Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / July 21, 1907, edition 1 / Page 18
Part of The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
to JL 4 HiV7" . m-a-aa A i:y si:.v.v..:r l:v.: v::;i end SiWL'U r.or:.:.s r. :,;.: ClIAI'TEU VI. The Wand. I Cri?ne on deck one morning at ' mt four balls to find the entire : ,. p's company afoot. Kvcn the doctor w is there. .Everybody was gating at a narrow, mountainous Island lying siata colored across the early morning. A were as yet aome 50 milt dis tant from it, and could make out noth ing btit Ha general outline. The latter was sharply denned, rising and tail ing to a highest point one aide of the middle. Over the island, and raggedly clasping Its aides, hung a cloud, the only one visible in the sky. I joined the afterguard. ' - "You see?" the doctor was exclaim ing. "It 1m a I haf aatd. The island iss - there. 'Everything Is as Jt should bcl" lie wa quite excited. Percy Darrow, too, was shaken out of Ma ordinary calm. - "The volcano I active," was his only comment, but it explained the ragged cloud. - "Tou aay there's a harbor?" In quired Captain fielover. "It should be on the west end," said Dr. fichermerhorn. Captain flelover drew me to one tide. He, too, m a'liyle aroused. " "Ntow wouldn't that get you?" he squeaked. "DoctoV runs up against a Norwegian bum who tells him about a volcanic island, and gives its bearings. The island ain't on the map at all. . Doctor believes it, and makes me lay , my course for those bearings. And here's the island! So the bum's story '- was true! Td like to know what the rest or it was!" f "Do wa anchor or stand off and on?" I asked. - Captain Selover turned to grip me y-h shoulder. 1 have orders from Darrow to get to a rood berth, to land, to build Khoro quarters, and to snug down for a stay of a year at leant!" i We Stared at each other. ''Joyous prospect," I muttered. iiope there's something to do there." ' tr approached the inland. It proved to ' be utterly lirocipitouH. Tho high round ed hills nloped easily to within 100 feet or so of the water, and then felt ;wy abruptly. Where the earth end fad was a fantastic border, like tho t fancy paper with which our mothers ased to line the pantry shelves. Below against the-cliffs with a wild abandon. Thousands of sea bird wheeled in the eddies of the wind, thousands of rav ens perched on the slopes'. Without glasses we ould mak out the heads of seals fishing outside the surf, and . ragged belt of kelp. k When within a mil- wa put tho helm up, and ran for (he w.nt end. A bold point we avoided far nut. kt there ahould bo omlylns Mge. Then We came In sight of n broad beach and pounding surf. v was ordered. to taK iiui surf boat and investlg-ite for a landing nd an anchorage. We rowed back and forth, nuzzled as to how to cet aHhorn with all the freight It would be neewttarv .to land. The shin would He wall , enough, for he only opm exposure' was broken by a long reef ovr which we eould make out the seas tumbling. But inshor th'J great wave rolled smoothly, swiftly then suddenly fell cfrwara as over a Kogp, ana pred with g roar across 1he yellow nnds. The frMn wlptn Mew the ;nme buck to us. We conversed in shouts. "We tan surf the boat," yelled Thrackles, "but we can't land a load.' , That was my opinion. We rowed lowly along, paralVl to th shore, and just ouUlde the line of break itrs. t don't know exactly how 4o tell you the manner in which we became sre ol the ove. It was as nearly the Instantaneous as can be imagined One minute I looked ahead on a cliff us unbroken as the id of a cabin; the very next I peered down th length ft a cove 0 fathoms long by about 10 wi le, at th end of whim was a gravel i sen. I crjed r sharply to th men. Ti ey wer flulUr n much alontnhed ; i I. We barked water, watching flow " -. At a given point the core and all of iw entrance disappeared. W 4 .11 only just wske out the line ,. hrs the headlands dissolved into" the 1. . ""Ilaauk.. if-. p n f round t tnPh9,JWi9VJmuMi. so ea back taw 4ha merely because we knew of its exist ence. The blending was perfect. We rowed In, The water was still. A faint ebb and flow whispered aga!n.st the tiny gravel beach at the end. I noted a practicable way from it to the top of the .cliff, and from the cliff, down again to the sand beach. Everything was perfect. The water was a beautiful light green. Ilka semi opaque gless, and from the indistinct nexB of its depths waved and beckon- ened, rose