Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-08-31
THE CALIFORNIANS,
BY JULES VERNE.
Copyright 1891 by the Authors Alliance.
CHAPTER L
THE DREADNAUGHT.

CHAPTER L
THE DREADNAUGHT.
There are two chances to one that |
friends who are about to be separated |
by n long voyage will never see each |
other aCain-those who are left behind |
may be missing upon the return; those |
who set out may never come back
again. But no such thought as this
bothered the heads of the seamen who
were busily engaged in getting tho
Drratnaught ready for sea on the morn
ing of March Is, 1878. On that day the
DrradnauEht, John Allaire, master,
WAS to set sail from the port of San
Diego, Cul., on voyage through the
seas of the northern Pacific.
The Drcadnaught, threc-master of
nine hundred tonnage, belonged to that
type of clipper-built ships which the
Americans use SO advantageOusly in
their foreign trade and which in point
of speed nearly rival the best steamers
in their merchant marine. Such n fine
ly-built vessel was the Dreadnaught,
and so admirably commanded, that not
man of her crew would have con-
scented to ship on any other vessel even
with an assurance of higher pay. Every
heart throbbcd, every breast was filled
with that two-fold confidence based upon
the certainty of having shipped on
good vessel under u good captain.
The Drcadnaught was about to leave
port on her first voyage, excepting, of
course, her trial trip, for account of her
owners, the shipping house of uollister
& Co., of San Diego. Her port of des-
tination was to be Calcutta, which she
WAS to reach by way of Singapore, with
u cargo of American manufactured
| goods, and upon her return voyage she
| was to bring II consignment of East
| Indian merchandise for one of the Cali
| fOrnian ports.
Capt. John Allairc was Il young man,
| Just twenty -ninc, with an open, manly
countcnancc, full of force and decision.
| He was endowed to n high degree with
| moral courage, so superior to physical
courage-tho 1.-TWO hours after mid
night" courage as Napoleon called it,
| that is to say, the kind which can
calmly face the unforeseen and gather
| strength in emergencies. 1t would be
| difficult to imagine finer specimen of
| physical manhood. The flash of his
dark eyes, the rudty checks, the broad
shoulders and archcd chest, the great
| strength of his hands, the springy,
| elastic tread, all bctokcncd the pres
Cnce of an iron will inside of an iron
body. And yet John Allaire was kind
and generous to fault, ready almost
instinctivcly to sacrifice his life for n
follow creature He had so much of
the heroic in him that it seemed only
q matter of course for him to perform q
brave act,and he had given an earnest of
this while still a lad by saving the lives
of several of his playmatcs. In after
years this instinctiyo devotion ripencd
into matter of faith with him and set
its indcliblc impress upon the mans
character.
John Allaire had taken u wife few
years previous to the sailing of the
DrcadnaughU-a Miss Molly Manson
an orphan belonging to one of the best
families In San Diego. The young girl's
fortune was q modest one, but quito in
= keeping with tho young mans position,
that of u mate on one of the llollister
fleet of merchantmen But there was
good reason to assume that Molly
would some day or other inherit largo
fortune from Il rich uncle, Edward
Manson, who was IL largo land spccula
tor and mill owner In tho western part
of Tennessee. In the meantime there
were two people to support; yes, three
for little Walter, Wat, as pet name
had come into the world the first ycal
, of their marriage; therefore the cap
| tain-and the captains wife agreed
with him-couldn't think of giving VI
the sea just yet. Later he would deter
mine what would be the best thing 70
him to do, either after Molly had be
come an hcircss or he had grown rich il
the service of Ilullistcr \, Co.
Anyway, his career had been Il bril-
liant one, and he now found himsel
/ captain of splendid clipper ship ut al
d age when most of his associates wcr
. nothing more than first or sccon
> mates. But the fact is his splcndit
(, qualifications were universally conccd
e ed and it would lave been hard to lin,
~ q more popular man than Capt. Affair
. either in San Diego or in any other ca.
iforniun port. Tho personal drawer
displayed by him in rcscuing shiT
wrecked crow on ono occasion, and i
his skill ana tcnacity of purpose in G.
frcting the salvage of valuable carg
abandoned by master and scamcn, ha
made his nnmc known to merchants IN
shippers all along the coast.
Tho firm of IIOllistcr &, Co. offcrc
him the command of the Drcadnaugh
r which was all ready to be Launched
Allairc had accepted without tt
slightest hesitation, for he felt that l
WAS qualified to fill the position, ar
had been thcroupon authorized to pic
- his officers and scamcn, such was Il
perfect confidence which the house hi
in him. 1t was under these circur
stances that the Drcadnaught w;
about to mako her first voyage und
ar the command of Capt. John Allaire.
- Tho sailing of this splendid nc
clipper ship was quite an event. TT
firm of IIollistcr & Co. very justly G
l., joycd the reputation of being one of Il
wcalthicst and most reputable shippir
. houses In San Diego, thanks to the wi
administration of it's affairs by Villa
IIollister, q man respected by his col
petitors and beloved by his FRIEND
,SI Everyone was delighted when 1t |
came known that he had put John /