Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-09-21
A SAILORS YARN.

one Of the French liners which had just
come into port and lay off Staten Island
He had brisk, direct way of speaking
and used good language, rarely making
There was nothing on the water like
that when first went to sea, over 90 years
,-~ " - -~'l ''H'',~-- --~~r-+ = ~',i--~ -
do wonders" .
yes" said I, "a seaman's life is very
different now from what it was, as even
can remember
YES it's different, no doubt" he said,
"but we don't turn out such sailors as we
used to do You can hardly tell sailor
now from landsman or tramp"
After giving a wonderfully graphic pic
ture of an old time tar he stirred up some
memories and gave sketch Of the first
vessel he ever commanded. "She was the
Saucy Jack, square rugged brig" he
said, "of 500 tons, which was q goodish
sized ship for those days. She was built at
Sunderland for Barty Dowell, great ship
owner about that time. Let's see. She
was launched in 1928, and she was over 10
years old when first knew her. She had
been good bit in the Mediterranean trade
and was once or twice freighted by the
government to carry stores to Gibraltar.
In those days they used to send a few con-
victs to the rock to work on the fortifica-
lions, and if they behaved they were pref
ty well treated. was first mate, and our
crew was as good as ever sailed. They all
hailed from North OF South Shields and
were content to stick by their owners till
promotion came. The day before we We're
10 cos1 Ia hon, or1 40
captain went ashore to have good time
with some of the officers and he sent the
boat back, as the brig lay little over a
quarter of q mile from the shore, and the
captains friends promised to put him
aboard. The night was pretty dark,
though tho stars were out. A steady
southeast wind was blowing. The anchor
watch were huddled up by the bulwarks
for'ard asleep.
Il was aft, leaning over the compan-
ion hatch, enjoying pipe and watching
the lights ashore. There was one light
on land throwing long troubled line of
silver over the gentle swell, and my eyes
were fixed on this when saw something
dark break it. walked to the main rat
lines and stood there. Presently / was
sure that some one was swimming toward
the ship. went below, got couple Of
pistols from the captains berth and came
on deck again. / stuck one pistol in my
belt and held the other ready for use in
case of need Standing by the backstay,
distinctly saw the swimmer making ap-
parently for the bow of the ship. re-
moved my pipe from my mouth to my left
hand as l leaned over the bulwarks and
happened to turn my pipe so that the
spark fell out. The swimmer, no doubt
seeing the spark, stopped and turned and
IVAN toward me. waited until he got
close alonside, and then asked in a quiet
Tone Who are your He began to tread
water and said:
9 For Gods sake, throw me a rope.
They'll murder the captain.
You may be sure that 1 had rope
over the side in no time. The fellow
caught it, and l made it fast. He was up
the side in flash and sprang on deck.
Now, what's the matterH 1 asked. Then
between frequent gasps he told me that
some renegades had drugged the captain
to rob him, and that as he was struggling
against the effects of the draft they would
probably murder him rather than let him
escape them.
Give me some clothes, he said, for
he was shivering, and I'll go ashore with
you and lead you to the place.
Il reused up the men, selected four Of
them, told them to get out the boat and
be ready to row me ashore ut once, rs the
captains life was in danger. That was
enough to make them bestir themselves.
Then went below, bidding the fellow
follow, and l routed out rig for him. He
was naked and as 1.-THE and sinewy fell
low as you'd see in month of Sundays.
AS he was donning the toys asked, Why
didn't you rouse up the soldiers"
&" IF I'd attempted that he answered,
I should have been q dead man in a min
ute.
Il went on deck while he was dressing,
telling him to hurry. There were few
cutlasses in the poop, and each man armed
himself. BY the time the boat was in the
water, the young fellow was on deck, and
in a short time we were dashing through
the water to the shore. He directed us
where to land, and we were soon ashore
with the boat made fast. Now, then, l
said, lead the way But the fellow had
vanished as though the earth had swal-
lowed him up.
You may well believe that Twas aston
fshed, and SO were the men. We looked all
around, but could see nothing of him.
Presently we saw the glitter of a bayonet,
and going in the direction were challenged
by sentinel. 1 told him what had hap
pened, and he said, Why, the captain is
with Major Dash and other officers not so
yards from here 1t was on the sentinels
post, and he led the way, and in two min
utes found the captain alive and hearty.
AS soon as l told him the story he babe his
friends goodby, and we rowed him to the
brig.
when we got aboard, the first thing
the captain did was to go to the cabin and
look around. On entering his berth, he
found that his desk had been forced and
$40 in gold taken. Besides this, he
missed handsome gold watch and chain
presented to him by his owners and a sill
yer snuff box. Expecting something of the
kind, he had ordered the boat to remain
by the side of the brig. He dropped into
her and was rowcd ashore. There he learned
that though a search had been made for
the man he could not be found. Next
morning it was discovered that young
convict named Mackay had disappeared.
Being a bright fellow and evidently well
educated, the officers had taken fancy to
him and had induced the governor to al
low him to do light jobs around their
quarters. A small sailboat was missing,
and there was no doubt that the young
scamp had escaped in her and had proba-
hlv taken Tefuye with the Standards on