and disappeared with inde scrlhale grace and deliberation long feathery sea growths. In a moment the bottom .abruptly shallowed. The motion of the boat toward the beach permitted ua to catch a hasty glimpse of little fish darting, of big fish- turn ing, of yellow sand and some vivid color. Then came the grate of gravel and the scraping of the boat's bottom on the beach. We Jumped ashore' eagerly, I left the. men, very reluctant, and ascended a natural trail to a high sloping down over which blew the great Trades. Grass sprung knee high. A low hill rose at the back. From below the fall of the cliff came the pounding of surf. I walked to the edge. Various ledges, sloping toward me, ran down to the sea. Against one of them was a wreck, not so very old, her afterworks gone. I recognized the name Golden Horn, and wag vastly astonished to And her here against this unknown island. Far up the coast I could see with the surges dashing up like the explosion of shells; and the cliffs, and the ram part of hills grown with grass and cactus. A bold promontory terminated the coast, view to the north, and be hind it I could glimpse a more fertile and wooded country. The sky was partly overcast by the volcanic murk. It fled before the trades, and the red sun alternately blaied and clouded eW 'r "h 1L. A w 0 d 'Torgot Who Was Yonr Captain, Did Y0?' through it. 7 I At there XVttU tirithltllr fr,to irt hd en hre 1 turned above the hollow w ,v , v... It OCCUnled a wide Heml-elrete n Vinro I ., . ... , ' ' . tViA l,l!b .1 ti w ... mi 1 "'. U I'W hlUlK. il B I1HL WH.M El rV and grown with thick, coarse grass. A stream emerged from a sort of canon on its landward side, I tasted It, found It sulphurous, and a trifle worse than lukewarm. A llftl nmnrer th cliff, however, was a clear, cold spring from tho rock, and of this I had a Katlnfying drink. When I arose from my knees, I made nut an animal on the hill crest looking at me, but be- iore i emjia (listingutMh lis character istics it had disappeared. I returned ulonir the tld winds The surf dashed and roared, lifting sea- weens or a blood red. so that in places the water lonkert pink. Seals innum erable watched me from Juat out side tho breakers. An the waves lifted to u semMransnarBnee. T'ennld mit mit others playing, , darting back and rnrin, up ann .town like disturbed tad poles, clinging to the wave until the very instant of its fall, then disappear ing tnougn wotted out. The salt t.meii of senweed was In my nostrils, I found the place pleasant Willi these few and M'nUfrnA Iml presslons we returned to the ship. It bad been warped to a secure anchor age, and snugged down, Dr. flchermer horn and Dh'mw were on deck wait ing to go ashore. I made rny renort. The two numn. gers dlnappeared. They carried lunch k until nlaht- nlieh tk lurva tent at ft suitable unot unrl in lls-v.tf.ri ship of the doctor's nomnnni anA scinliflc effects. Hy the flme.this wa (uxompiiHiieo, trie two has returned. "It's all right," Darrow volun teered to Captain KcWer, as hi came ovvr the side. "We've found what we want." Their clothes were nick art hv beimit and hei rboota muddy. Next morn ing Captain Clover detailed me to I'xpci'itti worK. "You'll take two of th men n nA trt ashore under Darrow'a. orders," said ne4 . ' , , . , . v . Darrow told US to bike Hut hen tnr a week, an axe anlwe. rid a hinnu an a tackle; We njade up m ditty bags. ew-ppea into one or the aurf boats, and were rowed ashore. Ther nmd at fence took the lead, . ' . Our way nrocceded nfrtimm tho flat, through tb opening of the nar. Il.'ustratlons ly V. ;:i Craxi f J. Interior by way of the bt-d through which flowed the sulphur stream. The country was badly eroded, Mont of the time .we marched between per pendicular clay banks about 40 feet high. These were occasionally broken by smaller tributary arroyoa of the same sort. It would have been impos sible to reach the level of the upper country. The bed of the main arrayo was fiat, and grown with grasses and herbage of an extraordinary vividness, due, I supposed, to the sulphur water. The stream itself meandered .aimless ly through the broader bed. lt.steadlly grew warmer and the- sulphur smell more noticeable. Above us wa could see the sky and the sharp clay edge of the arroyo. I noticed the, tracks of Darrow and Dr. Schermerhprn made the day before. . , After a mile of this, the bottom ran up nearly to the level of the sides, and we stepped out on the floor