The North-Carolinian., 1859-04-02
THE NORTH CAROLINTAN.
FAYETTEVILLE. N. G..
For the North Carolinian.
LIFE SKETCHES. BY SEA
AND LAND,
BY DIX.

BY DIX.
NO. II.
(Comtanred from last aoeek }
for which qualities tile Sex are famed in scenes
of difficulty and danger.
It was now resolved to bring out The two
towards bv some means or other !; Cronn
applying to the steward, obtained quantity
of dried beans, which he distributed amongst
us, and handful of which were occasionally
thrown over the state-room door of each Of
the delnquents, some of the ladies even joining
in the sport.
The rattling of the beans on the floor of the
stkte-rooms, produced magical effect upon the
talready disturbed mind of their unhappy occu-
pants and scarce minute had. elapsed since
the last volley, ere we heard the rustlng and
fumbling Of our terrified friends, who hastily
assuming the first garments that came to hand
in the dark, dashed open the doors, and made
their " first appearance in meio-drama i'll
whose dramatzs persdnae, they were to occupy
prominent positions.
With the utmost difficulty could our laugh
ter be suppressed, as these apparitons came
upon the stage. No ghost Of Hamlet's father
ever looked the ghost to greater perfection than
did Evans, on this memorable occasion. En-
veloped from the shoulders to the knees in a
white coverlet hurriedly torn from his bed, his
bare legs terminating in pair Of slippers into
which he had thrust his feet, while his black
shaggy hair and beard, displayed to perfection,
the deathly palor Of his features nor was the
appearance of his next door neighbor 0 Shany-
hness, any less remarkable In his haste and
confusion his pantaloons were mom est znrentus
so he had to put up with pair of drawers, his
upper regions being decked with dress coat
of the swallow-tai order, bis bullet head decora
ted with red night-cap, boot on one foot,
and shoe on the other he was the personif-
cation of "a boy of the O'Shanyhnessy's"
thoroughly frightened and nothing else, that
we ever heard or dreamt Of
Oh, for forty-pencil power to portray that
scene The jeers and mocking laughter of the
crowd of outsiders who now openly confessed
the trick, and the CONSERVATION depicted in the
pale countenances Of the sufferers, who could
not be persuaded that not iii the most
imminent danger-tllat the hail stones had
penetrated to the CABIN, nay, into the very
berths-was not the ship rocking in the very
cradle of a most awful tempest, and were we
not about to leave her in the boats, deserting
without compuncton, the on y two persons who
from illness and physical proStrnt70m, were inca
pable of helping themselves? 1t was only after
the most strenuous eXertions that we finally per-
suaded them the whole a concerted plan
a!ity, prepared to leave.them to Their .ate apon
the wreck of the old Rappahannock Anger
now took the place of the abject fear which
had before possessed the vain boosters, when
with denunciations loud and Deep" threats
been quiet and unseen observer, of the whole
affair, through the sky-lif,ht on the morrow,
they beat hasty retreat to their dens, amidst
the united hurras of their prosecutors.
AS may readily be imagined, from this time
tc the end of the voyage, Evans and O'Shany-
hnessy had not a moments peace With the
dreadful council of three"
Whilst the incident we relate was transpir
ing, the gale without kept On increasing in vio-
lence, until the watcbful Capt. Gushing,
deemed it prudent to heave his ship to- And
even when this manGuvre had been skiffuy
and promptly executed, the vessel "pitched ;"
SO furiously as to threaten each moment, the
loss OF one or more of her masts, while now
and then, huge, foam crested wave would
topple over the bows before she had time to
rise to the summit of the mountain of water,
washing her from stem to stern, and sweeping
with It's over-powerlng volume, every thing
movable from one end Of the ship to the other.
Such was the state of affairs on board the
ship Rappahannock," when we, bidding our
jovial friends good night, turned in,' resol-
wing in our own mind to keep one eye open so
as to be ready for any emergency, for although
from having experienced a gale of wind at sea,
once and again previous to the voyage of which
write, could command our feelings and
even outwardIy appear perfectly satisfied with
things as they were, SO as not to alarm those
who had never been at sea before ; we knew
perfectly we'll from the observations we had
taken of existing circumstances and indications,
that trouble was ahead, ard consequently we
determined as aforesaid, to be found with our
lamp burning, l. e., ready for anything that
might turn up.
Balmy sleep" had scarce visited our many
eyes when we were reused from our lethargy by
loud crash, and the falling of some heavy
body on the deck overhead. 1t required but
an instant for US, dressed as we were, to reach
the door of the Poop-cabin at the foot of the
main-mast, but quick we had been. there
met Capt. Gushing and the ships carpenter.
who by order Of the former, was in the act Of
sounding the pumps.
"Does she make any water z" was the ques-
ton we heard put by the Captain the
penter drew the line to which his rule was at
tached, from the we'll. "None at ALL sir"
was the quick reply. "All right" said the
Captain in cheerful tones, then observing US, he
confined, "Im glad to see you here, A.,
we've lost our main mast, but as the ship is as
tight as barrel, we shall soon be to rights
again. just tell the ladies not to be alarmed,
aud then come to me on the Poop-deck, and
bring your friends Bruke and Cronin along, /
can find something for yon three to do, and
I'm sure you'll do what you can, you know
how short handed we are, and how our men
are used up.
AYE, aye we responded, .'we'l be with
you in jiffey," and we dove into the cabin,