The west shore., June 07, 1890, Page 713, Image 9

WEST SHORE.
7i:i
"gang" they told me gooJ.humoreJly to go and bo and there can be few grander eights in nature, however
hanged. So I did wrong, and took a sido in the matter, disagreeable it may bo to behold the nunc from a
But very soon, if you will excuse all this yarn dancing, quivering, little cock-boat. Tho gray-green
about myself, I heartily repented, for it was now waste ia crested with livid foam along the ridges of
rumored that the Flying Dutchman had determined the swells, and these are like hill ranges racing with
to raid the islands with his party, consisting of the snow-whito waves Hung wildly to the wind, racing
mate, cook, Tom the boy, and myself, UBing the crew across tho abyss and towering out of the dim chaos ol
only to work the vessel. . At this timo Tom and I the lesHcr waves to where they vanish into tho driving
relieved one another, every four hours, at the wheel, spray and tho fringes of trailing cloud,
and the schooner worked herself. The "gang" decided The mate and Jim, who was in chargo of tho star
to see us safe ashore raiding and then " square away board watch, fought a great battle about this time, and
for Victoria." It would have been treacherous on my tho authority of the man beaten vanished, leaving one
part to warn the skipper of this, and it was better to watch without any traces of discipline. We got wet
risk the consequences than bo a tale bearer. In tho and cold beyond any former experience. Tho jnitatoca
morning we lashed tho wheel and hove to, Tom and I froze in the hold, tho water barrel wero full of Ice, the
keeping watch and watch about all through that day hull, decks and rigging as pretty as barley sugar. Tho
and the long night which followed. The boys read waves would sneak up unnoticed, catching one in the
novels, mended clothes, cut hair, endured a tin whistle midst of a staggering promenade of tho deck, tako a
A-
.y
' L
it
for hours, played cards
and chaffed mo. They
told mo how nico it
would bo ashore on
St. Paul's island, how
pleasant the winter,
and what an agreea
ble change to bo sent
to Sitka for trial. Dur
ing the night I made
a pocket inside my
leather coat, to hold
the things of most
valuo to me.
Meanwhile tho Fly
ing Dutchman was be
having in a most sen
sational manner in
the cabin, and threat
ening that, having taken down and loaded his guns,
he intended to use them. At last tho day came, and
at breakfast tho mutiny ended. The crew kindly
undertook to obey orders and work tho ship and to
raid the islands for two bits a skin, with lesHcr charge
for pups. And bo, at last, the agreement was made,
Tom and I excluded; and the skipper dated it upon a
Sunday, and chuckled privately that it was, therefore,
as he supposed, invalid.
Wo may mako treaties and programmes until
doomsday, and yet the event bo far from conformable
to the document. That night spent in quarreling over
tho spoils was the one good chance we ever had of get
ting any seals. Twice we ran down on the inland and
found it guarded by surf, which gleamed angrily out
of tho darkness, and made us glad to get away.
" Blows" now took up most of the time. Behring sea
is very shallow, and the swell, therefore, magnificent;
,7
tiii "auku" lyino orr it. pacl island.
Hying leap across tho
vessel, ami leave the
victim In some very
unexpected place, wet
through despite oil-
.3 - " kin and gum IhmiIs,
...Ml. il I I... I..
Willi WW HM'llllll IIINJT
pleasure of noting the
many trickles finding
their way down buck
and breast and thighs,
and solemnly wring
ing out a pair of soak
lug mitts. Colder and
colder every day, with
snow and hail squalls
hourly, freezing wind
cutting acroHS the
shelterless deck, and
a diversity of seething spray and big, green seas break
ing aboard, and adding fresh layers to the Incrustation
of Ico that hod now transformed tho little schooner
Into a fairy structure of crystal. And so for three
long weeks we haunted these waters, looking daily
across the swell to where the Islands loomed snowy
white against the western sky.
It was the nineteenth of November, the moon being
in her last quarter, and tho north wind bitterly cold,
when we beat up northward for our last raid on Ht.
Paul's; but the strength of the Arctic current that
sweeps southward past the Islands, and the violent
squalls and darkness, made the attempt Impossible
that night. The Flying Dutchman determined not to
be balked again, so on the afternoon of the next day
we bore down and entered the Southwest Uy in a
snow storm that hid us till tho night set in. Hours
were spent in breaking away the bo mi the schooner