of a little valley almost surrounded by more hills. - It was an extraordinary place, and since much happened there, I must give you an idea of it. It was round and nearly encircled by nAked painted hills. From Ita floor came steam and a roaring sound. The steam blew here end there among the pines on the floor; rose to eddy about the naked painted hills. At one end we saw intermittently a broad ascending canon -aeeo red ana blue-black ending in the cone of a smoking vol cano, The other seemed quite closed by the sheer hills; in fac,t tha only exit was the route by which we had come. For the hills were utterly precipi tous, i suppose a man might have made his way up the various knobs, ledges,' and inequalities, but it would have renuired long fcufly and a care ful head. I. myself, later worked my v4$ I oiiori uisiitnce, merely 10 nmlna 4k . n ,u ...I.. way a short distance, merely to ex color. This was at Onea varlnrl and fit ,vl mwuj uui hi nu jub ui srnooiu, ir)nuuoA nnln, f mn-i v..i. ...... v-v. vv.w. wl liiun IVVA. uuv u . ,, , ... . and rich. You've seen- painters' pal ettes It was Just like that, pasty and iai, i nere were reds of ail shades, from a veritable scarlet to a red um ber: greens, from nea-ffreen tn mnr. aid; several kinds of blue, and an In. determinate nurple-mauve. The whole direct wan splendid and barbaric. We stooped and vasrind an tf Viti mis ryes. Darrow alone was unmoved. He led tho way forward and in an instant na nisappnarcd behind the veil of Kleam. Thracklea and Perrtnn hnnr back murmuring, but at a Bharp word irom me gatnerea their courage In their two hands and proceeded, ' We fmind tltt tm and a fearful stfmch of gases, pro cocdefl from a mlnlaturij crater whose edgo wasi heavily encrusted with a, white salt, lioyond, close under the rise or in wn, w another, flotween the two rercy Darrow had stopped and was waiting. He eyed us with his In v. hair ontr. steal glance a we approached." " f "Think the place M going to bjow un?" he tnotilred. with a tt irony. "Welt, it. Isn't." He turned to me. "Here's Where nra nholl ufo a while. You and the men are to tut- a numuer or those pmo.treea for a house. Hetter pick out the little ones, about threo or four incites through: they're easier handled. I'll be back by nooh." we set to work then in the roaring, steaming valley wHh the vapor swirl. Inir about us. sometime oAMeaAiin us, sometimes half revealing us gigan tic, again tn tno ntterness of exposure showing os dwindled pigmies against the, magnitude aboiif im Tim was not difficult. By the time Darrow returned Wo had a pile of the gapllngs ready for hW next direction. lie was arcomnanled by tho digger, very much terrified, very much, bur. dened with food and cooking utensils. The asnistAnt was laslly relating tales of hoodoos, a glimmer of mischief in hi eyes, CHAPTRrt XIU , " ' Captain ft'Iover Imon lKn erve I llvait in the inliiea tnr tVir W were afoot shortly aftof daybreak, under way by sun-up. and at work be tor the heats began. Three of us worked on the buildings, a ad the rest ri , , ' Take Tliia, It'll Ma in formed a pack train carrying all sorts of things from the shore to the valley, The men grumbled fiercely at this, but Captain Selover drove them with - a slight regard for their opinions or feelings. , - " ; "You're getting double pay," was his only word, "earn It!'' , They certainlv earned It during those three weeks. TJie things they brought up were astounding. Besides a lot of eelentlflc apparatus and chests of chemical supplies, everything that could possibly be required, had been provided by. that omniscient young man. After we had built a long, low structure, windows were forthcoming, sneives, tables, sinks, faucets, forges, burners, all cut out, fitted and ready to put together, each with its proper screws, nails, clamps, or pipes 'ready to our hands. When we had finished, we had constructed as complete a laboratory OA a small scale .as you could find on a college campus, even to the etone pillar down to bed-rock for delicate microscopic experiments, and hot and cold water led from the springs, And we were utterly unskill ed. It was all Percy Darrow. I was toward the last engaged , in screwing on a fixture for the genera tion of acetelyne gas. , "Darrow," said I. "there's one thing you've overlooked; you forgot to bring a cupola and a gilt weather-cock tor this concern.'' - After the laboratory was comoleted we put up sleeping quarters for the