A thing that glistened. In the fall of eighteen eighty eight, the steamship
Sunda from Southampton was running along the southern coast of Long Island, not many
hours from port, when she was passed by one of the great British liners
outward bound. The tide was high, and the course of both vessels was
nearer the coast than as usual, that of the Sunda being inside of the
other. As the two steamers passed each other, there was a great waving
of hats and handkerchiefs. Suddenly there was a scream from the Sunda. It
came from Senora Rochita, the primadonna of an opera troop which was coming to
America. In that ship, I have lost my bracelet, she cried in
Italian, and then turning to the passengers, she repeated the cry in very
good English. The situation was instantly comprehended by everyone. It was late in
the afternoon. The captain had given a grand dinner to the passengers, at
which the Primadonna had appeared in all all her glories of ornamentation, and the
greatest of these glories, a magnificent diamond bracelet was gone from the arm with
which she had been enthusiastically waving her lace handkerchief. The second officer, who
was standing near dashed into the captain's office and quickly reappeared with chart and instruments,
and made rapid calculation of the position of the vessel at the time of
the accident, making an allowance for the few minutes it had passed since the
first cry of the Senora. After consultation with the captain and recalculations of the
distance from land and some other points, he announced to the weeping Signora that
her bracelet lay under a little black spot he had made on the chart,
and that if she chose to send a diver for it, she might get
it, for the depth of water at that place was not great by profession,
I am a diver, and the next day I was engaged to search
for the diamond bracelet of Senora Rochita. I had a copy of the chart,
and having hired a small schooner with several men who had been my assistance
before, and taking with me all the necessary accouterments and appliances, I set
out for the spot indicated, and by afternoon we were anchored we believed at
or very near it. I lost no time. In descending. I wore,
of course, the usual diver's suit, but I took with me no
tools nor any of the implements used by divers when examining wrecks, but carried
in my right hand a brilliant electric lamp connected with a powerful battery on the
schooner. I held this by an insulated handle in which there were two little
knobs by which I could light or extinguish it. The bottom was hard and
smooth, and lighting my lamp, I began to look about me. If
I approached the bracelet, I ought to be able to see it sparkle,
But after wandering over considerable space, I saw no sparkles, nor anything like
a bracelet. Suddenly, however, I saw something which greatly interested me.
It was a hole in the botto the ocean, almost circular and at least
ten feet in diameter. I was surprised that I had not noticed it before,
for it lay not far from the stern of our vessel. Standing near
the rocky edge of the aperture. I held up my lamp and looked down.
Not far below, I saw the glimmer of what seemed to be the
bottom of this subterranean well. I was seized with a desire to explore this
great hole running down under the ordinary bottom of the sea. I signaled to
be lowered, and although my comrades were much surprised at such an order,
they obeyed, and down I went to the well. The sides of this
seemed rocky and almost perpendicular, but after descending about fifteen feet, they receded
on every side, and I found myself going down into a wide cavern,
the floor of which I touched in a very short time. Holding up my
lamp and looking about me, I found myself in a sea cave some thirty
feet in diameter, with a dome like roof, in which a little to
one side of the center was the lower opening of the well. I became
very much excited. This was just the sort of place into which a bracelet
or anything else of value might be expected to have the bad luck to drop.
I walked about and gazed everywhere, but I found nothing but rocks and
water. I was about the signal to be drawn up, when above me
I saw what appeared to be a flash of darkness coming down through the well
with a rush and a swirl that entered the cavern and in a moment I
recognized the fact that a great fish was swooping around and about me. Its
movements were so rapid and irregular, now circling along the outer edge of the
floor of the cavern, then mounting above me until its back seemed to scrape
the roof, that I could not form a correct idea of the size of
the creature. It seemed to me to be at least twenty feet long.
