Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1871-09-07
A YACHTSMAN'S ROMANCE.

The London season was over, and con.
siderable number of its late celebrities
were collected in various pleasant spots
closely contiguous to the waters of the
Solent. Blighted beings had repaired to
Cowcs, and shattered hearts to Ryde.
Gentlemen who were, in popular parlancc,
about done up" were enjoying themselves
with an hilarity, that might have bctokened
the zenith Of worldly prosperity and COM
mcrcial success, in different crafts belong
ing to the pleasure fleet which covers the
English Channel with animation during
the months Of July, August, and Septem-
Der. OF all social phenomena there is none
probably more curious than that thus
stated by distinguished novelist: How
is it that men whom in their palmy days
| have seen haggard, careworn, and defect
cd by the simple fact that they are utterly
and irrctrievably ruined, suddenly become
the most light-hearted and jolliest of man
kind ?" The explanation probably is re-
action reaction from the suspense of
anxiety to the certainty of despair. Or
possibly the philanthropsts who propose
to themselves the extinction of impecunos
ity at modest profit of eighty per cent
might consider that the true rniS0n dStre
was to be found in the fact that these
volatile human wrecks are blest with cx-
pcctations in the background, and usually
have reycrsionary interest more Or less
available.
The scene is Rydc Pier, and the hour
about 7:30 p. NJ. A pretty spot, and by
no means an unfavorablc hour for visiting
it. Like Melrose, Ryde Pier and the view
which it represents may be visited with
signal propricty by the pale moonlight Or
in the pale twilight. The eternal promen-
AIDE on the picrhead, the perpetual accom-
paniment Of brilliant music and intermin-
able scandal, the careless tide of demon
strative tlrtation-these things are pleasant
enough per Sc, but they have, no doubt, a
tendency to become monotonOus. 1t is a
very different thing, Ryde Pier after din
ncr You can secure society without
crowd and company without effort. You
may mediate SOiuS, or SOlmS cum SOLD you
may hirt. And the prospect is not with.
out its charm, There in the Solent is the
squadron of dainty craft, their sails furled,
still and motionless at anchor, the lamp
fixed to their mastheads rejecting itself
with quivering motion in the tide below
and the whole effect being that of ma
rme illumination. A little further on, and
you can see the line of light on the main
land and distinctly trace the terraces OF
Southsea and Portsmouth. If you turn
round you will see full in your face the
little town of Ryde alive with gas, and the
windows of the Victoria Yacht Club all
aglow. Then. probably, to enhance the
sentiment of the moment, the strains OF
music steal upon you; and were it not
that you are seasonably reminded of con-
tngent rheumatic pains, you might be
tempted to lapse into poetic revere
Mr.. jim Lawlesse, to address him at
once by his familiar title, was scarcely a
gentleman of poetic temperament, vet
from the prolonged intentness of his gaze
upon the waters, as he lounged across the
ratings Of the pier, and the fact that he
had suffered his cigar to become extin-
guished in his hand, he might, for all one
could have told to the contrary, been
meditating sonnet to his mistress eye
brow, or be specializing deeply on the
philosophy of the unconditional Of that
little yacht yonder--the one nearest the
shore, with its tiny light twinkling from
amid its rigging-the Sea Fan was her
name-Mr. Jim Lawlesse was temporary
proprietor Jim's friends were in the
habit of saying that, having made the land
too hot for him, he had taken to the
waters; and there may have been reasons
which rendered st. James street slightly
too public place for our hero. So Mr.
Lawlesse had accepted an invitation from
an old college friend to 60 on a yachting
trip in the Sea Fan. But the Sea Fam;
owner had been called away, and Mr. Law
Jesse was the man in possession pro tenn
A boat containing gentleman and two
ladies pulled to the pier, and Mr.. Lawlesse''
attention was aroused. The party hac
come from the Petrol, about a mile ont
and consisted Of the proprietor of the Pc
trel, Sir Hedworth Dare, and his two