Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1857-08-14
Gbr Storq- GrIIrr.
A Tradition OF Iso,hcrh,tc.

II was a still autumn evening, about
fifty years since, and strong chh tide
which was jus. on.the turn, had ,hrunk
the waters Of the Thames to their loves.
estate. when the skipper OF a vessel, ar
rived that day irom foreign port, and
and anchored off Roth rhite, pat of the
shore. Rothcrhitc WAS then littlc more
than a deso!atc collection Of fields. cniiv-
cned by few public houses ami labor.
crs cottages; bat drcarv rs i, was. ami
more drcary still for the evening shades
that were rapidly darkcaing over it, it
was link in the chain of old rccpllcc.
tons that carried his heart home. anl
leaning forward on hs seat, h> eyes fx~d
on the darkcnin1 shore, tn which it re-
quited but a f-w strokes Of the s-nlls -
carry him, the Skipper induls -. in tho
visions prompted by such fesiin : -
Scarcely had the boat erazed upon ;he
shingles, when he jumped from it, aud
only waiting 10 give hurried orlrrs to
the rowers 20 await aim thers at eleven,
nc hs~tcned up The shore. his ewes rest
lessl, wandering round HIM IN search ui
the realities of those shadows with winch
memory hid soothc,l his absence.
The two rowrrs ia5k-d after their chief
as he fastened on; bu, sui l.nly fhcy
observed him stop: and thinking that
something was ami,s, they ran after him
The skipper had no, fallen, be was s;oop-
IN; down, and as they came nearer. they
SAW that he was ca3e4y9rjng l. olsen
gage his foot, though they could not az
first distinguish .whl. had en,anc clsl
il.
Curse the chain = he cried. rising and
shaking the foot violently in an effort to
cxtticatc It. II was one OF the old hs l.
loned chains with lons and iars- linHs,
attached to a buoy, and icN uucoyerc!
BY the cbb tide. and into one OF those
links he had struck his o, with sio-
lence tina, had suihced to Jam it tightly
into a space it could not 9th rwise have
entered. The impetus had carried the
link over the widest part OF the foot,
which had thus become so tightly weds-
ed that he could not remove it. The
eyes OF one of the sailors danced with
mitth, though there were no audible
denominations of il, as he thought how
neatly the skipper was caught as In
trap.
Come. Bob, lend hand, urged the
other reproachfally; now. sir, twist the
foot carefully out, while we hold the
chain Bu, it was more asily said than
done; the skipper did twis. the foot, and
that with force that ground the bone
agaias, the iron, but to no purpose.
Let me try suggested Bob. Bill.
YOU hold the chain. Now, sir, slow and
steady, and as he spoke he endcAvored,
srst by a twist, axl then by wrench,;o
draw i. out; kl, though he continued
this operation till the skipper cxecrated
his clumsiness, it was with no better sue
cess Bill rsse to his feet with SIGH,
and scratch ng his head. regarded the foot
askance, while Bob, still on the ground,
entrea,ed permission to give IT Just one
anorc grand wrench;' and the captive,
finding his own efforts availed nothing,
consented to the trial. 1t pes grand
wrench that Bob gave it: but 1t was
without result, except IN the cries aud
espletives it drew from the sufferer. Bob
also rose to his feet, quite puzzled what
TO do next. while the skipper again strus-
gled irui,lessly in the iroa tolls,
There were but few people about; but
by this time some two or three had col
lected round the unlucky skipper: they
seemed to consider it good joke; and
it was IN voice interrupted by laughter
that one Of them advised thst the boot
should be cut away. 'Ah. that's the
legal way of doing it, assented another;
the foot is 60, into Chancery-ofcourse
it mus, strip to get out again The
sufferer did not appreciate the joke; he
did not Indeed hear it; and Bob, who had
by this time. found the grave side OF the
case, checked the flow of merrment by
rcmarking to the last speaker, that 1T
wauld better become Christian and a
Waterman to fetch light, than to look
on fellow creatures misfortunes-only J
to laugh at en- Without further no.
tice of the reproaeh, the man obeyed the
intimasion, and running 70 the nearest
public house. brought lantern. lie