The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1894-07-24
LOOK IN FIFTY"


in the experience he related. began his
tale thus:
"a good many years ago l was in
Cape Town, having been forced by ill
ness to quit my post as second mate OF
large ship bound to Bombay. A fort
night after the ship sailed recovered
my health and was fit for work.
81 remember one of those mornings
while 1 was hunting for berth. was
watching a Malay fishing boat sliding
through the water, with an occasional
burst of spray off her weather bow,
which arched q little rainbow for her
to rush through, when / was accosted.
l turned 1t was the port captain or
harbor master l cannot remember the
term by which his Office was distin-
guished. He had sailed with my father
some years earlier, and I had met him
on two occasions in England. He had
done me some kindness while l lay in
lodgings in Cape Town and had assured
me Of his willingness to help me find a
ship when l should be well enough to
go to sea. He was a Scotchman, with
hard, weather colored face and of a
dry arch expression of eye.
"D'ye see anything to fit YET? said he.
"'Aye, said /, "a plenty.
"'Well, now,' said he, you're the
very mon was thinking of not half an
hour ago. was in Adderley street and
/ met captain who was here last year.
His names Huddersfeld He's in
charge of colonial trader from a South
American port, with small consign
ment for this place, and is bound for
Sydney, New South Wales, where his
little ships owned, chiefly, believe,
by himself.
HE pointed to large three masted
schooner that was lying within 100
strokes of an oar, almost abreast of us.
She looked an exceedingly fine craft A
large Dutch ndiaman was rolling upon
the swell of the sea within a few cables
length astern of her, and just ahead rode
Russian auxiliary frigate very heavily
spared, with great cleaning windows
in her stern and a network of gliding
on either quarter, so that the blue brine
under her counter flashed as to the dart
of sunbeam whenever she lightly sway
ed Yet the schooner held her own in
all points as a picture of beauty and
was not to be dwarfed. The gilded but
tons of her trucks shone high in the
azure of that afternoon. She was paint
ed white, and a CLEAN of dark red, like
some cold, wet flash of sunset, broke
from her metaled bends whenever she
was moved by the infiowing heave of
| the water.
"When got ON board, 1 found the lit
tie ship very noble, flush decked YES
sci, with clear sweep of sand bright,
yachtlike pink running from the taffrail
to the eyes. The brasswork was full
of the stars of the western sunshine.
The glass of her skylights was dark and
shining Her ropes were Flemish coiled,
as though indeed she had been a man
of-war. Everything was clean and neat
| l guessed she was about 800 tons bur
den. Her crew had knocked off for the
day and were lounging about the wind
lass, two or three of them stripped to
the waist, washing themselves They
had a colonial air. This might have
been owing to their dress of check shirt
open at the breast, no braces, here and
there noleskins and here and there a
cabbage tree hat.
1.-THE second mate, a man whose name
j afterward ascertained was Curzon,
was walking in the gangway, smoking
pipe. / inquired if Captain Hudders-
field was ON board He asked me what
my business was, as though suspicious
of visit from stranger after working
hours. l was about to explain the reason
that had brought me to the schooner,
when Captain Huddersfeld himself
emerged through the little companion
way and stepped on deck, pausing mo-
ment, with the sharp of his hand to his
brow, to gaze in the direction of Cape
Town.
He was tall, geutlemanly looking
person, thickly bearded, the hair of
rich auburn. The skin of his face was
much burnt by the sun. His eyes were
of liquid blue, and when he approach
ed and directed them at me / seemed
to find something glowing and tender
III blC1llf az bAAOASh itO ntlG ttl
asst, man of strange, perhaps high,
but always honest, imaginings, dream
or. His age seemed about 40.
THAT'S the captain, said the sec
Dnd mate.
II lifted my cap and walked up TO
him. In few words l told him my
business, adding that / held not only
chief mates, but masters, certificate
of competency. He eyed me critically,
but with kindness, and nodded, with
something Of gravity, on my mention
ing the name of the port captain. After
we had exchanged few sentences he
took me into the cabin, a bright, breezy
little Interior aromatic with a guam
tity Of plants, which had evidently been
recently brought aboard, and cheerful
with mirrors and pictures, as though,
in short, this gentleman was in the
habit, when he went to sea, of carrying
his parlor with him, and bidding me
be seated he asked number of ques-
tions, all of which l saw with much
pleasure, by the expression of his face,
/ answered to his satisfaction.
1.-The interview ended in his offer
ing me the post of mate of the schooner
ON lump wage for the run to Sydney,
and early next morning l went aboard
with my chest and took up quarters in
the cabin.
ut breezed up ahead after we had
been at sea a few days The Cambrian
looked well to windward, but she was
still points off her course. Then again
the great Agulhas stream set us to lee
ward, and our progress was slow On
the 22d day of the month, we then be-
ing four days out from Table bay, the
weather blackened on a sudden in AN
afternoon in the north, the lightning
streamed like cataracts of violet flame
on those sooty sierras of storm, the
thunder rolled continuously, but il was
not till the edge of the electric stuff,
black as midnight, was over our mast
heads, with sea and sky dim and fright
full as though beheld in the deep shadow
of total eclipse of the sun, that the
hurricane took u.s.
1.-THE schooner lay over till her star
board shear poles were under, and then
it was deep enough TO drown man in
the lee scuppers.
''It was doubtful for some time
whether she would right and l was
clawing my way forward with some dim
hope of getting at the carpenters chest
for an AK for the weather lanyards when
the noble little craft suddenly rose buoy
ant with the long savage yell of the
gale in her rigging as she thrashed her
J lofty spars to windward