Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-12-23
A Christmas Turkey.

an aged sailor to the group OF Seamen
who surrounded him as he sat upon
the end of an old spar on South street
in New York
The ancient mariners name was
Jack Brown, and as he had followed
the sea as boy and man for over fifty
years and had cruised in every part
OF the world the group listened In re
spectful silence, well knowing that
when old Jack Brown started to spin
yarn it was sure to be worth hear
ing.
cit was away back in 1910, and |
was little more than youngster then
only about 49, [ had bunked aboard
the jolly Rover; but, mates, she did
not prove to be what her name indi-
Gated. We left this port for Melbourne
weathered Cape Horn as safe from
Davy Jones' locker as a mountain
mile inland, and all was smooth goin'
until we were weeks sail into the
south Pacific. Then a storm struck
us that sent US scuddin' along under
bare poles like Mother Carey's chick
en- before a cyclone.
1--we run afore many a gale, mates,
but that hurricane could give points
to any of 'em. One minute the jolly
Rover would plunge out of sight into
big wave, and the next she would
seem to be perched like the ark OH
Mount Ararat of water. The gale blew
iOr1o+
pause All we could do was to let her
run. Suddenly she struck with
shock that made every tim Der creak.
l was below, but 1 rushed on deck, ex-
pecting the ship would go down. An
instant later a big wave came over
the rail, washed me overheard and
swept me on and on. I kept my head
above water part Of the time, every
moment expecting to be dashed agin'
the rocks. To my joy, | was washed
up on sandy beach. Luckily [ had
strength enough left to get up and
run inland a few feet before the next
wave caught me.
ebay was just breakin', and as L
looked around | saw Captain Stout,
Second Mate Bill Fry and Jim English
crawlin' out of big wave and helped
them up the beach.
'Look!7 yells Fry, shakin' the wa
ter from his eyes. There she goes!"
GAS we glanced in the direction of
the Jolly Rover she staggered like
some gigantic animal with mortal
wound and sank beneath the waves.
We watched the beach for an hour,
but not another man came ashore
Every Jack Tar of 'em was drowned.
Then we started inland to explore the
place. We didn't feel at all at ease,
mates, because Capt. Stout figured as
how we must be on one the smallest
of the Solomon islands, which We
knew was inhabited by the toughest
lot of cannibals and head hunters in
the Pacific.
eve realized that we were dead
men if we were captured, and we kept
a sharp lookout for the cannibals
while we were taking in the lay of the
land. We saw many cocoanut and
breadfruit trees, but the island was
apparently uninhabitsad. [ say ap
parently because about h If IN hour
after we landed a dozen ugly tat
tooed savages leaped upon Us from
the bushes. knocked one of 'em off
his legs before big warclub brought
me to the grass, and Stout, Fry and
English had no better luck. Inc sa-
wages were armed with clubs, bows
and arrows and bone pointed spears,
and their hair was thick and bushy
and was stuck full of sticks for hair
pins.
eve were all bound hand and foot,
and then the savages carried us to
village near by, where we were
thrown into hut and guarded by two
big black fellows armed with clubs.
"Mates, says English, did you no.
tice what was hangin' up against the
hut next to us?' We all said, NO.
WELL says he, lit was the flesh OF
human beings, and, as Stout feared
| these fellers with clubs is caanibals.'
C IF they are, our goose is cooked,
and-and so are we,' the captain says
with hollow sort of a laugh. Blast
my eyes, he says, If tomorrow amt
Christmas day too! Perhaps they are
goin' to have US help 'em make their
turkey dinner a success We all
shuddered, and Jack Brown for one
thought he had seen New York for
the last time. We lay in the hut all
day and the following night. The
savages fed us very well, and while
we enjoyed the mess we couldn't help
thinkin' that the black villains were
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