, pushing his voracious way through his smaller fellows, The bait was suspended fully six feet from the surface of the sea, but with a flying leap he took the whoie hog at a swallow, and was hooked, of course. His weight drew the line down into the sea with a tremendous splash, almost jerk- ing one or two of usoverboard. But the next instant we were ready for him, and began to haul in with a will and a ‘‘ yo-heave-ho!” The old fellow didn’t like it, but come he must, and, inspite of himself, he began to rise clear of tha water. He then endeavored to bite off the rupe, but Tony had been too sharp for him there, by twining the line, for three or four feet above the hook, with stout wire, so that the teeth of the monster gritted but harmlessly against the tough rope by which he was held, Slowly but surely we drew him up until we got him taut up against the tackle-block, when another squad of sailors threw out some grap- nels to haul him on deck, tail-foremost. The cther men stood by, armed with cutlasses, hatchets and boarding-pikes. ‘* Now, ba ready to pull him in when I give the word,” sung out the captain, who was danc- ing about,the merriest man onthe ship. ‘* And be sure you keep out of reach of his flukes, or your mothers will forget you before they see ou.’ ‘“oHave ’im hin! ’eave ‘im hin!” cried Adolé phus de Courcy, who was impatient to try the efficacy of a sword-cane, which he held in his hand. ee ‘Now, lads, haul away!” ordered the cap- in, Slowly we brought him in, lowering him by the head as the other squad dragged in the tail. At last the monster was fairly on deck, when, at a signal from tke captain, the men at the tail released the grip of their grapnels, while we simultaneously cut the line at his head. You had better believe we sprung out of reach live- ly, as soon as we had done this. And with rea- son; for the shark began to flounder at a most terrific rate, and if any one had happened with- in the reach of his flukes, he would have been a goner, One laughable incident occurred, The cockney was either not spry enough in getting out of the way, or he was too intent to getin a shy with his sword-cane; at any rate he caught a side wipe from the flat of one of the flakes, which sent him head over heels into the bow-scuppers. ‘Wy, ’ow did that ’appen?” exclaimed the poor fellow, picking himself up, amid a storm of applause. ‘‘ You see, I just vanted to get von vipe at the willain vith my walliant blade, when down I goes vithout knowing v’ere I vas hit.” Itis astonishing how high a shark can leap from the water, but to see one of them bounce up when he has got solid oak beneath him as a purchase, is wortha long voyage. This shark would leap up perpendicularly fully thirty feet in the air, and come down with a crash that would make the vessel tremble toher keel. The blood poured from his mouth from the severe contusions he had received, but he seemed to lose nothing of vitality; until, at length, when we had enjoyed his gymnastics sufficiently, the captain made a sign to commence the assault, The sailor regards the shark as his natural enemy, and never misses a chance to slay or maim him, So, as soon as the signal was re ceived, we all began to dance about our victim, to getin a blow, which was anything but an easy matter, and, at the same time, avoid the sweep of his flukes, or the snap of his awful aws. ant First blood!” yelled the cockney, with enthusiasm, as he succeeded in inflicting a slight scratch from which a few drops of blood oozed **Do yer callthat blood?” exclaimed old Blue- “ch contemptuously, as he danced in and fetch- Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer. “ ed the shark a deep gash with his tomahawk, and this time the fountain of life began to flow in earnest, Then the captain got in a blow, with his cut- lass, between the eyes, and almost at the same time I ran my sharp pike clear through the black fin on the shark’s back. The struggles grew sensibly more feeble as the wounds told upon him, until at length the shark lay almost motionless. You may be sure that all hands, even down to Dicky Drake, were as brave as lions when injuries could be inflicted without dunger to themselves. Evers body now rushed, and a general thrust- ing, slashing and hacking took place until there | was nothing left of the shark but a bloody and shapeless mass. ; Every one then fell off exhausted, except Adolphus de Courcy, who enjoyed the fun so ere that he couldn’t be prevailed upon to stop. ‘* Just let me ’ave von more vipe at the wil- lain!” he exclaimed, stabbing the lifeless mass again and again, untilforced at last to desist by the laughter which his ferocity called forth. Well, the fun was all over, and the next thing to do was to heave the carcass, overboard, and to wash the decks, the last of which was performed in a vein somewhat less merry than before. But the captain made quite a holiday of it, gave us plenty of grog, and there was as little grumbling on board the Queer Fish that day as you would be likely to fallin with ina year’s voyage, CHAPTER VI, CROSSING THE LINE. THE greatest holiday at sea is that of crossing the Equator. It is rare fun to the initiated, but to those who have the process in prospect it is a cause of sleepless nights and considerable men- tal anguish. The time drew rapidly on for the celebration, of this holiday on board the Queer Fish. We were busy making preparations for it, a long time beforehand. Almost every one was in ex- cellent humor. Our cruise had, thus far, been eminently successful... We had captured up- ward of twelve vessels since our departure from Boston—a period of not more than two months. The prospect was that, if we should bring the cruise to a successful conclusion, we would each and all have something snug laid up at home, with ease and comfort the balance of our lives, So we were ina most excellent frame of mind for the merry-making that drew nigh. Stop! There were a few exceptions, If any of you had been on the Queer Fish for a day or two