Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-02-11

- q - o6 traveller. Before the
pee1nd - ~ half eonet Iexperienced
~ uhieh nIled ne III - purestl
<rafI ~ lof = - ox u hin had
euu - - 1nd peo1 q my fnceI
u1e1 1sW<Hh 3tnt Tia boys and
We reached Louisville in 1time-at
least the neighborhood Of it. We
stuck hard and fast on the rocks in the
middle of the river and lay there four
days. was now beginning to feel a
strong sense of being part Of the
boats family, sort Of infant son to
the captain and younger brother to the
officers. There is no estimating the
pride / took in this grandeur, or the
affection that began to swell and grow
in me for those people. l could not
know how the lordly steamboatman
scorns that sort Of presumption in u
mere landsman. l particularly longed
to acquire the least tribe of notice from
the big stormy mate, and 1 was on the
alert for opportunity to do him n SER
vice to that end. 1t came at last. The
riotous pow-wow of setting spar was
going on down the forecastle, and
went down there and stood around in
the way-or mostly skipping out of it
till the mate suddenly roared a general
order for somebody to bring him
capstan bar. sprang to his side and
said; Tell me where it is-Tn fetch
itr'
If rag-picker had offered to do
displomatic service for the Emperor of
Russia, the monarch could not have
been more astounded than the mate
was. He even stopped swearing. He
stood and stared down at me. 1t took
him ten seconds to scrape his disjoin-
| ted remains together again. Then he
said impressively: well if this don't
beat hell - and turned to his work with
the air of man who had been con-
fronted with q problem too abstruse for
solution.
crept away, and cou-ted solitude for
the rest of the day. I did not go to
dinner; l stayed away from supper ur-
til every body else had finished. 1 did
not feel so much ike a member of the
boats family now as before. However,
nv spirits returned, in installnents, as
Ne caxs19d oursxns dcwu the river. I
was sorry I hated the mate so, because
it was not in (young) human nature not
to admire him. He was hugeand mus
cular, his face was bearded and whis-
kercd all over; he had a red woman and
blue woman tattooed on his ight arm,
one on each side of blue anchor
with red rope to it; and in the matter
of profanity he was perfect. When he
was getting out cargo at a landing, l
was always where could see and hear.
He felt all the sublimity of his great
position, and made the world feel it,
too. When he gave even the simplest
order, he discharged it like blast of
lightning, and sent long, reverbera-
ting peal of profanity laundering after
it. / could not help contrasting the
way in which the average landsman
would give an order, with the mates
way of doing it. If the landsman should
wish the gang-plank moved foot
farther forward, he would probably say:
'James, or William, one of you push
that plank forward, please" but put
the mate in his place, and he would roar
our: Here. now, start that gang plank
for'ard Lively, now! What're you
about! Snatch it |! snatch it ! There !!
there! Aft again! aft again! Don't
you hear me? Dash it to dash are
YOU going to sleep overit! Vast heav-
ing. Vast heaving, tellyou Going
to heave it clear astern: WHERE're
you going with that barrel! forward
. with it, fore l make you swallow it,
} you dash-dash-dashed split be-
tween tired mud-turtle and acrippled
hearse horse!'
/ wished I could talk like that.
When the soreness of nv adventure
with the mate had somewhat worn of,
} I began timidly to make up to the hum
blest official connected with the boat
the night watchman. II snubbed nv
advances at first, but I presently ven-
J tured to offer him new chalk pipe, and
that softened him. So he allowed me to
J sit with him by the big bell on the hu-.
ricane deck, and in time he melted into
conversation. He could not well have
. helped it, hung with such homage on
his words and so plainly showed that ]
felt honored by his notice. He told
me the names of dim capes and .shad-
owly islands as We glidea by them in
) the solemnity of the night, under the
: winking stars, and by and by got tc
talking about himself. He seemed
! oyer-sentimental for man whose sala.
. ry was six dollars q week-or rather
he might have seemed so to an Older
: person than !. But I drank in his
words hungrily, and with faith that
: might have moved mountains ii it bad
: been applied judiciously. What was il
to me that he was soiled and seedy and
E fragrant with gin? What was it to ns
: that bis grammar was bad, his con,
! struction worse, and his profanity 81
4 void Of art that j: was an element O
: weakness rather than strength in hi
: conversation: He was awrongcd man
t a man who had seen trouble, and tha'
{ was enough for me. As he mellowet
> into his plaintive history his tears drip
ped upon the lantern in his lap, and
? cried, too. from sympathy. He said b,
= was the son of an English nobleman-
z either an earl or an alderman, he coult
4 not remember which, but believed b
. was both; his father. the nob.eman
4 loved him, but his mother hated hir
) from the cradle, and % while he VA