Leonard Merrick - "A Chair on The Boulevard"

Various - "The Maya Chronicles"

S. Weir Mitchell - "Mr. Kris Kringle"

Moliere (Poquelin) - "The Countess of Escarbagnas (La Comtesse D'Escarbagnas)"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Cord and Creese

J >> James de Mille >> Cord and Creese




It was the middle of July before they reached the island of Guahi, which
Brandon thought might be Santa Cruz. If so, then one league due north of
this there ought to be the islet of the Three Needles. Upon the
discovery of that would depend their fate.

It was evening when they reached the southern shore of Guahi. Now was
the time when all the future depended upon the fact of the existence of
an islet to the north. That night on the south shore was passed in deep
anxiety. They rowed the vessel on with their sweeps, but the island was
too large to be passed in one night. Morning came, and still they rowed.

The morning passed, and the hot sun burned down upon them, yet they
still toiled on, seeking to pass beyond a point which lay ahead, so as
to see the open water to the north. Gradually they neared it, and the
sea-view in front opened up more and more widely. There was nothing but
water. More and more of the view exposed itself, until at last the whole
horizon was visible. Yet there was no land there--no island--no sign of
those three rocks which they longed so much to find.

A light wind arose which enabled them to sail over all the space that
lay one league to the north. They sounded as they went, but found only
deep water. They looked all around, but found not so much as the
smallest point of land above the surface of the ocean.

That evening they cast anchor and went ashore at the island of Guahi to
see if any one knew of other islands among which might be found one
named Santa Cruz. Their disappointment was profound. Brandon for a while
thought that perhaps some other San Salvador was meant in the letter.
This very idea had occurred to him before, and he had made himself
acquainted with all the places of that name that existed. None of them
seemed, however, to answer the requirements of the writing. Some must
have gained the name since; others were so situated that no island could
be mentioned as lying to the north. On the whole, it seemed to him that
this San Salvador of Columbus could alone be mentioned. It was alluded
to as a well-known place, of which particular description was
unnecessary, and no other place at that day had this character except
the one on which he had decided.

One hope yet remained, a faint one, but still a hope, and this might yet
be realized. It was that Guahi was not Santa Cruz; but that some other
island lay about here, which might be considered as north from San
Salvador. This could be ascertained here in Guahi better perhaps than
any where else. With this faint hope he landed.

Guahi is only a small island, and there are but few inhabitants upon it,
who support themselves partly by fishing. In this delightful climate
their wants are not numerous, and the rich soil produces almost any
thing which they desire. The fish about here are not plentiful, and what
they catch have to be sought for at a long distance off.

"Are there any other islands near this?" asked Brandon of some people
whom he met on landing.

"Not very near."

"Which is the nearest?"

"San Salvador."

"Are there any others in about this latitude?"

"Well, there is a small one about twelve leagues east. There are no
people on it though."

"What is its name?"

"Santa Cruz."

Brandon's heart beat fast at the sound of that name. It must be so. It
must be the island which he sought. It lay to the north of San Salvador,
and its name was Santa Cruz.

"It is not down on the charts?"

"No. It is only a small islet."

Another confirmation, for the message said plainly an islet, whereas
Guahi was an island.

"How large is it?"

"Oh, perhaps a mile or a mile and a half long."

"Is there any other island near it?"

"I don't know."

"Have you ever been there?"

"No."

Plainly no further information could be gathered here. It was enough to
have hope strengthened and an additional chance for success. Brandon
obtained as near as possible the exact direction of Santa Cruz, and,
going back to the yacht, took advantage of the light breeze which still
was blowing and set sail.

[Illustration: "AN ISLAND COVERED WITH PALM-TREES LAY THERE."]

Night came on very dark, but the breeze still continued to send its
light breath, and before this the vessel gently glided on. Not a thing
could be seen in that intense darkness. Toward morning Louis Brandon,
who had remained up all night in his deep anxiety, tried to pierce
through the gloom as he strained his eyes, and seemed as though he would
force the darkness to reveal that which he sought. But the darkness gave
no token.

Not Columbus himself, when looking out over these waters, gazed with
greater eagerness nor did his heart beat with greater anxiety of
suspense, than that which Brandon felt as his vessel glided slowly
through the dark waters, the same over which Columbus had passed, and
moved amidst the impenetrable gloom. But the long night of suspense
glided by at last; the darkness faded, and the dawn came.

