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"Blow Up With the
Brig!"
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3 10 By
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A SAILOR'S STORY
WILKIE COLLINS
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IE
HAVE got an alarming confes
hIoii to make. I am taunted
by a ghost.
If you were to khobs for a
hunched yeur, you would never guess
what uiy fc'hoKt Is. I Bhull make you
laugh to bi'Kln with, and afterward
ball innke your flesh creep. My jjhost
In tlie ghoHt of a bedroom candlestick,
Yes, a bedroom cuudleHtick nnd cuu
die, or a flat candlestick and cundle,
put it which way you like; that id
what haunts ine. I wIhIi It wax sonic
thing plcuiutiitcr and more out of the
common way a beuutlful lady, or a
mine of gold nnd silver, or a cellar of
wine and a conch and horses and mien
like. Hut, being what it is, I must
take it for what It Is nnd make the host
of it, nnd I Khali thank you kindly If
you will help me out liy doing the
Mine.
I urn not u scholar myself, but
make bold to believe that the haunting
of any man with anything under the
sun begin with the frii;hteiiiiig of
him. At any rate, the haunting of urn
with a bedroom candlestick null candle
began with the frightening of me with
n bedroom candlestick nnd eamlloA-the
frightening of me half out of my life
and for the time being the frightening
of mo altogether out of my wits. That
Is not a very jdeusnnt thing to confers
before slating the particulars, but pur
haps you will be the readier to believe
that I hm not a downright coward be
cause you 11 ii I me hold enough to mako
a clean breast of it a I ready, to my own
great disadvantage so far.
Here uro the particulars as well as I
cuu put them:
I was apprenticed to the sen when I
was about as tall us my own walking
stick, and I made good enough imc of
my time to bo lit fur a mate's berth at
the nge of twenty-flvo years.
It was In the year eighteen hundred
Slid eighteen or nineteen. I am not
quite certain which, that I reached the
before mentioned age of twenty-live.
You will please to excuse my memory
not being very good fur dates, names,
nuinlieis, places and such like. No fear,
though, about the particulars I havo
undertaken to tell you of. I have got
them all shipshape in my recollection.
I can sec them at this moment as clear
us noonday In my own mind. Itut there
is a mist over what went before and,
for the matter of that, a mist likewise
over much that came after, and It's
not very likely to lift at my time of
life. Is it ?
Well, la eighteen hundred nnd eight
een or nineteen, when there was poa-.-e
In our part of the world -and not le
fore It was wanted, you will say--thcrv
was llglitiug of a certain scampering,
scrambling kind going on In that old
buttleileld which we seafaring men
know by the name of the Spanish
mil In.
The possessions that belonged lo thu
Spaniards in South America had bro
ken Into open mutiny and declared for
themselves years licfore. There was
plenty of bloodshed between the new
government and the old, but the new
had got the best of it, for the most
part, under one licnci-ul llollvur, a fa
mous man In his lime, though he' seem
to have dropcd out of people's mem
ories now. I'.ngllslimen and Irishmen
with n turn for lighting nnd nothing
particular to do at home, joined the
general as volunteers, and some of our
merchants here found it u good ven
ture to send supplies across the ocean
to the popular side. Thero was risk
enough, of course, In doing this, lint
where one specula! Ion of the kind suc
ceeded it made up for two at the least
that failed. And that's the true prin
ciple of trade wherever I have met
with It all the world over.
Among the Knglishmcu who were
concerned In tins Spanish American
business I, your humble servant. Imp
pctied In a small way to be one.
I was then mate of a brig belonging
to n certain firm in the city which
drove a sort of general trade, mostly
In queer out of the way places, us far
from home us possible, and which
freighted the brig in the year I am
speaking of w ith a cargo of gunpowder
for Cieneral llollvur and bis volun
teers. Nobody knew anything about
our Instructions when we sailed ex
cept tho captain, and he didn't half
hcem tu like them. I can't rigidly say
now many barrels of powder we hud
on board or how much each barrel
held. I only know we had no other
cargo. The name of the brig was tho
Hood Intent, a queer name enough, you
will tell me, fur a vessel laden with
gUnH)wdcr and sent to help n revolu
tion. Ami us far us lids particular
voyage was concerned so it was. 1
mean that for a Joke, and I hope yon
will encourage me by laughing at It.
