Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1886-11-06
A NOBLE HEART.

A NOBLE HEART.
l used to think, said Captain Streeter,
that fogging at sea was necessary duty.
At that time there were but few masters
more passionate or severe than was. Men
| used TO run away from me, and on moro
than one occasion my life has been in dam
ger from the violence of men whom | had
abused, l used the cat and ropes end al
most as freely as | used my tongue; and l
used to wonder how it happened that l al
ways had the luck TO get such bad men.
When l was about forty years of age l
| took command of the ship Petersham. She
was an old craft, and had seen full as much
service as she was capable of seeing with
| safety. But her owners were willing to-
/ trust valuable carr o in her, so | wouldn
refuse TO trust myself. We were bound to
Liverpool, and nothing unusual happened
until about the third day out, when we ran
foul of small iceberg. TWAS early in the
morning-before surrise-and not above
six or eight feet of ice was out OF water, it
having been melted away in the warm wa
ters of the Gulf stream. / did not think we
mad sustained much injury. for the shock
was slight; but l was very angry, and gave
| The lookout" severe punishment, without
stopping to inquire whether he could have
'een the berg i'll season to escape it.
| My cabin boy was named Jack Withers.
| He was fourteen years of age, and this was
| his first voyage. He was bright, quick,
| Intelligent lad but l soon made myself be-
ie,e that he had nm awful disposition. I
! tancied he was the most stubborn piece Of
humanity l had ever come across. | made
up my mind that he had never been properly
| governed, and resolved to break him in.
told him l should curb his temper before
| bad done with him. In reply, he told me
that l might kill him if | liked and
logged him with the end of the mizzen
top gallant halyards till he could hardly
stand. l asked him if he had got enough,
and he told me that might tlog him M ore
| if | wished it. | felt a strong inclination
to throw the boy overheard; but at that mo-
ment he S Staggered back against the miz-
zen mast from absolute weakness, and
left him to himself. When l reasoned
calmly about the boys disposition [ was
forced to acknowledge that he was one of
the sma'tcst and most faithful lads l had
seen. When l asked him to do anything
he would be eff like rocket; but when
! roughly ordered him to do it, then camo
the disposition with which 1 had found
fault.
One day, when it was near noon, spoke
up my quadrant. He was looking over the
quarter rail, and knew that he did not hear
me; and the next time l spoke ripped out,
and intimated that If he didn't move I'd
help him.
Il didn't hear you, he said, with rather
an independent tone.
NO Words" said |.
Il suppose l can speak, 1he retorted,
moving slowly toward the companionwav
His looks, words, and the slow, careless
manner in which he moved, fired me in q
moment, and | grasped him by the collar.
Speak to me again like that, and l will
fog you within an inch of your life" said l.
You can fog away" he replied, firm and
1ndlunted as rock.
And did fog lin. | caught up the end
Of rope. and beat him till my arm fairly
| lched; but he never WINGED
"lIow's that" said l.
There's a little more life in me you'd
'etter fog out" was the RI ply.
And beat him again. beat him till he
nix from my hand on the rail; and then
mt one OF the men for my quadrant
h, it came, and | had adjusted it for my
'cryation, | found that the SIN was al
;iy past the me- ridi n and was too late
MS added fuel to my madness, and quick
seizing the lad by the collar, l led him to
- main hatchway, and had the hatch TAX
4 of. then thrust him down, and swore
would keep him there till his stubborn
l"ss was broken. The hatch was then pu.
ia, and | went into the cabin. l suffered
good deal that afternoon, not with any
compunctions for what had done, but with
my own temper and bitterness. 1t made mo
mad to think could not conquer the boy
tn t could not break down his cool oppo-
| sltlon. Butl'il do it, l said to myself; bv
| the heavens above me, I'll starve him into
it, Or he shall die under the operation.
After per l went to the hatchway, and
called out TO him, hut he returned me no
answer. SO closed the hatch and Wen.
| away. At 10 o'clock | called again, AMI
again ! got no answer. | might hay!
thought that the tiegging had taken avail
his senses, had not some of the men as
sured me that they had heard him not n
hour before talking to himself. | did moi
trouble him again till morning.
After breakfast | went to the hatchway
and called out to him once more. ] heard
nothing from him, nor could / see him.
had not seen him since | put him down
there. | called ont to him several times,
but he would make no reply; and yet thu
same men told me they had heard him talk
ing that very morning. He seemed to bo
calling on them for help, but he would no,
ask me. He'll beg befo e he'll starve,"
thought, and so determined to let him stay
there. l supposed that he had crawled for
ward to the forecastle bulkhead in order to
make the sailors hear him. Some of the
men asked leave to go down and look after
him, but refused. threatened to punish
the first man who dared to go down.
At noon | went again, and, as he did not
answer me this time, l resolved that he
should come to the hatchway and ask me
ere / went any more. The day passed
away, and when evening came l began te
be startled. [ thought of the many good
qualities the boy had-and of his widowed
mother. He had been in the hold thirty
six hours, and all of forty without food or
drink. He must be too weak to cry out
now. 1t was hard for me to give it up. If
he died there from absolute starvation ii
might go harder with me still. So, at
length, made up my mind to go and see
him.
1t was not quite shutdown when had the
hatch taken Off, and jumped down upon
the boxes alone. A little way forward |
saw space where Jack might easily have
gone down, and to that point crawled on
my hands and knees. l called out there,
but could hear no answer. A short dis
lance farther was a wide space. which /
had entirely forgotten, but which l now
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