Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-06-27
A SEA STORY.


bark, called the Sestris. She had paid
for herself twice over in the time of
good cotton freights, and being built of
spruce. was badly strained by the i'm
mense pressure of the compressed cot
ton bales, so that she had been bought
by Boston parties for a mere song, and
put into the lumber carrying trade.
1t was the middle of December, and
we were laying out in the stream in
st. Johns harbOr, with a hold full OF
green deals and a deck-l of the
same, two feet higher than the rall.
Sailors were scarcer than lawyers are
said To be IN Paradise. Men were
plenty, rather too plenty, l thought, rs
| watched the crew that had been
shipped, while they were in the after
cabin, signing articles for the voyage
We were paying eighty dollars in
gold for the rum to Liverpool. Ship
ped in this manner. men are only ex-
pected to do such jobs about decks as
are actually necessary; and beyond
this, their duties ara confined to the
wheel, lookout, working the ship, and
making or taking in sail.
1t was bitterly cold, the harbor was
full OF floating Ice, and the piercing
northwest gale penetrated the thickest
wraps.
The first man, who. with a very
shaky hand, wrote down the familiar
"JOhn smith," which covers so many
well-knOwn family names. wore "A
black stOve-pipe hat, and a suit of al
most new black broadcloth, consider
ably the worse for having been slept in
and otherwise maltreated. And rs
found out later, though John Smith
three weeks before had been paid of
from the TonawGnda, with three hun
dred and llty dollars, the remainder of
his outfit for the midwinter passage
consisted OF i mattress stuffed with
shavings, thin grey blanket, a spare
wooden shirt, and "A pair OF socks.
Then, in the order following, came n
tall fellow, a deserter from the citadel
at Halifax; Dutchman, n genteel-
looking young man, whose father was
rector OF a church in Birkenhead, Eng
land; two Russian sailors, who had run
away from their ship; an amateur
yachtsman, claiming Australia as his
birthplace; a pOwerfully-built negro,
named Bob; and lastly, two well built
young Seamen, evidently '-chums, !"
who signed their names respectively as
Jerry Pepper and James Pepper.
Jerry was thinly clothed in ordinary
seamen's garb, and was not entirely
over the effects of protracted spree
The fact that one OF his eyes had no
pupil gave him a strangely sinister
look. Somehow l took an instructive
dislike to the fellow from the first,
while at the same time l was favorably
impressed by the appearance OF Pepper,
who had one of those frank, open faces
that generally make the owner favor
ite with his shipmatss.
Well, the tow-boat came alongside
and took our tow-rope; the anchors
were hove "p, and. leaving the harbor
about noon, we made sail off Partridge
Island, hauled our hawser In board
waved a good-by to the tug-boat, and
went bowling off before u free wind
with t'gallant sails set, the bark being
SO ''crank" with her heavy cargo, and
having list to boot, that We did not
set the royals for the entire passage.
The watches were chosen, and, as ii
happened, pretty equal division OF
forces made.
Mr.. Maddox, the mate, had in his
watch Smith, the yachtsman, the
Dutchman, one of the Russian sailors,
and the negro, leaving for myself Mr..
Andrews, ths second mate, Pepper and
Pepper, the deserter (nicknamed
"Halifax'l, the rector's runaway son,
who at once was dubbed "Birkenhead. -
and the other Russian sailor, called
Peter the Great, on account OF his
huge size.
By the next morning we had ''siZed
up'' the crew. The Dutchman who
had been fireman on an ocean steamer,
hardly knew one end of the bark from
the other; Birkenhead, who was deathly
sick, knew nothing at all; Halifx
could tell the foremast from the main
mast, while Australia had never been
alOft in all his life.
This reduced our "sailoriZing" force
to six, including the second-mate, who
could take regular tricks at the wheel,
and knew the ropes and braces-or, IN
sailor parlance, could hand, reef and
steern
The others had to stand all the look
outs, and fear that my fiery-tempered
little second mate made it very lively
Tor the unfortunate four, in tacking
ship or shortening sail, until they got u
bit broken in, which was not until the
passage was more than half completed.
Topper and Pepper were fairly good
ordinary seamen. During the voyage
found that they had been shipmateS
together for three years, part OF the
time in West India trading schooners
few months in a New York pilot
boat, and latterly in the blockade-run,
her Vixen.
Pepper was by far the better sailor
OF the two. He had made three trips
as second officer, while Pepper had
made two as fireman and one as sea
man, in the same steamer.
Both were in love with a handsome.
quadroom girl at Nassau, as the stew
ard learned from Bsb. who had lived
there all his life, and of the two, Pop
per seemed TO be preferred.
Dat Pepper good-lookin' chap, onl,
spend ali the money SO fast he get it
Topper save 'em all up" was Bob: