, 1892-12-28

safe and comfortable passage. He presently
says to a boy bust y engaged puL'plng the
boat dry, Sonny, have you Water IN the boat?
"Yus Capn" is the prompt reply and there
being nothing mole to attend to, the Captain
bids us so long, saying at the same time,
you will fetch up to the ship"about =,
Just in time for dinner, and we jump IN,
full Of pleasant anticipations Of a nice sail and
a Jolly appetite for dinner. We clear the
point, and meet a stiff head bree4e that does
not exactly suggest the antlcIpatons we
started so comfortably with, but it is early
yet and the mvig6rating breeze really glorI-
Gus, so We stretch out on the softeot plank and
prepare to enjoy the sail presently the quiet
is broken by au excited exclamation, from the
junior member of the crew, q young man OF
4 years. gaily dressed in the fragments OF an
old blue shirt, There's q big brute OF g
shark r and all hands start up and gaze ia a
stat e ofintense excitementO on Mr.. Sharkee as be
lazily swims away, not too quickly tho as he
has evidently observed our gallant young
mariner ar aged in the shirt and seems some
what anxious to adopt him as his own. Then
follow shark yarns Marryats and tennlmofe
Cooper's are mere nursery rhymes compared
with these "Facs.' We sail on and as the sun IS
about to sink below the horizon, sight the steam
GF lar away W WlIluWdlOs 4 IL " /. - NNA
now looks a bit dubious, but the comforting
assurances, that the steamer will run down to
meet the boat inclines us to take a hopeful
view Of things, and we begin to pull ourselves
tooatber preparatory to making an appear
ance IN the saloon; continuing lacking with mon
orauons regularity. the steamer appears as tar
of as ever and dinner ditto; as the "Runnlndown
dreckly sah'' does not seem very imminent
our Commander pipes all hands to grub, The
bread and salt fish is shared out and silently
and seriously bolted; presently Sonny" Is
commanded to pass up The water-AIth0ugh
we have still hopefully re srved our now
thoroughly sharpened appetite for the saloon,
tire sound of s'pars up'de watah' is welcome,
and we brace up with the intention Of gettlpS
first swig from the deniiohn, even if 1t be a
bit brackish. the stiff trades has made our
throat wonderfully dry. Wat watah? replies
SONNY The water in the demlJohn1 says
the kIpper. "Der amt no 70 Watah IN dc boat
dem" replies Sonny Wat says our Justly
indignant and incenssd skipper mo 10 watah3
70 tol do capn dem, dar wore Watdh III Gle boat
wen axt yo'.' "Yus" EepHes ''oonny me
did tell um sob, an din 70 no fob see Wen rs
pump it out" The shades Of night closed IN
on this scene and a quicker jumping OF the
boat told us ne had drawn clear OF the land
and were now in deep water. Dinner decided
Nv dubious 1t is 10 o'clock before we get
within hail Of the steamer, but out here it is
too rough and dangerous to board her and
very sadly we give our commanders PERMISSION
to about ship" ana make for home, Carrying
a spanking breeze we BOWL along through the
darkness at 8 knots; our troubles apparent
" will have a speedy end. But hold; not too
fast; there is yet another straw tor our long
suffering backs to bear; Just as we round the
point and the town lights gladden. orr eyes, we
eIioe gently into a calm. But such vexatlonS
have no longer power to arouse our wrath
our hearts are chastened by long suffering and
1.-THE little swearing the crew indulge in is not
strong. there is a mild vein running through
if suggestive of ..Oh l expected this All
effort must be made however to push on, and
whistling is resorted to with a win, Sonny,
who has been long out Of favor, here earns
general appreciation by producing. a sound
having a resemblance to a condemned toghorn.
This seemingly has the desired effect and we
force slowly a head and finally moor along
side the wharf as the clock strikes the hour
Of midnight. Dragging ourselves YEARLY and
painfully home we are greeted on the threshold
bv an important member of the family by
ooh! that's a spree you have been having.
Gentle reader. we have been up that way
since. But we now carry a basket which
NAV contain among other articles a bottle
labelled 'no-not-poison It's the old Captain
who insinuates, it's "Jeroboam."