two men with wide porches well screened, and a square, heavy store room. By the end of the third week we had quite finished. Dr. Schermerhom had turned with enthusiasm to the unpacking of his chemical apparatus. Almost Immedi ately at the close of the freight-car rying, he had .appeared, lugging his precious chest, this time suffering the assistance of Darrow, and had camped on the spot. We could not Induce him to leave, so, we put up a tent for him. Darrow remained with him by way of safety against the men, whose meas ure, I believe, he had taken. Now that all the work was finished, the doctor put in a sudden appearance. "Percy," said he, "now we will have the -defence built." He dragged ua with him. to the nar row part of the arroyo, Just before it rose to the level ofthe valley. "Here we will build the stockade. defence," he announced. , Darrow and X stared at each other blankly. "What for. sir?" inquired the assist. ant. "I haf come to be undisturbed," an nounced the doctor, with owl-like, Teutonic gravity, "and I will not be disturbed." Darrow nodded to me and drew his principal aside. They conversed earn estly for several minutes. Then the assistant returned to me. "No use," he shrugged in complete return to hia indifferent man ner, "Stockdale It Js. Better make it of 14-ropt logs, slanted out. Dig a trench across, plaint your logs three or four feet, bind them at the top. That's his specification for it. Oo at it." "But" I expostulated, "what's the ue of It? Even If the men were dan gerous, that would Just make them think you did have something to guard.".-.- .!... I know that. Orders.", replied Per cy Darrow. ' . We. built the stockade in a day. When Jt was finished we marched to the beach, and never, save in the three Instances ef which 1 shall later tell you, did I see the valley again. The next day Te washed our clothes, and; mOvf d ashore with all our belong. ings. "I'm not going to have this crew aboard," stated Captain Selover posi tively. "I'm going to clean her." He himself stayed, however, We rowed in, constructed a hasty fireplace of stones, spread our blank ets, and built an unnecessary fire near the beach. . ' , ."Clean her!" grumbled Thrackles, ,','my eye!" "I'd rather round the Cape." growl- ed Tula hopelessly. "Come, now, it can t be as bad as al) that," I tried to cheer them. "It can't be more than a week or 10 days' jod, even ir we careen her. -"You don t know what you are talk ing about, said Thrackles, . "It's worse than the yellow Jack. It's six weeks at least. Mind when we last cleaned her?" he inquired o4;andy Solomon. "You can klsa. the Book 'on it," re plied he. "Down by the line In that little swab of a sand island. My eye, but don't 1 rememberl I sweated my liver white." They smoked in ellence. -"That's a main queer contrivance of the professor's that stockade, like," ventured Solomon," ; after a lit tle. - "He doesn't want any Intrusion," I said, "These scientific experiments are very delicate." "Quite like," he commented hon committally. We slept on the ground' that night, and next morning, under Captain He. lover's directions, we commenced the taaK of lightening! the ship. He de tailed. the nigger and Terdosa for epeclal duty. -. "I'll Just see to your shore quar ters," he squeaked. "You empty her." All day long - we rowed - back and forth from the ship to the cove,' land ing the contents of' the hold.' These, by good fortune, we did not have to carry, over the neck of land, for Just above the gravel beach wag a. wide ledge on which we could ' pile the stores. We ate aboard, and ao had no opportunity of seeing what Captain Selover and his men were about, until evening. Then we discovered that they had collected and lowered to the beach a quantity r stateroom' doors V W - ke Mail of Vou." , ' h from the wreck, and had trundled the galley stove to" the edge where it awaited our assistance. We hitched a cable to it, and let it' down gently. The nigger was immensely pleased. After some experiment he gdt it to draw, and so cooked us our supper on it. After, eupper, . Captain Selover rowed himself back to the ship. . '-"Eagen," he had said, drawing me aside, "I'm going to leave you with them, it's better that One of us-rl think as owner. 