"JACKSON," The Story of a Sea Dog.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 99, 30 December 1904, Page 2

"JACKSON," The Story of a Sea Dog.

BY Ttf. CIiARK SUSSBIiU. I [Copyright, 1800, by the Authors' Alliance.] f Robert Ridley is a retired mariner., He never rose to a higher grade than 1 that of second mate, in which capacity indeed he acted without a certificate, having for the most part of his life sailed in a species of sTiip upon whose commanders and officers the state makes few or no demands in an educational sense. Robert Ridley, having on several occasions served as a second mate, and once as an only mate, returned to his . earlier condition of able seaman, and whilst still acting in that capacity quitted the ocean forever and settled down as a gentleman ashore in a comfortable little cottage by the seaside. This achievement of independence the population of a great maritime country will not for an instant suppose was the result of his commercial prosperity as a foremast hand. After twenty years of working like a dog at sea, all that Robert Ridley had to show in the shape of "effects" was comprised in a small sea-chest half full of clothes and a suit of oilskins, with perhaps a matter of eight pounds lodged in a post office savings bank. No! My friend Bob Ridley gained an independence not through old ocean— that most beggarly of .callings — but through an uncle who had been an Italian warehouseman, and who left the worthy fellow, to his astonishment and joy, the handsome sum (to an able seaman) of six thousand pounds. I was recently in the town where Bob Ridley lives, and spent an hour with him. We 'smoked our pipes together, drank to each other in a glass of Holland, and talked of the sea. He carried va into his little garden, and with much ride pointed to the various flowers and 1 what he called his kitchen garden, a <_vmiderable bed of soil full of carrots, rtabbage and the like. At the extrem- ' ' y of his half -acre of land stood a sum- • •icr arbor, the fruits of his own skill — for he had been a ship's carpenter in his •.lay, and few men were smarter with the chisel and the saw than he. On jutcring this building I observed a little - wooden obelisk about three feet in icig-hfc erected in the center of it- On . ihe apex rested a piece of carving in wood, of which I could make neither head nor tail. Upon the body of the obelisk were carved the words: •In Memory of JACKSON. "Sunday morn, MDCCCLXXV." At the hinder base of this queer little structure was the model of a wreck. . [any queer devices representing mermaids, the sun, anchors, hearts, and sc :.>rth, were artfully chiseled on the : ides. "Pray what have you here, Ridley?" jwiidl. "A memorial," he answered. "Ay, that's clear enough. But what sailor friend of yours lies buried here?'" "No sailor at all," he answered laughing. "Jackson was a dog, and he, poor beast, doesn't lie here, either. I wisl he did. It would sometimes give my mind a sort of satisfaction to ieel that his remains lay snug under this here mark." *• "And what," cried I, peering at the little bit of carving on top of the obelisk, "is this?" "It is the portrait of the half of a vessel's caboose, sir — of a vessel that was lost on a Sunday morning." v By the word "caboose" he signified galley, «or the kitchen of a little ship. I could now make out that it was the representation of the roof and a portion of the sides of a caboose, as he called it. with a hole atop for the reception of a chimney. "I see there is a yarn here," said I. "Not much of a yarn," he answered; "just the tale of a poor beast of a dog that in. course of time I got to love at; truly as if he'd been a Christian man and a brother. That's where I fell in with him," said he, pointing to the

model of the wreck, "and that," he added, indicating the fragment of miniature caboose, "is where he died." I looked at my watch. "Come," said I, "youjshall tell me the story of Jackson whilsf we sit here and smoke our pipes and survey your clever piece Of qarpentry. There's no hurry," and so saying I seated ,myself and he alongside of me, slowly' extracting :: brass tobacco box out of his breeches pocket as he did so. "Well," he began, with a sort of groping look around the summer arbor, an< then bringing his eyes to bear in. t squint of earnest memory upon hk obelisk, "this was how it fell out. 1 was able seaman aboard a little bark, and we were bound for the River Thames from Porto Allegro. We fell in with a deal of bad weather which drove us well to the eastward, and theu for three weeks we were stagnated with calms, so that putting the fine weather -along with ttie bad, we reckoned that the vessel had lost her luck, and tJiat ne'er a man of our little company was to consider it well with us till we were in a situation to pick up our bundles and step* over the side on ti ■ good English dockyard soiL" It is sup posed that there are nosuperstitions now going at sea. You know better than that, six. Any man with that notion in his liea/VhonW hare been aboard of w. >Jftio eayi'&a W*?]* .Wg" forx v>

