Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-11-28

CHOW" said the captain, 1--WE shan't see
any more land for a week, and you young
ladies'll 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 at sea,
I'd like to know"
.Who could? asked the captain in inno-
cent surprise. "Why, everybody does.
Why not?''
Hetty smiled ia 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 blue, blue sky.
Mischievous Deb and the quick sighted
captain detect both, and laugh unmerciful-
ly. Hetty bushes, and the first officer
uncompromisingly turns deaf ear to the
captains guffaws.
it 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 a
copper gong upon brass ceiling, is now
mercifully disappearing. The mountains
of Lower California shine in his fast fading
rays like ''the golden hills of heaven"
while one little hummock of an island.
long and high and narrow, rises out OF
the sea like the gravemOund OF some
ocean god.
For once the water is smooth; nothing
breaks its stiffness but the steamers trail,
and The sea -gulls now and then brushing
its surface. Far, far awaY-far as the eye
can reach-is nothing but the same ex~
panse of deep blue waters, broken only by
those yellow hills, now fast vanishing into
distance and night.
Overhead, only another and wider ex-
panse, still deeply, darkly, beautifully
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, carlessly replies to an inquirer
that he is going prospecting for gold in
Guatemala, acknowledges it to be a
''pretty risky business" admits the
country to be full of road agents and
bushwhackers, but "reckons he IL pull
through" Meantime Hetty and Deb,
seeing that the captain had a story in
reserve settled themselves to hear it.
didn't tell you how my first officer
got married? No? Well, nobody could a
been seR erin his wife was when he court
ed her. L will just tell you all about it if
you like.
"Well, you see, L haven't always been
captain of first.class a.eamer-no stree!
[ ran away to sea when was twelve
years old, and I've worked my way from
the bottom of the ladder. Well, when |
was thirty was captain of large sailing
vessel that was in the South American
trade.
az 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 las good looking a
young fe low as ever [ saw; tall and
straight and handsome, with eyes like blue
china. He was right good fellow, too;
brave and honest, but frisky as kitten,
and up TO all sorts of larks.
"Well, we crept up the coast, stopping
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 Guatemala-that lies
ninety miles inland-and there we hove to
and waited for a chance to go ashore.
"Did you ever here of the surf on that
| coast, ladies? No? Why, it often rolls
fifteen Or twenty feet high. and good
part of the time no boat can live ia it.
Sorry we're not going to stop this trip or
you might see it. You see, there's really
no matchmaking but an open roadstead
and except in the Bay of Funday, this
place shows the highest and lowest tide Ii
the world. The people here tried t.
build breakwater out beyond the surf
but it breaks over it half the time, an(
when it doesn't it knocks it to pieces.
Sometimes vessels have to ride at anchor
for week before they can put boat
ashore.
s'We'd only just hove to when
/ noticed that a ship at anchor not far of
was making signals of distress and that
beat was putting off in our direction. 0
course we were anchored far out beyon'
the surf, and it was comparatively easy fol
the boat to reach us so it was soon along
side, and one Of the men came up tn
ships side and told me what was wanted
.'It appears that the ship was COTE
ship from San Francisco, and had come t
San Jose for cargo. It was only hal
= loaded when one of the boats capsized il
thesurf drowning the captain and frs
officer. The second officer was very 10y
with fever, and they had nobody t.
navigate the vessel; so they'd had to wal
Y - L IL IL