The ii Kid Intent was the era .lest oh)
tub of a vessel I ecr went to sea In
uud the worst found In all rcpects.
Klio was "..'in or '.'SO tons burden, I for
got which, and she bad a crow of eight,
II told nothing like us many as we
ought by rliihM to have had to work
tile bi!g. However, we were well nnd
liOnesllv paid our wages, nnd we had
to set that against the chance of foiin
ui!ng nt fa. ami on this occasion
likewise the chain-e of being blown up
Into the bargain.
In consideration of the nature of oar
cargo w were harassed with new reg
ulations, whic h we didn't nt nil like,
relative to smoking our pipes ami light
..is "i.r laiuern. ami, as usual In such
cases, the captain, who made the reg
illations. pr wichcd what he didn't prac
tice. Not a man of us was allowed to
have a bit of lighted candle In his
hand when he went below except the
bklppcr. and he used Ms liU w hen ho
turned In or when he looked over his
charts on the cabin table just as usual.
This light was n cnnuium kitchen
candle or "dip," and It stissl in an old
blttered Hat candles) lek, with all the
Japan worn and molted off, and nil the
tin Khowing through. It would have
ben uiore scninnnlike ami suitable In
every respect if he had had a lamp or
a lantern, but he stuck to his old cnu
dlestlek, and that sume old candlestick
has ever afterward stuck to me. That's
another Joke, if you please, and a bet
ter one than the first, In my opinion.
Well I bald "well'' before, but it's a
word that helps a man ou like we
sailed in the brig and shaped our
course first for tho Virgin islands. In
tho West Indies, and after sighting
them we made for the Leeward Is
lands next and then stood on due
south till tho lookout nt tho masthead
hailed the deck and said lie saw land.
That land was the coast of South
America. Wo had had a wonderful
voyage so far. Wo had lost : none of
our spars or sails, and not a'unnn of
us Imd been harassed to death, at tho
pumps. It wusn'c often tho (food In
tent mado such a voyage as that, I ran
tell you.
I was sent aloft to mako sure about
the land, and I did make sure of it.
When I reported tho same to the
skipper, he went below and had u,look
at his letter of Instructions nnd the
ehnrt. When ho nunc on (leckmgaln,
ho altered our course a trifle (to the
eastward. I forget the poinHon the
compnss, but that doesn't .matter.
What I do remember Is tlMitwt.wns
dark before we closed in wllhl tho
land. Wc kept the lead going (nnd
hove the brig to in from four to live
fathoms water, or it might be six, I
can't say for certain. I kept a sharp
eye to the drift of the vessel, none of
us knowing how the currents' ran on
that coast. Wo nil wondered why tho
skipper didn't anchor, but he said no,
ho must first show a light at the fore
top masthead nnd wait for an answer
ing light on shore. Wc did wait, anil
nothing of tho sort inppon red. It was
starlight and calm. What Utile wind
there was cainu In pulls off the land.
I suppose wo waited, drifting a little
to the westward, lis I made It out, best
part of nn hour before anything hapJ
pencil, and then instead of seeing tho
light on shore wo saw n boat coming
toward us, rowed by two men only.
e hailed them, nnd they nnswered,
Friends!" and hailed ns by our name.
They came on Ismrd. tine of them was
an Irishman, nnd the other was n cof
fee colored native pilot, who lulilicrcri
a little Kngllsh.
The Irishman handed a note to. our
skipper, who showed It to inc. li In
formed us that the part of the const
we were off was not .oversafo for .dis
charging our cargo, seeing tluit spies
of the enemy that is to say, of ft he
old government -hn)d licon taken land
shot in tho neighborhood the duyl be
fore. We might trust tho brig totyho
native pilot, and he had Ids Instruc
tions to take us to another part of tho
coasi. j no nolo was signed liy tho
proper pnrtl-s, no wo let the Irishman
go back alone In the boat uud allowed
i no pnot io exercise ills luwTnl au
thority over the brig. He kept us
stretching off from the land till noon
tho next day, his Instructions seeming
ly ordering him to keep us well out of
sight of the shore. We only altered
our course In the afternoon so as to
close In Willi the hind again a Mile
before midnight.