Frank Brandon, on waking about sunrise, came up and saw his brother
looking with fixed intensity of gaze at something directly in front. He
turned to see what it might be.

An island covered with palm-trees lay there. Its extent was small, but
it was filled with the rich verdure of the tropics. The gentle breeze
ruffled the waters, but did not altogether efface the reflection of that
beautiful islet.

Louis pointed toward the northeast.

Frank looked.

It seemed to be about two miles away. It was a low sand island about a
quarter of a mile long. From its surface projected three rocks thin and
sharp. They were at unequal distances from each other, and in the middle
of the islet. The tallest one might have been about twelve feet in
height, the others eight and ten feet respectively.

Louis and Frank exchanged one long look, but said not a word. That look
was an eloquent one.

This then was unmistakably the place of their search.

The islet with the three rocks like needles lying north of Santa Cruz.
One league due north of this was the spot where now rested all their
hopes.

The island of Santa Cruz was, as had been told them, not more than a
mile and a half in length, the sand island with the needles lay about
two miles north of it. On the side of Santa Cruz which lay nearest to
them was a small cove just large enough for the yacht. Here, after some
delay, they were able to enter and land.

The tall trees that covered the island rose over beautiful glades and
grassy slopes. Too small and too remote to give support to any number of
inhabitants, it had never been touched by the hand of man, but stood
before them in all that pristine beauty with which nature had first
endowed it. It reminded Brandon in some degree of that African island
where he had passed some time with Beatrice. The recollection of this
brought over him an intolerable melancholy, and made the very beauty of
this island painful to him. Yet hope was now strong within his heart,
and as he traversed its extent his eye wandered about in search of
places where he might be able to conceal the treasure that lay under the
sea, if he were ever able to recover it from its present place. The
island afforded many spots which were well adapted to such a purpose.

In the centre of the island a rock jutted up, which was bald and flat on
its summit. On the western side it showed a precipice of some forty or
fifty feet in height, and on the eastern side it descended to the water
in a steep slope. The tall trees which grew all around shrouded it from
the view of those at sea, but allowed the sea to be visible on every
side. Climbing to this place, they saw something which showed them that
they could not hope to carry on any operations for that day.

On the other side of the island, about ten miles from the shore, there
lay a large brig becalmed. It looked like one of those vessels that are
in the trade between the United States and the West Indies. As long as
that vessel was in the neighborhood it would not do even to make a
beginning, nor did Brandon care about letting his yacht be seen.
Whatever he did he wished to do secretly.

The brig continued in sight all day, and they remained on the island.
Toward evening they took the small boat and rowed out to the sandbank
which they called Needle Islet. It was merely a low spit of sand, with
these three singularly-shaped rocks projecting upward. There was nothing
else whatever to be seen upon it. The moon came up as they stood there,
and their eyes wandered involuntarily to the north, to that place, a
league away, where the treasure lay beneath the waters.




CHAPTER XXIII.


THE OCEAN DEPTHS.

The next morning dawned and Brandon hurried to the rock and looked
around. During the night a slight wind had sprung up, and was still
gently breathing. Far over the wide sea there was not a sail to be seen.
The brig had passed away. They were finally left to themselves.

Now at last the time of trial had come. They were eager to make the
attempt, and soon the yacht was unmoored, and moved slowly out to sea in
the direction of Needle Island. A light breeze still blew fitfully, but
promised at any moment to stop; yet while it lasted they passed onward
under its gentle impulse, and so gradually reached Needle Island, and
went on into the sea beyond.

Before they had come to the spot which they wished to attain the breeze
had died out, and they were compelled to take to the oars. Although
early in the morning the sun was burning hot, the work was laborious,
and the progress was slow. Yet not a murmur was heard, nor did a single
thought of fatigue enter the minds of any of them. One idea only was
present--one so overwhelming that all lesser thoughts and all ordinary
feelings were completely obliterated. After two hours of steady labor
they at last reached a place which seemed to them to be exactly one
league due north of Needle Islet. Looking back they saw that the rocks
on the island seemed from this distance closer together, and thinner and
sharper, so that they actually bore a greater resemblance to needles
from this point than to any thing else.