1 ought to be aboard "Of course, air," said 1, "It" the only proper place for you." . "I'm glad you think bo," he rejoin ed, apparently relieved. "And any. way," he cried, with a burst of feel. Ing, "J hate the gritty feeling of it un der my, feet!. Solid pak'a ;the anl walking for a man." ".:,, He left me hastily, aa though a trifle ashamed. I thought he seemed depressed, even jn little furtive, and yet on analysis I could . discover noth ing definite on, which to base such conclusion. It was rather a feeling of difference from the man I 'had known. In my fatigue it seemed hardly worth think. ing about. The men "had rolled themselves 1 their bldnketa. tired with . th ' int. day. , , - , J , :j- Next morning Captain Selover was ashore early. He had quite recovered hia snirltB. and hfrttPAA m Amm n French brandyj which I refused. We wonted nara again; again the master returned at nie-ht to hu vaa1 v.i time without a word to any of us; agaih the men. drugged by toll, turned in ana slept uxe tne aeaa. We became entagled in a mesh of days like these, during which things were accomplished, but In which waa no space for anvthlmr hut th& took Imposed upon us. The men for the mos.t part bad little to say, ' "POr DlOSi PPt- ! nn nnMl,'.,nAI sighed Perdosa once! "Why don't you kick to the Old ftian, then?" sneered Thrackles. J. 'The Silence that fr.11nn.A4 It.. sullennesa with which Perdosa re-ad uiensea nimseir to his work, was sig nificant enousrh of Ho past relatlona with the m eft. And how we did clean her! We Stripped her Of ever ftflrnh ar, kit ver until she floated high, an empty hull, even her spare and running rig o". .nwic, unaersiooa now the Crew a erumhllncr W m.-it.. . her with e. nail brush. . Captain Selover took. ehnt- nf m When we had reached thin tmiMrtH tla and the nigger and Perdosa had long mute iiuianea me installation of the permanent camp. They had built us huts from the. wreck, collecting state- rOOm doors for the stria. anA V.uteha for the roofs, huge and eolld, with iron rings in .them. The bronae and iron Ventilation gratings to the' doors glimpses or, tne coast through fretwork; the rich inlavintr or -surrounded us. We set up on a solid rue me gauey stove with its rails to hold the Cooking pota from upset tlbg. In a sea Wav. in it hmuii ki debris of the wreck; all eorts of wood, some sweet and aromatic I have seen the- nlKtrer boillna- bean mm ),!.. of sandal wood fragrant as an Eastern First we scrubbed the Lauging Lass, then we painted her., and ui.aA - " ,' sH(...-. :iMa. 'Wii. ',11'. ill, '!':. '.'iti. Urred her standing rigging, replied hu ive nor running gear, slushed her masts, finally rurennerl ,'. K. mA scraped and painted her below. wnen we nan quite finished, we had the anchor chain dealt out to. us In fathoms, and scraped, . pounded and polished, that. These were indeed day full of labor. Being busv frnrh mai,iii. ..h , , , . , Ulli.ll night we knew but little of what was buwui us. vve saw tne open sea and the waves tumbling avm tti ii -....u- -7 - . - vvi, UU13JUO We saw the headlands, (and the bow of me oay ana tne surf with its watching seabj and the curve 6f yellow sands. We saw the jwn nt na.i .. downs and the strange huts we had DuuvMiut oi aeparted magnificence. And that waa'allj that constituted out world. , . In the evening sometimes we lit a big bonflro. sailor fashion, Just at the edge of the beach. There we sat at eaae and amoked our pipeg in silence, too tired to talk. Even Handy Solo, mons son i was attli nutaMa eie of light were mysterious thing -w'ngs or white hands, bending figures, callings of voices, rustling of feet. We knew them for the surf and the-wind In the grasses: but they were not the less mysterious for that. lioglcally Captain Selover aiid X should have pained most of our even ings together. As a matter of fact we so spent very few.. Early in the dusk the captain invariably rowed himself out to his beloved schooner. What he t, f.h2? 1 d0 not now, We could see hie light now in one part of her, now in the other. The men claimed he was scrubbing her teeth.- "Old Scrubs' they called him to bis back: never Captain eelover. ' . - ; , ' "He has to clean up after hia "own .fhht'." llrty" Pffered Handy Solomon. And this was true. .'The seaman's prophecy held good Seven weeks held us at that infernal ob-8even weeks of solid, grinding work. The worst of it was. that we were kept at It so breathlessly, as though our very extatence were to de ntad on the headlong tush of our la bor. And, then wo had fully half the stores to put away again, and the oth. er half to transport painfully over the neck of land from the. cove to . the beach. - - i ' . . o accustomed had t become to the routine in which we were involved, so habituated to anticipating the coming day as exactly like the day that had gone, that the completion of our Job eanght-mt- quite -by turpfise, I fcad . i ! : t .. 