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%.aGoLDEN DAYS:-emh
“It's an octopus!" shouted Tom. as
the boat rushed into the head of coral; .
and seizing his grains, ovui'li0‘ird he ‘
went, and as Harry ;.zi':tSp(‘ll Will’,-i - ,
tended arm, and tried to (lrzlg him into
or tow'ard the boat. he hurled his spear
again and again into the creature, and
endeavored to push it from Willis knee, ;
where it had now settled, under the;
vigorous blows or the knil'e. ,
woof the arms were severed in this 1
way, but the others clung like lee . I
winding about his legs, doubling and,
twisting all the while. i
IVill w ' ' tand we It, but the rest ,
encwuraged him. and finally he struck a
deep blow into the body of the monster:
and Tom, settling down almost under
water, with a troinendous lii't tore the
ugly creature from its hold.
At the s.nne moment the boys in the i
boat, who had clung; to “'ill, fairly l
jerked him into the bout, with .s')me oi‘
the arms of the octopus still clinging to
Hill.
Tom was not a moment behind, as the ‘
' , and he
haulel aboard. l
“lill was badly cut: his legs, arms‘
and neck were (.‘H'el'G(l with round
marks, as if he h.ul been capped, and ‘
some ofthein blcd liarlly, while other
sharp bites were evidently the niarksl
of the p.n'rot-like hi 5;
The water for ni.m
9.
5
3"
V e octopus.
So, alter the water had cleared, they.
commenced the search, and iinally the i
ugly fellow-or what was left of it-iv s
found under :1 clnnip of brannli-c) al. I
The boat was held over the spot, and
three spears wero sent into it at one 1
Even now it sti-iigglerl hard, and as they
lilted it aboard the creature drag-.gcd at i
least tilty piiltlitlz-1 or‘ dead coral with it. i
But, once in the bout, it was soon iiuish- I
P
ed with a hatchet, and packed away in
halt’ ii barrel, which it nearly tilled, and
was thund to weigh altcrward 170
ads.
“You wouldn't believe a creature lil' ,
that would have so much strcngtl " id ,
Will, as they started for home. ‘ntsl
soon as I hit it, it seen ed to run up the
grains, and nearly twisted the pole out ‘
of my hands, and the water became as 1
black as ink: and the tirst thing I knew )
I felt somethiiiglike a red-hot band clasp
my leg;-and then another-and then I
made a jump for the ‘head,’ and the
animal tried to climb upon me. I don’t
know whether he was trying; to attack
me or to escape; but I've learned one
lesson-never to ‘strike’ an octopus.
unless o ‘ " ‘
Aslight breeze had sprung up, and,
after stepping the mast, they bore away
for home cl-ate their adventnre;‘
which. however, was not the last that
fell to their lot on the great reef.
, m, -
AN INCIDENT OF THE MAELSTBOM.
All of us have heard of the famed
Lafoden Maelstrom, oil‘ the coast of,!
Norway, but few have listened to sol
thrilling a story of its power as was re- N
l
1
1
l:Ited,n few week a o, by a Scandina-
vian immigrant. The narrator was (is!)-
ing for cad about a mile from the outer
circle, when he saw a eilumn of spray
lown by a Wililit) a lralf-milo nearer the
"he spray x as seen by :m-
s for the latter,
the
whirlpool.
other fishcrr
knowing that e apt ta be in
linmediatu vicinity of a
toward the paint of intc ‘h-
eruian was an old man a ilyl
other occupant of the boat was a p .
When the narrator of the incident :4. w
them of their d.ni;1er; but, as they had
cnne from the st ith, they rli'l not know i
that they were near the maelstroni. and
paid no attenti HI t) the warningg. They i
got far into the cucle, an'l licgnui to (ish.
Their boat driltozl round slowly, and the
man and bov seenu-xl to be nnmindl'nI
of the an '. But the c‘ ‘ole grew
smaller andithe whirl movcd faster. At
length the truth 1i.lwnr'l upon tlicl1u-l<-
lessoccwruiitsoftlicilzts-11 bolt. A faint
scream o terror '-uni the lad came over
the water; they gr. spud tln-ir ours, and
pulled with desperation. But they were
u the lHL'Sil(‘S. For a while they szwimnl
to hold their own; lint it was onlv for a
little while. The old man's strokes be-
‘ ing, and had arranged for the equal div
i
‘ 1
l
i
1
came less steady, and the boy worked i
as though near y . hausted. Rallying,
however, the boy sen-nied to throw the
strength of a man into hisquick strokes,
but his oar slipped i'i'om his ham In
a moment the oar was carried an , aml
in another moment it was all over. The
boat was whirled round and round, and
then dis‘.Ipp(:aI‘0d forever.
