The Republican journal., 1882-05-11

daS lScarlOt was known from Marblehead
to the bay of Chaleur as the consummate
schooneratiOn of malevolence, turpitude
and treachery.
After commanding the Judas Iscariot
for five or six years, Captain Cram look
ed fully twenty years older. 1t was in
vain that he had attempted to sell her at
sacrifice. No man on the coast of
Maine, Massachusetts, or the British
provinces would have taken the schooner
as a gift. The belief in her demonac
possession was as firm as it was universal.
Nearly at the end of a season, when
the wretched craft had been even more
Improbable than usual, conference of
the owners was held in the Congregation
al vcstry one evening after the monthly
missionary meeting. No outsider knows
exactly what happened, but it isrumorcd
that in the two hours during which these
capitalists were closeted certain arith-
metical computations were effected which
led to significant results and to a singular
decision.
On the forenoon of the next Friday
there was a general suspension Of bust
ness at Newaggen. The Judas Iscariot.
with her deck secured and her spals
scraped till they shone III the sun like yei-
low amber, lay at the wharf by Captain
Grams fish house. Since Monday the Cap
tain and his three boys and Andrew Jack
sons son Tobias from Mackerel cove had
bee busy loading the schooner deep.
This time her cargo was an extraordinary
one. 1t consisted of nearly a quarter of
a mile of stone wall from the boundaries
of the captains shore pasture. | "calk
| let" remarked the commander OF the
Judas lscariot, as he saw the last boul-
der disappearing down the main hatch
''thar's nigh to two hundudn fifty ton Of
stone fence aboard that SchOOn'r.
Conjecture was wasted over this I'M
necessary amount Of ballast. The owners
of the Judas Iscariot stood up well under
the consolidated wit Of the village they
returned witticsm for Wittcism, and kept
their secret EFF YOU must know. III tell
ye.' said the captain. II hear there's a
stOneWall famine over Machias way. I'm
! goin' to take mine overn peddle it out 10y
the yard" On this fine sunshiny Friday
morning, while the luckless schooner lay
on the side of the wharf looking as bright
and trim and prosperous as if she were
| the best paying maritime investment in
the world, the tug Pug of Portland lay
under the other side with steam up. She
| had come down the night before in re-
sponse to a telegram from the owners of
the Judas Iscariot. \ good land breeze
was blowing, with the promise Of freshen-
ing as the day grew older.
At halt-past seven o'clock the schooner
put OFT from the landing, carrying not
only the captains pasture wall, but also
large number Of his neighbors and
friends, including some of the soldest
citizens of NeWaggen Curiosity was
stronger than fear .'ACu know what the
| critter air, the captain had said. in rtplN
TO numerous applications for passage
"Ef you're mind to rcsk her antics,
come along an welcome" Captain Cram
put on a white shirt and a holiday suit
for the occasion. As he stood at the
wheel shouting directions to his boys and
Andrew Jacksons son Tobias at the hal
/ yards his guests gathered around him, a
tair representation Of the responsibility,
the business enterprise, and piety Of New
hagen Harbor. Never had the Judas
Iscariot carried such a load. She seem
ed suddenly struck with d sense of de
cency and responsibility, for she came
around into the wind without baking,
diYed her nose playtully into the brine
and skipped off on the short hitch to clear
Tumbler Island, all in the properest fash
ion The Pug steamed after.
The crowd on the wharf and the boys
in the small boats cheered this uneNpect-
edly orthodox behavior, and they noW
saw for the first time that Captain Cram
/ h,l taI m, I,a t,,l ,,,
4 conspicuous white letters, each three or
four feet long, the following legend:
THIS IS TIE SCHOONER JUDAS ISCARlOT,
y. B-GIE HER WIDE BERTH.
Hour after hour the schooner bounded
along before the northwest wind. holding
to her course as straight as an arrow
| The weather continued fine. Every time
| the Captain threw the log he looked more
perpleXed. Eight, nine nine and half
knots. He shook his head as he whs-
cred to Deacon Plympton "Shes medi-
| tatin' mischief o some natur' or other"
But the Judas led the Pug a wonderful
chase. and by half past two in the after
noon before the demUohn which Andrew
JacksOn's son Tobias had smuggled on
| board was three-Quarters empty, and be
| fore Lawyer SwantOn had more than
! three-quarters finished his celebrated
story about Gov. Purinton's cork leg, the
schooner and the tug were between fifty
and sixty miles from land.
Suddenly Captain Cram gave a grunt
of intelligence. He pointed ahead, where
a distant fog bank '.She smelt it an
/ Ir1, fC, - lo "a
ly. "Time for business
Then ensued a singular ceremony.
First Capt Cram brought the schooner
to, and transferred all his passengers to
the tug. The wind had shifted to the
southeast, and the fog was rapidly ap
preaching The sails Of the Judas Esca-
riot tapped as she lay head to wind, her
\ bows rose and fell gently under the ntiu-
ence of the long swell. The Pug bodied
up and down half a hawsers length away.
Having put his guests and crew aboard
the tug, Capt. Cram proceeded to make
everything ship shape on the decks Of the
schooner He neatly coiled a loose end
of rope that had been left in a snull.
He even picked up and threw overheard
the stopper Of Andrew Jacksons son
/ Tobias's demjohn. His face wore an eX-
| preston of unusual solemnity. The peo-
pie on the tug watched his movements
eagerly, but silently. Next he tied one
end of short rope to the wheel, and at
tached the other end loosely by means of
running bowline to cleat upon the
rail. Then he was seen to take up an
axe, and to disappear down the com pan
ionway. Those on the tug distinctly
heard several crashing blows. In mo-
ment the Captain reappeared on deck,
walked deliberately to the wheel, brought
the schooner around so that her sails fill
ed, pulled the running bowline taut, and
fastened the rope with several halfstitches
around the cleat, thus lashing the helm,
jumped into dory, and sculled over to
the tug.
Left entirely to herself, the schooner
rolled once or twice, tossed few buckets
full of water over dancing bows, and
started off toward the South Atlantic.
But Capt Trumbull Cram, standing in
the bow OF the tug-boat, raised his hand