prior to the passage of the equinox, you would have noticed, I think, a certain fidgety- ness in the manner of both Dicky Drake and Mr. Adolphus de Courcy, in strange contrast to the general cheerfulness of every one else. The latter of these individuals, it is true, would pretend to be exceedingly careless and free-and- easy. He would be heard to hum the scraps of a great many little melodies and to whistle scraps of a great many more, but you would notice, upon close observation, that it was all put on, and that he was in reality faint at heart. Poor Dicky Drake hadn’t the duplicity neces- sary for any such make-believe as this, He be- gan to look miserable from the very moment thatit became known that the equinox was to be passed, and continued to grow worse from day to day, until the despondency of the pocr lad was positively pitiful, and I secretly promised myself to exert my influence to render his share of the initiation as light as possible. There had existed some controversy as_ to whether Roddy Prinnand his little chum, Willie Warner, were not also “‘ liable.” But they had succeeded in proving to the satisfaction of Cap- tain Joker, that they had made the passage from Riotothe Bermudas, and it had eventually been decided that they were exempt. There were several others of the crew, who were prospective victims. But they were genu- ine sailors, who really took the thing philosphic- ally. One of them, a little Irishman, by the name of Teddy Tight, swore that he longed for the day to arrive, and that he didn’t sleep “‘ aisy for thinking of the fun in store for him. The preparations we had been and were mak- ing, were somewhat extensive. Everything was prepared beforehand, and we had several re- hearsals. Old Nick was to represent Neptune, and, from the description I have given of him, you may judge that he suited the character toa T. Bluefish was chosen for Amphitrite, the wife of the Ruler of the Waves, and, though he had an unladylike habit of hitching up his skirts whe7.er;rhyrort tua h’s jick-knife, it was thought that he would go off very credit- ably. I was one of the Tritons, whose principal duty, on the occasion, was to assist at the initia- tion of neophytes, while Tony Trybrace, Roddy Prinn and illie Warner were among the Nereids, who sung the mystic songs of the cere- mony. I can’t vouch for the poetic merit of these musical attempts. One of them was: ‘* We come from the depths of the oceam Where Neptune is the king, And the waves, with their commotion, Keep time with what we sing. ‘“* Huzza for the flag of the Urion, The Stars and the Stripes of the free Our flag is the flag of the ocean, Huzza for the flag of the free!”’ I cannot say who was the author of these stanzas, but am compelled to admit that [ should keep exceedingly dark on the subject, if J were the author, Another fragment (even worse than that al ready quoted) ran: “Father Neptune, he is jolly, Drink, lads, drink away ! Father Nep. hates melancholy, Joy reigns at the bottom of the say, ‘* Drink, lads, drink, for Union, The ola flag must have sway, Father Nep. hates communion, Down at the bottom cf the say.” . I reckon the author of these must have been an Irishman; at any rate, no one can question him asa poet. Well, the day at length arrived, According to rules, the novices were xept in strict confinement, till the performance was ready to commence. The little captain stood looking on, impatiently waiting for the opening ceremonies. At eight bells, all was ready. Neptune was in his throne, with a beard as blue as the sea and with a great crown of shells and sea-wee strung round his brows. He had a conch-shell for a breast-pin, and each of his shoes, or, rather, slippers, were surmounted with a large, brilliant-hued bivalve. Amphitrite sat by his side, with her flowing locks—constructed of oakum—spangled with, many varieties of weeds and shells and her long’ beard (think of a sea queen with a beard !) dain- tily braided and plaited into grotesque ringlets, while her long, blue paper-muslin robe was in- tended to have a resemblance to the sea she ruled. The Nereids were grouped around, look- ing excessively feminine and bewitching (to a sailor), with their long hair, and sea-green gar- ments; while we merry Tritons were rigged in a little more convenient costume, as our work was to be heavy; but, rely on it, we looked hideous enough, As the ship’s bells struck eight, three of us, ata signal from the Ruler of the Waves, dove down below, and appeared, a moment after- ward, with Dicky Drake, our first victim. The poor fellow was almost scared to death. He eyed the various contrivances, which had been prepared for his benefit, and shuddered from his cap to his boots. . ‘* Bring forth the culprit!” roared Father Nep- tune, in a voice of thunder; and we led the trembling victim before the throne. ‘‘ What is his crime?” was the lofty question of the ocegn king. ‘*T ain’t done nothin’, yer Honor,” began Dicky, thinking he might get off by an eloquent appeal. ‘‘ Yer see, I was brought up in Salem, I was—a place as hasfurnisheda great many sailors for yer Majesty’s domin.ons, It’s true I never crossed the line, yer know, but yer see, I almost did it one’t. It allas happened in this ere way. Ole Si Jinkins and IJ, we started out on a mackerel fishin’ an’ got driv’ away down south, almost onto the equator, when a sou’east storm springs up, and sendsus backa joe-kiting. Well, as I was about ter say—” ‘Peace! roared Neptune in a voice of thun- der. ‘¢'Yes, your Majesty, but yer see—” ** Peace!” ‘*Oh, yes! Wery good! but, as I was about ter say, the—” ‘*Peace, or [I'll kick yer inter Davy Jones’s locker!” was the dignified interruption, and — Dicky stopped short. ‘¢ Lead the prisoner to the plank!” was the final order of Neptune. Visions of ‘‘ walking the plank ” immediately rose up before the wretched youth, and he be- gan to appeal in heartrending accents, ‘But I didn’t go an’ do nothin’, yer know. I was allers exceedingly respectful and perlite.