PHILIPERKELEY,
llr. lhe Masters Gun. ‘
BY FRANK R. srocxrom
(.‘ll.Xl"I'ER XX"I.
MR. 'I'0L'It0N .t'i D 1-i-:its0N.xLLY T0
uis Ab . in. l
The next day but one; ter the visit of‘
the two gentlemen to Ilyson IIall, Mr
Tom-on, at his residence in New York, ‘
road in his morning paper a short ac-
count of the boys who had saved part ot'
the cargo of a burning steamboat, by,
running her . '
dence of Philip Berkeley were given,
and mention was made oi’ the liaiitlsnnic
sum he and his companions were to rc- ,
ceive for their services. 1
The French gentleman instantly sus-
pceted the eliect which this event wouhl
have upon himself. Philip Berkeley
would pay oi)" the interest on the mort-
gage, and lly )1) llall would not he sold
by the sherilf nor bought by the Tou-
Pulls.
“ What slow and stupid dolts these
country lawyers are I" said M 1'. Touron,
angrily, to himself. “Tildt foreclosure]
should have hccn made a week ago, and
the whol llxir settled, and Mr. Markle i
should have bou;.,vlit the property in my
name, as I directed him. I will go 1
down there myself. ’.l‘lierc may be time
yet to finish up the niatte: “
‘Vhcn Emile heard that his iather was
den de-
parture liy .<ayin5,r that ho had Iieard that
he would be attack d by the boys from
Ilyson llall if he iyod there any lotr-,;-
But he had taken (W re to relate the
treatment he had received from l’liu>ni:<
Poole and Susan; and he lioped, by hi.
father's influence, these outrar.gcs niight ,
be made to otliset the little alfair on the 1
o
om .
He also had a morbid desire to see if
the gun was still between the mattresses
ufthe bed. He would make some pre-
tense to go to the room he had occupied,
and it’ the gun was still there he won ,
at all ha7..irds, get it away and drop it
intH the river.
Perhaps they would stay at lloontown
all night, and then he would hav a-good i
chance. What he would do or IV if he ,
should not iind the gun where he had . CL
left it, he did not consider. i s
When Mr. Touron and his son arrived 1
:1tBoontow'Ii thrv found that they were
in time. Mr. llai 1, who had he: -d
oftheir arrival, hur ed to lIr.“'(-,llin'1I's
oilice to knowif the bov. money had
been l'()(iL‘iVLti.
lhitalthonqh Phi ind his two friends
had been with Mr. I clford in the morn
in oftho sllv -money, with the pro-
), which n ;rtn".(i upon in w '
by the parents of (‘hap and Phoen
all the lll0Il(>., 'honlIl for the pro 0
placed at I’hil's dlspt lhly nothing had
been heard from the r.u road company.
No cheque had been received. 1
There was notliing silrprisiiig in this, ;
s such things are ;;cii:i':1liy not done in
l ‘to; but the dc-lav, under tlml
rv-un tan ml, was very uiifortunate.
Mr. ‘V(!i1"H‘(i did not wish to advance
the money himst I‘, because Mr. l'3<>rl:v-
le, might not be li ing. and in that ase-
' s probable he would never be paid.
it’ tho ininiediatr- danger were rcinovrd
he could not ercpoct the Poole '
slur boys to give him their .‘<'i):lI'O of the
s.ilv:v;n money, nor, indeed, could he
<-riinpel youn;.: Berkeley to do so. M4-n
like Mr. Yo m are very careful of
their own int ut he was aux-
r be tlioiiglit he ouvht ,
to do in this iiiattvr.:iiul he and Mr. l at
Markle's ol-
.t1ir1ny semis.
Old Mr. Touron would listen to nothing;
that Mr. Welford or Mr. Harrison said, l
and insisted that matters should be in
stantl) sett (1.
lie complained loudlyof the treatment
received by his son. and of the newli-
gence and delay of Mr. Markle. -
Mr. llarrison Spoke up.
“If vou choose to pr
he , “ perhaps we
something on our side.” ,
He then told the story, which Phil had
given him, of Emile’s assault, and the
tlielt ofthc gun.
. lr>.x'ander Muller had heard of
al of tho Tonrons, and h:u,l.stroll-
ed into )Ii'.)Iail<le‘.s' oiliue, where no-
body seemed to notice his pi lI<‘C. lie
tore Mr. llarrlson had quite tinishcd his
story he went out.
" 'hat do you ‘to tliat'?” a (tell Mr.
