Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-11-17
BEFORE THE WIND.

| am landlubber of the first water,
if may be allowed the smile. My ia
miliarity with yachting is equal to my
personal acquaintance with prehistoric
man, and the more | endeavor to master
the subject the more hopelessly in
volved / become. But that does not
detract in the least from the pleasure
enjoy while upon yacht, nor
does my ignorance embarrass me.
have stood upon the sail yards and Won
dered why the sail didn't come down.
have sought to hoist the ensign to the
peak and left the rope - halyard, ]
should say-sO slack that in Il few min
utes the flag was dropped to halfmast,
and every captain in the harbor has
called to express his regret at the sad
occurrence. always throw cigar ashes
and such things over the wrong rail and
receive the words of the skipper re-
garding the matter with Christianlike
humility that well becomes me. Ii
fact, | have the true love of yachting az
heart and lightness of spirit that rises
superior to the difficulties with which &
Iubber has to contend and the sarcasm
explanation is necessary, because the
yachtsmen who read this story will
laugh at the easy way in which ga.
things wrong but write not for th.,
yacht race, for yachts and races arr
subordinate to the little romance in
which took hand.
Our heet-that is, the fleet of the
Deep Bay Yacht club-was ON its an
nual cruise up Long Island sound. was
guest upon the sloop Dawn. and had
the captain and owner not been great
friend of mine fear that | might have
been put ashore early in the cruise and
left to get home as best | could. A race
straight away across the sound was ar
ranged for the second day, and the boats
all lay at anchor in Blacklist harbor
off the little. town Oi Nuumeg. same
state There We're but two 40 footers
III the feet-the Dawn was one and the
Foam the other-and between the two
captains strong friendship and an in
tense rivalry existed. Until late in the
night we were discussing the race be-
tween our two boats, and heavy odds
were laid on each. There was Il good
breeze blowing early on the day of the
race, and we all tumlled upon deck
about 6 clock in the morning. | may
be allowed to state just here that the
crews of the boats were all amateurs,
and as | was superativo i'll that degree
did land duty whenever it was neces-
sary, so that about half past went
ashore to. repenish the water barrel.
The skipper rowcd me over to the land
ing place, where he was joined soon aft
er by the captain of the Foam, while
took man in tow to get the water.
While working thus, in very ordinary
clothes, Il horse and buggy can flying
down the road and when the driver
saw me he mistook me for boatman-
have since paldoned the mistake-it
was balm after being so long assailed
as lubber.
say" he cried, pulling up his
horse, have you boat? | want to get
over to Long Island right away" And
as he spoke he glanced nervously up
the road
Well, no., answered. Il am
aboard yacht.
Do you see him?" interrupted a
sweet voice from beneath the hood Of
the buggy and for the first time no
ticed IA girl within.
No-no. the man replied soothing
ly, and then he turned to Inc.
Can you not aid me?" he asked. 81
ann er-er''-
saw it in moment. The pair had
eloped, and papa was probably close be-
hind. A thought flashed through my
( mind, and | first ventured to ask, dc
you want linister?"
! Yes" the man answered, but
: must get into Long Island tirst-tht
old man is too near for fun.
"Oh, Henry" called the girl, and
1 hearing her voice again decided me.
Come" said, this way" and il
a moment the pair had left the buggy
and were following me to the dock
Charley. our skipper, stared as | came
up, but motioned the two in the boa
md in "A moment had told him of the
rase. 1t was just as | knew, and hi
tumbled in after me, leaving the cap
tain of the Foam to ask, More passen
gers? p 1t was the way he said it tina
hurt me, and frowned at him as h
stood smiling on the pier. AS the yaw
reached the Dawn a gun, which wa
the signal to get ready, sounded from
the flagship. and in "A minute the elop
ing pair were in the cabin, while W
were occupied with raising the anchor
The sails were hauled up, and just a
they filed saw the captain of the Foam
rowing out with stranger. gave tn
matter no thought, but busted mysel
with the minor duties of coiling rope
ETC., which had been assigned to me
until suddenly wondered whether tn
old man, the father of the girl, ha
not been taken aboard the other Yacht