Tales and Sketches.

Western Star, Issue 426, 12 March 1881, Page 2 (Supplement)

Tales and Sketches.

THE RUNAWAY SHIP.

A SALT YAKN. One afternoon watch, two seamen were seated face to face astride the fore-topmast cross-trees of a large Australian home-ward-bound, which had all her canvas, studding-sails included, spread to the south-east trade wind that slants upward from the Cape towards the equator. The breeze was freshening,-and the sails which,' aboutnoon, were murmuring and rustling, now slept full: everything drew, as the wind had been hauled.a little on the ship’s, starboard quarter ;, her head lying about west-by-north, and she [going. about eight knots through . the water ; just bending now arid then enough to'give the lee yardarms a - pleasant: slope to -port, and over the blue surface, which : already looked; darker and brisker,-: with little tops of wdrite in our shadow to windward. s With the privilege of a watch below, I whs lying; over the topsail-yard, in the bunt by the- 1 mast, my feet upon the footWope,- and a' spyglass iu my hand, through which ;! took an occasional glance at., a; vessel on the horizon,, supposed to be a frigate. It was so hot -. arid close in my ’ berth.bri the, half-deck, that this employment was no small luxury, joined, to ,that of : seeing others kept at work, feeling .the: air out of the foot'of the top-gallantsail, and looking down 'into the: water,, where • the shape of every fish that came ' near the surface Was clearly defined in a ‘ greeriish light,, and the convoys Of glittering flyirig fish sprang ey,er andariori like swab, lows if om' one wave to ririother in the distarice. . The white ducks stretched.below, with jthe boys knotting, their, yarns on the; forecastle, the sailmaker at, his canvas in the waist,: and the;quarterdeck, out of sight, where the first and second mates were busy getting.the mizen:backstays set up. Before me lay half - the ocean-eircle, beautifully.azure-tinted, wherea long line of white clouds were gathered, in contrast to the cleai 1 regiOnlot : the. breeze' astern. Up above my head shot the white swell of top-gallant, royal, and sky-sails, the former of which half concealed me [from the two sailors, . although.; their legs dangled from the cross-trees over my back, while its shadow secured tlierii from the hot sun. One was passing the ball of spun-yarn for his companion, who was twisting it with his sewing-mallet round the shrouds of the royal-mast, which had been pretty well chafed bare by seven months’ work and" weather. The easy conversation with which this task was be-, guiled, found a ready eavesdropper in me, since it smacked of the brine, and was in no respect checked by the neighborhood of a youngster from the other watch. In the present case it fell insensibly to a yarn, which I took , care to log as correctly as possible soon after ; a yarn in the day time only happening in such a sequestered situation as this, and being more valuable from its, unpremeditated nature.

‘ Hold on there with'-;the ball, Bob,’ said the one parenthetically, and at intervals ; ‘and give us a dip of the tar. N ow pass away, and take the turn-out o’ that yarn. ‘Well ye see, boy,’ he continued, ‘ Jim Taylor an’ me—you know Jim ? that voy’ge we’d been having a good cruise ashore .after the South Sea trip, and the shot-lockers was beginnin’ to turn rather low; -but still, as we’d seen so mucli together, we made it up to go chums for, ajuother spell.. I’d two or three offers of a bhrth myself, but : short trips wouldn’t go ,down with me at no time, after I knocked; toff apprentice : there’s somethin’ low an’ humbuggin’ about ’em, to my state, as ■keeps a man neither green or blue, neither seein’ life nor the world, aii’ tarnally ready to get - sick over a yard ; so I’ve managed to keep a midship helm atwixt the two tacks of a coaster and a