Touron, of his son, when the lawyer had
linished.
“ It is not true !” said Emile. 1‘ It is
all one vile tale!"
And he w 0 n t on, at (aonsidorable
leiigtli, to ' L‘It that this was only part
‘s vour allair,”
‘an also press
of the persecution to whieh.Phil and the ,
other boys were siilijoctiiig him.
“Wliat proof have you of the elmrtzc
you imuie‘.’"asl<ed Mr. ’l‘-iuron of Mr.
Iarr on.
“We can bring forw" 11 the testimony
of Philip l%ei'l;eley,” aid Mr. llarrison,
"the boy whose l x .. threatened,
and from whom the gun s taken.
llis character has been proved to be an
excellent one, aml I believe ‘s '
mony would be received by :myJury in
this county.” -
“ It is notas good as zat l“ cried Emile,
H
snapping his tinuors. I can
what he and ze o’ ‘
my word will be
"lluniphl"
Sill'l1j.', “this isall noiisense!
. id
“'0 have
i.‘i2ll'i(IL‘ that the
Mr. 'l'ouron, with .1 ,
it.”
“ ‘vcuse me for it Orl'uptin,<; your
eonve xtion," id Mr. rtlexanderhlnl-‘
ler, who had re-entered the room a niin-
uto or two before, “ but this gun which
that young gentlcnian left between the
lll2tH.l'(3SSi'S of his bed,on the ex ming-
when he so suddenly went aw‘ x
town, ' ' )l‘(H'lll;;
may be uselul Ill the
Ci)2ll‘g.[0 which M llarrison has made.”
When Emile s wOl1l lh-ud
ncil:
“I know not'ln1,: Zibout rat prunl 1
never saw it before 1"
“ The tavern-keeper inforinsnm," con-
tinued Mr. Blulh-r. “that no one but
. invself has occupied the room in which
I found the gun since that young gen-
tleman lelt it. llc also s that this
gun belon;;. to Mr. UotlI'i<y Berkeley.
He knows it very well. It has been in
the llL‘ig’ili7l)l'iIOH(i a long; time. It ‘
also, a you see, w ithout a ramrod,whirh
(:oi'i'cspoIi<ls with yo u n-hr Berkole, ‘
story, as Mr. Hari'ison has , t told it.
But I measured the barrels x
and I find it is loaded, althon,<.;h neither
barrel went oil‘ and those two cups were
snapped.” And he ed the
x
,, V . .
hammers, and sliowerl the two split per-
“"011 caps
‘f.tml," he added, “I can
is the condition in which
('zu‘(‘l'ully il.l[l.’IIli(,‘(i to ovc-rylliiiig that
was going on, "that without any refer-
cnoe to tho innrt;;a;,ve proceedings or
iii a stick, i
id Mr. “'oll‘ord, who had ,
:llI)'[iIillLg' else, we should get out a war-,
rant agaiiist this youngr ma
to him, as well as to all iaru concern-
ml, that the msc Slunihl ire illI'l‘SIi)J,’:ll(’li
before ajiistiocol‘ the peace. You must
not think that w in t ‘in-,7 tuintimi-
date you," il(3(7fIlll.llIlIO(i,:l(i1il'(:S“ill" Mr.
Touron. “’l‘his matter, as I said in
has nnlhintv: to (lo with llu: ollicr at
L >
ianivd by Mr. Harrison aml Alo.x'and(:r
Muller, the latter (‘av ' 'ing Old ltrurlen
carellilly under his arm.
Mr. Touron leaned bavl-: in his chair
and thou-.rht ovorthe innlter. Ilc x as
e v lillltzll afraid that this rhargeaguinst
l‘ l1iiO(7'Hli(i be prov I. He had no GUI]-
fulenoe in ‘s son‘s word, and themat-
" 1 a very ions (
a prndvnt inan, and
red the siihier-t (1arnI'ullv.
pressing the ]!i‘l)I7(‘C(iillLf‘<i ll'.(:!ll t 3 l
llorlceln) s estate, he did not wish to re-
novcr tho inoney “'iIil'il was due him.
He only desirvrl that the plzmo might be
sold by the slio1'ill' that he might buy it.
He already ownud proprii-ty in Bonn.
1mvn,and had long wislmtl to posse
4
llvson llall, which he intended to llltli-(Oi
his summer lent-re.
