Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-08-12
So, as Joe westlake found that ba.

So, as Joe Westlake found that be. couldn't rest ashore, he looked abont nm and after awhile fell in with and purchased smart little cutter. which ne rechrlstened the Tom Bowling, out of admiration of the song which no sail. or ever sang more sweetly than he. IL was perfectly consistent with his tradi. t1ons as . man of war' 8 man that. havino bought his little ship, he should ann her. He equipped her with four small carronades and piyoted brass six pounder on the foreeastle. He then went to work to man her, but be did not very easily find crew. Joe was fastidious iD his ideas of seamen. and though some whom he cast his eve unon came very near to his taste 1t cost him a great deal eff trouble to discover the particular set of Jacks he wanted.
 Three at last he found-Peter Plum. Dob Robins and Tom Tuck. Joe was admiral. Plum, coming next, combined & number Of grades. He was captain. first lieutenant and boatswain Robins was the ships working company, and Tom luck cooked and was the all round handy man of the Tom Bowling.
 1t was MT. Joe Westlake's intention to live on board his cutter. He furnish ed his cabin plainly and comfortably and laid in . plentiful stock of liouor and tobacco As he twas to cruise under his own flag and was indeed an adni- ral on his own account, he conferred with his 1ilsG lieutenant, Peter Plum, on the question of 8 color What de- scription of flag should he fly at his masthead? They both started with the understanding that nothing under a fathom and a half in length was worth ho1sting- After much discussion it was agreed that the device should consist of very small jack ill the top corner, and in the middle crown with wooden leg under 1t, the timber toe being in both Westlake's and Plum's opinion the most pregnant symbol of Britan- nia's greatness that the imagination could devise
 Within 8 few months of his landing from the frigate out of which he had been paid MT, Joseph Westlake was again afoat, but now in smart little vessel of his own. She had been newly sheathed with copper and when she hee1ed over from the breeze as she stretched through the winding reaches of the river the metal shone like gold above the wool white line of foam through which the cutter washed, and lazy men in barges would turn their heads to admire her, and red capped cooks ill the cabooses of "ratehing" col Hers would step to the rail to look, and sometimes q party of gay and gallant cockneys, male and female, taking their pleasure i'll a wherry, would salute the passing Tom Bowling with 0 flourish of hands and pocket handkerchiefs.
 Never had old Joe been so happy i'll all his life. Of night he'd bring up in some secure nook, and after having seen everything all safe he'd go below with Peter Plum, and i'll the cozy interior of the little cabin, whose atmosphere was rendered speedily fragrant with the perfume of rum punch, which Joe, while in the West Indies, had learned the art of brewing to perfection, the two sailors would sit smoking their yards of pipe clay while they discoursed on the past, one incident recalling an- other, one briny recollection prompting an even salter memory. until their eyes grew moist and their vision dim i'll their balls of sight, whereupon they would turn ill and make the little ship vocal with their noses.
 It happened according to the usual methods of time that all Easter Monday came round, which, as we know, was the joyful anniversary of the death of the wife of the retired tailor, Sloper, whose villa, called I.abor's Retreat stood upon the banks of the Thames near Erith To fitly celebrate this hap py day Mir. Sloper had invited three