The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1890-04-24

Wo had . let 20 the es-malntops.il
sheet before we rirhted snd that half
hours work gave the carpenter and s1il-
maker plenty to do until we reached the
Sand Hcads OF coursc, when ! heard
all the facts ! gave my chief mate =
| pretty severe dressing down; and he was
very pc1itent, and full OF promises OF
! reformation; ard I must say that until
We left Calcutta, bound here, he did his
best TO act fairly and nationally. He
never could be sociabfe with Norris
however, and cold ciyility was the MT
most he could bring himself TO. The
second mate, who knew nothing Of
March's prejudice, naturally supposed
| that what he saw was tho mates rcgu-
lar gait. so to speak, and you may be
sure did not take the trouble t0G en-
| tighten him.
Once in awhile would sound March
gently to see IL he was getting over his
feeling Of dislike. fear, suspicion, or
whatever it was, but soon perceived
that 1t was useless TO look for any
change in this respect He was frank
enough about it, but alf he could say
was that he had tried to throw it off but
could not; that, as Time passed, indeed.
1t seemed rs II he was coming nearer 10
| some dreadful occurrences. nc did not
feel sure that his own life was in peril,
only that he was mixed up in something
dark and awful, in which Norris was to
be chief actor. Clearly tho man was
becoming moro morbid every day, but so
long as he carried on the duty OF the
ship and got into no difficulty with the
second mate, there was nothing to be
done, and ] had satisfied myself that
there was still less use in saying any
thing.
| Things were in this state when we
came into Port Louis, and while we lay
in tho Tier, March's humor seemed to
grow blackcr, ard Ii locke as-though he
! had less command over himself He did
one thing at this ting which nearly slosJ
him his berth, and but for the difficulty
OF replacing such manin little hand
basin of port, / think | should have
let him go. We had cask of rum aft,
and we had d IIindoo cabin steward, who
had heen stealing this ruin and selling
it to the men in the forecastle. March
found out what was going on, and I'm
stead of Furnishing the rascaIly
steward, he tried to mako me- be-
lievc that the second mate was the
guilty party-and no doubt he thought
this the more easy because the second
mate had boon keeping the key Of the
store room, It being part-of his duty to
weigh out the provisions to the tindal,
ovitable, however, that should suspect
any charge made by March against
Norris, and SO said nothinga at first, but
went into the forecastlc, and, BIZ a little
/ judicious diplomacy, soon got at the
l-trlIth-@-L sacked the rnfaithfnl steward.
as a matter CT course, but did not think
it necessary to mako any explanation to
the chief mate. The facts spoke plainly
enough for him, no doubt
1T may be Imagined that this frustra-
ton OF his @ittle plot did not mitigate
his animosMy to Norris, and made up
my mind that should have to keep my
weather eye open all the way home.
However, the sailing day arrived; we
hove up the anchor. and drifted out of
the harbor on the ebb tide. You, know
that the holding ground (ancherage) of
Port I.ouissis heavy, greasy, blue clay.
tt-Itis .ahaut-as-d dirty "a botLom.as | know,
and when the anchor GENES heme= It
generally brings up a ton or two of this
stickymud, which also is plastercd over
portions ofthe cable, and which covers
windlass, deck and every thing with mud
before the anchor is slowed. Well, on this
nsin Ia
apcak, but the crown was just out Of wa
ter. when l gaze orders tia t-seme.ef-th
hands should leave the w.ndlass and
help tho boys in making sail In getting
in tho cable we used jigger, a small
tackle, which was clappcd on the cable
abaft the windfass, and kept taut in or
der to prevent any slack rising in the
chain, and so causing it to slip.
Sat this moment, t1se boatman who
had charge of tho jigger sung out to the
men at the windlass to avast hcaying
until the tackle was shifted. They
stopped and just as the jigger was
taken off The cable, and before it could
be put on again. higher up. something
nobody could eyer tell what-startedt the
cable. 1t began to slip over the wind
lass, and fabricated by the greasy, blue
mud with which it was covered, the mo-
ton grew swifter every second. There
was nearly one hundred fathoms of the
working cable on deck, and we had now
driftcd into sixty Or seventy fathoms of
water. The anchor was very heavy
one, and its momentum increased as it
plunged downward. In less time than
it has taken to tell it, the chain was
fairly flying around tho windlass, the
newly-arranged bights on the range be-
ing whirled up with lightning rapidity.
and the rattle growing into a roar under
which the ship trembcd.
with such n range OF cable and such
a depth of water, 1t was on the cards
that tho boys might be torn out OF her
II the rush could not be stopped, and
the danger grew every instant. At first
all hands were n little confused by what
had happened. was at the bows look
ing over and saw the anchor plunge out,
OF sight. jumped for the lureh. of the
topgallant forecastle instantly, and sung
out to, get swabs and throw them on
tho windlass, in the hope that the tough
yarns would get cntangled in the links
" oiiN otoAc ann 81 ohooh, perhaps sup,
the run. But&hc cable had got too much
Roadway by the tino the swabs were
brought, and, when thrown, they were
either torn to rags instantly or flung
violently off again. BY this time every
body on deck had run forward, and,
while it was impossible to approach the
windlass, round which the cable was
flying so rapidly that the links could
not be distinguished, itwas equally i'm
practicable to do any thing with the
chain on the range, for the bights OF it
would have either knocked the brains
out of any one getting near them, or
have caught and carried him to certain
and instant death upon the windlass.
'sMarch had at once occupied himself
In thrnvinor gn,ahs coils Of ronn and