This same pilot was about us illfloolc
Ing a vagabond as ever I saw, n (skin
ny, cowardly, quarrelsome mongrel,
who swore at the men in the vilest
broken English till they were I every
one of them ready to pitch hlnO over
board. The skipper kept them quiet,
and I kept them quiet, for, the pilot
bring given us by our instructions, we
were bound to make the best of him.
Near nightfall, however, with the best
will In the world to avoid It, I wasmn
lucky enough to quarrel with him.
lie wanted to go below w ith his lpv,
nnd I stopped him, of course, because
It was contrary to orders. I'pon thai
he tried to hustle by me, and I put
him uway with my hand. I never
meant to push him down, but somehow
I diil. Ho picked himself up as quick
ns lightning and pulled out his knife.
I snatched' It out of his hand, Fl ipped
his murderous face for him and threw-,
Ids weaiHiu OMiboard. lie gave me
one ugly look nnd walked aft. I d'dn't
think much of the look then, but I re
membered It a little too well after
ward. We were close in with the land i
again Just ns the wind failed us. be
tween 11 nnd 12 that night, ami
dropped our anchor by the pilot's di
rections. It was pitch dark, and a dead, air
less calm. The skipper was on deed,
with two of our best men for watch.
The rest were below except the pilot,
who coiled himself up more 'Ike
prml.o than n man on the forecastle.
It was not ii y.watch till t in the morn
ing. Hut I didn't like the look of the
night r the pilot or the state of things
gcncpilly, and 1 chunk myself down on
dock b get my nap there and be ready
for anything nt a moment's notice.
The last I remember was the skipier
whlKp.'iing to me that he didn't like
the look of things either and that ho
would go below and consult his In
it ruction again. That Is the last I
remember before the slow, heavy, reg
ular roll of the "1,1 brig on the ground
swell rocked me ntT to sleep.
I was awakened by a Kcuille en the
forecastle and a gag In my mouth.
There was n limn on my breast and a
man on my legs, ami I was bound ham)
and foot In half a minute.
The brig was In the hands of the
Spaniards. They were swarming nil
oer her. I heard sit heavy splashes
In the water, one after another. I saw
the c:iptaln stabbed to the heart as he
crune running up the companionwny.
nnd I heard a seventh splash In the
water, i:ccpt III) self every soul of us
ou loarl had been murdered and
thrown Into the sea. Why I was left
I couldn't think tdl I saw the pilot
stoop over ine w ith a lantern nnd I.
nodded his head at me, ns much as to
say, "You were the man who hustled
me down and slapped my face, nnd I
mean to piny the game of eat and
mouse with you In return for It!"
I could neither move nor speak, but
I could see tho Spaniards take off the
main hatch and rig the purchases for
getting up the cargo. A quarter of an
hour afterward I heard the sweeps of
a schooner or other smiill vessel In the
water. The strange craft was laid
alongside of us. and the Spaniards set
to work to discharge our cargo into
her. They all worked hard except the
pilot, nnd he came from time to time
with his lantern to h ive another look
at mo and to grin ami i.od always In
tho snniQ devilish way. I n tit old
enough now not to be ashamed of con
fessing the truth, nnd I don't mind ac
knowledging tint the pilot frightened
ine.
The fright nnd the bonds and the
gag nnd the not being able to stir band
or foot had pretty ulgh worn me out
by the time the Spaniards gave over
work. This was Jast ns the dawn
broke. They had shifted a good part
of our cargo on board their vessel, but
nothing like nil of it. and they were
sharp enough to be olT with what they
had got before daylight
I need hardly say that I had made
up my mind by this time to the worst
I could think of. The pilot, it was
clear enough, was one of the spies of
the enemy, who had wormed himself
Into the conllilence of our consignees
without being suspected, lie or, more
likely, his employers had got knowl
edge enough of us to suspect what our
cargo was. We hud Itoon anchored for
the night In the safist IhtIIi for them
to surprise us In. and we had paid the
penalty of having a small crew and
consequently an Insufficient watch. All
tills was clear enough, but what did
the pilot mean to do with me?
On the word of n man. It makes my
uesh creep now only to tell you what
ho did with me
After all the rest of them were out
of the brig except the pilot and two
Spanish seamen these hist took mo up.
bound and gagged as I was. lowered
mo Into tho hold of the vessel and laid
me along on the Moor, lashing me to It
with ropes' ends, so that I could just
turn from ono side to the other, but
could not roll myself fairly over so ns
to change my place. They then left
me. Until of them were the worse for
liquor, but the devil of n pilot was so
ber, mind that, ns sober ns I am at the
present moment.
