National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-01-23
STORIES OF TIE PRESENT DAY
The Varied Adventures of Man who
Went to Sea Against His VIII.

and such, may be l can interest You in an
adventure which occurred so recently that
oil the particulars are yet fresh in my
mind.
am a sailor man, and | am as honest as
the general run of them. ! have been
brought up to hate pirates, wreckers, sharks,
and lawyers, and | would 60 hungry before
laying hands on what belonged to another
man. However, being this sort Of q man
didn't prevent my getting into scrape,
which came near being the end OF me.
was in New Orleans, knocking around
for n berth, when one day on the levee, at
the foot Of Canal street, man with blink
TO his left eye seems to take great shine
~ me. lie invites me to drink with him
and to Join him at dinner, and, when he
believes the time to be ripe, he says: "You
looks like an honest chap, and ] don't
deny that I've taken liking to you. How
would You like to ship with my captain"
"And who may your captain bor' l
asked.
"Capt. Mccall, OF the schooner Glance,
and I'm saying to you that better man
never gave orders from the quarterback,
and that better vessel than the Glance was
never put together"
"And what may be the voyage2n
lie looks hard at me q long time before
replying, and then draws down his left eye
and whispers "Come aboard and see the
captain. He'll be glad to shake hands and
tell you all about It,"
/ must own to my confusion that am a
drinking man, as most sailors arc, and that
this chap, with blink to his eye, had me
half-seas over before we left the saloon. We
had another drink or two before reaching
the schooner, and when we went aboard OF
her i was in no condition TO judge OF men
or things, i remember of meeting three
- 4
then all memory was gone. When | came
TO my senses the schooner was in the Gulf
Of Mexico, heading almost north and the
hour was o'clock in the afternoon.
SuiI and sore, and thoroughly frightened
to find myself at sea, / crawled out OF the
close and ill.smelling forecastle aud made
my way on deck. The crew were all there,
including the captain. There were five
white men, two negroes, and made the
eighth man. There was light breeze from
the southeast, and an island was in sight
of to the northwest. A single look salts
fed me that we were headed for Chandeleur
bay, on the Mississippi coast.
/ was greeted In a pleasant fashion by
the men, and the captain bectoned me into
his cabin, poured out stiff glass of grog,
and said:
"You'll feel better after drinking II. It's
good .grog that puts heart into a sailor
man.
AVN you tell me what schooner this Is,
and how came aboard ofher2n asked,
never minding his soft ways and the liquor
he had placed under my nose.
"Why,man you have gone clean daft ~ he
calls cut. "lou came to me for berth on
the Glance, and i, Capt. Mccall, signed
you for trip to Santa Rose island and re-
turn. You were sober enough when you
signed articles. Come, down with the grog,
and wish us a successful voyage"
capt. Mccall, | never signed with you"
says, looking him straight in the eye
"And If you. are bound to the northeast,
why are you holding to the northC'
"Tut, tut, man! / am not used to such
talk aboard this vessel. Go on deck aud
do your duty, and II you dare talk mutiny
I'll put bullet through your head.n
With,tlat Il turned and left him, and to say
that was in rage would hardly describe
my feelings. My sailors instinct had
shown me that was on wrecker, and
such wreckers are no better than pirates.
i had been duped aboard to make up the
complement OF men, and II they discovered
that was not hand and heart with them
they'd have lirtle hesitation In taking my life
Invent forward to the bows, and presently
the mate Joined me. He was the man with
the blink In his eye, and laid all the trou
BILE to him. He spoke very softly, but
was so bold aud bitter that he soon flew
mad and abused me in the foulest manner
and finally ordered me to watch under pair
of being placed in irons. 1t would hay,
been foolish to resist, and / took my plac,
among the men and turned to for duty.
The schooner held on, passing between
The East and West Chandelier islands about
dark, and holding to the north. Soon aftel
night the wind fell, and finally there was {
dead calm. We were then opposite the
Middle Chandelier, and only four or five
miles away, and as there was current set
ting us to the east the anchor was let go, al
anchor watch set, and the rest of the crew
were privileged to turn In. The captain
and mate retired to their staterooms, and
as the night was pleasant, the rest Of u,
held the deck. AS | slowed myself away
forward for smoke and a think, one OF thu
white men came over to me in rather eau
tious way, bunked down beside me, anJ
whispered:
"Come, comrade, the better face you put
on the matter, the better 1t will be for you
There's no question but they made you
drunk to get you off upon this voyage, AND
as for your signing articles, that's all bosh.'
"What sort Of a voyage Is it?N
"For what we can pick up.h
"And what made you ship?"
swell, was obliged to dodge the Law
for a scrape got into at Mobile"
~ shall leave her at the first chNuce.n
"That's your lay; but keep quiet. The
captain and mate are bad men, and won'
stop at murder to hush your talk. If there
Is chance for break depend upon me Il
go with YOU"
"IIow far to the north do we goP'
ave shall cruise among the islands, and
perhaps along the Alabama coast. Take
my ADVICE and do duty and keep your eye
opep.n
With that he left me, and after finishing
my pipe ! slept until about 2 o'clock In thu
morning, when we got slant of wind from
the gulf, and the mate called us to NJ
anchor and make sail. We crept along Al
slow pace, and about sunrise had the Big
Chandelier island under our beam. During
the forenoon we ran down to the northern
end and came to anchor within few
fathoms of Il coasting schooner, which was
then lying wreck on the rocks within
stone's throw of the beach. Her mast'
were gone, ,bulwarks stove, and the beacl
was covered with wreckage. 1t was plair
that she had come ashore In gale, but II
the tail end Of it, and the sea had not broker
her up.
Long enough before. wc came to anchor
although was at the wheel of the Glance
/ saw a man on the wreck making signals
II seemed to me that the captain and mat,
placed themselves purposely in my line o
vision, to prevent. my seeing the man
and we had not yet begun to take In sal
when the mate took the wheel and the cap
tain sent me into the hold to look up som
spare oars for the yawl. / was rummagln,
around down there for half au hour, tn
oars being only q pretense TO keep, me OF
the deck, and when the captain finall
called me up the sails We're down, til
anchor in the water, and several Of on
men were aboard the wreck, having take
our yawl to convey themselves across tn
space. ..-.. .....
l was not allowed to go aboard of tn
wreck, but was ordered to remain on tn
schooner to help receive cargo which til
others broke out. The yawl presently mad
her first trip, bringing load Of ropes
chains, and sails, aud these trips were con
tinued at intervals all day. When the
came TO break out cargo the yawl brough
us ilonr, hardware, groceries, and clothing
aIl lhn u l,.,.. l.rl.a d,