Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-03-14

| fall OFF, several times, much TO my ali
noyance. The wind, moreover, occasion
ally varied Il point or two, thereby increas-
ing the difficulty of my task. But l did
not call Bolsover; l thought l would let
him sleep as long as he liked but when he
voluntarily came to relieve me, had been
at my post nearly FIVE hours.
"Why didn't you call me9" he said, re-
proachfulIy. you must be both tired and
hungry. Go and get something to eat,
and then turn in for an hour or two. I
don't think We shall either of Us get much
sleep tonight"
''Whv?"
'"TFore is going to be change of wealth
er. The glass is going down fast, and
clouds are gathering to windward. But
we shall not get it just yet. When you
have had your grub and your sleep, we
must reef the foresaiL Then we shall be
SAFE l think"
acted promptly on old Toms sugges-
ton, for the air and the work had made
me both hungry and sleepy.
When l returned from my snooze, the
wind had risen considerably, and blew in
fitful gusts; the sun went down red, amid
a mass Of ominous-looking Clouds and, as
BolsOver said, there was every likelihood
of dirty night. The time had come to
reduce our spread of canvas, and the ship
being under patent foretopsail and jib, we
| lowered and reefed the former without
difficulty. The boatswain then made all
snug, battened down the matches, and
brought a suit of oilskin and pair of sea-
boots for himself, and another for me, put
food, water, and grog within reach, and
| lighted the lanterns. When he had done
all that was necessary, or, rather, all that
he could he joined me at the wheel, for, as
he said, it would take two to steer, and all
little enough.
And so it proved. The wind rose every
moment, and though we had so little sail
set, the ship went through the water like
an Atlantic liner at full speed. Then it
lulled a little, and the rain came down as
it only can come down in the tropics, rat
ting on the deck like discharges of mus
kerry, and tumbling out of the scuppers in
| cascades. From time to time there came a
tremendous clap Of thunder; the sky was
ablaze with lightning, which brought every
spar and rope of the ship into vivid relief,
and cast lurid glow on an angry sea bill
| lowed with foam-crested waves. But we
were by no means in the center of the
storm, else it had gone i'll with us; and the
rain, by keeping the sea down somewhat
| probably prevented us from being popped.
When morning broke the rain was still
falling, and the wind blowing in strong
| gusts; the Diana" was scudding before it,
and we were still both at the wheel; and
| except for intervals of few minutes, when
| one or other of US snatched a morsel of
! food or took pull at the bottle of half
water grog which Tom had put under the
| pinnacle, we remained at the wheel all that
day and all the next night.
What distance we made in this time we
! had no means of exactly computing; but
when the wind began to fall off, Tom tried
our rate of sailing with the patent log, and
found it to be eight knots; but our average
speed during the thirtysix hours the gale
lasted must have been much more, and we
probably ran not less than four hundred
miles. Where we were we could form OIL
ly the very vaguest idea, for our course
had been most erratic, the wind shifting
continually.
When the storm abated, and there was
promise of better weather, Bolsover sug-
gested that should turn in.
''I am more used to this sort of thing
than you are" he said. II can stand it
awhile longer; but you are about used up,
l think. Lie down for an hour or two,
will waken you up when I want you"
required no second bidding. was ut
terly spent, and only half conscious. With
out undressing, I threw myself on the
| bunk in the captains cabin, and almost
before my head touched the pillow was
fast asleep.
When l awoke, as it seemed to me an
hour or so later, the sun was shining
brightly, and the boatswain lay asleep on
the floor.
"Halloop' I thought. "Has old Tom de-
serted his post? Why didn't he waken me2"
But when 1 looked out saw that the sea
was perfectly calm-not a breath Of air
rufied its CLASSY surface-and the Diana"
lay there, as still and motionless as "a
painted ship upon a painted ocean,"
Clearly no need for a man at the wheel,
| and Tom had done quite right to take his
rest without fnterrupting mine.
After wash and walk round the ship,
/ went to the galley, kindled the fire, made
lobscouse and pea soup, and when all was
ready returned to the cabin to look after
Tom. He was just opening his eyes.
Have you had good sleepf" 1 asked.
Every; and you?"
ooh, pretty well. must have had three
or four hours, and if | had not been so
may take our ease bit now, Mr.. Erie.
This is calm as will last, this is"
"How long will it last, do you think"
1.-The Lord only knows! May be fort
night, may be three weeks. I have heard
of Gains in these latitudes-we must be
hungry l should have gone on awhile long
err"
"Three or four hoursI Why, bless you,
Mr.. Erie, you have slept more like thirty
| hoursr'
Nonsense, Bolsover! l know BETTER"
"Well, then. the sun is going wrong. It
was good deal past noon when | turned
In, and"-glancing at the sun-''it cannot
be much past eleven now. Yes, Mr.. Erie,
you have slept something like thirty hours,
and me about twenty-four-and a good
thing, too. We wanted it. When it fell
calm knew as the ship could take care of
herself, so just dashed the wheel amid
ships, laid myself down on the cabin floor
just as L was, and let you go on with your
sleep And now let US have some grub,
for am most terrible sharp-set. and that
lobscouse smells as sweet as rnrv We
somewhere about the dOldrums-Pve heard
of 'em lasting six and seven weeks"
"a pleasant prospect Why, we shall be
nearly frizzled! l would rather have q
storm or two"
That's sentiment as Ishould say amen
to, If we had rather more powerful crew,
Mr.. Erie; but with ships company of
| two, officers and passengers included, /
would not pray for q gale, though I might
whistle Tor wind. With our small spread
of canvas a light breeze. would not do US
| much good and il yOI11d not be safe IN