■\ • ■ day and nailea a norsesnoe to tne mast. I remember being 1 weak enough myself to lament that there, wasn't a Finn amongst us, so that we might haye been able to say: 'It's yon, mate, that's the cause of these here calms and contrairy gales,' and then have locked him up with nothing to eat until he should have been coaxed by famine into correcting his ill-nature and into giving " us the breezes we wanted. \ "One black night we were ratching along under reefed topsails and the f orecourse. I was at the wheel. The bark having her nose to it put a spite into the wind, and a nasty sea was washing past. There was nothing to see but the white -water that .would ■ flash out in the darkness alongside as I though the beamß of an electric light were traveling round and round, touching the ocean in places as they traveled ! All on a sudden the mate, who was standing at the weather rail just abreast of the skylight, gives^i sort of a shriek and then fell a-yelling; but there wano time forme to catch what he said for whilst his cries were still ringing". J just caught sight of a huge lump o^ blackness oozing out over the weather bow like a blacker night still coming down through the darkness upon "uswith one spark of light showing; but it wasn't green nor red, and what it waL I can't say. The next instant we were in collision with some vessel; she caught us on the bluff of the bow and sle wtv. us clean round with such a noise oi splintering wood, of washing waters, and of human cries that I've only got to recall it to feel deaf. "She went clear, and vanished, leaving us sinking. She had torn out our arid wrecked our spars forward, but she never showed a flare, never shifted her helm, never so much as hailed us after she had slipped past. She left us to our fate, and by that token I allow that she was a foreigner.* We had to feel for the boats, so black was it, and God knows how we managed. The boats were slung 1 in the oldfashioned style, dangling overboard at the ends of davits, and steadied by gripes. Had they been stowed as the fashion now is, every soul of us must have perished. The vessel was up in the wind without way, rolling briskly, and the curl of the foam off her sMe to the smite of the sea showed us men who were standing on the starboard side the outline of the boat-as we lowered her. We entered her in scrambling fashion by the tackles— five of us, leaving Six others of our company wrestling at the port falls; amongst them was the master and the two mates, and us five were men — hands as the term is. The moment the boat was liberated she blew awayi we never again saw the others, nor did we ever hear of them. "When the day broke we were alone, nothing in sight, the hot sun rising, nothing to drink bufciour bottles of red wine, which a fellow amongst us who had acted as steward had brought along with him, and nothing to eat but as many broken bits of ship's bread as 'ud make about seven whole biscuits. 'jThe outlook was not very encouraging, but as you, know, I was always of a very hopeful . disposition and therefore determined to make a brave fight for life. There was one thing that encouraged me and that was the thoroughly staunch and ' seaworthy condition of the boat in which I now found myself together with ,four fellow creatures adrift, with an ugly sea running. I say adrift, for there was no mast and only one pair of oars in the boat, and we hadn't strength to use them with any effect. I needn't tell you that this wasn't the first time that I had made a fight for life against terrible odds, for you know all about it. Well, the consequence was that it occurred to me that I was the proper person to take command of the little party of castaways, and see that fair play was the rule of the day in dealing 1 out the scant supply of broken biscuits and red wine which the steward had brought along with him. * "So I put the question to the men whether they were willing that 1 should act as captain, and a cheery: 'Ay, ay, sir,' was the answer I got from all of them excepting