-
Articles/Ads
Article THE WRECKER. ← Page 2 of 10 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Wrecker.
that dared incredulity ; then sinking all at once into a half whisper . "Hist ! " she added , " hist ! Twill be a handful for you , and a load for you , and more than you can carry for you , " addressing her auditors alternately ; " casks , cases , chests , gear , and gold ! But what will it be for Black Norris ? What , think you , will it be for him ? You cannot tell , but I can . Let me see , let me see , " she repeated to herself , musing ,
" when will his time he out ?" "Whose time ? " inquired one among the group she was addressing . " One , two , three , "—she went on without noticing the question till she had counted seven . " His seven years were out last April . Old Norris is on his way back by this . He was transported last April seven years , just three years after he murdered my father . "
" Plush , you crazy slut , " exclaimed the one that had last spoken , " have you not had enough of Black Norris already ? Woulcl you like a swim in the creek again ? Plush you crazy jade !" " Crazy ! " she echoed , " ay , crazy indeed ! Blessed be heaven that made me so . It knows its own ways best ; I saw my father murdered , though his murderer saw not me . They were struggling which should keep possession of a plank that had been washed ashore—' tis now a table in Black Norris ' s house . Old Norris ' s knife decided it . I
was powerless with the fri g ht ; I coulcl neither speak nor stir . I went mad , and the judge would not believe me . I could tell my story better now , There she is I" shrieked the half-deranged girl , pointing towards the offing at the southern extremity of the bay . " Where ? where ? " eagerly inquired the by-standers . " No ! " she resumed , after a minute or two , during which her
eyeballs kept straining in the direction towards which she had pointed . " No ! " she resumed , dropping her hand , " but she is coming ; and Black Noras will neither want roof nor hoard , gold nor gear , to welcome back the father that bred him up to his own trade ! But where is he ?" inquired she earnestly ; "he must be here , he has his work to do . Ha ! ha ! am I mad ? " she wildly asked herself . "Where is Black
Norris ? I'll tell you , though I no more see him than you do . Black Norris is at his post ! And where is that ? Why upon the reaf where the William and Mary was stove in ! " The vessel she spoke of was a sloop that had been wrecked in the bay , ancl in which she had lost a brother .
A tall brawny figure , in advance of the irregular line of Wreckers , kept his station upon the landward end of an enormous ridge of rocks that gradually dipped into the sea , at the southern extremity of the bay . His hair , black and lank , thrown back from a swarthy and ill-favoured visage , hung half way down his shoulders . His eyes , dark , small , ancl glistening , and in perpetual motion , rapidly traversed the sea from point to point . A long boat-hook , clenched with both his hands , rested
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Wrecker.
that dared incredulity ; then sinking all at once into a half whisper . "Hist ! " she added , " hist ! Twill be a handful for you , and a load for you , and more than you can carry for you , " addressing her auditors alternately ; " casks , cases , chests , gear , and gold ! But what will it be for Black Norris ? What , think you , will it be for him ? You cannot tell , but I can . Let me see , let me see , " she repeated to herself , musing ,
" when will his time he out ?" "Whose time ? " inquired one among the group she was addressing . " One , two , three , "—she went on without noticing the question till she had counted seven . " His seven years were out last April . Old Norris is on his way back by this . He was transported last April seven years , just three years after he murdered my father . "
" Plush , you crazy slut , " exclaimed the one that had last spoken , " have you not had enough of Black Norris already ? Woulcl you like a swim in the creek again ? Plush you crazy jade !" " Crazy ! " she echoed , " ay , crazy indeed ! Blessed be heaven that made me so . It knows its own ways best ; I saw my father murdered , though his murderer saw not me . They were struggling which should keep possession of a plank that had been washed ashore—' tis now a table in Black Norris ' s house . Old Norris ' s knife decided it . I
was powerless with the fri g ht ; I coulcl neither speak nor stir . I went mad , and the judge would not believe me . I could tell my story better now , There she is I" shrieked the half-deranged girl , pointing towards the offing at the southern extremity of the bay . " Where ? where ? " eagerly inquired the by-standers . " No ! " she resumed , after a minute or two , during which her
eyeballs kept straining in the direction towards which she had pointed . " No ! " she resumed , dropping her hand , " but she is coming ; and Black Noras will neither want roof nor hoard , gold nor gear , to welcome back the father that bred him up to his own trade ! But where is he ?" inquired she earnestly ; "he must be here , he has his work to do . Ha ! ha ! am I mad ? " she wildly asked herself . "Where is Black
Norris ? I'll tell you , though I no more see him than you do . Black Norris is at his post ! And where is that ? Why upon the reaf where the William and Mary was stove in ! " The vessel she spoke of was a sloop that had been wrecked in the bay , ancl in which she had lost a brother .
A tall brawny figure , in advance of the irregular line of Wreckers , kept his station upon the landward end of an enormous ridge of rocks that gradually dipped into the sea , at the southern extremity of the bay . His hair , black and lank , thrown back from a swarthy and ill-favoured visage , hung half way down his shoulders . His eyes , dark , small , ancl glistening , and in perpetual motion , rapidly traversed the sea from point to point . A long boat-hook , clenched with both his hands , rested