The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-01-02
RACING ON THE MISSISSIPPI.


At night the boat forged on through
the deep solitudes of the river, hardly
ever discovering a light to testify to a
human presence-mile after mile and
league after league the vast bends were
guarded by unbroken walls of forest
that had never been disturbed by the
voice or the football of man, or felt the
edge of his sacrilegious ak.
An hour after supper the moon came
up, and Clay and Washington (two
boys assembled to the hurricane deck to
revel again in their new realm of en-
ehantment. They ran races up and
down the deck, climed about the bell !;
made friends with the passenger-dogs
chained under the life-boats tried to
make friends with a passenger bear
fastened to the verge staff, but were not
encouraged '' skinned the cat on the
hog chains in a word, exhausted the
amusement possibilities of the deck.
Then thoy looked wistfully up at the
pilot house, and finally, little boy Clay
ventured up there, followed difidently
by Washington. The pilot turned pres
emily to "get his stern marks, saw the
lads and invited them in. This cosy
little house, built entirely of glass, and
commanding a marvellous prospect in
every direction, was a magician's throne
to them, and their enjoyment of the
place was simply boundless.
They sat them down on high bench
and looked miles ahead, and saw the
wooded capes fold back and reveal the
bends beyond and they looked miles
to the rear and saw the silvery highway
diminish its breadth by degrees and
close itself together in the distance.
Presently the pilot said
"By George, yonder comes the ANA
ranth -
A spark appeared, close to the water,
several miles down the river. The pilot
took his glass and looked at it steadily
for a moment, and said, chiefly to him
self:
cit can't be the Blue Wing. She
couldn't pick us up this way. It's the
Amaranth, sure"
He bent over a speaking tube, and
said:
"Who's on watch down there?"
A hollow, unhuman voice rumbling
up through the tube in answer:
"I am. Second engineer"
"Good! You want to stir your
stumps, now, Harry-the Amaranth's
just turning the point-and she's just a.
humping herself, too r'
The pilot took hold of rope that
stretched out forward, jeeked it twice,
and two mellow strokes of the big bell
responded. A voice out on the deck
shouted
"Stand by, down there, with that
! larboard lead I"
"No don't want the lead" said the
pilot, 1" I want you. Roust out the old
man-telI him the Amaranth's coming.
And go and call Jim-tell him"
"Aye, aye, sir -
The "old man was the captain-he is
always called so on steamboats, and
ships "Jim was the other pilot.
Within two minutes both of these men
were flying up the pilot house stairway,
three steps at jump. Jim was in his
shirt sleeves, with his coat and vest on
his arm. He said:
"I was just turning in. Where's the
glass ?"
He took it and looked
"Don't appear to be any night hawk
on the jackstaf-it's the Amaranth,
dead sure !''
The captain took long look, and
only said:
"Damnation -
George Davis, the pilot on watch,
shouted to the night watchman on deck
"How's she headed?"
"Two inches by the head, sir"
'''Taint enough!''
The captain shouted now:
"Cal the mate. Tell him to call al
hands and get lot of that sugar for
'ard-puS her ten inches by the head
Lively, now y
"Aye, aye, sir =
A riot of shouting and tramplin'
fioated up from below, presently, ant
the uneasy steering of the boat shove,
that sue WAS getting down by tn
head.
The three men IN the pnOs-hOuse be