Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1893-04-27
UGLY jim.
Els Kind Heart Under Cover of a
Rough Coat.

max hcuru bllc cry Oh All
hands on deckl" beloved down tho
to'castle, the scurry of feet, the hoarse
command: "All hands aloft to shorten
saill Quick, lads, for your lives!" and
had bounced out of my berth, jerlSed
into my clothes and tumbled up tho
companion-wny to the slippery deck.
what was doing aboard the ship?
Well, by profession am doctor and
by occupation rambler. Not that It
Is part Of my business MS doctor TO
ramble; but you know, doctors mis-
sion is to try to restore natures Jewel.
health, and ], being doctor (as said
beforc), was endcavoring to do my
duty to myself and find that which |
had studied hard to be able to restore
to others So there was standing, or,
rather, trying to for the northeast
gale nearly blew me off my feet), on
the quarterback of the little brig Jen-
ny Lind, bound from Liverpool to Que
bee Horatio, wasn't it cold! And the
sharp sleet, driven hard before the
gale, seemed like sandblast cutting
the gravestones for the poor chaps
who were to be that night laid for their
last rest, "rockcd in the cradle Of the
deep"
"This Is q fearful night" say to
the man Mt the wheel, and his answer
of AYE, aye, sir" comes through teeth
set as wise. With feet planted, or
rather, rooted to the deck, body bent
forward, eyes trying hard to make out
the canvas he cannot see, he moves
only as the orders shouted through
the trumpet come family to him;
Hard starboardr' STEADY" Ease
her littiei" straining hard at the
wheel to put 1t port" or 'starboard''
as is ordered, and between his white
lips growing back his AYE. aye, sirl''
BY the fitful flicker of the pinnacle
lamp l sec his face and know him to be
Jim Peters, the hardest man IN the
crew. Nobody liked him or would
have anything to do with him. He
was not n prepossessing object to look
at. His face had as much sociability
and kindness in 1t as tombstone.
Heavy, square jaw; large mouth; eyes
black, or rather, one eye, for large,
red scar running across his forehead
and down his left cheek back of his
ear took that eye along with it; n
shaggy head of sandy hair and I'M
kcmpt beard did their part in his make
up OF ugliness. | said nobody would
=, nnuth,np 20 In xx,tfh h,r. I'll
take that back, for there was one
aboard who pitied and tried to be
friendly to him. lie was the ships
boy. a nice, likely lad, good-loolSing
and smart and a sailor, every inch of
him. There was one thing about Jim,
however, which none could get back
of, and that was he was strong as an
OK and as good sailor as ever trod q
deck. He was the only man aboard
who could have held the wheel alone
in such night. On we drive, reel
and then a plunge, and the little brig
comes out of the trough of the sea
and shakes herself and then leaps on
ward.
What's that cry for'dp Jim starts,
and see his face pale, as with all his
mighty strength he puts the wheel to
port
lizard, Jim, hard, down." comes a
faint voice, and the captain comes run
ming aft. You did well, Jim, but your
three times to port were too late to
save her, for with sickening, CHASTITY
crash she strikes and commences to
settle rapidly. A rough hand grabs
my arm and deep voice grows:
''Its the ice, doctor; jump for it
jump for it,"
Before can do so, am taken off
my feet; and the next moment / feel
myself going through the air; then a
sudden stop, and find myself on n
field of drifting ice. turn tothanls my
delivercr, and find 1t was Jim whose
clear head and strong arm had saved
me. / try to thank him, but he says,
shortly: I'D done it by the ships
dog, doctor, as soon as yc, had he been
as handy" Nevertheless shake hands,
and say q few words to him, as he
turns on his heels and joins his mates
straining their eyes to pierce the black
ness and see the little crafts last
plunge. Like bird whose wings tut
ter and then drop, her canvas shakes
and she dives, never TO come up. The
crew sadly bid her farewell and even
grouty Jim says: "Good-by little 'un. "
You folks ashore can't realize the fear
that came over us as the waters closed
over the little craft that had been to
us our home, our "all in all" A feel
ing of dreadful loneliness thrilled us as
through the inly darkness we tried TO
read the expression in our companions
faces.
mentioned it was cold, but words
are inadequate to properly convey the
lev intensity, now that the blood which
had been quickcned by the strain aud
excitement had become normal Added
10 the bitter cold was the chill of fear.
We drew close together to diagnosti-
cate our case. Naturally we looked
to the captain for advice, and when
asked what we should do. he said,
tersely:
'Stick here till morning. Then we
can get our bearings, and shape our
course accordingly"
Now, when the brig stuck, we had
had close call, and so had chance to
save nothing but what we stood in.
The captains advice was excellent as
far as il went; but to stay where we
were, huddled together like SO many
frightened sheep, meant certain death,
and the dawn, as it broke, would fall
UNDECIDED on fifteen frozen corpses
that, a few hours before, had been the
crew of the little gallant Jenny Lind.
Jim now came to the front, and, in his
rough, surly way, said: AS how I've
made an observation OF thee here
parts, and / calculate there is room
enough to move round in, provided you
fellers have brains enough to do 1t
We accordingly acted on his sugges'
tion. and Jim at our head as pilot we