MR. ARCHIBALD FORBES’S GOOD LUCK.

Golden Bay Argus, Volume IX, Issue 26, 26 November 1903, Page 3

MR. ARCHIBALD FORBES’S GOOD LUCK.

AN UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS DINNER. “Barracks, Bivouacs, and Battles,” J which he has just issued through Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Mr. Archibald Forbes has brought together a number of magazine articles, in which he has described iomeof the out-of-the-way adventures that have happened to him in the course of his adventurous life. One of them, “A Christmas Dinner de Profundis,” relates to a passage Mr. Forbes made in his young days from Quebec in a rotten, battered, and dilapidated timber-ship called the Emma Morrison. The old tub was disabled in a jrale off the banks of Newfoundland in the middle of December. What followed Mr. Forbes shall himself describe. j A MISERABLE SITUATION. j The ship was drifting about as wind and’ wave listed. Her masts and spars were a confused mass.of wreckage. A green sea had swept the flush deck, carrying off galley(with the unfortunate cook inside) and longboat, leaving standing only the wretched pigeon-hole of a topgallant fo’k sle and the stumpy little companion-house abaib the mizzen. The bulwarks were shattered piece-; meal; the tree-trunks constituting the deck, load had worked their grapplings loose, and rose and fell with the wash of the cross seas, Two of the best men had been washed under the massive trunks, which had settled down on them and crushed the life out of them.- j Two more poor fellows had suffered broken limbs, and were lying helpless on the j fo’k’sle exposed to the seas that continually broke over the bows. The 3hip was full of water and pumping was useless. She lay like a log on the heaving face of the winter sea ; hopeless, yet safe from the fate of foundering unless the timber cargo working inside her should burst her open. The only dry spot aft was .the top of the little companion-house, which belonged to the skipper and myself; thej crew had the raised deck of the topgallant .fo’k’sle and the upper bunks in its interior.. !One of these constituted our larder; its; contents, some pieces of salt pork and beef,--dragged out of the harness Cask, and a bag of sodden biscuits rescued from the lazaretto ere the water rose into the tween A, 'water-cask had been trundled into the fo k sle before the great wave swept the deck. About five feet of water, stood in the cabin, under which lay my portmanteau and every belonging save the sea-worn suit I stood -upright in. Altogether it was not easy to imagine a grimmer present or a darker future. And it was Christmas morning.” “I SPY A KNAVE IN DRINKING.” About 11a.m. the-remnant of the crew (that were alive and could move came splash-; ing along the main deck aft to the com-t pan uu-house to propose launching the one boat left and abandoning the ship. The )nate was in the maintop, where he had lashed himself and gone to sleep. The pkipper had waded down into the cabin, as fie said, to fish up from his desk the ship’s papers. I followed him to tell him of thy errand of the crew. Wading across the cabin, I could see into his state-room. There pat the fellow on his submerged bunk, up to the waist in water, with a black bottlo raised to the ruffianly lips of him. He had lied when he denied having any storij of spirits, and had been swigging oi the sly, while his men had been toilinjj .and suffering day and night in misery with out a drop of the spirit that would hav.J revived their sinking energies. Enraged beyond' the power of self restraint by tint caitiff’s selfishness, I gripped him by thd throat with one hand as I wrenched tho bottle from him with the other. He fell a-snivelling maudlin tears. I swore I’d drown him if he did not deliver up for the common good what of his spirit supply remained. He fished up three bottles from out the blankets in the inundated bunk.. That ran to just a glass apiece for all hands except him, leaving another glass apiece for .“next time.” While he vet snivelled the) mainbrace waa promptly spliced on deck.

“SAIL-HO i ”

About one o’clock the mate, who had gone back to his uncomfortable but dry dormitory in the maintop, suddenly shouted “Sail-ho ! ” The poor fellows came tumbling out of the fo’k’sle witli eager eyes ; a bit too diffident) of fortune to cheer just yet, but with the bright light of hope in their faces. Yes s there she was, presently visible from th<j fo’k’sle, and the abominable old Emma Morrison right in her fairway. And noW with a hearty cheer we finished to the last' drop the skipper’s grog. Our flag of distress had been flying for days, but the chaos aloft was more eloquent than any upsidedown Union Jack. With what majesty came the succouring ship, borne by the strong wind of favour, the white seas dash) ing from her gallant stem, her great weti sides rising higher and higher as she nearea ‘us! Up alongside she ranged, scarce a pistolshot distant, a full-rigged clipper. “One of the flying Yankees,” said the mate, with, as' it seemed, a touch of envy in his mouth.) i“Get ready smart; going to send for you' .right away ! ’’ came her commander’s cheery, «hout across the sullen water. A 6 she came up into the wind and lay bo, she showed us ;her dandy stern, and sure enough on it in gold letters was the legend, “ Moses Taylor, .of Now York.” Her boat put off; herseconjd •mate jumped abord us with a friendly [peremptory “Hurry up !” In five minutes bnote we had quitted the Emma Morrison .‘for ever, her skipper skulking off her hang[dog fashion, yet the last man. We had .agreed, for the good name of the old country among foreigners, to keep counsel regarding the selfish sneak ; but he never held up his head more during the time he and I were in the same ship. THAT MIBTLETOE ! A ship like a picture, a deck trim and clean as a new pin, a hearty skipper with a nasal twang, his comely wife, his winsome daughter, and a smart, full-powered crew welcomed us forlorn and dilapidated derelicts on board the Moses Taylor. Circumstances prevented us from dressing for the :Chmtmas dinner to which we—skipper,mate, and passenger—were presently bidden ; but there were modified comfort and restored self-respect in the long unaccus : r tomed wash in fresh water; and the hosts were more gracious than if we had been dressed more comme il /ant. To this day I remember that first slice of roast turkey, that first slice of plum pudding. But closer in my memory remain the cheery accents of the genial American skipper, the glow of kindness in the sonsy face of his wife, and the smile of mixed fun and compassion in the bright eyes of their pretty daughter. And there hung a spray of mistletoe in the cabin doorway of the Moses Taylor.