Hal Wescott, a huge mulatto of tremendous strength and not extra good temper. Hal was a splendid-looking fellow physically, and put me iv mind of one of the bronze statoots that I've seen 'em dig out of the sand in the eastern countries. The muscles of his arms and chest were something fearful to look at, especially when he was out of humor at some trick played upon him. Then these muscleß would knot and twist and his great round chest would heave like an ocean swell. Hal and I had always got along pretty well together, a fact which I attribute to my pair of keen black eyes which, as you used to say, were bright enough to be seen in the dark like a cat's eyes. Then, again, Hal knew that I wasn't afraid of him as the other men were, and so he never attempted to browbeat or bully me; in fact, he was ever ready to do me a good turn. I always made it a' point to keep eyes fixed hard and full upon Hal's face when talking to him, and the consequence was that I finally succeeded in getting the s same sort of control over I the huge animal, for such he was in plain words, that the trainer gets over ] a lion or a tiger. Instinctively he felt '■ that I was different-from the usual run of men, which I am, as you know. I never was known to lose my head even when a youngster at school, and so I Vas always the chosen ringleader in times of mischief or danger. "Well, that's neither here nor there; all that* I need tell you is that the bigblack fellow was afraid of me; but, sir, would you believe it, when the other men sent up their cheery: 'Ay, ay, sir,' • Wescott never opened his mouth, never.drew a muscle. I saw it, and it made a deep impression upon me. It was just as if a lion tamer upon entering the cage had caught a glimpse of one of his animals crouching and sulking in the corner and refusing to obey, his call. It is hardly necessary for me to tell you. how I acted under the circumstances.'* My mind was made up in an instant. I heard a voice ringing; in my ears aboru the scream at Oat

f nasty sea which was tossing our boat about like a cork in a mill race. It , said: 'Whip him up to the scratch or you're lost,' so letting fly my leg I gave the big* swarthy giant a sharp kick on the shin and fixed my keenest glance upon him, full in the face. f " 'Hal Wescott,' said I, 'if you're agin me for captain of this boat, say so, man.' I "That glance Was too much for him. He winced like a dog under the lash, and, turning his bloodshot eyes away, he muttered out: ' " 'That's all right, messmate, I'm for you. I votes ay, ay, sir.' "The men seemed to draw a long breath as they heard these words. I- " 'Good enough,' I replied. 'Now, ; men, listen to met We're in a bad way, a very had way. We 1 haven't any water at all, and only about half-a-dozen biscuits, half of which are soaked with sea water, but I'll dry them as soon as the sun comes out. It's more" than likely that we're in for a long fast before we're picked up; but I've been in just such a fix before this and if you'll be patient and follow my instructions to the letter, I may be able to save you all. Now, if you don't know, I must tell you one thing and that's this: A man can go without food or, better said, with an un- i oommon small allowance, for several .lays if he lets sea water alone. Mind what I say, if he lets sea water alone. When thirst comes -on you you must grin and bear it, for once you begin to drink sea water you're doomed! It'll transform you into raving, screeching lunatics, and in your madness you'll as likely as not fall foul of some one of your messmates as a famished .beast would of a fat sheep. But hark ye, men,' I continued, laying 1 my hand on my revolver, 'I'm determihe&.to see fair play in this business, and as the cartridges of my revolver are waterproof, the wetting they've had won't do 'em a

bit of hurt. D'ye hear that? And I -rive you fair warning that if any one of /oil attacks his messmate or tries to rob :iim of his rations, I'll shoot him as 1 would any other wild beast. ' "The men, Hal Wescott included, gave me a hearty cheer, and promised me implicit obedience. "Our first bit of luck was a heavy fall of rain, so rigging a piece of sail clotl in such a way as to catch as mucl water as possible, I proceeded to empt; the red wine, one bottle at a time, inti he sea and to fill it with water, cork i t ag-am securely and pack it awaj' cani.'ully m the boat's locker, upon which 1 book up my position. "Now it was that great blac'c . brute, Hal Wescott, first showed his teeth, if I may be permitted to expres 1 myself