I stood almost stupefied, keeping my eyes as far as possible fixed upon the
swiftly moving monster. Sometimes it came quite near me when I shuddered in every
fiber, and then he shot away, but ever gliding with powerful undulations of
his body and tail, around about and above me. I did not dare
to signal to be drawn up, for fear that the terrible creature would enter
the well hole with me. Then he would probably touch me, perhaps crush
me against the wall. But my mind was capable of forming no plans.
I only hoped the fish would ascend and disappear. By the way he came.
My mind was not in the strongest condition, being much upset by a
great trouble, and I was so frightened that I really did not know what
I ought to do, but I had sense enough left to feel sure that
the fish had been attracted into the cavern by my lamp. Obviously the right
thing to do was to extinguish it. But the very thought of this nearly
drove me into a frenzy. I could not endure to be left alone with
the shark in darkness and water. It was an insane idea, but I
felt that whatever happened, I must keep my eyes upon him. Now the
great fish began to swoop nearer and nearer to me, and then, suddenly
changing its tactics, it receded to the most distant wall of the cavern,
where with its head toward me, it remained for the first time motionless.
But this did not continue long. Gently turning over on its side, it
opened its great mouth, and in an instant, with a rush, it
came directly at me. My light shone full into its vast mouth, glistening
with teeth, and there was a violent jerk which nearly threw me from my
feet, and all was blackness. The shark had swallowed my lamp. By
rare good fortune, he did not take my hand. Also. Now I
frantically tugged my signal rope. Without my lamp, I had no thought but
a desire to be pulled out of the water, no matter what happened.
In a few minutes, I sat, divested of my diving suit and almost
insensible, upon the deck of the schooner. As soon as I was able
to talk, I told my astonished comrades what had happened. And while we
were discussing this strange occurrence, one of them, looking over the side,
saw slowly rising to the surface the body of a dead shark. By George,
he cried, here is the beast. He has been killed by the
current from the battery. We all crowded to the rail and looked down upon
the monster. He was about ten feet long, and it was plain that
he had died for making himself the connection between the poles of the battery well,
said the captain pleasantly. I suppose you are not going down again?
Not I, I replied, I give up this job. Then suddenly I
cried, come boys, all of you, make fast of that shark and
get him on board. I want him. Some of the men laughed,
but my manner was so earnest that in a moment they all set about to
help me. A small boat was lowered, lines were made fast to the
dead fish with block and tackle, and we hauled him on deck. I
then got up butcher's knife from the cabin and began to cut him open.
Look here, Tom, exclaimed the captain. That's nonsense. Your lamp's all
smashed to pieces, and if you get it out, it'll never be any
good to you. I don't care for the lamp, I answered, working
away energetically. But an idea has struck me. It's plain that this creature
had a fancy for shining things. If he swallowed a lamp, there is
no reason why he should not have swallowed anything else that glittered. Uh oh,
cried the captain. You think he swallowed the bracelet, do you?
And instantly everybody crowded more closely about me. I got out the lamp.
Its wires were severed as smoothly as if they had been cut by shears.
Then I worked on. Suddenly there was a cry from every man. Something
glimmered in the dark interior of the fish. I grasped it and drew it
out. It was not a bracelet, but a pint bottle, which glimmered
like a glowworm. With the bottle in my hand, I sat upon the
deck and gazed at it. I shook it. It's shone brighter. A
bit of oiled silk was tied tightly over the cork, and it was plain
to sea that it was partly filled with a light colored oil into which a
bit of phosphorus had been dropped, which, on being agitated, filled the
bottle with a dim light. But there was something more in the bottle than
phosphorus and oil. I could see a tin tube corked at each end,
and the exposed parts of the corks spreading enough to prevent the tin from striking
the glass. We all knew that this was one of those bottles containing a
communication of some sort, which are often thrown into the sea and float about
until they are picked up. The addition of the oil and phosphorus was intended
to make it visible by night as well as by day, and this was
plainly the reason why it had been swallowed by a light loving shark. I
poured out the oil and extracted the tube, wiping it carefully, I drew
out the corks, and then from the little tin cylinder I pulled a half
sheet of notepaper rolled up tightly. I unrolled it and read these words before
I jump overboard. I want to let people know that I killed John Polhemus,
so I have fixed up this bottle. I hope it may be picked
up in time to keep Jim Barker from being hung. I did think of
leaving it on the steamer, but I might change my mind about jumping overboard,
and I guess this is the best way. The clothes I wore and
the hatchet I did it with are under the woodshed back of Polhemus's house.
