The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-11-12
THE
sAILoR'sWoolNe
A SEA STORY.

him down Immediately to change; but he hal
brushed up his mop Of hair, and begun to Guilt
waite the down on his upper lip; while being. a
deep-shouldered square-built short-armcd lit
tie fellow, a. muscular as a monkey, you'd have
thought from the back Of his coat he was man |
shorter, and for his face, he had c0ntrived to |
put such a sour effect into it--meant for great |
experience, no doubt--that II was only by his
eyes one saw he was boy OF sixteen or so and
thew were bIimful OF wild glee, a. hc jumped
ab Jut wherever he was lied, doing the wOk
oiaciuule Of ordinary men, AMI actually Dc.
ligh cd when spray came over tbs weather
tul~arks ON top &C him, s0cing that instead
II the irigate, she was " our schooner thai
did Il.
Jones was standing near us, watching the
10 H. OF the weather wuh evident tm'a.ines', |
an ask tyi Inn what he Thought 81 IL. In my |
o. s'or. sir said he "youH have som' sudden |
shift Of wind ere long, Of Kind have seen |
mao ttan orcc oil the Cape bciorc-aud that as |
furious a. south-cl-ter ordinarily is heroabouts.
Look away yondor, sir
IL hal got 10 n clear. dry nor,h-castcrly gale
that shook our canvass every time she liitel,
singing through the ropes. and bitter cold.
Long and heavy as the roll OF the sea was, the
sky was a. keen and clear ~ glass all round
about and aloft, save the mist kicked up by the
spray off a wave here and there. II a rag OF
white cloud appeared, 1t was blown away, ANA
YOU saw the black wriuhcd side Of one wave at
time, mile wide, you'd have sali irochled
all over WIN fpO'H ul lpllls hli TO lllN' h'''-
ing against the eye Of the blast. The waves
had begun to brcal, shorter. The schooner
buoyant ~ ahc was ami sharp n, dolphin,
pitched and rolled at times like mad
and the men forward were standing Ivy to
let 90 the iorc-halliards, throat AMI peak,
to case her a little. when Jones pointcl
out on the bank o. gray cloud ahead OF Us, scare
to he seen through the trou 5hs oi the water
except when 81 ! fled well upon swell Of s,t.
The sun roiug down in " Id rel glare to leo
ward Of W, throw terrible glitter aera-- tnr
thc huge ,l.nt at--rTo fingle wave that rose
stIa!chIA.saW away far and Nilc from Der very
nov. thea hrou.; ht ont the suIkv wrihklcd blue
in it the hisang green crcsts cirlcd over TO the
yer, sunset ns II were. while W. sunk slowly
iuti tn NIX dark luliins trou.'h, and saw the
lr1hcn shaft Of a rainbow stand glimmerins Tor
u,niu AT ar t,o i.tOa LAX hollow ii ,ht ahead
whcr the ,,lr drove il back upon ~ like IN ar
nov. gs th. s.lJlu. -urr'd through the breast
oE,ltu,vt wave. 7 looked from Smelling to thr
rev mate, who s.iil held ~ 10y h'liynG-p'n
,u1 va. chod The loud giving ne lack flanc'
aha sho ycd h. t.. pht thc matter more serious
than ordinary. Tho sooner We strip her 10 III"
s,om s,ay-Niil'" said /, quickly. as W. fell into
the trough q pin, "thr hrttcr. ] think. II II
blows harder. We must l"-'o with hct
nj oacc." My eye was anSionIy hNed
on Jones, for large IN thc schooner was,
between two and three hundred tons, yet no
craft in the world Is so nice TO bring to the wind
In yale with heavy sea running Scudding
before 1t might have done for the irgatc, with
her full bows, and spaTs high enough to Keep
her nan-topsail full in spite of the tToughs; but
even that would have taken us out OF our course
after the Indiaman. Besides that, TO tell the
truth, didn't sufficiently understand iorc-and-
aft rugged craft in all weathers yet to b. quiet
sure Of what did at pinch like the present.
'Ycs, vcs, sir answered he ; but II you II
take II oil Ter mans advice, before that youl
year her aruuul on the other tacl, 10 IL. We've
a.. ola, Ia, mist Ak on sir.
