The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-10-17


turned and walked down the quay, try
ing to whistle melancholy air.
Somehow his demeanOr was not so in
snirlug as we had expected it would be;
and Toms oheery voice was not in its
best form when he inquired il the gig
was ashore, as it would be better to go
on board in her than in a hired boat.
The Ancient Mariner again paused to
take a survey of us; then he removed his
hat, ana, taking a handkerchief from it,
wiped the perspiration from his brow,
after which performance he replaced his
hat, and with deep groan Resumed his
march.
We followed slowly in his wake, going
back by the road by which we had come
as silently as if we were at fuAeral,
and in about as cheerful a manner as ii
we We're following the mortal remains
of some dear friend.
The bandy-legged, rolling style of walk
which had been practlcing SO assidu-
ously at home for fortnight was COM
pletely forgotten in the curious feeling
| OF apprehension which The Ancient Mar
iner's doleIu, manner mad aroused, all
apprehension which Jack and Tom bOth
seemed to entertain as lively sense OF
as myself.
| At length the Ancient Mariner
stopped, aud pointing seaw4rd ex-
claimed:
"rnere she is, young gen'Pmen!
THAT'S the little husse!! AlHt she a
Oeauty P'
There she was sure enough, and l had
won the sweepstakes!
| The old, dry, unwleldy-lookng craft
| that we had pOkeu tun at SO unmercl-
fully II short hour previously, was Verl-
tably the FIrl, about whose virtues we
mad ben raving for the last fortnight.
1t was as well lor the 'felIOw" whom
Jack knew that he was not present al
tnat moment or horrible crime would
in all Likelihood have been adQed 10 the
already dark annals OF our national hi. =
tory. Love to all mankind was not, at
any rate, the uppermOst feeling in eur
minds just then, and L am afraid Jack
relieved Almsell by using language that
would scarcely bear repetition i'll these
columns.
There she was though, and what were
we to do with her:
The Ancient Mariner informed us,
with what sounded very like a cnuckIe,
that the gig was not ashore" at which
iremark Tom looked as II ne could have
swallowed nIm with pleasure, despite
the large cargo OF whisky with winch ne
| was evidently encountered. Ii she was
not very pretty, however, she was a
Yacht of some sort, and We determined
to board ner, hoping that closer in.
| specUion would reveal some reueemmg
feature III her; 80 we hired small boat
aud pulled alongside.
Not being aware that she was only
hall-uuckeu, JACK jumped into her stern
the moment we came near enough to
admit OF this view, While the SOUND Of Il
sudden plunge, and the gurgiug noise
of person choking, fell upon Toms
ear and mine. Alarmed at these indi.
| calionS,W hastily shipped our oars and
| laid hold of the side OF Lne yacnt, Just as
jacks head, minus his gilt-euge cap,
reappeared, with dirty water running
| from MS hair and eyes and nose, While
| ne gasped and Spluttered in a most az
ouzins manner. 1t was not iii ;ult to
| Understand LAe cause OF tue mIshap
which had belallen MIN, for The stern
halt Of the yacht being uudecked, the
rain that mad been falling tor three weeks
previously mad converted that part Of
| The vessel into d small pond, the surface
of which exhibited those varieties ol
| color winch Uetokened il lib raj aumiX-
| ture of Tar ana other Similar lngre-
| dients. Alas Tor Jacks brand-new pilot
| Jacket! AS we Wrung The water out Of
uIm, the conviction was forced upon US
that its glory had departed forever.
Our spirits were damped, especially
jacks; SO we put ourselves OUTSIDE the
contents of our TASKS at once, and sent
Jack ashore TO the hotel.
Then Tom and l neld a council, and
resolved to try what we could do with
the pump; SO we dotfed our coats ana
| " aisLcoaLs and commented WILl a Will,
| For three mortal hours we worked al
| that enchanting OcCupauOn; Uut as dur
inx the first hour aud a ha4f The pump
would not SUCK, we mad not got Lne FIlrt
half cleared vi The water that was iii her
at the end of that time. Tnen the pump
choked, aud 1Um and L st down ana
looked at each otAtr, and tired To whistle
PPM atl DaL."
lhen it suddenly occurred to us tDat
we were not using Jack well in leaving
him SO long by himself, aud we con-
cluded we would 60 ashore; SO we hailed
IA pas sing boat and hunted Jack u y IN
his quarters.
We lounQ him In bed in bedroom of
| the hotel, with his clothes hanging be-
| fore large fire, and au amount OF sLeam
and stencn coming from them that was
| perlec.ly sulfuCdLlng. Oar advent prOD-
ably saved the poor fellows Ii e, for LIE
Aad been lying stemiHg Tor couple OF
| hours, and as there was no bell-puIl in
tue room, relief was imp possible.
| Alter putting things TO rights in q
kind of way, we ordered dinner to be
brou. int to me room, and having dressed
JACK in a par OF blankets and The bed
mat, seg hIm i'll the place OF honor at the
mead OF the table, buGl nave but FAINT
re collection O1 The oLAer events Of that
evening.
1t took us ten days to get the pump
puC in order and the water balled out oI
The yachl, and by that Time we We're
pretty nearly tired OF The Fart and all
connected with her. SLill, having got
her once cleared, we thought we would
ike to have a sall IN her; SO on the FRI
uay previous 10 the saturday upon
| which we had to return to town We
rose ca ly in The morning in order that
we might get her under way b lore the
bulk OF the people were stirring. We
| DrIbed boy W take the loan OF Il small
boat and put us on board and then sent
aim ashore again. IL was blowing pre- =
ty fresh. and stormy looking; but the
Flirt was u safe boat, if she was not fas ,
50 we were not daunted by the appear :
anCe Of tue SKY. We thought tue first
thing to do was to yet up the anchor, So
we commenced 10 Aeave The little winch,
Uut the anchor had been SO
long down that IL had got
hXed in the bottom and would
not come away easily. We Were nearly
an hour at this job, and SO intent Were
| fh.lI Ii Il nt linn hAN