I lay In the dark for a little while,
with my heart thumping ns If It was
going to Jump out of mo. I lay about
five minutes or ro when the pilot came
down Into the hold alone.
Ho had the captain's cursed flat can
dlestick and n carpenter's awl In ono
hund nnd n long, thin twist of cotton
ynrn, well oiled, In the other. He put
tho candlestick, with n new "dip"
candle lighted In It, down ou the floor
about two feet from my faco and close
against tho side of the vessel. The
light was feeble enough, but It was
sulllcient to show a dozen barrels of
gunpowder or more left nil round me
In the hold of the brig. I began to
suspect what he was after the moment
I noticed the barrels. Tho horrors
laid hold of me from head to foot, nnd
the sweat poured off my face like water.
I saw him go next to one of the bar- I
ran or powuer sinuumg ngninst mo
side of the vessel In n line Willi the
candle and about three feet, or rather
better, uway from It. He bored a hole
In the side of the barrel with his awl,
and the horrid powder came trickling
out ns black us hell and dripped Into
tie hollow of his hand, which he held
to catch It. When he had got a good
handful, he stopped up the hole by Jam
111I113 one end of his oiled twist of cot
ton ynrn fast Into It. and he then
rubbed the powder Into the whole
length of the yarn till, he had blnck
died every hairbreadth of It.
The next thing he did as true us I
sit here, as true as the licavuu nbove
us n!i the next thing he dlil was to
carry the free end of his long, lean
black, frightful slow match to the light
ed candle alongside my face, lie tied it.
the bloody minded villain. In several
fold round the tallow dip about a third
of the distance down, measuring from
the (htme of the wick to the lip of the
ci'udle-tlck. He did that, lie looked
Jo see that my lashings were all safe.
and then he put his face close to mine
tuid . whispered 'In my ear. "I'low up
wit It l he brig!"
Hewas on deck acaln the moment
nftcr.iuml he and the two others shoved
tho hatch on over me. At the farthest
cud from where I lay they had not
t'.tted It down quite true, and I saw a
blink of daylight glimmering In when
I I. Hiked in that direction. 1 heard the
sweeps of the fvhnouer fall Into the
water, splash, splash, fainter and faint
cr as they swept the vessel out In the
dead calm, to be ready for the wind
In the oiling fainter and fainter.
spinsu, spiasti, tor n quarter of ou
hour or more.
While those sounds were In my cars
l :y eyes were fixed on the candle.
It had been freshly lighted. It left
! Itself, it would burn for between
t- x and seven hours. The slow match
was twisted round it about a third of
the way down, and therefore the thimc
would be about two hours reaching It.
There I lay, gagged, bound, lashed to
the Hour. Seeing my own life burning
down with I he candle by my side,
there I lay. alone on the son. doomed
1'i be blown to atoms nnd to see that
doom drawing on nearer nnd nearer
with eciy fresh second of time
tliroinrh iiiirh on two hours to come,
i-wcrlins to help myself and soech
h ss to call for help to others. The
wonder to me is that I didn't cheat the
Hume, the slow match and the hvi)it
ami die of the horror of my situation
fore my first half hour was out In
the hold r the brig.
I can't exactly say how long I kept
the command of my senses after I had
ceased to hear the splash of the
schooner's sweeps In the water. I can
trace back ever) thing I did and every
thing I thought up to n certain point,
but once past tlnrt I get all abroad
Mint lose m. self in my memory now,
much ns I l ist myself in my own feel
lngs nt the time.
The moment the hatch was covered
vcr me I lei:an, ns every other man
would have begun In my place, with
frantic effort bt free my hands, hi the
mad panic I was In t cut my llosh with
lite lashings ns If they bad Nvn knife
was Tes e!j:i:iif still of freeing my
legs .r of f curing myself from the
f isteufngs tbr.t l.cl 1 me lo the floor.
I gave in when I was all but suffocated
for want of breath. The gag. you will
phnse hi renr ni! er. was a terrible en
cmy to ice. I could only breathe freely
through my nose, and that Is but a
Ioor vent when tl man Is straining bis
strength as far as ever it will go.
