Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1872-10-29

could easily see; and while he con-
tinued his posting, Jennie and l
sat at one side of the table and
talked. Come to see her face un-
der the cabin lamp, I saw that she
was really handsome. She had
very large hazel eyes, which look
ed so honest and innocent that one
could not have helped but love the
lass at first sight. She did not
speak very plainly of the errand
that had brought her aboard, but
as near as l could find out, she was
going with us to Buffalo, and from
thence to some point in New York
State to visit her friends.
"Ah matey, if ye only had such
wife as Jennis would make ye,
what happy dog ye'd be y growl-
ed the old man, humping the ta-
BILE and indulging in about the only
smile l had ever seen him wear.
Jennie and I were confused, and
the old man seemed to enjoy the
joke immensely.
"She aint no greenhorn, matey,"
he continued, glancing admiringly
at the fair girl. "She sailed with
me four years afore ye knew me,
an there aint man in the fo'castle
that can hold the old Happy Day
closer to the wind, or send her over
a head sea, better nor this very lit
tie girl! !"
Well, we talked for an hour, and
then l gave up my berth to the
fair Jennie and went forward to
bunk with the men. 1t was in
September, and the weather was
just turning chilly. / had never
given a thought to head winds,
black squalls and bowling gales be-
fore but somehow, as / turned in
that night, / worried for fear that
our voyage down would be an ugly
one.
Well, we were ready to swing
out and take tug next day al
noon, and we dropped down to the
bar at the mouth of the river and
took on the balance of our cargo.
We had all dry lumber this time,
and it was all piled up five or six
feet high on deck. We'ha hardly
finished loading when gale sprang
up, and how it did blow! We
sent our big anchor down, but the
! Happy Day strained and pounded
so heavily that we at length slipped
. the cable and got her back into the
river and we did not show spar
outside for nearly thirty hours
Having a presentment, perhaps, of
what was in store for the schooner
: and her crew, Captain Valentine
endeavored to persuade his daugh-
ter to go to Bay City and back to
Detroit, where she could come
aboard as the vessel passed down.
She only laughed at him.
"Why, father, that's all l came
for Y she replied, shaking her saucy
head at him. ~ want to see the
white caps jump again, and to feel
the schooner tossing and struggling
in the arms of the storm !"
We got outside at last, and we
had an ugly run until we picked
up q tug few miles off Port HUI
ron. There was head wind, with
tacling and beating, and spray
jumping half way to the topsail
yard. Jennie WI, on deck the most
of every day. The men of the
fo'castlc looked upon her as ga reg
ular built angel" as one of them
expressed it, and as for me, why,
she'd got to windward of me the
very first night, and was now driv-
ing me on the rocky shore of "over
ears in love" every hour. She pull
ed at the halyards Of the big yard
with the men, sang "oh-ho !" as they
pulled, and q dozen times a day she
would sly back, take the wheel
from the man on duty, and would
hold the Happy Day SO near the
compass point for half an hour that
the men felt ashamed to see the
schooner "yawning" as the wheel
vas passed over to their care.
We had better time after the
tug took us, and our trip down
through the big rives was pleasant
enough. The man at the wheel had
only to steer with the tug, and the
rest of us had nothing to do. As
we got down to Detroit it was about
two o'clock in the afternoon, and
the old man called me into the cab
in. The sky had leaden cast, and
even q sailors child could have
told that On ugly storm was breed