Here they sounded. The water was fifteen fathoms deep--not so great a
depth as they had feared. Then they put down the anchor, for although
there was no wind, yet the yacht might be caught in some current, and
drift gradually away from the right position.

The small boat had all this time been floating astern with the pumping
apparatus in it, so that the adventurous diver might readily be
accompanied in his search and his wanderings at the bottom of the sea.

But there was the prospect that this search would be long and arduous,
and Brandon was not willing to exhaust himself too soon. He had already
resolved that the first exploration should be made by Asgeelo. The Hindu
had followed Brandon in all his wanderings with that silent submission
and perfect devotion which is more common among Hindus than any other
people. He had the air of one who was satisfied with obeying his master,
and did not ask the end of any commands which might be given. He was
aware that they were about to explore the ocean depths, but showed no
curiosity about the object of their search. It was Brandon's purpose to
send him down first at different points, so that he might see if there
was any thing there which looked like what they sought.

Asgeelo--or Cato, as Brandon commonly called him--had made those simple
preparations which are common among his class--the apparatus which the
pearl-divers have used ever since pearl-diving first commenced. Twelve
or fifteen stones were in the boat, a flask of oil, and a sponge which
was fastened around his neck. These were all that he required. Each
stone weighed about thirty pounds. One of these he tied around one foot;
he saturated the sponge with oil, so as to use it to inhale air beneath
the water; and then, standing on the edge of the boat and flinging his
arms straight up over his head, he leaped into the water and went down
feet foremost.

Over the smooth water the ripples flowed from the spot where Asgeelo had
disappeared, extending in successive concentric circles, and radiating
in long undulations far and wide. Louis and Frank waited in deep
suspense. Asgeelo remained long beneath the water, but to them the time
seemed frightful in its duration. Profound anxiety began to mingle with
the suspense, for fear lest the faithful servant in his devotion had
over-rated his powers--lest the disuse of his early practice had
weakened his skill--lest the weight bound to his foot had dragged him
down and kept him there forever.

At last, when the suspense had become intolerable and the two had
already begun to exchange glances almost of despair, a plash was heard,
and Asgeelo emerged far to the right. He struck out strongly toward the
boat, which was at once rowed toward him. In a few minutes he was taken
in. He did not appear to be much exhausted.

He had seen nothing.

[Illustration: "A dark, sinewy arm emerged from beneath, armed with a
long, keen knife."]

They then rowed about a hundred yards further, and Asgeelo prepared to
descend once more. He squeezed the oil out of the sponge and renewed it
again. But this time he took a knife in his hand.

"What is that for?" asked Frank and Louis.

"Sharks!" answered Cato, in a terrible tone.

At this Louis and Frank exchanged glances. Could they let this devoted
servant thus tempt so terrible a death?

"Did you see any sharks?" asked Louis.

"No, Sahib."

"Why do you fear them, then?"

"I don't fear them, Sahib."

"Why do you take this knife?"

"One may come, Sahib."

After some hesitation Asgeelo was allowed to go. As before he plunged
into the water, and remained underneath quite as long; but now they had
become familiarized with his powers and the suspense was not so
dreadful. At the expiration of the usual time he reappeared, and on
being taken into the boat he again announced that he had seen nothing.

They now rowed a hundred yards farther on in the same direction, toward
the east, and Asgeelo made another descent. He came back with the same
result.

It began to grow discouraging, but Asgeelo was not yet fatigued, and
they therefore determined to let him work as long as he was able. He
went down seven times more. They still kept the boat on toward the east
till the line of "needles" on the sand island had become thrown farther
apart and stood at long distances. Asgeelo came up each time
unsuccessful.

He at last went down for the eleventh time. They were talking as usual,
not expecting that he would reappear for some minutes, when suddenly a
shout was heard, and Asgeelo's head emerged from the water not more than
twenty yards from the boat. He was swimming with one hand, and in the
other he held an uplifted knife, which he occasionally brandished in the
air and splashed in the water.

Immediately the cause of this became manifest. Just behind him a sharp
black fin appeared cutting the surface of the water.

