Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1881-05-26

l.EhFNh fh'h MAJ fNhp'h i'''
MIGHTY PILor PROM IT. JoHN-rHE GIFT
or WRECK.
In nv wanderings along the rocky and
picturesque coast Of Maine | have from time
To time jotted down many bits in my note
book which seem to me To have more than
/ passing interest. II is possible that after
the fashion Of collectors in general over
{ rate nv treasure trove but even in the must
4 lest mass of bric-a-brae is to be found some
1 choice bit or at least some trifle that tickles
/ the fancy of the visitor; and humbly hope
I my offering Of shreds and patches here is
not worse than some dusty, musty, worm
eaten gatherings of odds and ends | have
seen, which were yet greedily oyerhauled by
I eager connoisseurs.
I We were ying becalmed in the yacht of
I Head Harbor, Jonesport, when Billy Steer
stick. an old salt who had come aboard half
as pilot and half guest, RECALLED MS with
warm of diabieris which ran something IN
/ the following fashion: Head Harbor seems
Y To BE- place especially favored with super
natural occurrences, particularly such as lie
in the line OF the Father OF all Evil. \
family is scarcely respectable there unless II
I has its private ghost. and to hold ANYTHING
Z like a distinguished place in Head Harhor
society IL is necessary to be able TO boast nj
least one personal encounter with the devil.
/ Billy Steerstick's story had 10 do with one
+ Captain Blnncy, master of a coaster. Beng
engaged in loading his ,esSc! with wood,
/ at Head iarbor. Captain BIuncy hired 70
I assist him. among others, a rough fellow
named Dobbn. One day Dobbin was sent
to roll 4 lot Of wood down 4 steep bank to
the shore while the others took round the
gundalow in which it was TO be conveyed Ia
the vessel When Captain Blnney and the
men arrived with gundaloN, they found
DubbIn looking very Mid and pale. and ap
pearlng to suffer from a severe fright. lie
said that having finished his work he had
selected a comfortable place. LAIN down and
soon fallen asleep. lie va, awakened sud
denly by the touch Of foot, and started up
4 to find Satan standing beside him. lie sad
further that he had had long talk With the
evil ~p,rt. but he declined 10 tell IT. nature.
The crew began loading the wood int" the
gundalow, Captain BinneyS boat lying At
anchor couple Of rods away. The wood
beng heavy and difficult 10 handle, Binnc'
prufanely wished they had Dohbn's friend
To help load il. Scarcely had he spoken
than Dohbln uttered a fearful sCreech. cry
ing, There he i." lie pointed towards
the captains boat, standing in the bow Of
which appeared prcternaturaliy tall, slim
gentleman with fiery eyes. His look Va,
fixed upon Dobbin. Who, CRYING out, II
didn't mean to tell fell down IN a iIt
shaken with horrible convulsions. The tall
gentleman, apparently satisfied with the cf-
feet Of his glance, smiled sardonlcallN, and
turned hi, face towards the shore. A. II
Obey lug his will the boat shot swiftly for" lrI
To the land, soon Its occupant had
stepped out, returning by ssme strange pow
er again to it, mnorugs. lhc stranger IN
~tantlN vanished. hut whether into earth. AR
or water no one of the men could say. Dob
blu gradually recovered from hlS M. bat he
immediately vent ashore. refusing To return
".hu' from that identical DAY. added Billy
StrcE,tlck, gNIng 4 VICIOUS pu,! at ms ,tuin-
pN black pipe, That ,hlitlc>> DobhIu dulut
pear 10 do nothln, but he always had money
enough, somehow or uutE,r; though don't
cal late any man could tell how be got H.
But what OF Captain B!nne, p asked Tom
Tweed one Of our party. Didn't he gct
ANYTHING out Of Il = IF YOU want To- see \
mad man." returned Stccr,tlck, with Al uuc-
tiou, chutN.r. "iou just talk 10 Jack BIN
neY about DobhIn, and heAr him Cu,N an
swear cause the Devil didn't maAe him
offer, .amc's he did To Dobbin.'
Some fifteen Years ago there lived, and
think still lives, pilot at y. John. New
brunswick, Who wa, a famous character
along shore Cro-, Island lie. IN Maghia.
BAY. and among the few familie, settled
upon il sas that OF a fisherman named Cook.
Mother Cook" a. She vas called va,
shreSd. kindly bustling woman, we'll known
b, all the fishermen Of the region, her house
being sort Of hosiery at which were re-
ceIved bciated fishers, wandering Yachts
men and stray traveller, in need Of shelter.
Her husband, 4 wlrv, keen-el ed salt, al
though completely under his wife's influence,
had too much independence properly 10 be
called hen -pccked; and he Vas especially
fond Of Hardwick, the -. John pilot. Ga
hl, way homc~ard. after taking English
craft up the gulf of Maine, Hardwick al
WAYS made q stop at Cooks, and there
have more than once seen him. He was
perfect giant Of man, with huge chest aud
shoulders, well built and pruport!oned. His
face Was tanned with the record uf hun
dred storms and "a thousand DAYS OF sea
sunshine. \ thick beard. matted and Surly,
seemed actually to support the chin. ms
great throat being entirely hidden except
when he threw back his head to give vent to
a roar of laughter which made the rAtters
ring. lie was enormously strong. have
seen him break the handle Of an oar across
his knee and crush cocoanut between his
hands. Altogether. Hardwick was more like
an old Morse Viking than figure Of to-day,
and never saw him without "a half de,el-
oped feeling that he might "a, any moment
iy INTO the old berserker rage
One of the most striking scenes ! ever
saw at Cooks, that place of many odd ad
ventures, witnessed one rainy night in
September. Ii was pitch dark and the wind
blew furiously. Several fishermen had taken
shelter at Cooks before | arrived, and in
front of the blazing, open fire We sat in the
; evening, listening to tale OF mine host.
I The rain dashing against the windows and
the sound of the surt on the shore mingled
to produce continuous roar, above which
it was necessary for speaker TO raise his
voice to be heard by the circle about the
hearth. 1t was in the neighborhood Of ten
O'Clock when there came a thunderous
knocking at the dsor. The superstitious
fishers started as if the trumpet of doom had
been sounded; but before one had time to
speak, the door opened and in the midst Of
u gust of wind and RAIN, Hardwick burst
into the room. He had evidently been
drinking His hat was gone, his flannel
shirt was open over his big chest, while
from every lock Of his hair and beard, the
water ran in streams He carried yalse,
which he deposited with great deliberation
upon the table, looking significantly at it
and then at US before he spoke at all.
Halo, men," he said at last, in his deep
voice. .You're mostly strangers, but I've
seen strangers before. I'm used to stran
gers. Halo, Mother Cook. Here, you take
care Of this for me-" He produced from
his vest pocket roll of bills which he pro-
ceeded to count with great deliberation.
"Ninety dollars he announced. That's
pilot money" From another pocket he then
dragged mixture of bills and coin, which
with the same tipsy solemnity he counted.
making the amount about forty five dollars.
Looking suspiciously around, Harwick then
took from his hip pocket revolver, which
he laid conspicuously beside the pile of
money upon the table after which he took
out his wallet containing one hundred and
twenty dollars more. There, he said,
..thats about all. Halo, Penniman," catch
ing sight of me, ''is that you? D-glad
to see you. | wish you'd reckon up this
money for me-" While | did this the giant