The herald., 1894-11-02
A SEAMAN'S STORY.

and the sweet melancholy Of southern
twilight lay upon the island, whose
profile, darkly outlined against the SAT-
from hued sky, was set in an amethyst
| frame, the deep and luminous violet Of
the sea. Briefly, the tropio twilight is
short. Its silhouette hung there between
the two immensities of sky and sea.
Then the jewel colors of wave and cloud
and wood draped island vanished A
velvety blackness covered all. One by
one the stars appeared not in their mid
night glory, but tremulous tiny points,
dim as rushlights swept by the wind.
On the island the trees were alight
with firefiies. These, too. fliclkered faint
ly, as though uncertain Of their power
to shine. In the half light the great
ships sails, purpled by shadows, took
fantastic shapes, but very soon the moon
leaned out of cloud and cleared up
the mystery. The sky overfiowed with
light A silver ship sailed silver sea.
Twilight's dusky veil had been drawn
aside by the fingers of night.
On the spar deck Of the Mooseilauke
Seamen Bill Williams and Sam Woods,
Apprentice Stubs and the Jack of the
Dust were matching experiences. Moved,
it may be, by the mysterious influence
of moonlight, these men Of discipline
spoke freely of love. A naval "Decam-
eron" might have been taken down from
their lips. The boatswain's mate lis
tened without commenting Old Slater
commented without listening. From
time to time he left his messmates to
lean over the rail. Fixing his eyes ON Go
nave with that interest which we give to
something which marks an event in our
lives, he wagged his head 30 knowing
ly that Stubbs and Dusty-men Of one
poem, so to speak-were visibly envious.
At length the old seaman took his place
among them. He began at once to speak:
''Hev / ever tol ye of'n adventure
me an tho executive he'd on thet ther'
islam"
"Give us the first line. Mr.. Slater
and We'll tell you, replied the Jack of
the Dust jauntily.
''Ketch a-hol O. yerself, Dusty" rec
commended old Slater. "Et amt no
comic piece Et's bout gala little
bit Of er gal-yaller's gol."
The Jack of the Dust's expression
changed. He had but just begun the
study of the eternal feminine,' and
his desire for phenomena was still un-
satisfied.
Fire away" he said cordially. 81
guess it's good one this time.
"Doyou mean the Mooseilauke's first
luff?" questioned Stubbs.
ether same" old Slater replied.
''That porpoise!" exclaimed the Jack
of the Dust
''He wuzn't no porpoise, then, lad, I"
said the story teller. ''They called i'm
ther dandy ensign'-he wuz Ensign
Fitz in them days-an Gentleman
jack an Han some Jack, an he wuz
purity near all thet fer he wuz clear
pink'n white. He hedn't no airs, an he
wuz plucky as the mex one. Icouldn' t
never count fer 'im' Old Slater low
cred his voice. II couldn't count fer
i'm in emmy way, 'xcept thet ther Lord
had han at i'm fore they ketched i'm
at Annapolis. amt sayin but what he
wuz onreliable's they make 'em emmy
|
-better'n n we be now-fer time he's
took often me an put on ter him. Me an
him he'd been on ther Bender two year,
an one cruise in these ere waters the
skipper--no sailor man't all he wuzn t
took ct inter his blame ole head ter
come up here from Port O. Prince, whar
we wuz havin more fun than nuff, fer
gun practice. No matter bout what we
done. Though I rec'lec' our divis'n
cap'n got'n eye blowed out an seed
more'n ever after thet, ct havin
quick ned his Imagination. One mornin
Fitz he come ter me an seq, I've got ter
get out er this.
I'm goin Shore shootin, sez he.
Git leave an come long, Slater. Mebbe
| we'll strike sumthin.
81 knowed he wanted me ter pull the
boat, SO got leave an we went Shore
an shot will roun thar erwhile; then he
got nuff an proposal er bite of the ra-
tions I'd fetched. set 'em out under
big COCO palm, an Fitzy he got conf
Dental over mess an begun ter talk bout
the creole gal he'd got 'quainted with
in Port o. Prince. -
"What was she like, Mr.. Slater?' in
quired the Jack of the Dust eagerly.
Like 'em ALL" old Slater replied
grimly. "But thet amt nuther here
nor thar. AS wuz a-sayin, Fitz he sed
he loved 'er 'madly' an lot more tibet
I 1nowed by heart, fer he loved easy an
of'en in them days an swore he'd make
'er Mrs. Fitz ef he had ter give up his
family, his mother havin given I'M
warnin thet she wouldn't hev no furrin
graft on ter the Fitz tree. While he
wuz a-ravin we hearn sumthin an looked
roun. Thar she stood''
"The creole?" interrupted the Jack
of the Dust
"No, the yaller gal, old Slater an
swered, "lookin like er leetle gol stat
yure in er garden, with all ther green
stuff back OH her, she was jes' SO slim
an still l reck'n she wuz bout twel'
year ole. -
ga kid" exclaimed the Jack Of the
Dust.
Don't ye go a-jumpin, Dusty" said
| old Slater. "She wuz out er the nu'-
B'ly."
'"They ripen early in these 'ere lat
tudes, Dusty. They don't hev nuthin
ter keep 'em back, which ever edication
'-'ill an too many strings roun ther
wais'," Bill Williams remarked, with
the air of reformer.
An, o11 TI1oU 1Or, u