The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-11-13
A QUEER ADVENTURE.

A reporter, who was walking along
the water front on Harlem river above
the Astoria ferry the other day, got ac-
quainted with one of the men employed
on big barge that was tied up at pier.
After short talk he was invited down
into the cabin of the barge ''to see the
old man." The cabin was simply sec.
ton Of the hold cut Off by bulk head,
and fitted for the home of the two men
who worked the badge. These two men
were brothers, and 1.-THE old man" was
their father He was over eighty years
old, but was able to read a newspaper
comfortably by the aid of spectaclcs.
The cabin had a stove on one side, four
hunks on the other, table, several
chairs, lockers, and chests. The walls
were covered with picture cards and illus
tratlons from comic papers, and, as the
place was scrupulously clean. it was
much more attractive than one would
have supposed possible while looking at
the rough exterior of the boat. Just
over the upper bunk hung a curious gun.
The old man, seeing the stranger eyeing
1t, took it down. 1t had barrel about
two feet long and three inches thick at
the butt. The muzzle harcd like the
muzzle of old fashioned cannon. The
stock was shaped something like the
stock of an old horse pistol, except that
it terminated in a round ball about an
inch and half in diameter. The barrel
was brass and the stock mahogany, brass
mounted. There was an old-faskiored
flint lock by which it might have been
fired. The bore of the gun was exactly
an inch in diameter and not rifed.
81 got it in Siscl, in the Gulf of
Mexico, when a boy" said the old man.
''It was made in France, as the inscrip-
ton on it shows, That was my first
VOYAGE
The old man placed the gun across his
knees and began rubbing the brass
mountings with piece OF oily flannel,
although they were as bright as if al
ready polished on that day. when he
was urged to tell how he got it, he said !:
81 was IN the brig NIerto, slow tub
OF about 1875 tons. She sailed out of
this port bound to ports in the Gulf of
Mexico with an assorted cargo. That
was in the fall of 1918. We had a long
passage down the coast. 1t was eighteen
days before we reached the Bahama
banks, but this did not seem to worry
the captain, nor the supercargo either
for that matter Being the onl Y boy in
the crew of twelve men, had to play
the servant in the cabin for those two
gentlemen every day. and stand my
watch at night beside. After I'd been
aboard few days began to notice that
the captain never talked to the super
cargo about anything except the cargo
and the insurance and the specie they
were to get at their destination, and the
probability of meeting pirate. The
supercargo's name was Waldo. After a
while l learned that he was half owner
Of the vessel, and that this voyage was
in some way that didn't understand to
make great fortune for him, and that
tie captain, sharp nosed Yankee named
Norton, was to get q good share also.
When | told the men in the forccastlc
about the talk in the cabin, they listened
very closely to what was said about
pirates, and all agreed that the lumber
ing old hooker that we were in would
stand no show if overhauled by any Of
the vessels that were flying black flags
down that way in those days. Why,
Matanzas, in Cuba, was headquarters for
the worst lot of cutthroats ever seen,
and the officers in the garrison even
owned shares in the vessels.
"While we were making across the
gulf smart young sailor that never said
much came to me when was on lookout
one night and said he was pretty sure
we wouldn't any pirates going down,
but he advised me 10 buy some sort of a
weapon that would kill every shot, and
get it on board without the captain seeing
it the first time ! got on shore. That
seemed curious to me, but l didn't think
much about it, being too busy planning
ways to get little extra sleep, and wish
ing could get sick so that | wouldn't
have to work so hard.
"Aftcr tedious passage across the
gulf, we reached Ssel, in Yucatan.
There was no port there worth speaking
of, but a big pier ran out through the
surf, and we discharged some cargo
there. We were there five days. Ono
evening l was on shore, wandering
around the forty or fifty rude houses
that composed the village, when | was
invited into one of the houses. On
the wall of the single room hung this
old blunderbuss. When | saw it | re
membered what the young man had said
but the owner wanted doublOon for it.
and | didn't have any doubloons.
told the young sailor about it next day
was greatly astonished when he a
once gave me the coin, and in voice
that was very like an order told me t
get the weapon before morning.
''From Sisel we sailed to Campeachy
We had to anchor outside the bar there
because there was only six feet of waite
over it. We discharged some of TIN
cargo into queer lighters made of tn,
trunks of trees followed out int,
canoes. Then we went to Laguna ant
to Tampico, and there we sold the las
of our cargo. l heard the supercarg
say that we had had a very proftabl
voyage so far. There was over 400
In specie on board, beside lot of in
digo, cochineal and logwood. We reache,
across the gulf into the longitude of tn
Bahamas without ever seeing a sail bu
one night, just after we'd sighted Nor
light, a big sloop, rugged for all tn
world like Hudson river brick slool