so, and big white, sharp and animal-liko teeth they were, too, talec my word for it. When Wescott caught the low gurgling sound of the wine as it spurted like a rill of life into the sea, a strange look came over his broad, bronze-colored face, his little pig eyes glowed with a wicked fire, his lips twitched convulsively, and his huge hands opened and shut with a snap in . the iron knuckles. He Was like a thirsty beast suddenly roused by the trickling sound of water. I could hear the big fellow's tongue fairly click between his massive jaws as he watched my movements. "When the time came for me to take up the second bottle and uncork it Wescott could hold -his rebellious in'ards no- longer in control. With a half scream, half groan, he burst out: " 'For God's sake, captain, give me a drink o' that! Don't waste it! I'm burnin' up inside; I'm all on fire, captain; I swear I am! ]> can't stand it, captain! For the love of Heaven don't say nol Just give me a taste of it— just a taste!' "I needn't tell yon, sir, that even a few mouthfuls of that wine would have transformed the big mulatto into a fiend incarnate. Poured into his fasting stomach, it would have set a stream of fire in his blood and 1 wouldn't be here to-day to tellyou this story, for he would have brained every mother's son of us, sure as fate. . So in an instant I determined what course of action to pursue, and in that brief space of time I said my prayers, felt for my pistol and bid Uncle Bob and you good-by. " 'Silence, sir!' I-Toared, with all the< strength I could muste^, as I turned upon' the writhing, twitching monster, whose face, already frightfully distortI ed with suffering, was now made still more repulsive by ill-disguised rage j which burned in his red eyes. ■ "It took all my self-control to keep my gaze riveted upon the man without flinching, but I was successful, and the mulatto crouched down in bis corner again like a half-bowed, half-defiant tiger. Things went passably well now for a day or so. The men obeyed me cheerfully, and bore the pangs of hunger with wonderful calmness. I kept Wescott at the bow of the boat so I could have my eye upon him* Next to me was the steward— never a strong man and hence the first to sink silent and lifeless in a heap on the bottom of the boat. * "We had now peen washing about for three days. Hunger was beginning to give qur faces that wild, haggard look that robs the human countenance of all traces of * soul and leaves nothing behind but the dull* distrustful glare of the animal. * _ "But thirst was the thing I most dxeaded, la spited tie *ewtbiinWe- ». .. ... '. V • '

fuls of water which I doled out from ' time to time, it was only too plain to be . seen that I wouldn't be able to keep the poor fellows from drinking the sea water many days longer. '<> In their fitful sleep they would dream of coming upon sparkling rills and cool fountains shaded by far-reaching boughs, heavy with dark green foliage, and when about to plunge their red and swollen lips into the cool and limpid pool it would move away from them like a painted curtain drawn slowly aside only to uncover darkness, blackness, nothingness! Their screams and' prayers as they awoke were pitiful. Sitting bolf upright, their haggard faces, half flayc by the action of the scorching' sunligb and brine, would be turned upon m and hard though they strove to contra themselves, I could hear the low, dn whisper: 'Water! Water! Water!' "Wescott, strange to say, bore '>.. ; sufferings more patiently than I h • anticipated. I was touched by w 1 seemed to me his devotion, his O" dience, and I spoke kindly to him. 1' "he paid no attention to anyone or •. thing, lying like a huge beast curii. up in the bow of the boat. "Ah, sir, those were terrible hours. shudder as I call them to mind, and th recollection of them makes me mor grateful than ever to old Uncle Rober i for making it possible for me to quit th sea forever. ! "We had now been four days knoiking about in this terrible fashion, wher one morning I was aroused by a shriek and cries of "Captain! captain!' Thf buckle of my belt had been drawn ut to its hole in order to keep my poor, collapsed stomach from grinding itsell to pieces, and I had left the steward or watch and was catching a few winks oi sleep, when that fearful shriek caused me to start up with a jerk. "The beast was loose! Yes, these words describe the situation exactly. While I had been sleeping the giant mulatto had waked up in a frenzy, /which the others had made futile efforts to control, had filled -a tarpaulin 