The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-05-20
NUMBER 3.
A Scared Cub.


tiOn until some time after the young
pilot has been standing his own watch" /"
alone and under the staggering weight of
all the responsibilities connected with
the position. When an apprentice has
become pretty thoroughly acquainted
with the river he goes clattering along SO
fearlessly with his steamboat, night or
day, that he presently begins to imagine
that it is his courage that animates him /;
but the first time the pilot steps out, and
leaves him to his devices, he finds that it
was the other mans. He discovers that
the article has been left out of his own
cargo altogether. The whole river is
bristling with exigencies in a moment.
He is not prepared for them; he does
not know how to meet them; all his
knowledge forsakes him, and within
fifteen minutes he is as white as sheet
and scared almost to death. Therefore
pilots wisely train these cubs by various
strategic tricks to look danger in the
face a little moro calmly. A favorite
way of theirs is to play favorite swim
die upon the candidate.
Mr.. b. served me in this fashion once,
and for years afterward used to blush
in my sleep as / thought of it. had
become a good steersman-so good, in
deed, that l had all the work to do on
our watch, night and day. Mr.. b.
seldom made suggestion to me /; all he
ever did was to take the wheel on partic-
ularly bad nights or in particularly bad
crossings, land the boat when she needed
to be landed, play gentleman of leisure
nine-tenths of the watch, and collect the
/ Tlo ~. oh L.,
full, and if anybody had questioned my
ability to run any crossing between
Cairo and New Orleans without help or
instruction should have felt irreparably
hurt. The idea of being afraid of any
crossing in the lot, in the daytime, was a
thing too preposterOus for contempla-
tion. Well, one matchless summers
day was bowling down the bend above
Island &C, brim full of selfconceit and
carrying my nose as high as giraffe's,
when Mr.. b. said:
81 am going below awhile. / suppose
you know the next crossingw
This was almost an afiront. 1t was
about the plainest and simplest crossing
in the whole river. One couldn't come
to any harm, whether he ran right in or
not; and as for depth, there never had
been any bottom there. l knew all this
perfectly we'll.
"Know how to run it? Why, I can
run it with my eyes shut"
How much water is there in j? ??
"Well, that is an odd question.
couldn't get bottom there with church
steeple."
"You think SO, do your
| hn nf ha ohnn
my confidence. That was what Mr.. b.
was expecting. He left without saying
anything more. l began to imagine all
sorts of things. Mr.. B., unknown to me
of course, sent somebody down to the
forecastle with some mysterious instruc-
tions to the leadsmen, another messenger
was sent to whisper among the officers,
and then Mr.. B. went into hiding behind
smoke-stack where he could observe
results. Presently the captain stepped
out on the hurricane deck, next the
chief mate appeared, then a clerk. Ev-
cry moment or two straggler was
added to my audience, and before got
to the head of island l had fifteen or
twenty people assembled down there
under my nose. l began to wonder
what the trouble was. As / started
across, the captain glanced aloft at me
and said, with sham uneasiness in his
voice:
"Where is Mr.. B.T'
"GOne below, sir"
But that did the business for me. My
imagination began to construct dangers
out of nothing, and they multiplied
faster than could keep the run of them.
All at once imagined saw shOal water
ahead The wave of coward agony that
surged through me then came near dislo-
eating every joint in me. All my conf
dencee in that crossing vanished. !
seized the bell rope; dropped it, ashamed
seized it again; dropped it once more
clutched it tremblingly once again, and
pulled it 90 feebly that could hardly
hear the stroke myself Captain and
mate sang out instantly, and both to,
gether:
Starboard lead therel and quick
about itp'
This was another shock. / began to
climb the wheel like squirrel; but
would hardly get the boat started to port
before would see new dangers on that
side, and away would spin to the other
only to find perils accommodating to star.
board, and be crazy to get to port again
Then came the landsman's sepulchral
cry: En-
Deep four in bottomless crossing
The terror of it took my breath away.
"M-a-r-k three Mark three! Quar-
ter less three! Half twainp
This was frightful! l seized the bel
ropes and stopped the engines.
"Quarter twain! Quarter twain
Mark twainp
was helpless. 1 did net know wha
in the world to do. / was quaking from
head to foot, and could have hung my
hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far:
"Quarter less twain! Nine and
half"
We were dra,oing nine! My hand
were in a nerveless futter. l could no
ring bell intelligibly with them.
flew to the speaking-tube and shouted t.
the engineer:
"Oh, Ben, if you love me, back her
Quick, Beni Oh, back the immorta
som out of her!"
l heard the door close gently.
looked around, and there stood Mr.. B.
smiling a bland, sweet smile. Then tn,
audience on the hurricane deck sent vi
a shout of humiliating laughter. saw
ii all now, and felt meaner than th'
meanest man in human history. / thei
laid in the lead, set the boat in he
marks, came ahead on the engines, ant
said:
at was a fine trick to play on al
orphan, wasn't it2 / suppose l will
never hear the last of how was as
enough to heave the lead at the heac
of &c."
"Well, no, you won't, maybe. Ii
fact hope you won't, for want you t
learn something by that experience
, Didn't you know there was no bottom il
that crossingr %
eyes, sir, | did"
Every well, then. You shouldn'
have allowed me or anybody else b
shake your confidence in that knowl
| oI..o Tru tA ,an, Iar That An,