CHRISTMAS AT SEA

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21355, 24 December 1934, Page 12 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS AT SEA

CAP'N TAG REMEMBERS

The old sea-dog settled himself comfortably on the grass, his cap pulled down over his eyes, his weather-beaten face reminiscent and thoughtful, as he puffed at his pipe. "0 Christmas comes but once a year, And when it comes it brings good cheer. There's lots to drink and heaps to eat, .With milk and cake and lumps of meat. iWe've things to hear and smell and see, And everyone is glad and free, And old St. Bernard goes his rounds With puppy toys for puppy hounds. . . ." he quoted from that great doggerel poet. Arthur Sealyham. "Aye, aye," sighed Cap'n Tag, thoughtfully snapping up a passing %. "There's lots to drink and neaps to eat. but I don't advise you young fellows to try it. They'll shove all sorts of things on to you on Christmas Day. bits of fruity Puddings with hard things in 'em, mucks and muddles and' messes, and stuffs most indigestible. Many's the ache I've suffered from Christmas dinners. ."And, further, on Christmas Eve there may be things to hear and smell and see, but beware of 'em. You may be hearing all sorts of noises and smelling all manner of smells all right, hangings and creakings and whisperings and scrapings, and odours most amazmg, but keep your opinions to yourself and don't go barking at nothing at all as a foolish little Pom that lives next door to me does. 'Aye. Christmas is a funny time, au right," rumbled Cap'n Tag and «psed into silence. "Tell us," cried the others, scenting a story. Cap'n Tag puffed to himself for * while before speaking again. ■Well, 'twas many years ago now and on the good old vessel Bone. Our skipper, maybe you'll have neard of him, was Sir William knort, one of the old sea Snorts and a. barker to the Queen. We'd struck ■jad weather, and as we wouldn't be ■gghting home-kennels till after the flew Year I figured that the skipper would "be missing his Christmas Winer. So the crew and I—l was jnate at the time—got together and talked things over and decided that tor Christmas morning we'd give n "n a bit of something extra. We £arved him a new pipe from shark°°ne and made one or two little cads and ends like a hot water D °tde to warm his noble feet. But the crown of the lot was to w the pie. It was a regular Christmassy pie and plenty of bones about it too. The cook was busy fixing and churning and baking it ior a week. We'd all given some"f'ng to it. choice bits that'd been nmden in the fo'c's'le, or buried in we hold. n.'At l Qs t all was ready, and on ynristmas Eve after the skipper ue asiec P in his cabin, I crept in ™ tmd a sock to fill. I could hear {™n breathing all regular in his so * tipped across, found a J**, and started packing it with "* cook's magnificent pie and the bits of fancies we'd got for *l^ ddenl - v T smelt something. It J2J«*t the skipper, for I knew his i well, a strong, masterful I anrt V s was a strange smell, do» c Course tnat meant a strange , Sin- * stood quite still, and in ! I l~ nu te. just near me in the dark * nearo. a low growl.

" 'Ah.' I says to myself, 'a prowler, e'-?' and, swinging the sock round (with the pie in it), I donged him on the head. He hiccoughed, for I suppose I'd caught him napping. "Then, without any warning, the strange dog went for me just as if I'd been a choice piece of liver. I tell you, I was overwhelmed, and in the dark I didn't know what it was I was tackling. Then a regular fierce scrap began. I forgot all about the skipper's Christmas and entered into the fight wholeheartedly. I had to. In another minute everyone of the ship's crew was there, but bursting as they did into the dark cabin, they stumbled into one another and started scrapping, too. " 'Pirates!' yelled somebody, and they all fell to—on each other! Everyone thought his opponent a deadly enemy. They couldn't see otherwise. "I didn't dare think about the skipper. 1 comforted myself, as I dug my teeth into the strange dog's ear, with the thought that perhaps old Snort was a very heavy sleeper. Ke'd need to be. "I was at the bottom of a scratching, tearing, biting heap of fighting dogs before someone had the good sense To strike a light. But I still had my prowler gripped tifht. Of course, with the light all the fellows left off fighting their own mates and generally seemed pretty stunned and bewildered. But I lost no time. The dog under me was strong and surgent " 'Hey!' I yelled out between my teeth, r here he is! Bring the light this way!' They brought it over, and with one f.nal farewell bite I let go my grip and stood up. 'There he is,' I says. 'There's the little pirate mongrel that I found snooping round the skipper's cabin. Trounce him. lads! Down to the dungeons with 'im.' "They all gathered round to see, and a shiver of horror went through the group. " 'Pretty awful, is he?' I says, still rubbing the blood out of my eyes. 'l'm not surprised, the yellow-eared, parrot-nosed son of a catfish.' And then I looked down at him. "It was the skipper!" Cap'n Tag pause-d and amid silence solemnly relit his pipe. Someone sniggered. "It's hardly necessary for me to tell the rest. At first there was a bit of a row all round, for I'd very near bitten the skipper's ear off. However, after we'd managed to persuade him it wasn't mutiny, murder, or the judgment he calmed down a bit. The strange smell, by the way, was some stink he put on at night to keep the mosquitos off. "Christmas morning was a dull affair. Nearly every one of us staved in bed. licking and tending wounds. About dinner time, however, the skipper sent a message to say he wanted to see everybody in his cabin. We crawled out of bed pretty mournfully, for we knew he must be feeling rather sore. We trooped into his cabin, expecting the severest reprimands and worst punishments. "Instead, there was a table set as though for a royal feast; and there, his battered face beaming in forgiveness and anticipation of the dented, but still magnificent Christmas pie, sat the skipper, welcoming us in! "We cheered, again and again we cheered, and then we sat down." Cap'n Tag rolled back, his eyes closed, his voice drowsy, and content in memories. 1 "What a Christmas that was! And what a pie!"