I gave in und lay quiet nnd got my
breath again, my eyes glaring and
straining at the cnudle nil the time.
Willie I was staring nt it the notion
struct: mo of trying to blow out the
flame by pumping a long breath at It
suddenly through my nostrils. It was
loo high above me and too fur away
from mo to be reached In that fashion.
I tried ami tried and tried, and then I
gave In again and lay quiet again, al
ways with my eyes glaring at the can
tile and the candle glaring at me. Hie
splash of the schooner's sweep was
very faint by this time. I could only
Just hear them In the morning stillness.
iplasb. splash, fainter and fainter.
tphish, splash.
Without exactly feeling my mind
going, I began to feel It getting queer
ns early as this. The snuff of the can
dle wus growing taller aud taller, and
Ihe length of tullow between the flame
and the slow match, which wus the
length of my life, was getting shorter
aud shorter. 1 calculate thut I bad
rather less than an iiour aud a half to
live.
Au hour and a balfl Was there a
chance In thut time of a bout pulling
off to the brig from shore?. Whether
the land ueur which the vessel was
anchored wus lu possession of our side
or In possession of tho enemy's side, I
made out thut they must sooner or
later send to hull the brig merely be
cause she was a stranger In those
parts. The question for me wus. How
soon? The suu hud not risen yet, as 1
could tell by lisiklug through tho chink
In the hatch. There wus no coust vil
lage near us, as we all knew before
he brig wus seizin by seeing no lights
on shore. There wus no wind, as I
could tell by listening, to bring any
strange vessel near. If I had had six
hours to live, there might have been a
chance for me. reckoning from sun
rise to noon. But with an hour and a
half, which hud dwindled to an hour
nnd n quarter by this time, or, In other
words, with the eurliness of the morn
ing, the uninhabited cousfand the dead
culm till against me, there was not the
ghost of a chance. As I felt that, I had
another struggle, the hist, with my
bouds, and only cut myself the deeper
for my pains.
I gave In once more and lay quiet
and listened for the splash of the
RWeeps.
Gone! Not a sound could I hear but
tho blowing of a fish now nnd then on
the surface of the sea nnd the creak of
the brig's crazy old spars as she rolled
gently from side to side with the little
swell there wus ou the quiet water.
An hour aud a quarter! The wick
grew terribly as the quarter slipped
away and the charred top of It began
to thicken and spread out mushroom
shape. It would rail off soon. Would
it full off red hot. und would the swing
of tho brig cant It over the side of the
candle and let It down on the slow
match? If it would, I had about ten
minutes to live Instead of an hour.
This discovery set my mind for a
minute on a new tack altogether. 'I be
gan to ponder 'with myself what sort
of a death blowing up might be. I'n In
fill! Well, It would be surely too sud
den for that. Perhaps just ono crash
Inside me or outside me or both and
nothing more. I'erhaps not even a
crash; that and death and the scatter
ing of this living body of mine Into
millions of fiery sparks might nil Imp
pen In the same Instant. I couldn't
make it out. I couldn't settle how It
would be. The minute of calmness In
my mind left It before I had half done
thinking, and I got nil nbroad agnlu.
When I came back to my thoughts,
or when they came back to me, I cati't
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TOW
to innke sure of who I n ils. Tin re was
a devilish gVln ou his face, and hej Mndej. but I never stirred thcui; There
ay which, the wick was awfully tall,
the 'flame was burning with a sinoko
nbovo It, the cliarrod top was broad ,
una reu uno. ueuvny spreading out to
Its fall.
My despair and horror nt seeing It
took me in a new way, which was
good and right at any rute for my poor
soul. I tried to pray-In my own heart,
you will understand, for the gag put
all lip praying nut of my power. I
tried, but the candle seemed to burn
it uli In me. I struggled hard to force"
my eyes from the slow, murdering
tin me nnd to look up through the chink
In the hatch at the blessed daylight I
tried once, tried twice, nnd gave It up.
I next tried only to shut my eyes nnd
keep them shut, once, twice, and the
second time I did It. "t'.od bless old
mother and Sister Mzzle. (iml keep
them both and forgive me." Thut was
nil I had time to s:iy In my own heart
before my eyes oHned again In spite
of me, and the llame of the candle
Hew Into them, flew nil over me and
burned up the rest of my thoughts In
nn Instant.