man-o’-war’s-man. Jim*, too, he was rather, down in the mouth about a love consarn, so we stuck together like a pair o’;pur-chase-blocks bowsed chock on end. Every, forenoon we stands round Liv’pool Docks in company, under easy sail, twigging all the craft, as you may suppose, an’ overhaulin’ the good, and bad points on ’em, like a couple of bo’suns. Berths at that time was plenty, and hands Scare ; so was the more hard to please Jim an’l. We wanted to see some’ere 'as we.hadn’t seen afore, with a smart craft under us, a reg’lar true-blue for skipper, good living, and a fok’sle, full of jolly dogs. We spells' out all the tickets in the rigging of the passage-craft, with the port, and time of sailing; and says Jim, just as I was stepping on the gangway plank,“ Hold on, Harry, bo’, let’s go round the China berth first. ” And, says I, at sight o’ their heavy poops, an’ Dutch bows, and tumble home topsides, all reg’lar-going and holystone, Hone o’ yer loo’ardly tea-canister affairs for me. Don’t ye twig that there lubberly splice in the forerigging?” Again we’d fancy ’Badoes, or Lima, or Rio, or Valparaiso ; but speakin’ truth, my notion was for some sort of out-o’-the-way-come-venture or another, where we’d see life once in a while, and turn to again on. the sober tack. So all said an’ done, we fought shy of an offer ; as the “ old man ” hauled close on us, we squared away, tops our boom,, an’was off with a touch of our tarpaulins, an ? “I doesn’t think as how I’m a goin’ for to ship this voy’age, yer honour,” for which we got curses enough to split the main-taups’i, ye know. ‘ Hows’ever, one forenoon watch, as we was both backing and filling alongside of the Queen’s Dock, full of bluff-bowed Danish timberers, Norway logs the colour of rosin, and yer wall-sided, .kettle-bot-tomed. American cotton-wagons, I seed as fine a barque-rigged, craft as I ever clapped eyes upon moored out in the middle to a Swedish brig. She was clipper-cut about the bows ; level bowsprit in a line with her run ; a long sheer, but plenty of beam before the waist ; high topsides, black out, but painted yellow within, and a yellow streak on her. Her sticks had a bit of a rake aft, with short lower-masts, and the yards black ; but such , a pair o’ slapping tall topmasts as she had, I never see in a craft of her size,, an’ I could see with half an eye, though both lower an’ taups’l yards was cock-billed up an’ down dock-fashion, they’d the weather-arm of any ship in the dock. “ That chap’s Bos-tOn-buiit, Jim,”says I, “for five guineas —reg’lar go-ahead, and no mistake. Why, she’ll spreadneaf half the cloths in her main taups’l of a twenty eight ' sloop o’war !” “My eyes!” says Jim, with a shiver like,” how she’d diveintoahead sea though ! She’d cut through the comb of a Cape swell afore it’ad time to rise.” ‘ That’s neither here nor there,” I says ; “ but I’d like to know the ropes o’ what ■she’s after ; I’ve a notion it’s some’at of a taut bowline. She wants a third of bein’ down to her bearings, though they’re

clearing for out a’ready, ye see.” Accordin’ly, Jim an’ me uses the freedom to sheer round, and step over two or three other craft, to get a near’ look at the Yankee. Her mate was roaring like a young bull to a hand alof that was sendin’ up to’-gajlant and royal-yards ; and “ Well,’’-, says Ito Jim, “it’s clear they doesn’t savjvev sendin’ up a? gallant yard here, like old‘Pacific. Twig the lubber ; he’s taken the line wrong side o’ that backstay. So look out; here goes!” I makes one spring into her rigging, up to blears off the yard,.. fists the tackle,'and clears it, and had the spar rigged out in no time. Down I corned to the rail by a topmast backstay, but no sooner riof the 1 ill-looked customer -of - a mate, opened on me with his jaw. ■