'oat with sea water and taken long ancl ieep draughts of it. In a few momenta he was a raving madman, frothing at the mouth and tearing his own flesli with his glistening teeth. It was a sight to strike terror to the stoutest heart. What I feared at first thought was that he wottld swamp the boat, foi he threatened every moment to rise from his kneeling position. To turn the boat over meant quick and sure death for US all, lor not one of us liaa strengtl: enough to swim a stroke. But no, the maniac had other ends in view. With a deep, prolonged growl he threw himself upon the poor steward, aud seizing the terror-stricken man with his huge hands he drew him into his lap as if he weighed no more than four stone. •'Then I felt my hair stiffen and my heart struggle to keep up its beat, foi horror of horrors, what did I see? That huge beast in human form with a rapici motion bent the steward's head back and then set those terrible teeth of his into the poor man's throat. In an instant I was upon him. My own strength and vigor astounded me, but although 1 rained blow after blow upon the mulatto's head with the butt of my pistol, it had no more effect than the tapping oi a lady's gloved hand. "Meantime, the steward's face grew blacker and blacker. There was not an instant to be lost, and setting the barrel of my revolver at the mulatto's ear, 1 pressed the trigger. "It seemed an age before I heard the sharp crack of that pistol. I suppose my hand was paralyzed, but it came at last, and the big black monster dropped his prey, and rolled into a heap in the bottom of the boat. For a few moments I saw nothing more, but gradually I pulled myself together and making a motion to the others to help me, we laid hold of the huge corpse and tumbled it into the water./"Ah, that was a fearful deed, but I never regretted it, sir, never!" Here Mr. Robert Ridley, retired mariner, paused, drew a long breath and then continued as follows: "Towards nightfall we fell in with a vessel. We sighted her at sundown, and she was then a? mere spot upon the distant sea, and we thought no more oi her when darkness came; but next morning 1 she was showing within an easy pull, and we then saw that she was a wreck, all three masts gone, and her thick shrouds trailing over the side, as though her hole was full oi serpents crawling away from her. As we passed under her stern we read the name: 'Grace Tucker, Boston.' She sat high upon the water, and seemed anew ship; anyways her copper was new, and the wet flash of it to the sun might have been seen for miles. "We sprang aboard, all mad for water, and then for food. Figure our joy when I tell you we found a scuttle-butt full of cold water, with a dipper ready 4 at hand to drink from. There was a dead man lying in the galley; he was a half-caste, and the atmosphere was so bad with him that two of us tumbled him over the side without ado. Aft was a long deckhouse; I entered it to rummage f ortood, and the first thing I saw was the body of a man lying upon the deck stone dead! with a. living dog sitting alongside of him. When the dog saw me, he crawled like a dying creature on to the man's breast, and feebly showed his teeth. He was something after the breed of a water spaniel, but his eyes were red, and seemed on fire, and I felt scared somehow on seeing him alive, and, though I saw hdw weak he was, I had no heart to push past him lest he should.fly at me. - "I called through the, door to one oi my mates: 'Jackson! Jackson!' meaning that between us we should secure the dog, but I had no sodner uttered the word 'Jackson,' than the dog crept off the dead man's bosom, and, weakly wagging his tail, comes^to my feet and falls' a-licking my shoe. / ! " 'Why, Jackson, poor chap,' says I, patting him, omvhich he utters a sort I af howl and looks up at me with his two fiery red eyes with such an expression in his face that you'd have sworn he felt as if it- would have doHe him good to cry. There was an empty panuikin alongside one oi the dead, ; ?**»'* tapfe f&ebetsoiaewjtferftßd

