Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-01-24
BEFORE THE WIND.

BEFORE THE WIND.
am a 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 III 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 a 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 we'll becomes me. In
fact, have the true love of yachting at
heart and a lightness Of spirit that rises
superior to the difficulties with which
lubber has to contend and the sarcasm
that is freely poured out to him. This
explanation is necessary, because the
yachtsmen who read this story will
laugh at the easy way in which l get
things wrong, but write not for the
yacht race, for yachts and races are
subordinate to the little romance in
which took a hand.
Our feet-that is, the fleet of the
Deep Bay Yacht club-was on its an
nual cruise up Long Island sound. Twas
a guest upon the sloop Dawn, and had
the captain and owner not been great
friend Of mine foar 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 ut anchor in Blackfish harbor
off the little town Of Nutmeg, same
state. There were but two 40 footers
in 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 a good
breeze blowing early on the day of the
race, and we all tumbled upon deck
about O'Clock in the morning. may
be allowed to state just here that the
crews of the boats were all amateurs,
and as was superlative in that degree
| did land duty whenever it was neces-
sary, so that about half past Z went
ashore to replenish the water barrel
The skipper rowed me over to the land
ing place, where he was joined soon aft
er by tho captain of the Foam, while ]
took man in tow to get the water.
While working thus, in very ordinary
clothes, horse and buggy came flying
down the road, and when the driver
saw me he mistook me for boatman-
have since pardoned the mistake-it
was balm after being 10 long assailed
as a lubber.
IL say" he cried, pulling up his
horse, "have you a boat3 | want to get
over to Long Island right away" And
as he spoke he glanced nervously up
the road.
"Well, no." answered. II am
aboard yacht.
do you see him." interrupted a
sweet voice from beneath the hood of
the buggy, and for the first time I no.
ticed girl within.
Mono, the man replied soothing
ly, and then he turned to me.
"Can you not aid me?'' he asked. II
am er-er"- -
saw it in a moment. The pair had
eloped, and papa was probably close be-
hind. A thought flashed through my
mind, and / first ventured to ask, "Do
you want minister"
yes" the man answered, but !
must get into Long Island first-the
old man is too near for fun"
"Oh, Henry" called the girl, and
hearing her voice again decided me.
Come" said, this way" and in
moment the pair had left the buggy
and were following me to the dock.
Charley, our skipper, stared as | came
up, but rnotioned the two in the boat
and in moment had told him Of the
case. 1t was just as | knew, and he
tumbled in after me, leaving the cap
tain of the Foam to ask, More passen-
gers?" 1t was the way he said it that
hurt me, and frowned at him as he
stood smiling on the pier. As the yawl
reached the Dawn gun, which was
the signal to get ready, sounded from
the flagship. and in a minute the elop-
ing pair were in the cabin, while we
were occupied with raising the anchor.
The sails were hauled up, and just as
they filed l saw the captain Of the Foam
rowing ont with stranger. gave the
matter no thought, but busted myself
with the minor duties Of coiling rope,
etc., which had been assigned to me,
until suddenly ! wondered whether the
old man, the father Of the girl, had
not been taken aboard the other, yacht.