The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-11-21

there was cuddy passenger who blew
upon the flute very finely indeed. A
| military officer returning to India af-
ter long invaIiding spell at home had
as light, delicate and accomplished
hand on the fiddle as any of the best of
| the first violins which / have heard in
| the crackest of orchestras. When the
committee of passengers had been talk
ing about and arranging for this band
the chief officer told them that if they
| thought there would not be instruments
enough there was a man forward, a fell
low named Raft, who played the fiddle
exquisitely and, if we wished it, he
would make one of the instrumental
lists. We consented, and for several
days previous to this night you might
| have heard Raft rehearsing in the tween
decks, scraping in way that made the
military man who had been invalided
look somewhat grave. He spoke of
Raft with foreboding eye, and what
he feared happened. The man could
| indeed play, but he had no sense of
time. All went wrong with the first
dance air that was struck up. The
| tune he made was right enough; but it
was always darting ahead and Devil
dering the Others and finally the band
| came to a stop, though Raft continued
to play several bars, whilst the
military gentleman in great
temper was shouting to him to go
away. / should have felt sorry for the
| poor fellow had he not been saucy, for
he had dressed himself with extraor-
| 20
| hair upon his head as though it had
been rope-yarn and had arrived aft
with sailors expectation of seeing
plenty of fun and getting plenty of
drink. 1t ended in the chief mate
grasping him by the collar and tum-
I bling him down the poop ladder. l
afterwards heard that he went forward
and in towering passion threw his
fiddle overheard, swearing that he
would never play upon anything again
but the Jews harp, and then only for
| hogs to dance to; there was no longer
any taste left amongst human beings,
he said, for downright real good music.
The merriment aft was scarcely af-
fected by this instant's failure. The
moment Jack had been tum bled off
the poop the instrumentalists began
afresh and the decks were once more
filled with sliding and revolving
couples. / had slightly sprained my
ankle that morning by kicking against
a coil of rope and was unable to dance;
but this was no deprivation to me on
burning hot night like that, with no
place for the draughts out of the fan
ming Canvas to come through, and the
smell of blistered paint rising in a
lukewarm breathing off the sides of
the ship as though the sun still stood
over the main truck. So squatting
myself ON hencoop I sat gazing at
the merry, moving radiant picture,
and listening to the music and to the
laughter of the girls, which came back
from the canvas roof of the poop in
echoes soft and clear as the notes of
| the flute.
There were thirty-two cabin passen-
gers in all, and we had poopful as
you will suppose. There were more
than a dozen girls, dark and fair, most
of them pretty enough. There were a
few young married ladies, too, and a
little mob of dignified mammas. The
men were of the old-fashioned mixture
"a few military officers, sprinkling
of civil service young gentlemen, fierce
old men with white whiskers and
cleaning eyes, with peppercorns for
livers, and with q capacity for putting
on the tender aspects of Bengal tigers
when anything went wrong-mer-
chants, judges, planters-I can scarce
remember now what they were. There
were lanterns enough to make bright
light and some of them being of col
ored glass threw bars of ruby and of
emerald against the yellow radiance of
the clear fame and the ivory streaks of
moonlight. Far aft was the wheel with
the brass on it rejecting the luster till
it glowed out against the blackness over
the stern like circle of dull fire upon
the liquid obscurity. Grasping the
spokes of it was the figure of q seaman,
smartly apparelled in flowing duck and
grass hat on mine hairs" his shape
dim in the distance foated up and
down against bright star or two; but
there was little need for him to keep
his eye on the course. The calm was
dead as dead could be. Half an hour
since the ships head was northwest
and now it was vest, and the swell was
under the bow with a strange melan-
choly sob of water breaking into the
pauses betwixt the music and sound
ing like the sigh of a weeping giant
somewhere in the blackness over the
side.
And black the water was spite of the
air being brimful of the soft silver of
the moonlight. On either hand the
planets wake the ocean ran in ebony
to the indigo of the night sky; but you
only needed to steal to the break of
the poop clear of the awning to mark
how gloriously the luminary was
thinning the ship, as if she had no
magic for the deep that night. Every
sail was d square of pearl, every
shroud and backstay, every brace and
ballard rope of silver wire; the yards
of ivory, with hundreds of stars OF
moonlight splendor sparkling and
flashing in the dew along the rails.
The Jacks had rugged up lanterns for
ward and were cutting capers on the
forecastie and in the waist to some
queer music that was coming out OF
the darkness upon the booms. 1t was
strange enough to see their whiskered
faces revolving in the weak, Elusive
light, to witness apparitions of knobs
and warts and wrinkles storm darkened
to the hue of the shell of a walnut
showing out for an instant to the glare
of lantern. There was great laughter
that way and q jovial growing OF
voices. believe the sailors had got
with the captains leave, some of the
steerage passengers TO dance with and
their happiness was very great, for
give Jack fiddle and girl to twirl
to the saving of it and drink of rum
and water to fill up She short measures
fer his breathing times, and he will
ask for no other paradise ashore OF
afioat.
Much was made of old Capt. Bow. He
looked as if he had taken all day to
dress himself, so skewered was he in a
garb of the old school; tail-coat, frill,
collar half way the height of the
back of his head, buff waistcoat, tight
pantaloons, shoes like pumps, and a
/ hnayV urOund-taCkie of seals danpIinu