The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-02-11
A Lightning Pilot.

In the AUuWtc MdguzWc IOI reDIUdIy
is the following interesting sketch by
Mark Twain: 81
An hour before sunset Mr.. - took the
wheel and Mr.. W stepped aside. Fol-
the next thirty minutes every man held
his watch in his hand and was restless
silent, and uneasy. At last somebody
said with doomful sigh:
"Well, yonder's Hat Island-and we
can't make il"
All the watches closed with snap,
everybody sighed and muttered some
thing about its being too bad, too bad
-ah, if we could only have got here hall
an hour soonerp' and the place was thick
with the atmosphere of disappointment.
Some started to 60 out, but loitered,
hearing no bell tap to land. The sun
dipped behind the horizon, the boat
went on. Inquiring looks passed from one
guest to another; and one who had his
hand on the doorknob and had turned it,
waited, then presently took away his
hand and let the knob turn back again.
We bore steadily down the bend. More
looks were exchanged, and mods of sur
prised admiration--but no words. In
sensibly the men drew together behind
Mr.. B. as the sky darkened and one
or two dim stars came out. The dead
silence and sense of waiting became Op-
pressive. Mr.. B------ pulled the chord, and
two deep mellow notes from the big bell
foated off on the night. Then pause,
and one more note was struck. The
watchman's voice followed from the hur-
ricane deck:
"Labbord lead, there! Starboard
leadp
The cries of the leadsmen began to
rise out of the distance, and were gruffly
repeated by the word-passersO on the hur-
ricane deck.
"M-a-r-k three! Mark three! Quar-
ter-less- three! Half twain! Quarter
twain! Mark twain! Quarter-less---"
Mr.. b. pulled two bell ropes, and
was answered by faint jinglings far be-
low in the engine-rOom, and our speed
slackened. The steam began to whistle
through the gage-cocks. The cries of the
leadsmen went on---and it is weird
sound, always in the night. Every pilot
in the lot was watching, now, with fixed
eyes, and talking under his breath. No
body was calm and easy but Mr.. B.
He would put his wheel down and stand
on a spoke, and as the steamer swung
into her Ito me) utterly invisible marks
---for we seemed to be in the midst of a
wide and gloomy sea---he would meet and
fasten her there. Talk was going on,
now, in low voices:
"There; she's over the first reef all
rightw
After pause, another subdued voice :
"Her stern's coming down just exactly
right, by George! Now she's in the
marks; over she goes!"
Somebody else muttered--
ooh, it was done beautiful---beauti-
full"
Now the engines were stopped al
together and we drifted with the current
Not that l could see the boat drift for
could not, the stars being all gone by this
time. This drifting was the dismalest
work; it held ones heart still. Presently
I discovered blacker gloom than that
which surrounded us. 1t was the head
of the island. We were closing right
down upon it. We entered its deeper
shallow, and 80 imminent seemed the
peril that l was likely to suffocate; and l
had the strongest impulse to do some
thing, anything to save the vessel. But
still Mr.. B stood by his wheel, silent,
intent as a cat, and all the pilots stood
shoulder to shoulder at his back.
" "She'll not make it'll" somebody
whispered.
The water grew shoaler and shoaler
by the leadsmen's cries till it was down
to-
"Eight-and-a-half! Eight feet
Eight feet Seven-and---
Mr.. B said warningly through his
speaking tube to the engineer:
Stand by, now"
"Aye-aye, sir"
"Seven.and-a-half! seven feet! Six
and"
We touched bottom! Instantly Mr..
B set a lot of bells ringing, shouted
through the tube. Nov let her have
it---every ounce you've gotp then to his
partner, "Put her hard down! snatch
her snatch herl" The boat rasped and
ground her way through the sand, hung
upon the apex of disaster single tre-
mendous instant then over she went
And such a shout as went up at Mr..
BIS back never loosened the roof of
pilot-house before
There was no more trouble after that,
Mr.. B. was hero that night; and it
was some time, too, before his exploit
ceased to be talked about by river men.
The last remark / heard that night was
compliment to Mr.. b. uttered in So
liloquy and with JUNCTION by one of our
guests. He said: "By the shadow of
death, but he's lightning pilotp