1 1 ? n ; ' t t i ' ; . ' i i . , t . ' u i i i ict.i . i I y .. i 1..- I l.- '.t i- ) I ,!. 1 i.'. i I,.- I iitt IH- I,!-! :..e. -..v ! J.;:-. t- Id; mv !,'!!'))?-, i l f.i Turu on t! ago about Cardinal Gibbons a--kirj me about jaae Kliram I promu-ej to nave eoniethlng to say later about Jake, but I guess I'll pass him up. Jake haa been unfortunate, has gone back to a town near Hoston to be guardian of a park or something like that, but he haa his health and that's a lot. So let him enjjy it ' f ' After the Kilram fight they count ed out to me 160 1100 bills. When I put the money in a pocket where it would be handy to get at, aomebody rips in with: ' . "And here'a the belt, that goes to you, too." ' ' . ; ' 'Take the dog collar away, take it away, I wouln't befound dead with it," says I. Then I ehoved it - over, to Charley Johnson, my backer. "Hang on to that Charley, you might want it for your bull dog. It would look fine around hia neck." ' '.' ' There were some people there wno thought the fight was all on account thrown myself down by the Are pre pared for the sotne'old halt baur of drowsy nicotine, to be followed by the accustomed heavy sleep, and the usual early rising to toll. The evening was warm; I half closed my eyes. " : Handy Solomon was coming in last. Instead of dropping to hia place, ha straddled the fire, stretching his arms over hie head. He let thorn fall with a harp exclamation.' v 1 '. " '"Lay aloft,' lay' aloft. the Jolly bos'n Blow nigh, blow lew, what care W! 'Look TaheU, look astern, look a-wlnd-ward, look a-lee.' . Down on the coast -of the high Bar- bar-e-e." . . - ' 1 The effect waa electrical. We all sprang to our ieet ana fell to talking "Byroad, we're-: through!"'', cried Puis. ?'I'd clean forgot ill". ,-, " f The . nigger piled on mdre wood. We drew closer about the flre. All .the interest In life, ao long, held in the background, leaped . forward, eager faenvnttion. We spoke of triviali ties almost for the first time since our landing, fused -into .iemo"J' uu complete good fellowship by the re lief. V , " 't 'v "Wonder how the old doctor la get ting on?" ventured Thrackles, after awhile. , ' . ' ' 1 i "The devil's preacher 1 1 wonder V cried Handy Solomon. j " "Let' make 'em. a csll," suggested "Don't believe tney-a apprciu.io compilment,w laughed. "Better let h mnke first call: they're the long er established." This was '" lost on them, of course. But we an reis ly to one another that evening. I carried the glow of It with tne over until next morning, and . was ikAM.r.i .nme-whst jflttHhed to-meet Captain Selover, with clouded brows and an uncertain manner, v.huimi Ignored my greeting. " . .'. ' ""By, God.-. Eagen," he squeaked, "can you think of ahythlhg. more to be done?" , ' I atralghtened my back and laugh ed. ... - "Haven't you worked - us - nara enough?'"! inquired. "Unless you gild the cabins. I don't see what else there can be to do." ' s - Captain Selover Btarea me over. "And you a naval man!" 'na mar veled. "Don't you .see that the only thing that keeps this crew from getun roatioxa ta keenlne them busy? I've sweat a damn sight more with my brain than you have with your Daca thinking things up to do. I can't see onvthin ahead, and then we'll have hell to pay. Oh, they're & weet lot'." I whistled and my crest leu. ero was a new nolnt of view; and also a new Captain Eara. Where was the confidence in tne mtgnt or ma two hands? " , H seemed to, read my tnougnta, and went on. "I don't feel Bure nere on tnia cuss b.a io.rt tt ttln't tikA a deck where a man has some show. The'y can scatter. They can hide. It ain't right to put a man ashore aione witn sucn a crew. I'm doing my best,' but it ain't goln' to be good enough. I wlsht we were safe in 'Frisco harbor J' tr. nmitrl haVA maundered On. but. T seized hia arm and led him out of pos sible neanng oi me men. "tiara hitek .unl" T anld to him sternly. "There's nothing to be scar- ed of. If 4t comes to a row( tneres three vof us, and we've got guns. We rr..iirt cvmn bbII the - srhnnnAr at a pinch, and leave them here. JYou've stood tnetn on nerore, ' "Mot. ashore." orotested Cantaln Selover weakly. "Well, they don't know that. For (iod'a sake don't let them see you've lost vour nerve this way." He did not even wince at the accusation. 