The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-11-04
The Tables Turned.
A TEMPRRANcE STORY.

VI uot Olu sup muotcIbt OnhuCeu 10 meel
at social supper, and after the cleth was
removed we went in for yarn spinning
Among our number was Capt. Richard
Nutter, and finer man, or o better sail.
or, never trod deck. At length it came
his turn to tell story, or what we pre-.
ferred- and what the rest of us had done
relate some incident Of experience in
his own life.
"Well, boys" he said, as he rejected
the wine, which was at that moment pass.
ed to him for the first time, II will give
you bit of the early part of my ocean
life, and it is very important bit, too,
for upon it have built the whole Of my
subsequent manhood"
We prepared to listen to Captain Nut.
ter with the most perfect attention, for
he was not only an old seaman, but one
Of tie most successful commanders in our
mercantile marine. We listened, and
his story was as follows:
81 was very young when 1 first enter.
cd on shipboard, and at the age Of four.
teen considered myself quite sailor.
When ! was eighteen I was shipped on
board an East Indiaman, for long voy.
age. There were six of us on board Of
about the same age, and we had the same
duties to perform. The ship-the old
Lady Of Dunlap-was q large one, and
our crew was large in proportion. there
being Afty.two. all told. We boys as
we were called, messed together, and in all
9th er respects were separate from the rest
of the crew, just as much as the oficerp
were Our captain was noble hearted
honorable man, kind and generous, but
yet very strict. Of course we youngsters
found plenty of occasion to find fault
with hin, and very often his decisions were
arranged before our mess and decidedly
condemned. In fact, we should have re-
versed many Of his judgments if We had
had the power to do SO; but as he was
commander and VIC only foremast hands
and boys at that-he had his own way,
and the luminous decisions wo came to
were consequently Of no avail, and lost to
the world.
"Now we boys had learned in the course
Of our travels to drink grog as we'll as any
sailors We could toss of glass of rum
and water with as much grace as any one,
and we claimed the right to do SO, not
only as privilege, but as an honor to
which life upon the ocean entitled US.
But even in this respect our captain pre-.
tended to differ from us. When we could
get on shore we would invariably indulge
in our cups. and not infrequently would
come off, or be bronght off. in q state OF
anything but sober, say we but
there was one of our number who could
not be induced to touch q drop of any
thing intoxicating. His name was John
Small, and he belonged'in one oftho back
towns Of New Jersey.
"Now Jack Small not only refrained
entirely from drinking himself, but he
used sometimes to ask us to let the stuff
alene. He gave up that job, however,
for We made such sport OF him that he
was glad to let us alone But our cap.
tain had sharp eyes, and it was not long
before he begun show Jack Small
favors he did not show to US. He would
often take Jack on shore with him to
spend the night, and such things as that,
while we were kept on board the ship.
OF course this created sort of envy on
our part, and ended in decided i'll will
toward poor Jack.
"Now, in truth, Jack was one of the
best fellows in the world. He was kind,
obliging, honest, always willing to lend
helping hand in case Of distress, and as
true q friend as ever lived-only he
drink with us, that was all. No
that wasn't all. He learned faster
than We did he was better sailor and |
learned moro Of navigation. But this
we tried to lay to the captains paying him
the most attention, though we knew bet.
ter at the time, for we had the privilege |
of learning just as much as we had
mind to. The truth Of the matter was,
We five loved the idea of being old salts
better than We did anything else. and we
spent more time in watching for chance
to have q spree than we did in learning
to perfect ourselves in the profession we
had chosen.
1T even got SO, at length, that Jack
Small was called upon to take the deck
sometimes when the officers were busy, aud
be used to work out the reckoning at noon
as regularly as did the captain. Yet
Jack was In our mess, and he was 4 con.
slant eyesose. We saw that he was reaching
rapidly ahead Of us in every useful par.
ticular, and yet We wouldn't open our eyes.
We were envious Of his good fortune, as
we called it, and used to seize every op-
70 tease and run him. But he
never got angry 10 return. He some
times would laugh at US. aud at others he
would so feelingly chide us that We would
remain silent for awhile.
"At length the idea entered our heads
that Jack should drink with US. We talk.
cd the matter over in the mess when
Jack was absent. and mutually pledged
ourselves that we would make him drink
at the Grst opportunity. After this de.
termination was taken, we treated Jack
more kindly. and he was happier than he
had been for some time. Once more we
talked and joked with him in the mess,
and he in return helped us in our navi.
cation. We were on our homeward bound
passage, by the way Of Brazil, and our
ship stopped at Rio Jeneiro, where we
were to remain week or SO. One pleas.
ant morning We six youngsters received
permission to go on shore and spend the
whole day; and according we rigged up
in our best togs and were carried to the
landing.
"Now was our chance, We put oul heads
together to see how it should be done.
Jacks very first desire. as soon as be got
on shore, vast 60 up and examine the
various things Of interest in the city. He
wanted to visit the churches and such
like places, and to please him we agreed
to go with him, ifhe would go and take