St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-04-25


on heavier and heavier. it was quite
enough to make our old vessel labor and
plung. and every NOW and then ship Il
wave over our bow: not to sweep the
deck. iut to lay her under water for IL
few minutes in Il WY not pleasant.
But "n Il coaster We aIc generally pretty
well oil for Oil-shils and heavy fisher
man, boots. our> never being AN easy
life of it: for they say that a man VIII"
can stand the rough seas of our coast :,
can stand anything.
Everything WaS made ds snug as
/ possible. and the skipper took the
/ wheel. while some of lis got in the best
/ shelter We could under the buIwar>>.
Ihc wind being hitingly cold and ON.
. hands almost numbcd.
The Wcathc. got worse as the night
/ W"lc on, such weather ;t> people inland
never see: for. fancy NhaJ it must h..
on - pitcill dark night. with the wind
seeming I" Shrick through the rigging.
and thc ship groanimg and crcaking as
She pitches and rolls amongst the II, at
waves that beat and dash against her
/ bows. is if angry because they could
n"t bear the poor ship down.
There is loneliness there which makes
+ the most careless serious. and il i quite
Il mistake to >upp"Sc that. hcc;ilISc
some sailors are rough of tongue. many
"f them are nnt religions and thought =
full.
! don't know how it WAS. bat he
came very quiet, aS | >at there with
/ only Il plank between me and the waves
that kept giving tremendous Slap~
against the hulWa!k>. before falling
away iii foam. The others were quiet
too, ior on such Il night there WAS not
much chance tor changing Il word. and
as Ior sleep, that WAS ont of the qucs-
tion.
"One of you come on here to the
wheel. shouted the skipper ut last,
durin" Il lull : and | went. to find that
the lights on shore. 10y which we were
steering. were shut out OF sight 10y the
/ driving rain. and that the skipper was
looking out uncL>ily. with his hand
shading his eyes. "Was that the fog
bell ;! he shouted tO me. hearing moth
ing hut the " ind and the wash of the
sell.
Seems Il deal of white water ahead.
he said: and then, quite with Il gr"Ln.
God help lis we're t"" close in. Put
her about, lad. put her
lie didn't finish. for just then. a. WAS
waking the >p"kcS of the wheel rll
round in my hand. the old ship struck
lightly Upon the sands, quivcrrd. lose.
lifting her bows out of the water. auti
then seemed to dive dow i. strike hca,i-
lH. aud stay. wedgcd a> it were. upon
the bank.
There was Il regular >hIirk from the
Il - |,
you would have expected To hear from
half dozen mon. And now there WAS
il" rising and falling of the waves. hut.
a> the old ship lay fast. they lcaprd
around her. thra>hing her sides and
lcaping aboard and on one side. a> Il
great wave swept the deck. it tore OF Il
good twenty feet of bulwaIk as easily
as II 1t had been 81 much paper.
The next moment there WAS Il rush
for the cabins. every man being bent
on saving the little all hc had "n board
i'll most eases. his clothes in Il large
canvas bay: but the WHNc> that again
swept on board showed plainly enough
thIi II We wanted I" SdNr anything. it
must hc every man hi- life
None hut tiln>c who have been " whcIc
II l. raging can understand the power
OF the SEA, ;lS tons upon tons of water
leap on the deck. d.t>hug from end ia
end and carry irg al lrctorc Men wrr,
swept here and there. and one boat WAS
tossed over the side like nutshell.
"Bcal Il hand here with the other -
shouted the skipper; and then. in Il
>tlHugr. confused WAY. everything
seemed Ia 20 wrong tackle touliug and
~" '1i"'NN I''">','@ I" run we con
INK" i" gu 'l'' ",a' "\'' ne >l"' J'>i
'i ~, '',''' l'' It wave |" '"PPir Over ana
'il' I'' i"r tile IH''''Hi l hr'" was
"i"@-'" "''t I'll my hl''H>' 'n'i '"'' l'"'i'
"NnPl'','''' ;''''''''"Ni 'ii' i"i'hh. ""''I'i@
:" nt'''IH an 'r"Hhn Us.
We N',n'G II" orders then. an" /" Il
man we >h''l'" nave tjk'i I" the ii@-
%lh%' only III" SNipprr W"ul"n h"a'
"i H.:
ct'n me "ihli';'l"- -iHntrln. "'
shouted III nay car: ana h"idI"% "'
h3L'II' hi'"t h'} VIZ I" the poop
,h'L'"'N'" ''it ''"'c'" ana M"~ coming
hack. Nh"li came "Gaih>l i'r NNlpIr ;
dnd t"" more WIN " tar "HirrI. "hI|l
thrN >'nck upon 'li" Nl"i'i' Mirrr th'
waves dIu i"l h"'lt' ana amer II" 'llh Z"
'rl my Win iI' L'.'''Iil >h''tic" III
>Idc. We g"i II I" eaten hrr. Wh"h II
burned an" r"alcl aNaN hhciI' me
Sm"k" running OF /" l'eWHr" III i
cloud.
hat IL let EN- know were ~ 'r"u-
bic. SAYS the skipper. ''and they II N'@,
the lit"-h"at oil. "r els" the henrhmrni
board H. IN one of them yaWl>.
Getting "Ht "t the reach of tn" wave
:l~ We'll ~ We could. and listening t.
: he blows they dealt tn" OLD snip. We