rrr.ve it to- the dog, who drank it to V\o last drain, and on my saying" ' r 'Poor Jackson,' and patting him igain, he howled as before, as though there was something in the name to bre-k his heart. You may hear some dogs howl as he did when a street organ boffins. I left him to rummage for victuals, and in . a locker found some cold salt beef and a tin of white biscuit. 'On this I called my mates, and. they all came in and we fell to. The dog had got again on the " dead man's breast, and wouldn't stir though I threw him a piece of biscuit and then a bit of meat. The water lncl strengthened him, and he was shifting about as though uneasy in his mind, occasionally uttering a low gxowl and eyeing us steadily. " 'Likely as not we may have to stay here,' says a man named William, 'and if so that there poor chap'll have tc come out of it.' "Better tarn to,' exclaimed -another; 'it's bad enough to be cast away after this here. pattern. I'm for fresh air. . shipwVeek or no shipwreck.' "But on our approaching 1 the body the dog snarled and showed his teeth. and cut such capers on the coi*psc's I chest that we all thought he was gone

mad,* and*Btood looking at shim. At lost I says: 'Poor Jackson! Come alon^, rk Jackson! Poor old Jackson!' patii.v *ny leffj on which he drew up to me, arui whilst I patted him and called hip Jackson, he meanwhile licking in; shoes or looking up at me with hit tongue out as if his heart was ready tc burst, the others sneaked the body off "I thought to see Jackson bolt out oi tbe cabin when he found the body gone, instead of which, after looking around, he uttered % long tyowl, then came to my feet again and ate the biscuit and piece of meat but of my hand. "We were nearly a week aboard that vessel before we were taken off. Luckily, there was plenty to eat and drink in her, but she was draining in water and needed constant pumping, and we feared for our lives should heavy weather set in. That model you see there at the foot of the obelisk is a true copy of her. I believe she had been struck b;\ lightning. One of us, a man namec. Parsons, -said that he guessed by the look of the corpses that they had been smote blind and had died of their blindness. But a derelict is nearly always a mystery when there's nobody left alive to tell ishe story. As much a mystery was ifc too, why that there dog should have answered to the name of Jackson. Maybe his master was so called. Be this as it will, you had only to call him Jackson to bring him to your feet and convert him into the loving est beast that ever wagged a tail. "During the week we were aboard the wreck, that flog never lost sight oif me. lie followed at my heels like my own shadow, lay down with me. watched me as if he was human with a •powerful intelligence working out imaginations in him. He was the first tc sight the ship that took us off. I was lying asleep on the cuddy deck, and lir awoke me by licking my face. I wa>vexed to be disturbed, and told him to get away, and turned over for another nap. On this he licks my face again and barked. " 'Blast that dawg!' says William, and be sits up to chuok a boot at the poor, beast. " Hold your hand,' says I. 'Now, Jackson, what is it?' says I. . ' "He barked again and walked to the deckhouse door, looking behind him,* and on my following the first thing 1 saw was a large brig within half a mile of us. "Well, to cut this, we were taken off, and I took good care to carry Jack sod along with me, for by this time the love between us was something beautiful. Throughout the passage home he lay in the clews of my hammock at night, and by day followed me about the deck; andlaujrh as you may, sir, 1 tell you I've seen tears of joy gush into his red eyes when I've allowed him to

jump upon my knees and lie there ar.d lick my hand. The master of the bvi# wanted to buy him from me, but I .said no, not for.ten times his Weight in £old. Til pawn the shirt pfE my back tarepay you for your kindness, sir, 1 says I, 'but Jackson and me are friends that must not part if we can help it. 1 "However, I couldn't take him to sea with me every voyage, and when I ffot home I crave him to my sister to take charge of. I went chiefly on coasting trips, and was absent for short spells only, and, lodging as I did with icy sister when I was ashore, never did mortal man from the m ist loving of wives or mothers, from the most affectionate of fathers or brothers, recei**^ such a welcome home as T did fronuT</aekson. His- joy watf almost t -rrif Hr>f\ Ii cr t j.o tliis, that when Hw iic^liLovs iie_* ,

