Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-07-22
A BRAVE LAD.
been iightinc, ehPn

Didn't you know that fighting
among the men was against the rules of
the shIp?n
'.Yes. sir. | knew that"
And knowing it, you fought When
| asked you who struck the first blow,
you owned that you did,
Il own that gave the first blow
why did you give the first blow?"
al decline to answer, sir"
None of the men will tell me either.
Well, my lad, since you gave the first
blow, you must be punished"
a minute later the captains pretty
wife came up from the cabin, and seeing
Tom tied to the mizzen rigging, she
asked her husband what the matter
was, and on being informed, she plead
ed for the young fellow.
The captain had hoped she would not
come up till after the fiogging was end
ed. In spite of all his protestations, she
insisted that the poor boy should not be
whipped and taking Il pair of scissors
from her pocket, she cut him loose from
the rigging, to which he had been tied,
with her own hands.
Although very severe with his men,
the. captain loved his wife, and usually
allowed her to have her own way in
most things.
Let it be so for the present." he said;
but he made up his mind that he would
carry out his purpose of fogging the
youth at night, while his partner was
asleep.
but he must also be punished now,
somehow" he continued. discipline
must be preserved. Aloft, you go to the
masthead, bareheaded and don't come
down till / tell you to" he added, adj
dressing Tom. =
Martha used every effort to prevent
his being punished, even in this way,
but all in vain. Her husband was firm,
and up went Tom, bareheaded, in a
scorching sun, to take his place far
aloft, on the mizzen top-gallant cross
trees.
By-and-by little Ben, the captains
son, child of ten, and favorite with
all hands, came on deck. The boy was
fond of climbing. and more than once
had he frightened his mother nearly to
death by his venturesome FRANKS
The weather on this day was calm
and very warm. The ship was lying in
the Atlantic, 4 little to the south of the
line, without breath OF air to stir her
canvas. Ben glanced aloft, and, taking
advantage of the absence of his mother,
who was now gone below. and of his
fathers being busy with the mate in
taking an observation, he was soon
nimbly mounting the mizzen rigging.
He had reached the topsail-yard ere he
was noticed by any of the watch on
deck, all of whom were busy.
Then. one of them gave notice of Ben's
whereabouts, upon which there was
some excitement aft. Martha came up
on hearing the noise, and joined her
pleading voice to her husbands in try
ing to coax the child to come back.
But he only laughed, as, on hands and
knees, he commenced to crawl out to-
wards the end of the yard. Though
the weather was calm, the ship rolled
and pitched, now and then, in a heavy
swell, and, at such times, the anxious
mother would turn deadly pale. lest
Ben, who as it was, was once or twice
thrown sideways. should fall from his
precarious position.
Meanwhile, no one dared to 90 up
after him, for, in that case, in his hurry
and excitement to get away from his
pursuer, he would certainly tumble from
the yard.
The boy had nearly reached the end
of the spar, and was playing with the
gasket-a slender rope attached to the
yard which he had unwound and was
twining about his breast, when, all at
once, the ship was struck by that most
dreaded of all tempests-a cyclone
Without u moments warning-with
the sky and the sun perfectly clear of
clouds or mist, the squat came down,
shrieking, roaring and bowling, as if a
legion of unseen fiends had suddenly
dropped from the heavens.
Whish-sh! whoong! -rattlel Bang!
crash! Away went the jibs and the
fore-topsail, torn to rags, while the
mizzen-topsail, parting its sheet, COM
menced to whip about with the din of
thunder. and then from the lips of the
captains wife rose a wild shrek as
little Ben was knocked by the Stating
sail from the yard. But. somehow, the
turns of the gasket, which he had
twined about his breast, had become
loosely hitched, SO that they held his
light form for the present. although it
was evident that they must soon be-
come unfastened There he now hung,
about ten feet below the end of the
yard, swaying like pendulum above
the raging sea, his shrill cries half
drowned by the roar of sea and gale.
Tearing along, with her bows buried
in the Kissing foam and the white water
pouring over the forward rails, the ship,
almost on her beam ends, shook and
quivered as if every timber was about to
part.
The masts bent like bows. reeled with
the shock of the driving seas, and soon,
with a loud crash, over went the fore
topmast, to be speedily followed by the
main. Men, with axes, cleared the
wreck; but now the mizzen-topmast was
swaying as if that was destined to 90,
too.
The cries of the poor mother were
distressing to hear. Above the roar Of
the gale they could be heard, while she
wrung her hands and beat her bosom
like one half crazed.
From his position aloft Tom Winder
had witnessed the whole scene, and