Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-10-11
pincers, and afterwards keep them an.r, q,
skewering them with a few scupner ns;,. >, ~

A Il Gil
ohcers who will faithfully attend 10 their dutv
when am absent from the deck If anything
Mr. Watkins ''
AYE, aye, SIR" replied that worthy off,
| Ger, as Capt Swipes vanished from the deck.
Mr. atkins leaned against the quarter rail
Ior lew minutes, and then with slow and re-
Iuc,snt strides paced the deck At length be
called out in loud and authoritative voice. A.
usuai, " Keep sharp lookout ahead 80
forecastle. f' 'i0" '"e
In few minutes, seated on the ben-coo,.
Win ms mead reclined against the companion.
way, TINS ctgtLanf officer was fast asleep. and
1t is hardly to be wondered at il the men he.
longing to his watch, one and all, followed m.
example of their officer. WIG
Before the captain went below had been
standing In the waist, leaning over the gun
vale, listening to the conversation between
inc captain and the mate. But now went
| forward on the forecsstle, exchanged a few
words with some Of my shipmates, who seemed
unusually lll-humored and sleepy, and grad
ualiy sank on deck, where 1 soon lost ali
Kn0"iedge OF what was passing around me,
and entered upon the enjoyment Of pleasant
| and curious dream.
| A pretty set of fellows you were indeed -
exclaimed Bill Backstay. "You ought ali of
you to have been hauled chock out 10 the fore
topmast studding sail boom end, and then let
| 60 by the run in a lump"
| Never mind that, BiIl'' said Jack Grims
| oy, let Fleming heave ahead and tell us
about that dream
| why you see, continued the veteran sea-
man, " dreamed that while all hands of us
| were standing on deck at our stations ready
Tor gong about, shoal Of monstrous porpoises
ana oiack hsh came up in our wake and
ranged alongside, and each one had saddle
on his back, and bride in his month as II
inviting all hands to take a bit of a ride.
Keep all tAst, says the captain, and well
have some sport 1t not eyery day that we
meet with chance like this-so here goes ?"
without more ado, the skipper sprang on the
PACK OF huge fish that came up on the quar-
" Here goes" said L, and without a mo.
mGnts reflection L followed his Example.
mere goes said the chief mate; Here
goes !" said the second mate; Here goes ~
SAID the men; Here goes 80 said the cook
ana IN less than five minutes we were each
comfortably seated astride of mammoth nor
poise, and were carried off at the rate of ff
teen or twenty miles an hour, L found nv
self mounted on the back Of a real racer-be
was full blooded, and game to the backbone,
and soon took the lead in the race, which gave
me SO much delight that waved my cap.iu
the air. and shouted "Hurrah 30 L then
looked back, and was much amused to see the
wnoie ships company with whip and spur,
urging forward their chargers, which foun.
dered about at woful rate, and sometime.
disappeared altogether beneath the surface
giving their riders some fearful duckiugs'
which diverted me exceedingly and caused
NE to laugh heartily. But my amin al was the
pest trained and the feetest. He kept his
| head and back above water, and went forward
STtmm'nSty, gaining upon the rest of the
troop every moment. This raised the dsnder
Cf the skipper, who always loved TO be cock OF
the walk, and he hailed me 10 heaye 20 !: but
Il i'm Ha eLn al
Heaye to, you scOundrel! Hard up your
helm " Then the mates and all the crew
joined IN the chorus, and bawled out in a voice
that would have done honor to the first Iuf of
seventy four, when hailing the maiutopmast
crosstrees in gale Of wind. "Ho ship
shall T"n yon do,cn, Ho-ship aho-ov!
Hard mp' Ha-a-r d upn' Indeed, thew
made such q terrible clatter, and frightened
me so with their screams and howlings. that
a0cOhe IN a state of great alarm, and spra,sg
to my Jeet-but was rejoiced to find il was
| only dream,
The voices, however, StIA rang an mv ears
They came from the water, and were plainly
intended as warning against some imminent
danger. instinctivey caught up the words
| and shouted " Hard up" with ell the strength
of my lungs. My watchmates, who by this
time were also aroused, all repeated the cry
Of " Hard up" Hard up 80 replied the
man at the wheel Hard up. :" screamed
the second mate, with terrible energy as be
started from his comfortable position on the
hen-ccsp.
But the warning voice came too late A
olacK ana gigantic object appeared looming
up nearly upon our weather beam We all
knew that 1t was a ship of large size, steering
directly for US. We saw in a moment that the
shock could not be avoided, and felt as il
nothing but the direct interposition of Proyi-
dence could save US. In that dreadful mo.
tnpr x-a call Id flrl
prayed who never prayed beforehand screams
tor mercy ascended to the throne of the Al.
mighty Our suspense, however, was not Of
long duration. The ship to winiwarJ was
West India trader, Of eight or nine hundred
tons, bound from London for Jamaica, and
running before the wind at the rate of nine or
ten knots an hour The men on board were
probably ali asleep, too They did not see US
until they were close aboard, and the shifting
Of the helms at that late moment was of no
use. Before either vessel could answer the
helm the big ship came laundering upon US
her jib-boou passing just above our fore rigging
and her cutwater struck US with tremendous
force, right amidships, cutting US nearly in
two She then swung round alongside, with
her head in an opposite direction & ours, and
the next moment, before many of our crew
could recover from the CONSERVATION caused
by the shock, the vessels were separated from
each other, and the Aminadab filled and went
down.
"were her crew saved?" eagerly inquired
David HuntoOn.
Poor fellows 30 continued old Fleming,
" not q man of them except myself. The
moment the vessels came in contact / was
| standing on the forecastle and as the ship
| swung round, thinking of nothing but my own
safety, 1 made a spring into the msinchsins,
and just saved my distance. clambered
| u on deck, stupefied with terror, and the next
minute 1 listened in agony to the most fearful
| sounds that / ever heard-the screams and
shrieks of my noble shipmates, as they were
Struggling, when grappled with death
/" And, shipmates, have never been sele
| 80 e. as,istance Often in the middle
watch, when 1 am pacing the deck, hear
tba,n norne on the bree 70 scross the rough sur
the and AIys neglect in SSsn
~ ahsadt By this neglect ON
mS my nagt and on the part of my watchmates.
my shin with q valuable cargo, was lost,