The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-02-10
singular, but they almost always did find
'em, somehow or other.

singular, but they almost always did find
'em, somehow or other.
"The gals used for to make some fun
Of me, cause were rather awkward, but
didn't mind that-bless you, were
good loOkin' chap, as / told you afore,
and l got along very well with 'em, any
how. Sometimes, when we was in port,
to home, as we called it, the young folks
would get up what they called 'squan-
tum,' out to place on the west Of the
island, called Mataket, and if it were so
he could spare us, the old man would
say, 'Splicer, you and the boys had bet
ter 60 to that squantum to-day, and me
and Josiah will make a shift to get along
without YOU The way they went to
these here squantums were in tws-
wheeled carts, somethin' like what the
butchers uses here in New York, and they
had life lines stretched along each side
of these carts, and then they'd stow a
tier of gals on each side standin' up,
and holdin' on to these life lines, and
then they'd run another tier along amid
ships, holdin' fast to the side tiers. In
this manner they manage to stow away
about dozen into each cart, which were
quite as many as the horse wanted to
draw. Well, when they got out to Ma.
taket, the young men would turn to and
dig lot of CLAIMS, and the gals would
make chowder, or roast, or both.
" AS you know, sir, they has what is
called chowder here in New York, but it
amt no more like the chowder that they
make down in Nantucket than a full
rugged ship is like fishin' smack. Why,
sir, if one of these Fulton Market chaps
was to 60 down to Nantucket and larn
to make chowder, and then come back
here and start it, givin' it some fancy
name-'twouldn't do 70 call it chowder-
he'd make his eternal fortin'.
"Well, sir, time went along and winter
come on, and one mornin' when me and
the old man went down to the wharf, the
whole harbor and as far out as the eye
could reach, were mass of ice, and for
six blessed weeks there wern't no COM
munication atwixt the island and the
main land.
"Them was blessed weeks indeed to
me, sir, for durin' that time (if you'd let
him bring one more) got awfully sweet
on the widder's darter, Hepsey. l jist
Judge, sir, that loved that young gal as
hard as stone, and if things had gone
straight, who knows but what instead of
wearin' my life out vagabondin' all
over the world, might have settled
down for good and spent the remainder
of my life in that heavenly trade of
coastin'. 1t weTn't to be so, sir, it wern't
so reckoned at the start, and there's an
end of it.
"She never knowed how much loved
her; with your permission, I'd jist like
to drink her health agin)-blest if l
don't feel spooney over it to this day
but really believe she thought heap of
me afore things happened which caused
us to part company.
"The harbor pein' iroze over, we
couldn't get the schooner out, and all
hands of us had a holiday. The old man
and used for to 60 eelin' on the harbor,
cuttin' holes through the ice and catchin'
'em with a spear, and the mate and |
had several good cruises to the westward
a gunnin', the wood ducks bein' very nu-
merous in The creeks. One afternoon,
when the old man and was eelin' on
the harbor, there come up northeast
snow storm fit 10 blind one, and it got to
be SO bad that we had to knOcksQt and
go home. We got home abdUV four
O'clock, and found the widder in great
tribulation on account of her darter.
The gal had gone in the mornin' to spend
the day with friend that lived about a
mile and half out of town, and she
hadn't got back, and the widder was
afeard she had got catched in the snow.
So the old man said as how he'd 90 arter
her, and 1 said as how I'd 60 too. 1t
were gettin' on to dark when we started,
and we each took lantern, with good
light into it of winter-strained sparm oil.
An idee struck me jist as we were startin'
out, and / says to the old man, Hold
hard, .Gove'nor-I always called him
Gove'nor-'how does this here house
bear to what she's gone te?'
" About west-nor'west,' says the old
man.
'tThen,' says /, don't let you and l
20 out there without carrying a compass
along, so as we can tell how we are a
steerin',' and l goes up stairs into the
old mans bed chamber, and gets small
boats compass which was there, and then
we started.
"It wern't bad idea that, for arter
we got out of town there wern't pothin'
for to guide us, the roads bein' all COW
cred with the snow. Steering west-nor'-
west, we had the wind two pints abaft
the port beam, and that were some guide,
but it were well, once n while, to stop
and get the compass steady, and correct
the course. We agreed for to separate 9
as far as we could and yet keep within
sail, and keep up shoutin'. so as IT the
gel were maxim her way 1, che might
hear us, and we done this a., the way out
to the farm house we was goin' to, and
which we reached little aIter five
o'clock, thanks to the compass, maxim il
right ahead.
Here we learned that Hepsey had
started for home about $3.50, jist after il
come to snow hard, and then you may
jist believe we was frightened, the ole
man and me, because we kn0wed sht
must have missed her way.
"Here in the city, where you hav,
streets and houses and lamp-posts u
guide you, it would be strange to thinl
OF person losin' his way in the day
time, but can tell you that out on ,
common, where the roads are covered up
and in smotherin' snow storm, sich a
that was, and which is as bewilderin' a
a fog, it is the easiest thing in the world
and when l thought of that gal bein
somewhere out onto that common, a bein
showed under, determined that, let th,
old man do what he would, l woult
search all night till / found her. w
started back, and in order to cover a
large track as possible, we determines
for to beat back, maxim as long track
as we could and countin' our PAGES, 30 a
to know whenever we crossed the line O
our course so give the old man
course about sou'.south-east, while
headed out about east-north-east, an
when we'd stood as far as we could hea
each others hail, we'd tack ship an
| sta RI rioht toward each other makir