Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-02-21

7 dislike an occasional storm. There is real
! pleasure in commanding a stout, we'll
I found, wellmanned ship in a gale of wind -
Il can well believe it-for born sailor
| like you. You are of an adventurous dis
/ position, think, Captain Peyton."
81 was once. But l am too old now to
/ seek adventures; they must seek me'
'fWell, begin to think 1 should ike q
/ few adventures My life has been desper-
1 ately tame so far
HAS not somebody said that adventures
are to the adventurous You will, NAV be,
far more important part at sea than
ashore; so much so, that prosperous,
pleasant voyage always makes me bit
uneasy"
Like this, for instance~
Exactly. Like this. I cannot help
thinking it is too good TO last, and that
Fortune is preparing US some scurvy trick.
Who can tell? We may be run down in
the night, or have foul weather before
morning. All the same, like my calling
Its very uncertainty is an attraction; true
seaman likes it none the less for its ele-
ment of danger; and I don't know that
have bellyful before you get back to Liv-
erpool. VINO knows?"
SAY, who knows' hope they will be
agreeable, though"
81 don't think 1 could undertake to
guarantee that" said the skipper, with a
laugh Adventures are like babies-you
must take them as they come Step into
my cabin and let us have a game of chess
and glass of grog. Everything is going
on smoothly, and it is the first officers
watch"
Ihave already mentioned how we amused
ourselves, and that as there was ALWAYS
something going on we never suffered
from eTnILt We had excitement, too, of
a very mild sort, though often rather in
tense while it lasted: nothing more than
exchanging numbers with passing ships,
and SO ascertaining their names-when
they came near enough, which was not al
ways. In point of fact, we had only ex-
changed numbers with four ships since we
sailed; we had, however, passed a good
many in the early part of our voyage, and
when vessel was sighted, it was always
a matter of speculation and discussion
whether abe would come within signaling
distance or not The further we got, how
ever, the rarer these meetings became, and
for several days past I'VE had not seen sin
gle sail.
So, when, on the morning after my talk
with Captain Peyton, one of the mates "a
man with wonderfully good eyes,, sweep
ing the horizon with his glass, announced
that he could just see the topmast of some
ship away to windward, there was quite a
f1utter of excitement. We passengers had
our binoculars out in a moment, though,
as our eyes were not quite so keen as those
of the second mate, it was some time be-
fore we could make out in the far distance,
a couple of sticks that seemed to be emerg-
ing from the water, which Bucklow (the
mate), few minutes later, declared to be
the masts of a brig
We went on staring our hardest, and In
the end were rewarded by seeing the hull
of large ship rise slowly from "the bosom
of the deep"
ga brig under bare polesp' exclaimed
Captain PeytOn, who was one of the gaz-
ers. 'No; she has her fore-course and
fore-tOpmast-staysail set. But what on
earth is she doing, and where steerings"
I had been asking myself the same ques-
tons, for the briggs movements were most
eccentric: she wObbled about in every di-
rection, as if she could not make up her
mind toward which point of the compass
she wanted to sail.
care the people aboard of her all asleep,
wonderP" asked the captain. run up
our number, Mr.. Chance" 0he third mate).
''We shall may be pass near enough to ex-
change Signals
'HallOo!' shouted Bucklow, the sharp
eyed. There is something wrong yonder."
I'D be continued.1