D'Artagnan, the King Maker — page 120: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Lodestone of Friendship. 109 “Give way, lads! let us get to land.” But, beside the natural breakwater composed of fallen rocks, and trees, and rubbish, formidable jetsam and flotsam arose. The worst was the stuff half-submerged, which might smash, perforate, and rend the boat’s bot- tom, before seen. “Cease rowing! Back-water for your lives! It is a grampus!”’ Close under the prow, as if they had indeed started up a marine monster, a glistening, greasy, scratched, and lumpy round object surged up. It was like a basking shark or porpoise, stranded, and wallowing out to sea by instinct. It seemed to have been impaled, but was only hooked on to a long spar, draggled with seaweed, which had weighed it down under the surface. The boat’s mo- tion having altered the balance, this mast shook off some of the weed, and all of the mysterious burden, which, as stated, swam nearer the surface. “Tt is a hogshead of rum!” said a sailor, smacking: his brine-blistered lips. “It is no whale—it has no eyes, and the body is cedar staves,’ said the officer, ashamed of his error. “Rum?” echoed the man at the bow, who had ex- changed his oar for a boathook, “it is a barrel, but no liquor is in it ¥ By a fortuitous dab, he had entangled his gaff in the draw-line uniting the slit in the leather hood at one end of the cask. His tugging loosened the opening flaps, chafed during a vicious tossing and thumping, and, to the aston- ishment of all, a human face appeared at the orifice. The Great Kraken would not have more appalled them. Some crossed themselves ; some drew in their oars, as if contamination were in the touch. The rare buoy slewed round and came beside the boat just when the passenger, awakened by the stoppage, opened his eyes. He faced the face of the apparently dead form. He sat up straight, hushed and paralyzed by more than the others’ wonderment. “That—that is alive!’ said he, like one who sees in reality what had been in his dreams. “To be sure it is alive—pardy!’” ejaculated the lieu- CONNIE OOS (€(@) im