I was to return they'd assemble in a body in the door to witness Jackson's delight. Yovt would have thought he'd spring through the very roof When ) his demonstrations were over, he'd sit and ?;r u nt» with his eyes fixed upon me ias though he were talking. He was the only dog I ever met that seemed to know his bark didn't convey all that was in his mind. I can assure you. it used to affect me to see him trying to give expression to his thoughts by uttering sounds and maneuvering with his ears. I believe that a dead sailor's soul hMft passed into that there dog. Ha! but Ido then! Never did the like of so much intelligence walk on four legs afore. "There came a time when I shipped as second mate and carpenter aboard a coalman bound to a French port. This gave me a chance to carry Jackson along with me, the skipper not objecting. I had now had the dog about three and a half years — perhaps four. He was still an active, beautiful dog with a lovely brown coat of hair;' fine as silk, and eyes as expressive as a pretty girl's. It came on to blow after we had left port a few hours, and the weather turned thick as mud in a wine glass. We got the vessel under easy sail; the wind was a little abaft the beam, and we were plowing through it reckoning on forty fathoms of water under our keel, when shortly after six bells of the first watch the vessel took the ground off the Norfolk coast; the masts went over the side and she was wrecked in a breath, beating hard with the seas bursting over her. \ "There was bit of a deckhouse aft, and most of the men took shelter in it. I was making my way to that structure to join them when the deck blew up amidships, and to save myseif from being washed overboard, I crawled into the little caboose, and when I was there, feeling horribly lonesome, I thought of Jackson, and putting- my head out through the door I whistled on the little silver whistle I used to carry expressly to call him with. Whether lie was aft with the men and they let him out, suspecting by his capers on hearing my wßistle that he was going mad, whether he had been sheltering himself waiting for me to call him, I never could tell. The hull lay with a strong list, and the air was White with flying spray. All amidships the hold was yawning; yet five minutes after I had sounded that whistle I heard a scratching at the gaily door, and. on sliding- it a bit open in "bounded Jackson. ' 'He had scarcely entered when a lump of green sea struck the caboose. What followed is like recollecting 1 the waking up out of a swoon. I remember finding myself in the water and of scraping at Something with my finger ends. It was the top of the caboose, as you see it there; but I didn't know what it was till the day broke. In groping I put my arm through a hole and held by it. Just then I heard a yelp close beside me. I put my other arm into the smotherwhere something showed black and caught hold of the dog— for the dog tt; was — and hoisted him on to my back with his fore-paws on my shoulders. The water was horribly broken and the tumbling of the caboose roof sickening; yet I held on with my arm through the chimney hole and the dog. clung to my shoulders, encourag-.ng 1 me as it were by sometimes licking my face; and

* whenever a bigger sea than; Usual ran at us, the poor beast would' bark as though he thought to' frighten it away from hurting me: "We flo»^«d away from the broken tumble of the shnal into a run of the sea th».t V»*s something regr*.!ar, but the waur w&i cou.-ia.ntiy washing over us. I cacnot express what com/ort I found in having mat poor beast on my shouMers close to me, barking; and then giving" a little growl as though to hearten rnfe. arfd then licking my face. At last he fell ai'ent. The pray of the dawn was stealing into the sky. I said: 'Jackson, how is it with you, poorbeast!' He didn't answer. I spoke™ apain, and finding him still silent, I pulled him down and found he was dead. I was Jtoo wervk, too near my own death, to cVy; yet I felt to be weeping in my heart when I pulled him down and saw that be was dead. My exhaustion was too great to surter m^» to hold him long, and I had to let him go. His body floated off, and I lost si o ht of it."Shortly after sunrise a smack hove into view. The mate of her, seeing a black object, put a gla&s to his eye and instantly spied me waving f my arm, whereupon he headed for me, launched a boat and took me aboard. I was the only man saved; the vessel had gone to pieces in the darkness and drowned all the others. That's the little yarn, sir," exclaimed Bob Ridley, knocking the ashes out oj, his pipe and rising. "Poor old Jackson!" and with a deep sigh and an air of abstraction, he led the way out of his summerxirbor [the exd.3 Benefit of <JH Baths. Anyone can add strength and weight to his body by rubbing* wefi with olive oil after a warm bath. Oil baths are particularly beneficial to delicate chil- ~ dren. Dirty Cupa Made Clean. By rubbing with a flannel dipped in whiting the brown discoloration may be taken off caps that bave been used Ijforbakinjr ..^^,^ :^., Ml^