“ Who told you to shove your oar in ?” says he, “ you tarnation British Toper ! I F guest you want to hook yourself -pretty : slick ; brit ybri don’t enter this voyage, so, |be off!” “Axes.ypur.pardirig, sir,” says, 11,, jinking tq ray churn,; ‘‘ an’ hopes no j offence,- sir ; but;! thou’t ye wanted,a lift ; that time, You doesn’t begrpdge a poor \ fellow’s flippers a little tar, sir, after fist[ing the blankets so long ashore 1” “ Top Iyer boom in the twinkling of - a handspike,’’! isays he ; ‘‘ that’s allT’ve got to say to ye.” I“ Ay, : ay, sir,” says I, though I hung in (the wirid notwithstanding ; for ' just then; fl- twigs a big beamed fellow come aboard iastarxi of him, as I took to be the skipper, |__a hookrridse gentleman,’ clean-shaved, ;an’ black i’ the jaw, with two fists like ileading..blocks, and rigged out.in a longdogged coat three cloths under his size-;-i but he didn’tdbok afeared on a gale o’ jwindl V' r,/ i ,<« Well, Mrl Fisher,” says he,' overhauilin’ me all the time put of his weather [eye, “be So good as get them two new jtaups’ls out o’ the half 'deck', arid bend Sthem. You don’t seem but; a smartish ihand, ’’ says he to me. when, the mate was igone.aft-—“ you don’t iny -lad, dor British, jgrpwed. ; Been ; £ down , east,’ L reckon, |now:l” “Yes,-; sir*” said I; “ I-sailed past with'the Garrick liner, s out an’ home.”; ( £ ) Thought soy”: says he; ; £ - Well 7 now; if d was short handed,' T don’t know but-I; |might a; shipped you this trip. ” £ * No harm [done, sir,” saysl. ‘ 1 : £ .Well, ,ye see^Bob,.-the, short yarn of 'it was, the Yankee skipper ships us both; rit eighteen dollars a month, bound to Noo Orlaing, with a cargo of what they called j“ notions. ” The barque’s , name was the s £ ‘ Declaration, ’’-Eikabode Tappan, master ; : we. didn’t know till after she’d only bight' of a crevrbefore the rriast when [we fell aboard of hirii., /Frict; we. heard from an old shipmate next day, -as Ike -Tappan, they, called hirii, very well known in the Gibraltar waters for a sharp hand, that knew precious little of lunars, an’ never was-heard on with a full-manned ship ; she was’tarnally runnin’away with ’em, and missing her port,- like one of God’s ships,*’ as they Used to christen Jthe Yankees. Never an rinderwriter of ’em all would insure the' Declaration ; but bein’one o’ the owners Himself, an’ always spiriehpw failin’ on his feet, lip mail overhauled the craft, “She’s a slap-up boat,” .says Jim to me ; “ an’, he’s a.prime seaman, I onderstand : ; but I’ll bet next vog’age, Ike! Tappan’s arter some’at new, an’ spicy :to the bargain.'I never knowed her Liverpool-away afore.” -

i ‘Well, Bob, a night or two after,-as we was going into the. Hothouse Tavern, as they calls that big skylight ’ affair by the docks, who does we meet. coinin’ out but pur new.skipper, yard-arm. with a longtogged shore-goin’ chap, as I fancied, Under a false rig, and steerin’ shy. Hard-, a-port it was, and we sights the two down street,; bein’a blowy night, making stiff tack for the door of a Jew slop-shop to wind’ard. “ Somethin’s i’ the wind, Jim,” says I, “ sure enough.” The next day we goes down to hoist our dunnage abroad, where we finds no un but the shipkeeper, and a Boston boy washin’ decks, ontil the .skipper him’self come up the companion, with one we took for a hew hand, in a red shirt, canvas togs, and a sou’-wester on his head for all the world like a Lunnun dustman’s. “My eye, Harry,” says Jim, “twig the green; mark them hands o’ his. That fellow’s sarved his time with ould Noah, I’m thinking, an’ Slept tlie watches ever, since.” “'AVeli,-I’m blessed,” ' says I, “if that aint the same chap he had in tow last night, an’rigged out a cloth over strong to begin with.: . . .. ; “ Now, my man,” says the skipper to him, “ tarn to aloft, and tar down them Ms an’backstays.” “ Ay,-ay, sir,” says he, quite ready like, though I wish you see what a long face he pulled at first dip into the tar can. A smart, knowing-like phap he was, though he, put his feet into the ratlins like a post-boy, an went up a bit at a time, smearin’ all in his way, instead of from the mast-head down, till of a sudden smash comes the can on deck out o’ the maintop, without,.