Henry Ramsey, I sprang to my feet with a yell. Jim Barker was
my brother, now lying in prison under sentence of death for the murder of
Polhemus. All the circumstantial evidence, and there was no other, had been
against him. The note was dated eight months back, Oh, cruel fool
of a murderer. The shark was thrown overboard and we made best speed the
port, and before the end of the afternoon I had put Ramsey's note into
the hands of the lawyer who had charge of my brother's case. Fortunately he
was able to identify the handwriting and signature of Ramsay, a man who had
been suspected of the crime, but against whom no evidence could be found.
The lawyer was almost as excited as I was by the contents of this note,
and early the next morning we started together for the house of the Polhemus
family. There under the woodshed we found carefully buried a blood stained shirt and
vest, and the hatchet. My impulse was to fly to my brother,
but this my lawyer forbade he would take charge of the affair, and no
false hopes must be excited. But he confidently assured me that my brother was
as good as free. Returning to the city, I thought I might as
well make my report to Signora Rochita. The lady was at home and saw
me. She showed the most intense interest in what I told her, and
insisted upon every detail of my experiences. As I spoke of the shark and
the subterranean cave, she nearly fainted from it excitement, and her maid had
to bring her smelling salts. When I had finished, she looked at me
steadily for a moment, and then said, I have something to tell you,
but I hardly know how to say it. I never lost my bracelet.
I intended to wear it at the Captain's dinner. But when I went
to put it on, I found the clasp was broken, and as I
was late, I hurried to the table without the bracelet, and thought of
it no more until when we were all waving and cheering, I glanced at
my wrist and found it was not there. Then, utterly forgetting that I
had not put it on, I thought it had gone into the sea.
It was only this morning that, opening what I supposed was the empty box,
I saw it. Here it is. I never saw such gorgeous jewels,
Madam said I. I am glad you thought you lost it, for
I have gained something better than all these. You are a good man,
said she, and then she paid me liberally for my services. When this
business had been finished, she asked, are you married? I answered that
I was not. Is there any one you intend to marry? Yes,
said I. What is her name? She asked, Sarah Jane McElroy.
Wait a minute, said she, and she retired into another room. Presently
she returned and handed me a little box. Give this to your lady,
love, said she. When she looks at it, she will never forget
that you are a brave man. When Sarah Jane opened the box. There
was a little pin with a diamond head, and she gave a scream of
delight. But I saw no reason for jumping or crying out, for after
having seen the Signora's bracelet, this stone seemed like a pea in a bushel
of potatoes. I don't need anything, she said to remind me that you
are a brave man. I am going to buy furniture with it. Py
laughed and remarked that every little helps when I sit with my wife by my
side before the fire, and our comfortable home, and consider that the parlor
carpet and the furniture, and the pictures, and the hall and stair carpet,
and all the dining room furniture with the china and the glass and the
linen, and all the kitchen utensils, and two bedroom suits on the second
story, both hardwood, and all the furniture and fittings of a very pleasant
room for a single man the third story front were bought with the pin that
the signor gave to Sarah Jane. I am filled with profound respect for things
that glitter. And when I look on the other side of the fire and
see Jim smoking his pipe, just as happy as anybody. Then I say
to myself that if there are people who think that this story is too much
out of the common I wish they would step in here and talk to Jim
about it. There is a fire in his eyes when he tells you how
glad he is that it was the shark instead of him. That is very
convincing, and of a thing that glistened by Frank R. Stockton