You're accustomed TO schoonCrs Z asked |
firmly, and gazing him in the Face. saw his
lips open in the sweep oi the Winl through our
after-rigving, and he made a sign with his
hand. while guawing sort OF splsnl, as II
wero shot through the muscles of his jaw,
and for II mom.nt he gave me
devilishly fierce, keen glance, almost a glare,
from under his strong straight cycbrows-thcr
turned away. Take the trumpet then, Mr.
Jones" said /, singing out into his ear; ~ leave
her to you, sir. Mr. Smelling lctssco the hatchc
all fast !" And We scrambled along 10y the be-
laying-pins.
iArc you all ready fore and afti" came Jones.
voice Ike thunder in the next dip soc made, and
lie lcapt up barcheadcd on tho brccch &. 81 %
the small carronadcs aft, holding on with ou.
hand by the weather mIiu-shrOuds, and watch
ing the run of the waves as they glimmercd OIL
our lee beam into the dusk, for full five minutes
had hold of a rope near him, and his eye was a.
steady a. il he wcrc picking out hills in view.
hal full confidence in the mar; but must say
IL was nervous moment 10 mo, when saw him
lit the trumpet to his mouth, and luriously ~
the wind shook til, schooner, you heard his
hoaIse cry, "Put your holm up-slick OIL the
mainshcet-hrail up the mlinslil-clsc down
the weather boom ,'tN--uain-staysail sheet
And the rest was lost in the vii shrek OF the
northeast gale W. were hard az IL, however,
staggering as We hauled and held o,
oven to the poo half Drowned terrified LHscars,
whom the midshipmln hal reused out oil the
caboOse and lons-boA', showing the rops in'o
their lcathery hands. b., knew little else
ill SAW the schpon hal pdyG1 OF benr" the
wind, shearing with hiss Ike rcd no. iron
right through the ridge, bclwiNt two trcm'n-
dous combining waves. |, swclcd green over
her lIrboard bulwark as shi h,cled over, and
she gave heavy dead lurch with it, Ms ii she
would let the nest sea break aboard. " Now
now - shouted Jones, at a pitch oi voice like
no earthly sound aft tho mhinshcct, for
your lives :" lie jumped to- the wheel HIM
self ut single bound. We were in two
tioundcring heaps, rs we dragged AZ the
mainboom aft, and tho h1ad-SheetN on the
iorecastle while She came trembling up in
The long blight of tho sea, and took tho gale
steadily before her other beam. 1t was blow
ing harder than ever and the awful " scut'
9th sea rolled her bodily away, M She met
it with her wea,her-bow, washing white over
the headran, with spray from chhGa'
10 bowsprt the gale heaNing her down on tho
1ee-beam, till she plungcdto the brim ON that
side, at every forward pitch, So that all hni-
ON deck had to keep crowded together ait Sill
IL was keen starlight overhead, the gale dry
though it was bitter cold and the seas long and
pretty regular. The schooner behaved wonlcr
fully, being as tight as a bottle and at III
same time we were not only lying our cours
either for the Mozambique or Indian Ocean, TN
instead OF running farther into the gale N ho
fore. and getting into the wild Cape ATTITUDES
why, ut present she tended to clear out OF them
4 oc,,r1ipt fly uurgpl with lanes Ia hold
everything ~ long possible, in spite OF TIA,
way She was sometimes iluns OIL with the cr IS
Of wave, as it were, making clear dive viii
her nose under water, through white srcthing
sea that seemed to swell round The whole hori
zOn the III ack bank Of cloud oil our weather
beam lowered like iccbergs against the col.
green sky to sutheast, the stars glittering and
fwinkling over it, with little hay rings round
Them, after fashion that one Of us liked nc
moro than the other.
About midnight, we had got everything OF
her to the two small storm staySails, main and
fore, the wind blowing great guns and the halt
moon shining right over the long bank, as il tho
back Of 1t were dead-white; while bctwiXt it and
the washing glimnner ofmOonlight half way, you'd
have thought the black heaye Of the ridges van
ished into a bulk If shadow ten times blacker,
Save iUT the heads OF spray tossing dlmly over II
IL here and there. All at once, in the very
height of the gale as the black floating cloud
from the bank began 10 cross over the gray scuC
flying fast aloft llue flash Of lightning shot
zigZag into the very comb Of wave ahead d us
then came the clap Of thunder, loud enough Il
Ia heard aloyp the wind aud in half "A minute