'Put up a front." YtA feV.rtr.tr hia heart Th sun rt "h A completely run out of him. -Yet t am convinced that if he could have felt the heave and roll of the deck beneath him, he would have faced three times the difficulties ne now reared. How ever, I could see readily enough the wisdom, of keepjng the men at work. "You can wreck the Oolden Horn,". I suggested. "I don't know . whether there's anything left worth salvage; but it'll be something to do." He clapped me on the shoulder "Good!" he cried, VI never thought of it." "Another" thing," said t, "you better give them a day off a week. That can't hurt them and ' it'll waste lust' that much more time." , - "All right," agreed Captain Selover. "Another thins yet, You know I'm IIUI. miji u il ant t, tiinv x ill uying to dodge work. But yqu'd better lay me on. u oe,Ho roucn more ror me others." " - "That's true," said he. v - ' I oould not recognize the man for mViat t ttnAut him tn hn TTa rerttial nn tn thtt rlHrlr ' Ar ni a Ana onlMil taken out of lta element and placed un uie huusi A.uuriso unu given piace tr fear' rteelnloil to wavorl tic: tin A singleness of purpose to . a divided counsel. He wno naa so thoroughly dominated the entire ship, eagerly ac cented advice of tne a man without experience. That evening i sat apart consider- fehlv rltutttrhAit t fptt that tha vi-mmrl bad dropped away beneath my . feet, ria Burn vprvin waa TarinftiT at present; but how 1 understood then source or mat tranquility ana jiow soon it must fall. .With - opportunity would come more scheming, ' more speculation, more cupidity. How was I to meet it, with none to back me but a scared man, an absorbed man, and an indifferent man? ' ' TO BE COXTINTEDJ7 '- i v:.,t i . ;j . :it 1 t'lr a !" ; in., r w m ,,. i t i t I - " "1. t '. i l ; ' t tor, i,,) I Uidn't cvi. Tim d on. n u.'ln't worry v.e ai y, but it did u. 't Johnaon, as there w,ia a rumor ii.it s.une of the gun f:;liten, Kho thou-- t the belt more valuable than It n--..!y v i were' puing to get it by jj.inv porch climbing when Charley wr-i asleep. Johnson told nio about the ' reported plot. "Let them steal it, and good luck to them," I told Johnson. But I think he slept with It around hia Waist or neck, until he got the thing into cold storage. I had a good mind to give the belt to Kilrain to show my von tempt for it, but it might look like r hitting him after he waa licked. o i jet jonnson worry along under the load. ' CORBETT WARNED NOT TOPROVE AN ALIBI BY JOHN L. Jim Corbett Is turning funny. "He. la giving himself a certificate as one ! of the few boxers who never did a faker-"! won from an honest fighter," (meaning me) "an honest champion- ship." Buys Gentleman Jim., and he goes on to call Jack O'Brien toad . name- because' O'Brien Jogs us back to the fact that it was a good guesa ' that Corbett and Jeffries fakej for ' 22. frnim.ta amt ..n u nu vk'i was off did Jeff hand over the wal- - ' lop. k Ojrbett would much oblige me if ' in vut trying xvr pruvd. an ttUUl ;.; . by me. The little was Clean when I basetl It tn htm Tf ' W tftumrda that things began to happen, and to day a championship battle Is almost V a Joke-, in any class. All the faking . dates after my day, and the cheap' atcatea who are responsible for tt can plit the glory up among themsel- t . Vee. 1 j t t - . , , h iu' .Thia man Corbett has a gall to try -to prove his record by mine. But he ' can;t drag it off without a yelp from me. rm not going to be shook down - -into the Corbett class at this late day; Not while my eyes are open and my hands ajd feet untled. I stand' y. n avwjl VI fcltlUKB IU Vt'lUQ, UUV I araw a chalk mark on bush-head. If we had referee with sand the" fakers would be put out of business, ; Or what they think worse, made to','," fight. When Kid McCoy claimed a . foul against Sharkey, and flopped down on the floor, Tim Hurst who . waa referee, . started to count htm " out, and between counts ealledMcCSy' " ' a. lobster, advised him to getXuo and - tak a licking, and finally offered to lick the Kid himself. . Tim. . finally got McCoy on his feet so that Shar key could hand him what waa com-. ina. NOT SO OLD HE CAN'T ROUOH HOUSE A BIT. ' - iuu(ui auout vu patties ana lost one, the last. When I was Jlckcd I rang the bell on myself, climbed up on the back shelf nn.l i-efuaM ott onn . ' propoaitlone to go out and do the pub. ' Uo out of. good money with men I could'' haven licked, when I was good, with one hand tied behind my back, I've fought on the turf in the open, when the sun blistered mv back.'