Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-12-19
Love on the HlGH SEAS.


Now" said the Captain, eve shan't
see any more land for n week, and you
young ladies II have nothing to do but
let some of these young fellows fall In
love with you
"Fall in love-" cried Hetty, her tip
tilted nose curling with incredulity and
disgust. "Who could fall in love atsea,
I'd ike to know?"
"Who could?' asked the Captain, in
innocent surprise. why, everybody
does. Why not?"
HettY smiled IN evident unbelief, but
glanced furtively across the deck toward
the handsome young officer where he
leans on the rail blowing rings OF smoke
into the deep-biue sky.
Miscellaneous Deb and the quick sight
ed Captain detect both, and laugh I'M
nercifully. Hetty bushes, and the first
officer uneompromisingly turns his back
and asRleaf ear to the Captains outlaws.
1t is evening on shipboard, dinner is
over, the days work is done, and all are
assembled on deck.
The sun, which has hung all day like
g copper gong upon q brass ceiling, IS
now mercifulIy disappearing The
mountains of Lower California shine in
his fast-fading rays like 1.-The golden
hills OF heaven" while one little hum
mock OF an island, long and high and
marrow, rises ont of the sea Ike the
graye-mOUnd OF some ocean god.
For once the water Is smooth moth
ing breaks its stiffness but the steamers
trail, and the seagulls new and then
brushing its surface. Far, far away
far as the eye can reach--is nothing but
the same expanse of deep blue waters.
broken only by those yellow hills. now
fast vanishing into distance and night.
Overhead, only another and wider
expanse, still deeply, darkly, beauti-
fully blue" and behind cloud the new
moon just beginning TO look forth upon
the boisterous world below.
Prigsby, from London, explains TO a
gaping audience how the scenery now
before them suffers from comparison
with that of the Rhine. Sam Boland,
of San francisco, carelessly replies to
an inquirer that he is going prospecting
for gold N Guatemala, acknowledges it
to be pretty risky business. admits
the country to be full OF road agents
and bushWhackers, but "reckons he'll
pull through" Meantime Hetty and
Deb, seeing the Captain had story in
reserve, settled themselves to hear it.
"Didn't tell you how my first Off
Ger got married? No? Well, nobody
he courted her, I'll just tell you all
about it if you like.
"Wel, you see, L haven't always been
Captain OF a frst-clasg steamer-no,
street I ran awar TO sea when I was II
years old, and I've worked my way from
the bottom of the ladder. Well, when
I was 80, was Captain of lar e sail
ing vessel that was in the South Ameri-
can trade.
"I sailed from the port of Callao, San
Francisco being my destination. MY
second officer was an Englishman, but
my first was an American, only two or
three years younger than Ia good
looking young fellow as ever saw, tall
and straight and handsome, with eyes
like blue china. He was q right good
fellow, too; brave and honest, but
frisky as a kitten and up to all sorts of
larks.
Well, we crept up the coast, stop
ping at every ninth door, as our orders
obliged us to do, taking IN all sorts Of
things, all booked for San Francisco.
Finally we came to San Jose de Guate-
mala-that lies ninety miles inland
and there we hove to and waited for
chance to go ashore.
"Did you ever hear of the surf on
that coast, ladies2 No? Well. it often
rolls fifteen or twenty feet high. and
frnOH r0oTf Of La Z
1t. Sorry we're not going to stop this
trip or you might see it. You see,
there's really no harbor-nothing but an
open roadstead-and, except in the Bay
ct Fundy, this place shows the highest
and lowest tide Ia the world. The peo-
pie here tried to build q breakwater out
beyond the surf, but it breaks over it
half the time, and when it doesn't it
knocks it to pieces. Sometimes vessels
have to ride at anchor for a week before
they can put a boat ashore.
"We'd only just hove to when I no
tlced that ship at anchor. not far Off,
was making signals of distress, and that
boat was putting off in our direction.
III course, we were anchored far out be-
yond the surf, and it was comparatively
easy for the boat to reach us SO it was
soon alongside, and one of the men
came up the ships side and told me
what was wanted.
cit appears that the ship was q ccf-
fee ship from San Francisco, and had
come to San Jose for cargo. It was
only half loaded when one of their boats
caps1zed IN the surf, drowning the
Captain and first officer. The second
officer was very low with a fever, and
they had nobody to navigate the vessel;
80 they'd had to wait in port till some
ether ship came along and could lend
'em On officer Or somebody who under
stood navigation.
"Well, [ called up my first officer, and
put him aboard the coffee ship, and In a
Gay or two we both sailed. We were
going over. just the same ground-or
sea, rather-and, as the two vessels were
equally fast, we kept each other in sight
most of the time. We'd been out ten
DAYS, and were Ia American waters
again, when all of sudden the ship
hove to, and signaled us to stop. We
ran as close to them as we could, and
then we hove to, and, presently, through