West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1877-09-15
'cforc they spile it and get nothin' for

before they Spite it and get nothin' for
it,
y
Il knowed boy once down here who
thought he was dreadful smart. / used
TO take him out sailing every morning.
he was kind of sick and he took sails for
his health. He knew something about
sailing, and he used 10 hold the tiller,
and sail the boat himself, az he called il.
He gave lots of orders; but | always
took care To tell him what 10 order, il
was all right. 1t would have done you
good To hear that Teller sing out Hard
a-leeV as If there was n whole ship %
sailors Isl my little boat. He used TO sit
there and tell me lots of thing that he
thought ought To know. He would call
out To me in a loud clear voice, which
was pleasant TO listen To, though there
WASH Il often any sense i'm what he said
Look here, captain It's good fdea To
have your ballast well amidship, as you've
got it. IL don't do to have your ballast
too far for'rerd. A boat isn't safe if the
boat isn't fixed right And he'd say lots
oil things of that kind, Jest rs he was
tellin' me somethin' he'd found out, and
that nobody else didn't know. / don't
remember all that he used to saw, but
the sum and substance of il was pretty
much as if he'd hollered out, Look
here, captain You always ought to put n
mast OF Il sail-boat at the bow. III Won
was to put IL at the stern you couldn't
steer her very well, with the main-sel a.
sticking away out behind Especially if
she was cat-rigged and had no lib
Well, one morning this boy took friend
out with him, TO give him sail. This other
boy wasn't sick. My boy sat in the stern,
and was very proud to sail the boat He
took it into his head that the other bow
was little skeered and he kept a-tryin'
TO keep his courage up. He would say
Now, you see, when "A puffof wind comes,
and tips her over, | Just bring her round
little into the wind, and she comes up
all right. There isn't any danger, If
the man at the helm knows his business
And then he'd keep sayin': Now, don't
you feel lite more confidenceP And
the other boy, who was a-sittin' quiet,
lookln as If he was enjoyin' the breeze,
and the views, and the sailin', would
say: Oh I'm confident enough. Pm
all right And my boy would say TO
him: I'm glad of that. / don't want
you To he afeard. It's perfectly safe
Well, one day took that other bow out
sailin' by himself, and / tell you, sir. |
was surprised. Why, that boy knowed
ten times rs much about sailin' as NV
Teller. He'd been on sail-boats at the
North ever since he was little chan. he
said, and / found he knowed nearly
enough to sail boat by himself. And
says to him: What on earth did YOU
let that other boy talk to you that way.
rs if you didn't know nothin'. and YOU
slttin' there quiet, and KNOWN lots more
about sailin' boat than he did. all the
timer Well says he, took heem
out, and he isn't well, and | saw il
pleased him to talk that way and didn't
care But don't you care what other
people think of your says l. And then
he said he didn't suppose it mattered
much, so that you knew yourself what
you knew. Now / could never make up
my mind as to which of them two bows
was the biggest fool. 1t don't do to
Dlow your horn too much, and it don't do
to blow it to little, nuther. A feller's
got to show what he is, for other people
amt agoin' to take the trouble to find
1T out, and it amt always that things is
found out by chance, like as when YOU
hook fish by the tail, accidental. It's all
nonsense to make too little of yourself;
and then ag'in, it's just rs bad to make too
much of yourself" Frank. II. Stockton
| -. Nicholas, for Sept