“ Stand from under.” The whole forenoon I do b’lieve. if the skipper didn’t keep that poor devil going aloft, out on the yards, an’ crettin’the ropes by hearty in a drizzle of rain, and after every one else was gone. I couldn t make it out at all, ontil we hears the day after, just afore haulin’ through the dockway at flood, as how there was a reglar bobbery kickin’ up about docks : a dozen out-bound craft boarded by p’lice and gov’ment officers, all about some quill-driving don that had cut nis stick with a sight o’ money. As soon as I caught the hand in the red shirt lookin’ over his shoulder, I smoked the ri o, in a moment, an says the skipper, “You, Smith, up to the fore-taups’l yard, an’ overhaul the gear.” There was only Jim an’ me, and the two mates, an some dock-wallopers on deck, hard tailing of to the warp-ropes, an’ a couple o’ ships boys aloft ; the other hands came out in a boat as we dropped down. , Just as we sheers round into the river, there was a large New York steamer, paddles backed and ’scape-pipe roaring, and full passengers, as was being searched from stem to starn, where they found the gentleman’s traps aboard sure enough, without hi’self. Nor no sooner was we abeam of her, but a boat pulls alongside, and three officers jumps up the gangway. - “ Got any passengers aboard, captain 1” says they. “Not as long as my name’s Eikabode Tappan,” says he; “ ’taint a payin’ consarn, I expect.” “ Look sharp aloft there, and loose that fore-taups’l,” sings out the skipper : and I couldn’t help grinning when I squaints up, an’sees the chap with the red shirt bent over the yard, after havin’ to hail, “ Ay, ay, sir,” as gruff as a bo’suu. “Bear a hand there, ye lubber ; overhaul the reef-tackles and cluelins : —d’ye hear ? Forrud there, sheet home fore-taups’l.” “Must look into your cabins, sir,” says the officers. “Well, if it’s law,” says the skipper, “I can’t go ag’iu it; but a fair wkul can’t

wait, you know, gents,” says he, “an’ I shouldn’t like to break my rule ag'in passengers. I reckon we’re gettin’ a good deal o’ way upon her.” By the time they corned on deck again, we had the two taups’ls,?fores’l, j. and 011,her,. andrDwas at the wheel, the hands aboard riggmg..pu.t the jib-boom; and, W|ll,”. thinks-I, as they: got .doxyrilthe (side-topull'back, '“if it bad been- buta a frigate’s reefer instead, he’d have hauled on a different rope, Captain Tappan.” Hows’ever, we soon caught a good sand ; and by the way the windmills,alpng, the Heights went whirling round, we expected' a staggering breeze past the ‘Pqint.l How’she did take if,|st6o, on them two wlipping taupa’ls 0’ hers, the moment she’ • gob; the full weather, . blue out o’ the ; [lrish Channel,; with a smart swell 1 Hard ••woirk.it was grinding .her wheel.> down,-.;* ibut she came to-in a twinkling,Teadyto fly. J into fit. I saw how it ’ud t be; at wonsU;! [with ■ that spread of- canvas, and them .heavy spars, with the hands we had, in. a | gale and on.a wind, we’d no more be able’ ito reef or hand the two faups’ls or courses nor as many schoolboys., Hows’ever, j we was scare- well out from the land, iwh,en somethin’ more came on our look-; [out :' surging over it witha flash, up the; ;bows,;.all hands busy gettin’ ship-shape, -I hears the skipper sing out . to his s black; istoo’ard below, to hand him up the glass.; • There was,telegraph goin’.upon the headland, which, the drift ori it couldn't be s [seen,, until the smoke of a large steamer [was sighted to win’ward, through theihaZe;; llieadiri’for us from up Channel. ' J , ££ Well,” :saysthe old.man, “what's this?; SI ain’t ’ —‘ £ £ Slie’s dqubie-funnled, ’’ puts! fin the grumpy, mate, lookin’ through the! fglassf—“ai steara-Jrigatej I calc’late.” : <£ No !” says the captain ; “ you don’t H —b-whew—ew-.j” ? .Arid he gives a long Iwhistle;- seein’ as just at that moment [comes out a gleam behind one o’ the big [Channel swells, then the sound of a heavy [gun. : ££ That’s a long uh,”‘ says the mate. ’ |*, f Clap on the’ jib, there,” sings; out,.Captain. Tappari.. “ Set the gaff-taups.’ and; [royals-, .Mr. 'Fisher,” says . he ; “ and [keep her up a point, lad,” to.me.Away |we cracks,.with the craft on her best f00t, 5 [boiling ofl-eleven. knots pleasantly. We [had the heels of the steamer ; (but if that s fwasri’t enough, what does we see her do [shortly, but-'stand across the New Yorker’s course, to overhaul her the second ‘turn. By the,second dog,-watch, it bein’ [late season and soon dark, we’d lost sight |of ’em both.. Our Yankee skipper’s fashion was to close-reef all afore turning fin, man-o'-war style, if the weather was fickle in narrowiwaters, otherways there jwas.no keeping the craft in hand : it took all on us to one yard at a turn,' so yo may fancy what it would a’ been in a blow ! ; 'All the next day, having stood well to the ieast’ard, we sees nought o’ the smoke flag, |“ Admiral Jones’s pennant,” as we used ;to call it in the old Pacific ; so cracks on ieverythirig that would draw till morning when it fell a pretty dead calm, with a swell off thefnouth of the British Channel. ■About four bells i’ the afternoon, ;we sees bur queer customer from the fok’sle come j’pqn deck outq’ the cabin, in a pilpt-cqat; all at onst the fellow hails the skipper through the skylight, and there, ■> sure [enough, was a smoke to west’ard of us, ! just over the smooth o’ the water-line, when we rolled. By five bells you could see' the two funnels quite plain, the steadier seernin’ly havin’ cruized the two days to win’ward of our course, Tbr ari airin’ to her hands; an’ then come back to pick us up. The captain looks at his chap arid then at the steamer. “ Yes, ’’..says he, taking the cigar out of his teeth, “ that’s considerable nasty, I expect J” An’ I did feel for the other fellow from his looks. ‘ Well,’ says the skipper, ‘ there’s a cloudbrewin’ to win’ward though. We’ll Have it hot an’ heavy from the nor’west directly. Lay aloft .there, all harids,.to reef taups’ls V And he takes the wheel from the hand aft. £ Ciqse, reef,’he sings, outj as soon as we’d, got hold on the earrings. The yards was braced round, and the swell rose, in no time ; the cloud was all round the weather-side in a quarter of an hour, as black-blue as you please, and the red sun goin’ down through it, till the tops of the heavy swells was as red as blood. It was quite dark in that quarter, vheri we hears the thud, thud o’ the steamer’s paddles, and her engine clanking, and over out o the cloud she comes as black as night, right upon the comb of the sea; and rill iri a moment it was white foam, pouring down the watersides and her full jib and gatf-s-’ls j ibing as she went round. Up we went above her, looking on to her deck over the smoke ; the men at stations, and gun ran out to loo’ard. ‘Port, port,’ sings out our skipper, £ keep full.’ The steamer’s pipe roared like thunder, and she kept givin’ a stroke now and then; the ca^itain and a leeftenant stood up on the poddle-box, holding on by a rail. £ What barque’s that V screams out the captain through his speaking trumpet; and afore there was to hail —‘ Round to, and keep under my quarter till the squalls bvir—her Majesty’s ship Salamander.’ £ Daresn’t do it, captain,’ sings out the skipper. ‘ I’ll dismast , you then, by !’ The wind took us just then on the top of a sea, main-taups-’l swung full, and away we went, with'no time to rise on the swell, shipping a tremendous horaehead, that washed everyone off his feet holding ori. Our last sight of the steam frigate, she was plunging off one green comber to another, half her length, out against the light, and her weather-flipper whirling around, feeling for the water, an’ the next riiinute buried up to the grating in a foam. She’d her wrong side bo us, or I don’t doubt she’d had let drive off the top 6f the wave with that infarnal long eighteen. j ‘ When the Declaration rose again, however, it was pitch dark ; nothin’ to be seen but the foam gleming, and a white line ’twixt sky and sea to win’ward, or the binnacle lamp in-board. It took two of us at the wheel, hard up an’ hard down, to hold her; runnin’ as straight suth’ard as might, be, under nothin’ but spanker, close taups’ls, and foretopmast-stays’!; wind blowing strong abeam, and a blast o’ rain. About three bells morning watch the weather cleared a little, with a break to starnward. All of a suddent the lookout on the foreyard hails out, £ Light, ho! two lights hard on the lee-bow. ’ And the captain goes aloft to overhaul them. Down he comes— £ Cape You-shant right ahead, Mr. Fisher,’ says he; £ we’ll never weather it under this canvas, an’ we can’t go about neither. Up there ! shake, out reefs ! swig up taups’l-halyards !’ says he,. And up goes the high cloth against the Scud to loo’ard, till we made out the two lights frqra the wheel, drawing end on low down betwixt the swells as 'sho pitched aloft. ‘ Split them two lights,’ says he to the wheel, £ or we’re ashore in an hour, \

Press her well up, my lads, ’/says he, ‘ loose away the mains’l there. ’ ‘ She’ll never bear it,’ says the mate. ‘ Don’t know the Declaration yet, Mr, Fisher, I guess,’ says he. ' *Bpja^ ; lhaintack there, ride him down with a twill, ;men. Haul aft the sheet; hp|«| she pitched, an drove right: ufidter,; shipping green seas over the ,weaserj<fipif&b She hove a fellow over the wheel without, ‘By your leave ;’ an’ the maintack surged like a cap-stan-fall, every strand with a purchase on it. ‘ It’s blowing harder,’ says the mate. Half .an, hour, andwe’ceoff,’ .says,.the. skipper. But sure enough, “by that time ,we was reeling ihrough—fdown: hedd and up again, like a Dutchman’s cow—first a howl through the "rigging, and then a a calm in the trough, things lookin’ : black [ for .the mast of her. * Ease ! off the main-,, i tack,’sings out the skipper ; • an’ stand |by to brail up and frail. ’ Ticklish work iit was to do as much as the first,; but '• hand the sail we, couldn’t, . with the.f capi tain and,his passenger at the. wheel.to free ; all hands ; so .put.-iu .the brails : we. let it ! blow, like a fisherman’s bladders, and got mp to reef.taups’ls icpaste^-fasluon.. ,As •soon as the halyards was let. go;, cluelins ian’ reef-tackles chock up, .the sail drove i into the lee-rigging, jammed, through the ! shrouds, every square a bag o’, wind; ship I careening right; down to loo’ard ;,tip-yard, ' like.to slide us off, if it j didn’t , shake us an’ not a hand on deck to. touch ( a.rope. We couldn’t compass..it.nphpw r ;apbth§i ■mate sings out, to the wheel to luff a little, :and shake the saih .out ' .'the,captain, giving her. a weatne’r spok;e, or. (two; an’ sartingly we did get,;,Up -the 1 head-leeches of the sail, and the, gaskets; I passed, round one, yard-arm wheft up slap icomes the foot of. it ; in,the blast,. with ;a i noise like thunder, hammering our heads ian’ blindin’ us till the; whole, was ( free 'again. . Not haying her jib . neither, she, |was just broaching to with that > bit of a, jluiff,jwheiv the fb’tops’i. savefi hpr,. smip. | went the .martingale-stay. as it., was; and. jshe carried away hpr j jib-booinj in the .first {pitch. , : The : skipper ( filled ... away,; in .a. 1 moment, grinding, the, helm; hard, and, singing out to us s to, leave the .sail, an , (sheet it half home agaip; soipffshp stood,' (squaring-yards ( before the wind, easying (oft sheets, flying ever it; with .a rplL, We, [couldn’t take another-; stitch off'her, an’ if | ever {ll seed a craft , rpnning away with, (her masters that was it. Hows’evei;, the. {morning wasi ibroke, and straight down. I the : Bay, of. Biscay for the two mortal 'watches we goes, before the stillest nor’-. ;easier I remembers, without lying to. She jmade easier weather, .the .skipper;; al’ays. {said, on a! drive,as with the helm.fashed*. jAt night I didn!t like the looks, of .it nojway.; the sea ~was gettiu’; tremendous Ithe wind pinned ye to the, rigging ;; and. [as cowld, as.a man could stand, .though, j’twas as: dry as oakum; ’cept for the -spray. '■ . . , • •, ; . f,Them .sticks won t stand it, cap.en, [says the mate,lookin’ aloft like a stargazer, (an’ as gloomy as the bowsprit end. * You {don’t know them sticks, Mr. Fisher,’, jsays,the skipper. ‘ I may say I raised ’em and, smoked ’em myself. They’re as itough as whalebone. They’ll stand it, if {the cloth don’t.’, - True enough, sir, says [the 'mate, an’ a little after, just as she (rose put of a lull, away doesn’t the [fp’taups’l go, with such a crack, out o’ the 'belt rope clean away to loo’ard, like a puff lof smoke.' ‘ Set ther mainstays’!,’' sings jout. the skipper, * and keep her up a bit, ■ray. lad.’ , , ‘ I thinks I sees that passenger-fellow s [face by;the mizen-rigging, as he,;held on -like death, and the barque .hiiing pyer the iblack.surge, up an’ down,, like looking for [her. shadow in the, troughs, and climbing [the hill for fear bn it, shipping the grim [seas in her waist as he,came up. Blessed (if he didn’t show the white rag that time ! |an’ I thou’t myself as he’d done somethin’ [bad. The men said he, looked like a chap Iw.ould have been- glad of the gallows, ; and (one swore his next trick.at the helm to luff lup into a sea, an’ lend a hand tu sweep [clear of him., ; Hows’ever, by- the mornin’ (watch our wind was laid a bit, an’ we {driving as bare as we could to sou’-west, ■maintaups’l-yard still half ’ down to the leap, .with’the 1 sail set. The craft; took it better nor ever! seed a craft do with the (same sea (on; but the; mate said we’d'run {three degrees out. of Pur. course. (By eight (bells noon, what does the captain do but ■call all hands aft, to say as she’d never lie [her. course, he was goin’ to bear up and (run<due south, a three months’ trip; for (Monte Video. ‘ I expect,’ says he,.' to {make somethin’ of it thereaway, an’ a sight [better market.' - So, my dads,’ says he, ‘if jypu’ltship, an’ : np words, ‘why (I’ll; make dollars affieadwarmer"by'tlie [month.’ Every one looks at his neighbour, and grins as he walks forrud, [seein’( as it was hp use to, growl, if we’d Swanted. For one, I’d ha’ been ready cheer ship.. . ‘ Mr. . Fisher,’ says the? skipper, ‘square away the yards, and Swing Up that, maintaups’l-yard. Down maintack, too, I: see the wind’s moderatin’ pretty.fast. Full an’ by,.my man,’ says he to the wheel; so away 'we cracked on her, with a starn sea running, for the Canaries.' ‘ ; .. ,J - 1 . • ■’

j ‘ Long yarn, Bob, if I took you the rig bur skipper played with the blockhiead at Monte "Video, an’ them lubberly , Brazil, bruisers. All I’ve got to say now is, as it’s hard on eight bells, my chum an’jl heard, on getting to Liverp’l a couple of year after, as how that there chase of ours from the steam frigate warn’t about the passenger at all, but a concern of our sharp sailin’skipper’s, as only an Admiralty clerk could-take the turns out on. I never knowed the rights on it; but I don’t doubt he kept clear o’ both the Channel find Boston for a good spell. ’ 1 ‘ Well, mate,’ said Bob, as he passed the ball for the last time, ‘ give us the Other yarn in the first watch. ’ Whether Harry did so or not, I, belonging to the larboard watch, had no opportunity of hearing it.