Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1904)
The Diamond Derelict Being the Record of a Young Man Who Finally Won Out By Edward Marshall (Copyright, ltK.3. All Klghts Reserved, by V. U Marshall.) CHAPTBH XXV. The Generosity of Captain Sears. When a Htlngy man gives somethln,' It's gcncr'ly souicthln' thut he Aggers ain't no urn to nobody ami he alius makes a presentation sjieech. The Log Book vl The Lrytldy. HH progress from the Burpee T homestead to thu dock was u cure si mony, and such u one us would '" J b unlikely to bo born out of ttio t "VMhi? hearts of nny folk except Capo Codders. Without planning or prearrango ment, rejoicing ut thu good luck of tho eld mun nt their head, they fell into a strange lantern and torchllt procession and tramped through the deep wind of the nar row road toward l'rovlncetown. Soon aoino one of them began a "Gospel Hymn." Churches lungutHli on tho Capo, but tho Moody and Sankey song go on forever. Whether it wan through chance, or, per haps', UxaiUHC in tho confUKcd mind of thu woman who started the singing there was an appropriateness In It, no ono knew, but the song first started was "Thu Prodigal Child." Tho llro-searrcd hulk of tho Iydlu Bkol feld had been tied up after tho menhadener hud cu-tt off tho towing lines, at ono of those great, decaying wharves, which now how so melancholy at tho Capo's chief ports. There had been days wlien ni.my hundrid s;iilors had honied there, but the memories of those times now seem llko legends. Tho days when the rotting pier which win tho goal for tho straggling little bund which followed In tho captain's wuko had been as busy as any on thin coant or any other had long passed by, and this night tho men with tho lanterns tip toed on It cautiously. Tho light of ninny lanterns showed tho floating ruin of the ship beyond the rough and broken platform. Tho shouts which had risen from tho crowd wero mow sub dui J. The Investigators declared that tho dock, was iiito too shaky to risk much weight upon It, and so tho captain's arm chair was deposited lor the time In thci uiidt.t of a chattering, good-natured group upon tho solid earth, full thirty feet away from the UlHuiantled ship ho loved bo well. l'arton and Captain Bears were tho first to board the l.ydtii uml muko u prullmtruiry survey und InvebtlKution. It wuu after Captain Bears and Pa r ton had succeeded, with tho asslstanio of much Shouted, advico from tho onlookers, in get ting an Improvised gunKplank aocurely fixed so that It bridged the three or four feet of wutcr between the ship and tho pier, and rested on a portion of tho vessel's rail that was not too badly burned to make It a firm support, that he yielded to tho American. linpuLto to make a speech. lie had been greatly Impressed by the exhibition of popular delight over Captain burgee's good fortune. It had angered him a Uttie even, for he did not under stand it, but his slow wits wero quick enough to tell him that this ho must not Show, People had Jeered blra and he knew that be was unpopular. This hud long worried him. The remark that a dock lounger had tnade Just as the Busy had begun the voy age which end.nl when sho towed tho I.ydla In had galled him deeply. The man had called out, cheerfully: "Hun v'yage. Cup. Hope ye'U have good lurk this trip! Praps you'll run acrost another flout in' co'pse this time, one that's left a rich widder that can pay!" There was an especial reason why ho sor rowed over this trend of public thought at this particular time. A government com mission waa to be appointed to study Cape Cod's sand dunes. Due native was to grace lu councils at a salary of b'ffl for the ses sion of six months. Captain Bears was be ginning to get old and llfo on the menhaden-, steamer was must laborious. He wished to be that native. He hid thought much of this the while the recent voyage was In progress. And after he picked up the l.ydla a great thought came to him. Ho looked the melancholy derelict over with some care and decided that she was almost worthless. Salvage for her rescue would be divided, according to the law In such cases, smong . his entire crew Of she was declared to be worth anything at ell), end he would get hut little, be reflected, at the beat. It oc curred to him that therein lay his oppor tunity to redeem his damaged reputation for generosity and general decency. lh other members of the crew were certain to consent. The loss could not bo great, for the derelict of tho Lydla was matctly worth, he estimated, the coal It cost to tow her In. Thus where all the people were gathered, thinking of nothing but the wreck and of no one but the captain, was the time and there the place to "spring" It. "Captain Tltirgee," he said, leaning against a wharf post and trying to make his fnce tnke on an expression as near as possible to geniality, "there's some hin that I wont to say an' I'm a-goln' to sny it. This here ftndln' of your ship a-dTlftln' 'round gives me Jest the chance that I've be'n