News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-06-04
TALES OF THE OCEAN.
BIZ ". CLARK RUSSELL.

By ". CLARK RUSSELL.
It's betwixt thirty and forty years agt
now. I was second mate of bari
called the Lydia Jones. She was rather
a smart vessel, with poop and topgallan
forecastle, main skysail>mast, neat head
rails, a pretty gilt figurehead, and sh.
was fairish sailer. We were in the
southeast trades, homeward bound, wher
1t happened one morning that I came OF
deck at four O'Clock to relieve the chic
mate. It was blowing middling fresh
and I found the bark under a mair
royal, stunsail booms rugged out, but the
sails In the tops, and the vessel driving
along at eight or mines knot an hour
Presently the dawn broke. 7 took 6
look, as is natural, around the sea, an6
my eyes coming to the weather quarter,
where the dawn was spreading along the
horizon out of the sky like light sitting
through oiled paper, Ispied a sail there.
Well, as you'll reckon, there was nothing
to make one e,,wonder at in that. The sun
rose, the watch turned to to wash down,
and the captain came on deck. He took
notice of the sail on the quarter, went
to the companion for the glass, and had
a look at her. He then turned round,
cast his eyes aloft at our masts, and
again pointed the glass at the sail and
then says he to me, That vessel astern,
says he, is under heavy press. She's
coming along hand over fist under royal
and topgallant stunsails. When did you
yoa first sight her?'
'I told him.
"sHumph r says he, and he put down
the glass and took some turns along the
deck.
"Bit by bit the craft grew out Of the
water, proving her rate of going, until
her hull had risen, and then my skipper,
having taken q long squint at her,
handed me the glaa, saying, What do
you think of he-f For my part I don't
ike her APPEARANCE at ALL
'fSEe V.6 plain in the lenses, coming
.lonr With smother of foam up to the
Her hull was black and low;
ihe was apparently brig, though one
be sure of that yet, and there
vas no mistaking her rakishness. 4
don't like the look Of her either, SIR
says l to the skipper. But isn't there
wrong with her forrard? She
appears to be under jury bowspritf
HE leveled the telescope, and sung
'ut, Yes, l see it now. She's lost her
oowsprit, and has got boom rugged
out, and a iib set upon it. don't know
what her game is, am sure. She looks
to be after us, it strikes me. Better not
wait to make certain. Get the foreroyal
oosed and set the foretopmast stunsail.'
'"This was done, but if it helped our
bark at all it didn't appear to slow the
'pproach of the stranger. Seeing this,
'ur skipper fell into funk. He ordered
he lower and topgallant stunsails to be
et, and through it we washed, every
toop of the bows sending the foam boil
ng and flying over the spritsail yard,
while it was as much as two men could
10, with third standing by, to steer
Ter. But it wes no good. The brig
or brig she proveu-was sweeping up
% us like a witch, and the nearer she
rev the less we liked her appearance,
mean as regards our safety; for as to
Ter hull, why, I never saw lovelier
slipper In all my life; the loss of her
Dowsprit spoiled her; yet you scarcely
loticed that in the beauty of her lines
md shape, the perfect cut of her can
vas, and the grace of her nobly stayed
nasts, bearing their cotton-white cloths
aloft, till your eye cane to royal stun
sails pulling at the sler der booms on the
yards, and skysails crownir 6
the tapering sticks topped by trucks
that shone in the sun like silver dol
lars.
"Well, she held on ali, and we held
on all till she was abreast of us and
within hailing distance, and then she
shortened sail, while some one standing
on her lee rail sung out to us to heave
to. We could now see that she was full
Of men and pierced for several guns,
though only the muzzles of two of them
were visible. one of these pointing dead
at us. Our skipper made no sign, on
which we were again hailed to heave to;
If you don't we shall fire into you,' was
the cry. This regularly scared our old
man, for we were without guns, and
much too few to have done anything with
such a shipload of armed ruffians as that
brig carried, and so he ordered the stun
sails TO be hauled down, and the bark tc
be hove to. The brig now backed hel
and no sooner were both
vessels at a stand when boat showed
off from the stranger, and I counted no
less than sixteen men in her, each fel'
low armed to the teeth, and the chap
steering her in the stern-sheets with a
cutlass by his side, and couple of pis-
tolls stuck in broad, yellow belt round
him. This man was a tall, powerfully
built fellow in half-boots and a rough
coat, and face fierce as old Nick's
with tremendous whiskers and mus.
tache. He came clambering over the
side the moment the bowman hooked
on. but the rest of the beauties remained
in the boat, stared at by all our men,
who, as you may reckon, had remained
on deck ever since it had got noissd
about that we were being chased; and
it was now about one bell in the after.
noon. Well, the chap with the whiskers,
after a polite salute with his thumb to
the brim Of his hat, which a good deal
eased our minds, sings out through his
nose:
"'Who's the cap'n of this vesselp'
"1he skipper answers, Il am
Then, says the other, putting his