Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1877-10-10
Love Before the Mast.

The captain of an English ship
just arrived in port relates singu-
lar story which is worth adding to
the already extensive budget of
marvellous tales of the ocean. The
names of the captain and ship are
not given, as sailors are proverbial-
ly sensitive about their veracity
and there is a stong flavor Of
romance in the shippers anecdote.
The official log contains this
entry: Sang. l8, latitude, longi-
tude-, John Cotton, stowaway,
fell from the foretopgallant yard
to the deck, and was instantly
killed"
"Aug 16. latitude, longitude,
William Bean, an ordinary seaman,
while the funeral service was being
read over the body of Cotton,
jumped from the topgallant rail
and sank Immediately. Ship hove
to at the time. A boat lowered,
but no trace of the man was
discerned."
"That," said the Captain, "is an
entry that gives the key to the
yarn I'll spin you," as a mail re-
porter sat in the cabin yesterday
afternoon after the MONDAY meal.
81 SHIPPED Bean in Liverpool.
He was tall, good looking fellow,
and did not appear to be much of
a seafaring man by his appear
ance, but he had a couple of good
discharges and | took him. After
he went forward among the men |
did not notice him again until the
second day out. The mate came
aft Juggling along a little bit OF a
fellow with short curly hair and
round face, whom he had found
slowed away under the forward
hatch. A lot of the men got
around to see what / was going to
say about 1t.
"'What in blazes made you hide
away in my shipr / said. He
didn't answer a word, and seemed
scared to death. Then Rean step
ped out and said:
al know that young man, Cap
tain he is an old chum Of mine.
He wanted to get a passage to
California and had no money!
II swore at them both and then
sent Cotton off in charge of the
third mate, who soon got him to
work on a broom. He haudled
the broom pretty well, and took to
sort of polishing up the brass work
and seemed so inclined to be in
dustrious that | took him out of
the mates watch and gave him odd
jobs adout the cabin, lending the
steward hand, and so on. He
had all night in and better grub
than they got in the forecastle, but
he used to always slip some of it
forward to Bean. Those two were
a good deal together on Beans
watch, and Cotton would sometimes
stay up all night with him. Then
he got to like going aloft, and used
to handle the royal as well as any
ordinary seaman on board. One
day the mate said to me, Il heard
those two men, Bean and Cotton,
talking together last night, sir,
and there was something queer
about it. Bean was telling him
that his mother and brother would
never forgive him, and the best
thing to do when he got to San
Francisco would be to write to
some friend at home, but not to
let his people know where he was.
Cotton was crying and seemed to
feel very bad. Then they saw me
and shut up. / think Bean has
made that boy Cotton run away
from school of something of the
sort
81 told the mate to make work
rs light as he could for him, and
once, when he brought me cup of
tea on the poop, | asked him IL his
friends knew that he had started
for California.
"'Oh, no. he said but I could
not get along we'll at home, and