Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1872-10-29
ALPENA, MICHIGAN, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 90 1872

her a good husband, I'll come back
and haunt ye if there is such q
thing in the book !"
"What do you mean !" / replied
looking sharply into his face to see
if he had not taken a glass toe
much.
81 amt drunk-it isn't that" he
replied, "but something's going to
happen. The Happy Day is going
to be wrecked, and you and the
girl will be the only ones saved =
Don't dispute it, because I've
dreamed it three times over, and
I've made all preparations. You'll
find some valuable papers in my
locker, and l hope that the girl,
who seems well-pleased with we,
will consent to sail on the same tack
with ye forever !"
laughed at him until l saw he
felt offended, and | reasoned with
him until i see that arguments were
thrown away. Then / went up the
companion-way feeling that the old
man was getting childish and that
another season more would use him
up.
The sun had just dipped as the
tug cast us off mile or two from
the mouth of the river. There was
only one other vessel, and we both
stood off to the northwest on the
same tack. There was q chilly
wind and a vexed sea, and when
the shadows finally settled and we
set our signal-lights, there was a
moaning and groaning which told
better than q barometer that the
old Happy Day would have rough
night of it. The strange schooner
was soon out of sight in the dark
ness, and then we were alone.
1t was the captains watch from
eight to twelve, but none of us
turned in. The fo'castle men talk
ed in whispers, and seemed to feel
that some calamity was at hand
Jennie was in the cabin, and Cap
tain Valentine paced the deck and
hadn't q word for any of US. AT
hour after dark the gale breezed W
so that l ordered the topsail taker
in. The sea was coming up fast
and before another hour we went
in stays, took the other tack, and
then double-reefed fore and main
sails and lowered the jibs. The
captain did not give single order
but left everything to me. Al
hour before midnight he came uT
to me and whispered in my ear,
though no one was near:
"She1l hold out about two hours
yet-after that, remember what /
told you last night about Jennie y
had seen worse storms than
this, but at midnight began to
/ e.nf ,,acxyD,,c yV.tl a,a ,x,o,o 80 Il
we had all the sea-room we wanted,
and then the wind suddenly shifted,
as it always does before it comes
up suddenly to blow great guns
1t whipped around, almost died out
for moment, and then we heard
it coming off the starboard quar-
ter.
We got the mainsail down, took
an extra turn of the lail of The
foresheet over the clew, and were
waiting when the storm struck us.
How it blew She went over on
her beam ends at the first blast,
and on my soul / thought she was
done for. She would never have
righted except for the Who'll deck
load sliding off. AS the weight
went over, her port bulwarks were
ripped out here and there, much of
the rail carried of, and the shrouds
of the maininast were cut off by
the lumber like so many pipe
stems.
At last the schooner righted.-
She fell off until the wind was al
most astern, and then she jumped
into the black darkness like
frightened deer. The cargo being
of dry lumber, I knew that the
schooner would not go down. She
would become water-logged, but
would be all right unless driven
ashore or beaten to pieces. The
waves rolled and roared as | never
saw them before nor since. 1t was
impossible to stand up, and each
one of us chung to something.
don't this make you realize the
power of God y exclaimed a voice
in my ear, and Jennie grasped my
arm.
| pulled her TO me, held her