t his pipe back into his mouth, and Captain
Burress took out his pipe.

"I was once in an obelisk-ship," said he, "that used to trade regular
between Egypt and New York, carrying obelisks. We had a big obelisk on
board. The way they ship obelisks is to make a hole in the stern of
the ship, and run the obelisk in, p'inted end foremost; and this
obelisk filled up nearly the whole of that ship from stern to bow. We
was about ten days out, and sailing afore a northeast gale with the
engines at full speed, when suddenly we spied breakers ahead, and our
Captain saw we was about to run on a bank. Now if we hadn't had an
obelisk on board we might have sailed over that bank, but the captain
knew that with an obelisk on board we drew too much water for this, and
that we'd be wrecked in about fifty-five seconds if something wasn't
done quick. So he had to do something quick, and this is what he did:
He ordered all steam on, and drove slam-bang on that bank. Just as he
expected, we stopped so suddint that that big obelisk bounced for'ard,
its p'inted end foremost, and went clean through the bow and shot out
into the sea. The minute it did that the vessel was so lightened that
it rose in the water and we easily steamed over the bank. There was
one man knocked overboard by the shock when we struck, but as soon as
we missed him we went back after him and we got him all right. You
see, when that obelisk went overboard, its butt-end, which was
heaviest, went down first, and when it touched the bottom it just stood
there, and as it was such a big obelisk there was about five and a half
feet of it stuck out of the water. The man who was knocked overboard
he just swum for that obelisk and he climbed up the hiryglyphics. It
was a mighty fine obelisk, and the Egyptians had cut their hiryglyphics
good and deep, so that the man could get hand and foot-hold; and when
we got to him and took him off, he was sitting high and dry on the
p'inted end of that obelisk. It was a great pity about the obelisk,
for it was a good obelisk, but as I never heard the company tried to
raise it, I expect it is standing there yet."

Captain Burress now put his pipe back into his mouth and looked at
Captain Jenkinson, who removed his pipe and said:

"The queerest thing that ever happened to me was about a shark. We was
off the Banks, and the time of year was July, and the ice was coming
down, and we got in among a lot of it. Not far away, off our we