The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-02-06

nino and half"
Pretty square crossing, amt It,"
les, but the upper bars working
down fast"
Another pilot spoke up and said:
had better water than that, and ran
II lower down; started out from the false
point-mark twain-raised the second.reef
quarter less twain"
One OF the gorgeous ones remarked II
don't want to find fault with your leads
men, but that's good deal of water for
rum Point, II seems 10 me-
There was an approving nod all around as
this quiet snub dropped on the boaster
and settled him. And so they went on
misunderstanding. Meantime, the thing
that was running in my mind was. Now.
II my ears hear Alright, | have not only TO
get the names of all the towns and islands
and bends. and so on, by heart, but must
even get up warm personal acquaintance
ship with every Old snag and one-llmbed
cottonwood and obscure wood-pile that
ornaments the banks of this river for 200
miles, and more than that, l must actu-
ally know where these things are in the
dark, unless these guests are gifted with
eyes that can pierce through two miles of
solid blackness. ] wish the plotting bust
ness was i'm Jericho and | had never
thought of it,"
AT dusk, Mr.. B. tapped the big bell
three times 1.-THE signal 60 land), and the
captain emerged from his drawing.roo
in the forward end Of the texas, and
looked up inquiringly. Mr.. B said
tain"
Every well. sir"
That was all. The boat came to shore
and was tied up for the night. Ii seemed
to me fine thing that the pilot could do
as he pleased without asking SO grand n
captains permission. took my supper
and went Immediately to bed. discouraged
by my DAVIS observations and experiences.
My late voyages note-booking was but
confusion of meaningless names. Ii had
tangled me all up in knot every time |
had looked at il in the daytime. | sow
hoped for respite In sleep: but no. IL
reyeled all through my head till sunrise
again. frantic and tireless nightmare.
Next morning | felt pretty rusty and
low-spirited. We went booming along.
taking good many chances, for we were
anxious 10 = get out Of the river las get
ting oHt to Cairo was calledl before night
should overtake US. But Mr.. BIS part
ner. the other pilot, presently grounded
the boat. and we lost so much time getting
her of that il was plain the darkness |
would overtake US good long way above |
the mouth. This was a great misfortune.
especially 10 certain of our visiting pilots. |
whose boats would have 10 wait for their |
return, no matter how long that might be. l
Ii sobered the pilot-house talk great |
deal. Coming upstream, pilots did not |
mind low water or any kind of darkness /:
nothing stopped them but fog. But down /
stream work was different; boat was too |
nearly helpless, with stiff current push |
ing behind her; so il was not customary |
TO run downstream at night ia low water. 1
There seemed to be one,small hope, how
ever. If We could get through the intricate l
and dangerous Hat Island crossing before |
night, we could venture the rest. for we |
would have palmer sailing and better wa
Ter. But ii would be insanity to attempt 1
Hat Island at night. So there was deal |
of looking at watches all the rest of the |
DAY, and constant ciphering upon the |
speed we were making. Hat /
Island was the eternal SUBJ /
ject. Sometimes hope was high and /
sometimes we were delayed in a bad cross
ing, and down il went again. For hours
all hands lay under the burden Of this sup
pressed excitement; il was even commu-
nicated to me, and got to feeling so solic-
itous about Hat Island, and under such an
awful pressure of responsibility, that
wished might have five minutes on shore
10 draw good. full, relieving breath. and
start over again. We were standing no
such portions of the river as he had run
when coming up stream, because of his
greater familiarity with IL; But both re-
manned in the pilot-house constantly.
An hour before sunset Mr.. Book
the wheel and Mr.. W--stepped aside.
For the next thirty minutes every man
held his watch in his hand and was rest
less, silent and uneasy. At last somebody
said, with doomful sigh:
Well, yonder's Hat lsland-and we
can't make it,"
All the watches closed with a snap, ev-
cry body sighed and muttered something
about its being I" too bad, too bad-ah, IL
we could only have got here half an hour
sooner w and the place was thick with the
of disappointment. Some
started to go 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;
knob, and had turned it, waited, then pres
emily took away his hand and let the knob
turn back again. We bore steadily down
the bend. More looks were exchanged,
and mods of surprised admiration-but no
words. Insensibly 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
oppressive. Mr.. B-pulled the cord.
and two deep, mellow notes from the big
bell floatcd off on the night. Then a
pause, and one more note was struck.
The watchman's voice followed, from the
hurricane deck
" Labboard lead, there, Stabboard
lead ~
The cries Of the leadsmen began to rise
out Of the distance, and were grufiiy re-