Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1892-08-30
AN ADVENTURE. A
A Story That is Not Exactly a Sea
SERPENT Tale.

AN ADVENTURE.
A Story That is Not Exactly a Sea
Serpent Tale.
Written for the JOURNAL AND CouRIER.I
A young friend of mine, who is to be a
woman of letters some day, said to me
lately, "Why don't you write a sea ser
pent storyf I have never seen a good
one, though there have been so many
written.
said had never seen sea serpent
story. They had all been reports, stories
in one sense, but not tales. This was
true, but said 1t to show her that if I
did try my hand at 1t 1t would not be in
competition with any previous narrative
on the subject.
Now couldn't invent q sea serpent sto-
ry to save me from the poor house, but
can write a short history on the subject
that will not of course be as good as
though it was made up. This Is what
happened to me:
live in the city and my people live in
the land of Johnny cakes. When 1 can
get away from business I go down there
and spend week or go. 1t is a good
place to rest in because there is nothing
going on except church on Sunday, and
one can sleep through that If one gets in
the back part of the church.
Some times would 60 down to the sea-
shore, six miles distant, and have swim.
On one of these trips went over to lit
tie two roomed shanty some of my cous
ms were occupying on q narrow sand spit
which ran out from the main land at one
end and nearly reached it again at the
other, thus forming charming bay inside
it about four miles by three.
My cousins roost was midway between
pretty, ancient town at the mouth of the
bay and flock of summer hotels at the
other end, and both places were just far
enough away to be enchanting to look at.
They had cat-bost which served the
purpose of market wagon in the forenoon
and barouch In the afternoon and on
moonlight nights.
1t was delightful; no style; no fixing up
for anybody; always in old and comforta-
BILE clothes and always in hearing of the
restless surf
Many schooners passed no nearer than
the horizon, creeping along like ships in a
panorama, only much slower-so slow that
you could not see them move and only re-
allied that they were making eight or ten
knots when you looked in an hour or 60
and found them in a different place, OF
when going in opposite directions slowly
passed each other. At night you had to
look long time before you could make
| them out, even with the help of their
| lights, unless there was a moon, and then
| you watched for them to cross the silver
| path she had spread out to tempt you to
walk to her on. I soon get dreaming in @
place like that, and 1t was only after decid
| ing to go back to sea and rough it that IL
occurred to me to build a shanty for my.
self on the beach, which 1 was not long in
| making up my mind to do.
No one ever had q better start for G
comfortable summer home. don't mean
financially, but as regards experience.
noted carefully all the defects in the ar.
rsngement and location of my cousins
place, and it seemed to me that the princi
| pie one among them was their contiguity
to civilization and their accessibility to
1 visitors. These defects / resolved to rem.
| edy in my own house, and / succeeded
pretty we'll except that had to put NJ
with light house about two miles dis
tant. The place squstted on was on the
coast of Massachusetts,, and as wanted te
be near enough to a white road that
stretched away inland from the light
house for five straight miles and then
lodged behind hill and went ON fve
| more before 1t reached the nearest town,
L f, rrafr he vol
store wagon that came down twice a week,
| and the lighthouse could not be moved
| without ineurring considerable expense,
resolved to put up with the light-house
| aud what made it easier for me to come to
this decision was the fact that the light
house keeper was a retired sea captain oi
| about fifty winters and as grabbed as ar
elevated railway guard.
I got q carpenter from the town men
toned to come down and build me a two
room house, one room to sleep in with {
window in 1t, and one to live in with big
window and a door, and by the time ht
had finished the duds arrived. had the
carpenter make me a good big bunk.
tell you about this SO that you will know
how to economic when you build q sum
mer shanty yourself-and low one in th,
front room for divsn. The packing cas-.
my duds came In answered nicely for
table and cooked on an oil stove. hat
plenty of books and ! had Scraps, m,
bulldog. Bricktop named him Scraps be
cause he's always fighting. He's like al
Irlshman- never knows when he's licked
and therefore never is licked. No, Pu
Irish. I've often wondered about Scrap
though. He's firm friend If you get OF
the right side of him. That's Irish.
am not married, so don't know how b
would feel about having petticoats at tn
head of the government. But this stor
: is not about dogs.
The solid happiness and comfort tha
, was condensed into the few short weeks
spent in the only house I ever owned,
, diluted, would have spread out over sevs
raj years, and how grand it was to feel my
self landlord even though I couldn't d
any farming. liked to imagine as "a
on my piazza (Which ran around two side
of the house, and watched the ships tsoi
ing about over the shovelful shoals, tbs
owned all the land in sight, includin
the lighthouse which made believe wa
, the lodge.
The third time went to the light hous
the captain (whose nane was David Jonei
had the condescension to ask me how
, was ''makin' out" told him stil1 ha
my bearings, after which he unbende
: slightly. The next time he asked me In
side, and was 80 careful to remember m
nautical language, and not to say I ha
/ been to sea, that the old fossil quite soft
. ened and asked me to stay and "mess
with him, which invitation accepted O
! once. Scraps took kindly to the oaptail