He knew that it" he turnvtl the Berke-
leysout of it in the way he proposed,
it would niuke him unpopular in the
t IN due ,
ii‘.
iing, he left the oilire, aoeom-,
, tain persons at Ilv
ted too much timcin talking about‘ W
neigliborhood for a time; but he sup-
isrnl that this frvliiig would s-oi-n put.
away, and he did not care much about
it. lint il’, alniost at the Same Iin:('tha1
ll son Ilall was sold by the slit-iilll his
son should i)L‘i)l'lHi2,illl1)l.ll:li ill‘l'(3 on :1
uli:ir::c that uiight send illlll to the poni-
tvntiz his impopularity niight be a
Very
A jury selected from this vi: 'nit,1‘
would not be likely to deal 1;--nll with
liinile. lle lhou;:ht it i>('llt‘l', lhv ‘ore.
to wait awhile before pres>iii;.f the foir-
closnrc matter, and see how things
would turn out.
In a1iotliri' six inontlis, inore iIIlI'll‘>l
would be due on the lllltllgllgl‘, and he
lelt quite certain that there would lm in;
inoncv to pay it. (iodf K ]i<'l‘i’xl lly
would not have run away if he had nut
lL‘(‘II b:ml(i'iipt, and it was not at all
likely that there would be :Illl1lii<‘l'
steamboat for the boy to save. in six
inuntlis he could get the property with-
out any trouble.
lle tln-r4-fore arrangt-,d with llr.
forcrlosure busine '
need not be pressed for the present, and
left the l)IIi('.(‘ with his son, intrn1lin<,: to
qliivtly take the lirst train lor )ow
York; but bi't'ore he reached the station
Emile was arrested, and taken below a
justice of the peace.
Phil and Mr. Muller were sent for,
and gave in their testimony.
At the (.‘0nl.‘ill5iUl) ol the exaniination,
Emile was l‘(‘([llil'(tLi to glue bail for his
appearanc-,o in court early the next
month. His father gave the rcqui -d
bail, and the two leli town.
Of colnse, this allair created a great
deal ol' talk in Boontown, and it inter-
fered very much with the sleep of cer-
ii llall,and at the
Ui stnr and Poole larins.
ienext llll)l'lllllg, ]’hil came
la.n
into town to see if the cheque had ar-
rived; but it had not come. (lwing.1, tothe
niistako of a clerk in the railroad otlire
from which it '
, wa. limitl-
nate, tlu-re1'cre, that M: l‘ouron tliollght
itprudrut not to urge on the slim-i1]"s
sale of Ilyson llall.
As soon as the cheque was r
' ‘n w
and the small sum reniah ng x .. di-
vid0(l among the three lioys. I’h<nnix
bought liislinife, which he kept for a
long time, and which he always called
his Thomas Wistar.
(,‘IIAI"l'lClt XXVII.
1' no LONELY sruac.
Mr. Alexander Muller remained some
days in lioontown, an ' c greater
1' the time he was quite busy with
which brought him there.
But there came a day in which he had
nothing to do, and it struck him it would
be a good idea to take a holiday, and
have a long stroll in the woods. He was
a ;;oo(l deal of at natural’st, and was very
fond of woodland raml)l(- .
When he left Mr. Markl oiliee, on
the (lay of the Touron ailaii, he had
taken Old Brudcn back to the tavern,
where be supposed Phil would call tor
it. But Phil's mind had ll(‘(’ll too niuoli
occupied with the CX[IO(:[tlliI)ll of his
ulieqiic, and the ti. ' that Mr. 'l'ouron
llIl;.','i)t yet cliango his mind before it ar-
rived, to think of the gun. Mr. Muller
determined, therefore, that he would
walk down sonic evening; to llysoti Hall,
and carry Old Ilruden home. ,
hit when he decided to give himselt
a lioliday, he thought tlmre could he no
olijectioiis to his taking Old Brudeii with
Iilll, L-specially as he intended to alter-
ward give himself the trouble to walk
all the way to llyson Hall to return it.
The thought came into his iniud that
it would be well perhaps to leave lb?
gun in the condition it then was, aslll
might be userl in the approaching trial
of’ young Touron. But Mr. Muller had
i own ideas about that '4
of any other gun he could borrow, ailll
be felt ve ' much like having one will
him, in use he should see anythin;.' lib‘
wished to shoot. lle tlicrefore bong,-ht 21
small quantity of powder and shot, and
a box’ oft-ups; and with these, anrl H
1lllii'il(‘l)I] in his pocket, and Old Brlltie”
on his shoulder, he started for tho
Green Swamp, a large tr; of forest, 4‘
mile or so from the tow , of which me-n<
tion lias been made before. He had I10
ramrod for his gun, but he cut one from
the tirst dogwood bush he met with.
[e had never been in the Green
Swamp, but he had hcardagood (1031
are-r