I couldn't hear the fish blowing now.
I couldn't hear the creak of the spars.
I couldn't think. I couldn't feel the
sweat of my own death agony on my
race. I could only look at the heavy
charred top of the wick. It swelled,
toltensl, bent over to one side, dropped,
roilhot nt the moment of its full, black
and harmless, even before the swing
of the brig had canted It over Into the
bottom of the candlestick.
I c:im:ht myself l:iuglilng.
Yes, laughing nt the safe fall of the
bit of wick, lint for the gag I should
have seremn.il with laughter. As It
was, I shook with It Instde me shook
till the I..m1 was In my head nnd I
was all but suffocated for want of
breath. I IkuI Just sense enoiiu-li left
to feel that my own horrid laughter at
that awful moment was a sign of my
brain r.olnn nt lust. 1 had Just sense
enough left to make another struggle
iH'fore my mind broke loose like a
frightened horse and rnu away with
me.
One comforting took at the. blink of
daylight through the batch was what
I tried for once more. The fight to
force my eyes from the candle and to
get that one look nt the daylight was
the hardest I hud had yet, nnd I lost
the n!it. The llame had hold of my
eyes as fast as the lashings had bold
of my hands. I couldn't look away
from It. I couldn't even shut my eyes
when I tried that next, for the second
time. There was the wick growing
full once more. There wns the space
of iinhurncd candle between the light I
nnd the kIou- mulch shortened to an
Inch or less.
How much life did that Inch leave
me? Three-ipiurters of nu hour? Half
nil hour? I'il'ty minutes? Twenty min
utes? Steady! An inch of tullow can
dle would burn longer than twenty
minutes. An inch of tailow! Tho no
tion of a man's body aud soul llng
kept together by nn Inch of tnllow!
Wonderful! Why. tho grcntest king
thnt sits on a throne eun'i keep a
man's body and soul together, and
here's nn Inch of tallow fhat can do
what tho king can't! There's some
thing to tell mother when I get home
which will surprise her more thnn all
the rest of my voyages put together. I
laughed Inwardly ngaln nt the thought
of that nnd shook nnd swelled nnd suf
focated myself till the light of the enn
dlo leaped in through my eyes nnd
licked up the laughter nnd burned It
out of mo and mailo mo all empty nnd
cold nnd quiet once more.
Mother and Lizzie I don't know
when they camo back, but they did
come back, not, as it seemed to me,
Into my mind this time, but right down
bodily before mo in tho hold of the
brig.
Yes, suro enough, there wns Lizzie,
just as light hearted as usual, laughing
nt me. Laughing? Well, why not?
Who is to blame Lizzio for thinking
I'm lying on my back drunk In the cel
lar, with tho beer bnrrcls nil round
me? Steady! She's crying now,-spln-ning
round and round In a fiery mist,
wringing her hands, screeching out for
help, fainter and fainter, like the
splash of tho schooner's sweeps. Gone
burned up In the fiery mist! Mist?
Fire? No; neither ono nor the other.
It's mother makes the light mother
knitting, with ten flaming points at the
ends of her fingers nnd thumbs nnd
slow matches hanging In bunches nil
round her face Instead of her own
gray hair; mother in her old armchair,
nud the pilot's long, skinny bauds hang
ing over tho back of the chair, drii
ping with gunpowder. No! No gun
powder, no chair, no mother nothing
but the pilot's face, shining redliot,
liko a sun in the fiery mist, turning
upside down In the fiery mist, running
backward and forward, along the slow
match In tho fiery mist, spinning mil
lions of miles In a minute in the fiery
mist spinning Itself smaller and sHinll
er Into one tiny point, nnd that point
darting on a sudden straight into my
head, and then ifll Are and nil mist
no hearing, no seeing, no thinking, no
feeling the brig, the sen. my own self,
the whole world, all gone together!
After what I've Just told you I know
nothing r.-id remember nothing till I
woke up, as It seemed to me. In a com
fortable bed, with two rottgli nnd
ready men like myself sitting on each
sido of my pillow nnd n gentleman
standing watching me nt the foot of
the bed. It was about 7 In the morn
ing. My sleep, or what seemed like
my sleep to me, had lusted better than
eight months I wus among my own
countrymen In the Island of Trinidad.
