Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-11-29
THE LAST CRUISE.

gray, He was of commanding stature
and very cree. bespoke excellent Eng
lish. and his conversation showed that
he possessed some advantages of educa-
ton which paced him far above the plane
of his semi Iarbarous fellow islanders.
His history had been an eventful one.
When he was 10 years old the captain of
British vessel had taken him to Lon
don, wher' the ships owner gave him
employment as porter in his warehouse
The boy, Who was bright and active, re-
ceived tn, name Albert Johnson; he be-
came fivorite, and one of the clerks
taught lin to read and write. He re-
manned i've years in London, and then
returned to his island home.
As looked through the open doorway
of lis dwelling, before which we stood
while be told me the story of his early
life, l saw what l at first thought was an
idcl but second glance showed it to be
the figure head of a vessel
1t had represented, in high relief, fe-
male clothed in a flowing robe, with one
Tm folded across the breast and the other
,ointed upward. The lower limbs were
broken, the hand of the uplifted arm was
missing, and a portion of the nose was
gone. There was little left of the gliding
that once embelished it, but the lines
were gracefully drawn, and it had evil
IDENTIFY been executed by an artist in wood
of no mean pretensions.
"What ship did that belong to-" l asked.
"That was the figurehead of schooner
that was lost on the island many years
ago." johnson replied. "It's a long story
and sad one. too" he continued, as he
gazed wistfully toward the mutilated
fgurehead.
He hesitated "A moment, and then mo-
toned me to a seat upon a palm log
which served the purpose of bench in
front of his hut He seated himself by
my side, lighted his pipe and told me
this story:
Zone morning, just after sunrise. in
October, 1S47, about year after my re-
turn from England, a sail was seen
standing in toward the island from the
eastward. Soon afterward one of our
people, who had climbed to the top of
cocoanut tree to have look, sung out
to us that it was a topsail schooner. The
wind was fair and she came along at a
lively rate until she was quite close,
when she clewed up her topgalant and
gait topsail, threw her topsail aback and
lay to not above four cable lengths from
the beach,
hS'A beautiful craft she was: her long,
black hull lay low in the water: her
masts tall and tapering till they looked
not bigger than this pipe stem, raked
way aft they weren't stuck forward as
if they wanted to tumble over the bow,
as is the fashion nowadays. Her rigging
was as trim as any man-ofwars, and
there was a crowd of men on her deck.
ga slaver,' said l.
eyes, said my father, who stood at
my side, and she's got her cargo aboard,
too
'As he spoke, a boat was lowered from
the schooner, and pulled for the shore.
A tall, longfaced man, whom l took for
a Yankee, and who was evidently one of
the mates, sat in the stern sheets. When
the boat touched the sand. the crew
sprang out, while the mate rose to his
feet, and looking at our people, who
stood in great crowd on the beach, said
in Portuguese: Who's king here?
"All looked toward my father. and
moved back little, leaving him standing
almost alone foot or so in front of the
others.
owe have no king in Annobon' said
my father; what do you WANT
"'Har and he ripped out big oath.
ri 49,
replied; what we want is water
"'How much water do you want?
asked my father.
"'Enough for our crew and passen.
gers
Passengers! exclaimed my father
making believe he was astonished
though he knew all the time what the
mate meant.
eyes, passengers; we have a lot OF
gentlemen and ladies aboard there, who
who have taken passage on board oui
schooner for the Brazils, and we hain't
got enough water to last 'em the voyage
"My father hesitated, and then said
I'll go on board and see the captain
s'pose you amt himY
"'No,' was the reply, Pm second
mate of the craft.
"My father stepped into canoe, beck
oned to me and half a dozen others, and
we pushed off toward the schooner, my
father calling out to our people in theil
own language not to leave the beach un
til he came back. Passing under the
schooner's stern to get around on the
starboard, read her name, Clelise, Of
Bordeaux.
AT the starboard gangway stood 6
small, slender built man whom we founc
to be the captain. He wasn't more thar
five feet and a half high, and his face
was as smooth as a woman's; he had {
large nose and light gray eyes. Dressed
in blue cloth jacket with white ducl
trousers, and jaunty little cap on the
side of his head, he looked more like
smart young naval officer than the cap
tain of a SLAYER.
"As we drew alongside he sung out t.
us not to come on board, and asked il
Portuguese, which he spoke with {
French accent: Is the chief in tina