It was a shark! But the monster, a coward like all his tribe, deterred
by the plashing of the water made by Asgeelo, circled round him and
hesitated to seize his prey. The moment was frightful. Yet Asgeelo
appeared not in the least alarmed. He swam slowly, occasionally turning
his head and watching the monster, seeming by his easy dexterity to be
almost as much in his native element as his pursuer, keeping his eyes
fixed on him and holding his knife in a firm clasp. The knife was a
long, keen blade, which Asgeelo had carried with him for years.

Louis and Frank could do nothing. A pistol ball could not reach this
monster, who kept himself under the water, where a ball would be spent
before striking him, if indeed any aim could direct a bullet toward that
swift darting figure. They had nothing to do but to look on in an agony
of horror.

Asgeelo, compelled to watch, to guard, to splash the water, and to turn
frequently, made but a slow passage over those twenty yards which
separated him from the boat. At last it seemed as if he chose to stay
there. It seemed to those who watched him with such awful horror that he
might have escaped had he chosen, but that he had some idea of
voluntarily encountering the monster. This became evident at last, as
the shark passed before him when they saw Asgeelo's face turned toward
it; a face full of fierce hate and vengeance; a face such as one turns
toward some mortal enemy.

He made a quick, fierce stroke with his long knife. The shark gave a
leap upward. The water was tinged with blood. The next moment Asgeelo
went down.

"What now?" was the thought of the brothers. Had he been dragged down?
Impossible! And yet it seemed equally impossible that he could have gone
down of his own accord.

In a moment their suspense was ended. A white flash appeared near the
surface. The next instant a dark, sinewy arm emerged from beneath, armed
with a long, keen knife, which seemed to tear down with one tremendous
stroke that white, shining surface.

It was Asgeelo's head that emerged in a sea of blood and foam. Triumph
was in his dark face, as with one hand he waved his knife exultantly.

A few moments afterward the form of a gigantic shark floated upward to
the surface, dyeing the sea with the blood which had issued from the
stroke dealt by Asgeelo. Not yet, however, was the vindictive fury of
the Hindu satiated. He swam up to it. He dashed his knife over and over
the white belly till it became a hideous mass of gaping entrails. Then
he came into the boat.

He sat down, a hideous figure. Blood covered his tawny face, and the
fury of his rage had not left the features.

The strength which this man had shown was tremendous, yet his quickness
and agility even in the water had been commensurate with his strength.
Brandon had once seen proofs of his courage in the dead bodies of the
Malay pirates which lay around him in the cabin of that ill-fated
Chinese ship: but all that he had done then was not to be compared to
this.

They could not help asking him why he had not at once made his escape to
the boar, instead of staying to fight the monster.

Asgeelo's look was as gloomy as death as he replied,

"They tore in pieces my son, Sahib--my only son--when he first went
down, and I have to avenge him. I killed a hundred on the Malabar coast
before I left it forever. That shark did not attack me; I attacked him."

"If you saw one now would you attack him?"

"Yes, Sahib."

Brandon expressed some apprehension, and wished him not to risk his
life.

But Asgeelo explained that a shark could be successfully encountered by
a skillful swimmer. The shark is long, and has to move about in a circle
which is comparatively large; he is also a coward, and a good swimmer
can strike him if he only chooses. He again repeated triumphantly that
he had killed more than a hundred to avenge his son.

In his last venture Asgeelo had been no more successful than before.
Needle Island was now to the southwest, and Brandon thought that their
only chance was to try farther over toward the west, where they had not
yet explored.

They rowed at once back to the point from which they had set out, and
then went on about a hundred and fifty yards to the west. From this
place, as they looked toward the islet, the three rocks seemed so close
together that they appeared blended, and the three sharp, needlelike
points appeared to issue from one common base. This circumstance had an
encouraging effect, for it seemed to the brothers as though their
ancestor might have looked upon those rocks from this point of view
rather than from any other which had as yet come upon the field of their
observation.

This time Brandon himself resolved to go down; partly because he thought
that Asgeelo had worked long enough, and ought not to be exhausted on
that first day, and partly on account of an intolerable impatience, and
an eagerness to see for himself rather than intrust it to others.

There was the horror of the shark, which might have deterred any other
man. It was a danger which he had never taken into account. But the
resolve of his soul was stronger than any fear, and he determined to
face even this danger. If he lost his life, he was indifferent. Let it
go! Life was not so precious to him as to some others. Fearless by
nature, he was ordinarily ready to run risks; but now the thing that
drew him onward was so vast in its importance that he was willing to
encounter peril of any kind.

Frank was aware of the full extent of this new danger, but he said
nothing, nor did he attempt in any way to dissuade his brother. He
himself, had he been able, would have gone down in his place; but as he
was not able, he did not suppose that his brother would hesitate.

The apparatus was in the boat. The pumping-machine was in the stern; and
this, with the various signal-ropes, was managed by Frank. Asgeelo
rowed. These arrangements had long since been made, and they had
practiced in this way on the Hudson River.

Silently Brandon put on his diving armor. The ropes and tubes were all
carefully arranged. The usual weight was attached to his belt, and he
was slowly lowered down to the bottom of the sea.

The bottom of the ocean was composed of a smooth, even surface of fine
sand and gravel, along which Brandon moved without difficulty. The
cumbrous armor of the diver, which on land is so heavy, beneath the
water loses its excessive weight, and by steadying the wearer assists
him to walk. The water was marvelously transparent, as is usually the
case in the southern seas, and through the glass plate in his helmet
Brandon could look forward to a greater distance than was possible in
the Hudson.

Overhead he could see the bottom of the boat, as it floated and moved on
in the direction which he wished: signals, which were communicated by a
rope which he held in his hand, told them whether to go forward or
backward, to the right or to the left, or to stop altogether. Practice
had enabled him to command, and them to obey, with ease.

Down in the depths to which he had descended the water was always still,
and the storms that affected the surface never penetrated there. Brandon
learned this from the delicate shells and the still more delicate forms
of marine plants which lay at his feet, so fragile in their structure,
and so delicately poised in their position, that they must have formed
themselves in deep, dead stillness and absolute motionlessness of
waters. The very movement which was caused by his passage displaced them
in all directions, and cast them down every where in ruins. Here, in
such depths as these, if the sounding lead is cast it brings up these
fragile shells, and shows to the observer what profound calm must exist
here, far away beneath the ordinary vision of man.

Practice had enabled Brandon to move with much ease. His breathing was
without difficulty. The first troubles arising from breathing this
confined air had long since been surmounted. One tube ran down from the
boat, through which the fresh air was pushed, and another tube ran up a
little distance, through which the air passed and left it in myriad
bubbles that ascended to the surface.

He walked on, and soon came to a place where things changed their
appearance. Hard sand was here, and on every side there arose curiously-
shaped coral structures, which resembled more than any thing else a
leafless forest. These coral tree-like forms twisted their branches in
strange involutions, and in some places formed a perfect barrier of
interlaced arms, so that he was forced to make a detour in order to
avoid them. The chief fear here was that his tube might get entangled
among some of the loftier straggling branches, and impede or retard his
progress. To avoid this caused much delay.

Now, among the coral rocks, the vegetation of the lower sea began to
appear of more vivid colors and of far greater variety than any which he
had ever seen. Here were long plants which clung to the coral like ivy,
seeming to be a species of marine parasite, and as it grew it throve
more luxuriantly. Here were some which threw out long arms, terminating
in vast, broad, palm-like leaves, the arms intertwined among the coral
branches and the leaves hanging downward. Here were long streamers of
fine, silk-like strings, that were suspended from many a projecting
branch, and hillocks of spongy substance that looked like moss. Here,
too, were plants which threw forth long, ribbon-like leaves of
variegated color.

It was a forest under the sea, and it grew denser at every step.

At last his progress in this direction was terminated by a rock which
came from a southerly direction, like a spur from the islands. It arose
to a height of about thirty feet overhead, and descended gradually as it
ran north. Brandon turned aside, and walked by its base along its entire
extent.

At its termination there arose a long vista, where the ground ascended
and an opening appeared through this marine "forest." On each side the
involuted corals flung their twisted arms in more curious and intricate
folds. The vegetation was denser, more luxuriant, and more varied.
Beneath him was a growth of tender substance, hairy in texture, and of a
delicate green color, which looked more like lawn grass of the upper
world than any thing else in nature.

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