The men nt each side of my pillow
were my keepers, turn nnd turn nlsmt.
and the gentleman standing nt the foot
of the lied was the doctor. What 1
said and did In those" eight months I
never have known and never shall
know. I woke out of It as If It had
been one long steep; thnt'a nil I know. I
It was another two months or mora
before the doctor thought It safe to nn- '
swer the questions I asked lilm. j
The brig had been anchored. Just as
I hud siiposcd, oiT a part of the coust 1
which wus lonely enough to make the
Spaniards pretty sure of no iutcrrup- !
lion so long as they managed their
murderous work quietly under cover '
of night.
My life bad not tsen saved from ti c
shore, but from the sea. An American
vessel, becalmed In the oiling, had j
made out the brig as the sun rose, and ,
the captain, having his thin' en his
hand lu consequence of the culm and
seeing n vessel nnclicreil where no v. s- !
svl had any reason to be, had manned i
one of lit- boats nnd sent bis mate !
with it to look a little closer Into the!
of tho slow match when he lowered
himself into the bold, and If be bad
not had the sense and coolness to cut
tho mutch In two with Ms knife before
ho touched the cnndle he and his men
might have been blown up along with
the brig as well ns I. Tho match
caught and turned Into sputtering red
lire In the very act of putting the can
dle out, nnd if the communication with
the powder bnrrel bad not been cut
OIT tho Lord only knows what might
have happened.
What became of the Spanish schoon
er and the pilot I hare never beard
from that day to this.
As for the brig, the Yankees took
her, as they took me, to Trlnldud and
claimed their snlvuge and got It, I
hope, for their own Bakes. I was land
ed just in the same state us when they
rescued me (: ..i the hi Ig that Is to
say, clean ou; i i i.... Dut please
remember it was a lo i:uie ago, and.
take my word for It, 1 was discharged
cured, as I have told you. Bless your
hearts, I'm all right now, as you may
see. I'm a little shaken by telling the
story, ns Is only natural a little shak
cn. my good friends: that's all.
r.-MrW WISIWWSSSSSJ
OUR
NATIVE
TREES
S ...By...
g THOMAS H. MACBRIDC, Ph. D..
iroftwor vItviany, Iowa Statt
V. The Forests of North
America.
Ciiiititivnl frtm Finitil'ayi;
land thoy are those of France. Forest
denudation has already In many places
almost ruined the Swiss mouutnhis nnd
has covered the fertile valleys with
glacial debris. The Trench method of
experiment Is exactly In line with the
Swiss necessity. Italy Is attempting
something of the same sort. Her moun
tains and streams everywhere show the
results of thousands of years of mis
management. Her forestry school Is at
Milton's Vallouibroia, a loculity In
beauty fortunately still worthy of the
poet s praise. But the progress of eco
nomic reform In Italy Is still discourag-
Ingly slow.
The Illustrations we have cited hax-
brought to us some conception of mod
em forestry, muy even enable ua per
chance to frame a definition of the
word. Fo:-cstry Is really a branch of
agriculture, field culture In the broader
acceptation cf the term. Yet forestry
Is something more than a single crop
or nooreoiis plants. Forestry, as w un
derstand It, Is a science which con
cerns itself with world culture, an art
which teaches the proper use of the
earth as an abode for civilized and en-
lightened men. The forester Is some
thing mora than woodman, and forestry
l.i something more than the care of th
woods. Forestry Is applied knowledge.
It Is the practical application of all
that wc know of botany, geology, me
teorology. . Besides this. It Is a branch
cf economics and concerns what we
call social science. It includes all these
tli'ngs. No greater problem today cx
lts In either philanthropy or science.
(CepyrlKht. 1001, by Lewis D. Bdmpaon.
IHTERESTINQ
PACTns-
When people re contain plating -a trij.
whether ou bimiuew. m ple;isuru, they
naturally want the bed service on
taiuable no far ns peed, co.ufrrt and
safety 18 concerned. Kmplovi- o
the VVisci.nMii Centra! Lints nie puld
to nerve the public ami our tniius ar.
operated so v.ii lo m:,ke cloisu cunnec
tion with diverging li.u-s ; ali juiu t
iun points,
Pullman Plat' Sleeping and Chair C.im
on through trains
Dining Cur service unexcelled.
served s la Carte.