lookln' for. They Is them here on the Capo that's spoke nn' thunk hnrd of me In times gone pnst, because of things I may have done. They was especial tad rlous 8ears, wero at first quite speechless, and then broke into a Jerky cheer. It was. as It were, literally yanked out of them by their surprise. It rose in spasms. Captain Sears fluBhed by this spectacular success, went on: "After wo had picked her up and while we was a -com In' Into port, we talked this nvitter over. And, in order that there couldn't be no mistake at all about it, I made out a paper. We signed It and we was glad to sign it. It transfers cur claims to you, an' we don't reckon that you are a-goln' to sue yourself for salvage. If you'll Jest step for'ard here a little, Mis' Hurgee, I'll hand the paper to you. I've got It right here In my pocket." Mrs. Hurgee stepped forward, and Cap tain Sears did hand her the paper. She took it to her husband. All she could say face. If he reckoned there was much la salvage on the Lyddy as there Is In sal'ry on th' Job, he wouldn't be so gonh-darned generous. When some folks asts ye to sail In an take a bite out o' red apples, ye'U be clever If ye makes a careful squint for wo'm boles." CHAPTER XXVI. Asa In the Cars: f (he Lydla. Ain't God clever? Ixiok at all th new ways He finds of punlshin' th' wicked, an' glvin' goodies to th' Rood! Don't they mako our prisons an' our penalties, an our presents an' prosperities seem Just foolish ?-The lxg Hook of tho I.yddy. No other means of shipwreck ever can give a ship so desolate an appearance as can fire. Tho stump of the India's main mast still stood, but It gleamed no longer with that rich yellow of its Norway pins HIS im'riW HIS HRKATII IN QUICKLY WHEN UK SAW THAT THE EAKT1I WHICH HE KEMEMHEREI TO HA VIS RUBBED OVt'K THE IAJU'S fciND WAS QUITE GONE. feelln' over the fact that I ast the widder Iiriscoe for the usual fee for pickln' up her husband's co'pse. Now I think lover, I see that I waa wrong to ask pay for the filndlu' of Ned Briscoe dead, when he was wo'thless llvin'. I'm sorry that I done It. Now what I want to say Is this: There Is times and there ain't times for askin' salv age. I thought that the time when I found Iiriscoe a-bobbln' 'round out there like a cork loose from a boy's fish line waa the time to do It. I know that now, when I've found your ship a-floattn' Is the time not to do It. "Now, you folks know as well as I do what claims for salvage me an' my men might make ag'lnst this ship an' whatever may be left In her. Well, we ain't goln' to make no claim! That's all there Is to that. An' me an' my men we're all consid'able glad to say so. Ain't we, boys?" The three members of his crew were present and they manifested their approval of what he aald In three awkward shame faced ways although It is probable that their generous sincerity waa at least as great as was his own. The other people oa the dock, amaaed at this) from the pent- was, "Thank ye, Captain 8ears, thank ye!" Hut the Hut that stole up to his eyes trembling, a moment later testified there' was much more which he thought but could not say. Captain 8ears unquestionably had the people with him now. If he had stopped there, he might have won back that pop ularity which had passed with the Iiris coe corpse salvage incident. But he con tinued, saying: "And now, feller rltlxena, I hope there ain't none here as thinks hard o' me no more. An' I hope that when my claims Is properly presented to th' gov'ment, there ain't none as will oppose my gltlin' on th' Cape commission." Mostly the simple minded folk there present were properly impressed. Mostly they felt that they had wrongedly Judged hfm In the past, and that If. In order to make up, they could help htm in the fu ture, they would do It; but there was one old, grizzled seadog, who spat tobacco Juice and said: "Yah! I thought there was a current ruunln' that didn't show up oa th' sur- whlch It had been the captain's pride ever to keep shining over all of It The upper end was charred and ugly. The mainmast was entirely gone, and that part of the deck in which it had been stepped was also torn up and destroyed. A great hole with charred edges where the explosion had torn the planking up had given the lire free chance to eat Its way and yawned gloomily. Fore and aft the ruin was much less complete than It was amidships. The rain had evidently started In liefore the flames had had a chance to eat deep into the solid timbers, and there were spots around the edge of the Jagged rent there In the deck which showed the fresh yellow of the pine as It waa torn by the explosion, where It had not been at all blackened by the fire or smoke. Tho entrance to the cabin eompanlonway was charred, but held Its sharp edges. The greater part of the exterior of th deck houBe was not burned, although the paint on It was faintly clouded by the smoke, and. in some places, yellowed and blistered. Parton remembered with a shud der how Intense the heat had been and how