. I've fought In the snow, in mud and rain, in places where we expected the mill. ' tia or the sheriff to come up any old m Innlji " imi mim A.ttrt feitrMta .' .-v - enough to pay training expenses and ' , ' fines, but I can say that the slap oo the back I got from the referee when. , he named me winner oquared me for all the trouble. - No friend of mine will blame me for objecting to Corbett'B conversation in ' wnien ne inea to answer o jtmen Dy ; JumpingUnder my lee. Not on your lire. " Burns has already given nia answer to the fake with O'Brien by i , bvlj ui&t jt il imvo iiiirucy wiibii nuiu Of , these fellow who are knocking, if me nre ntarvlnir tn .lna.th ' Thnt'd thn atiBiVet nf the whrtle ,rlamn famllv of ... fakera when they are caught with the, goods. But I want them one and all . to leave John L. out of it. I'm not' so old that I can't hold up my end in a rougn-nouse argument tr some oi them want to start one with me. SOME PUSHES, SOME FLAG WAV: , INO, AND TOMMY CHAMP. - , , ' They waved the American flag ov mwr- M'ntvi rr r Miinrii , tv nan nam 1 niinnan . f ' A VI'i''J saw .... ti vii w wsw vfJi.- ,f .'. Squires to the floor July 4th, and that , '. makes Tommy . champion. See how . ; easy tne tning is done, ix waa a gooa .1rI lllrn a ratn nf iajr ctntv shorter " and with - the rough part left out : and-now, all the- advertising that , goea with a championship can be col- , lected by Tommy, and there's no law to atop him.' He's a wonder at get-" ting things fixed right for him. - The kind of boxing they are buying t oul on the coasJEith . big , money ; IHitKOa IIIO litURIl, S.11U (cruilliua III' . that, Al. Herford recently got after me with a hammer because I aaid,, '.. . that the boxers of to-day were a. , bunch of dugs and that the ',ibusincssi . ; iprinciples" sneaked into th sport were killing the game. r " " , : i.m t. -' . . .t I m.. akA.l V4 ' MiAvi ''.f:;. A who are making ring history to-day,"' aaid Al., "and I deny what flullivahwf aays, that they are all .mutts tr dubs." , , . I think even oharkey or - Fits can come back, and clean nearly all the candidate for the big title, leaving out the dark man who la- trying to ,. get out. of the woodpile. ; Herford san make a bag of lemons go aa far as any of them, when it cornea to fra ; . j,. .i. IM 1. W '.'... la. tuliKal. H AW'' "MaifAHtlA ''.'Milt. only, and he needn't think that I'm : throwing ibrlcks because I am out of the ring. There isn't a man living as anxious a I am to see the real thing ' in the ring, the kind of men. who ; will do battle without double entry book-keeping and, second-story arith. " metie. ' ' HE CALLED THE TURN ON THE .'. . ' ' - JAPS LONG ' AGO. ' There's, a lot of bdnk in this Jap. , business, and two years ago'I called " the turn on It In a newspaper article. At that time I said folks who were ; thumping the Japs oin the back for . Cnasing. lii nuaninuB nm mno a. Jn.., secoM think when the chesty yellow , -fellows began to get busy in our di rectlon. The Jap id out for the stuff , and he don't are who .gives up," eo - long aa ne gew m. : We've been gxyd friends. -to . the Japs, putting them next to the" beat -wo had, and now ."they're paying uT back by making us pay b!g bill of';,,, expensesf. Out on the coat. where ; they are having, first-hand experience with the Jap.,, same as they've had :, with , tho Chinks. they ' know, and ;. they ain't going to go up any old home week celebration for htm so aato make htm glad ha came. When I predicted that , the Jap would outstay his . welcome aa the , etar boarder, the rest of the country was dippy, over htm aa the greatest tittle man ever, and I was told I waa , -In the wrong. But I've been around ' enough so that all my original .Yan kee notions aa to the smoked races, '-. black, yellow or red, have got Chang ed over, and I know that If the'whlte man Is going to stay on top the only -thing for him to do is to keep on top. The Jap in first rate In Japan, and It'a ' your, one best' bet that a good way to keep him there is to build fence of battle ships in the. Pacific so long and big that he can't climb over nor sneak around the ends of K. ' Yours rty. JOHN LI 6LTXtVAV"
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 21, 1907, edition 1
18
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75