In order to obtain lliii lin-t cbiyN
ask the ticket iK'eut. lo sell
ticket over
Met.'
servir
volt
THE WISCONSIN CENTRAL LINE!?.
Direct connections nt Chuugu uii i Mil
wankee for all Kastern points. , , ,
For full Information mil on your nearest
ticket ugent, or wile ....
Jas. C. Pond, or Jas. A, Cuu ,
Oen. Pas. Agt., (ieneml Agent,
Milwaukce.Wis. 'J ill Stark
Collar lilt,
PORTLAND -ASTORIA Route.
Str. "BAILEY GATZERT"
Daily Jioronl Trips except Rciday
TIME CARD
I. ave Portland 7 a. m.
L jave A-toiia 7 p. m,
THE DALLES PORT
LAND ROUTE
STR "TAHOMA"
AXI
."METLAKO"
mnier nun or,,, ones a report of what j oaks 3.ooo years old.
Famous Trees.
tlencml Prist, Ii has a chapter on fa
mous tnvs of the world which Is full
of curfoiia Information. The African
baobab Is known to reach the age of
ever o.ooo years. At Chapultepec. Mex
ico, is a large Cypres tinder Which
Cortes nnd his troops rested. In tbi
garden of Semlrnmls, at Babylon, Is a
willow supposed to hare been there
when the queen was alive. Tba Neo
rtadt linden was 800 year old when It
was wrecked in 1S32. England hat
walnut tree
At P. 1 In L M t Wh i a , -
What he saw when he nnd 1,1- men ! "t ,7 , ' , " "w"-
found the brm de-r,,,! and Nmnled ' n fml,lo no Kntber from It
her was n glean, of ca.,.!leli,httl,PM."h n,, y 1W'00 nuU TU
the chink lu the hatchway. The t'.nme ' -"'"worth oak, at Genesee. N. T., Is
was within aNmt a thread's breadth ' fears old and twenty-serea feet III
tircuuifercuco at the base.
fletweeii Portland. Hie Italics
Way Points.
Pally Trips Kxce,t Sunday.
TIME CARD
Str. "Tuhoinu"
Lv. Portland Mon. Wed. Fri."
Lv. Dal I os Tues. Tliur. Sat. . .
Str. "Jlctliiko"
Lt. Poitlind Tnes. Tliur. Sat
Lv. Dalles Mon. Wed. Fri ..
and
a. in.
' n. in.
. a. in.
7 a. m.
This I!oule lias the Grandest
Soeiui: Attractions on l.arili.
MEALS THE VERY BEST
Landing nnil Oflicn: Foot Alder Street.
Both Phones, Main ,"rl
PORTLAND. OH KG ON.
J. W.('i:iT( II TON, ngt The Dalles
A.J. TAYLOR, ngt Astoria.
J. I'. WYATI', agt Vancouver,
W0LK0KII& WYKItS, ttgla White
Salmon.
A. K. 1 1' LLP. IE ngtsHood
Iliver.
Butler,
Wash.
Stevenson,
Wash.
II EX It Y UI.MSTF.AI, (arson, Wash
E. W. CUM II TON, agt Portland
nil. nt n.Kir,
J0ll M. TOTTF.y,
C3 YEARS
tXPERiENCE
Y . .... sJi ansa
Designs
Copyrights Ac
An?on wnrtinir keirh nd tfpnlntlrtn nrnf
qulpkly acert;in our opinion frvo wnotrir nn
ttiTcntton Is probnblT ynte ntjiblr. C'imniiintr
tlnn strictly confidential. llntKlhonkon l'Tent
ent free. Oldest fluency for utTunnit patents.
Patents taken through Munn Co. recvlvt
ptvifti notice without chnrpn. In ti
Scientific American.
A handsomely WuptnitM weekly. Lnrtrent rtt
dilation of v.ty sl-ntitle Journal. Term. :i m
rear: mnr months, fi, miii cyan newminnrern.
?i8res.,, Npyy York
imuufc ufflco. at V St. V7afhiulu. 1 U
CASTOR I A
For Infant i and Children.
The Kind You Have Always Bought
Bear. th. yAf
Signature of ZTCUcAMi:
Bsuitk
gBitai.
OASVonsA.
sr utyy.
be tril y.'i Hi uns BJk.