Evening star., 1898-07-30
THE OLD 'TARS DAUGHTER

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II was 'shipmates' Tor six years with old
Tom Ravenwood, one of the best known OF
the knotty. hard-swearing and hard-fght-
ing gunners mates of the old navy" said
a Washington man who put In long
stretch as a ships writer in the navy. Il
don't know whether Tom is still alive and
in the service, fbut + have feeling that
he is. for he Was as tough as a hickory
log. and 1 can't Imagine him passing in his
gear and getting himself sewed up in
hammock and Eheaved over the side. He
looked to me as If he would live for ever
the last time l saw him.
Tom couldn't read or write, and, as my
billet in the navy was a clerical one.
used to attend to his correspondence for
him. His correspondence consisted entirely
of letters to his daughter. who was in
convent in Mississippi. The child was
about fourteen years old when l first be-
came shipmate of Toms and began to
write his letters to her, and he had not
then seen her for over six years. He'd al
ways happen to be discharged on a foreign
station, and he always shipped over on
cruising vessel, and SO rarely made port
in the United States long enough to per-
NIT OF his visiting his little girl Tom had
long been through with his rip-roaring
times ashore when l met him, and he de-
voted more than three-fourths Of his gun
ner's mates pay to the support and edu-
cation OF his little one. whose mother, a
young FRENCH woman In New Orleans, had
died in giving her birth.
ON the foreign stations old Tom used to
come ait TO my office on the berth deck,
after an American mail had arrived and
been distributed to the men aboard, and
get me to read to him the little bundle of
letters mat always reached him from his
ittie s'ri. found 1t interesting to trace
the development of the child's mind as ex-
nlpited In these letters. At first they were
chlidishiy bland and commonplace, but as
tne years went on they grew more womanIy
ana cieVet ana filled with the thoughtful
ness of tender nature, and after awhile
as the girl passed into womanhood they
pecaHe SIMPLY beautiful specimens of the
epislolary art-sweet and frank and filed
WI ahectlon Tor the rough old tar, and
longing 10 see hlm--for she barely remem.
nered him. The paymaster, who forwarded
ehe ola man S drafts to the young woman
anu myself were the only men aboard that
Even s;s' knew y the old tiatfoot had a daughter
nving: The old man was mighty proud of
the girls letters to him and the afrection
contained in them. '''oA
She cert'nly do know how to spin
pam .alk' now don't she? he used to ask
me arter l read one of these letters II
never had no chanst meseIf but T aI,,s
nsgered on gfvin' tn little gal a chanst T.
StoM nei headpiece with enough O. this
I ueie oooh iearnin t do fur both of us when
sn gus eroWed up. An I'm glad she's
slad the little gals maxim headwav s,,ra
enough sure
- l hao always written the old mans
letters to his daughter just as he'd die
'neIh 10 me they'd have all been ex-
actly alike. My dear little gall he'd die
tate, we got into this port in the China
seas TWO watches ago, with a fair wind
ana no steam to push us along Your let
ters received You are a good little girl, 1
hno", fa Your old dad is going to try to see
dat-u
up OF cruise. Goodbye for the present,
Of course 1 altered this bit and put
httle more news into the letters
Inc gifl was bitterly disappointed when,
three years after ] began to write her
fathers letters to her. he announced that
ne q shipped over, as he had, for another
three-year cruise,s and that he wouldn't see
her Tor three years more; and, he added.
M swjtehed edid to men ths tors certain sure We
that thlee-yearss9 cruise, and the time pass
ed rapidly enough TIE young woman had
been sent to aHether educational instftu-
ten, and she looked forward to the day
when she could clap eyes upon her old
blCe-Jacket father. about a year before
the Wlnd-up of the cruise the old man ask
ed her to send Him a. photograph of her
self, but she begged Off, saying she wanted,
when she met him, toysee if he would know
her. II t.-
Mayhap. said the old man to me. th'
little ones groWkd up "a bit plain like and
dent want to send the pictur of a plain
ga to her old da.l-as r that 'ud make any
difference to mes o'"I
We'll, our ship pulled UP at the Brook
iyn navy yard just two days before the old
mans time was out. His daughter was to
meet him across the way in New York
There was big crowd of the relatives of
the officers and men aboard at the yard
dock when we pulled alongside. When the
plank was thrown out they focked aboard
Old Tom Ravenwcod and l stood at the
l. aF ln ~ - OIL -
coming aboard, neither of US expecting
anybody. A tail and very lovely young wo-
man of about twenty stepped lightly up the
gangway. She was such a thoroughbred in
appearance. and so singularly beautiful be-
sides, that the officer of the deck bowed
and scraped to her, thinking she was come
aboard to see one of the officers aft. The
young woman looked around in bewiider-
ed sort of way, and then her eyes caught
sight Of old Tom, with his sleeves rolled
up, showing the tattooed cruci1xion on one
knotted forearm and japanese dragon on
the other. The girl had had a tintype,
taken years ago, OF her father. Well, it
v as surely enough an affecting thing to see
the light that leaped into the eyes Of that
superb young woman, anu to see her glide
like flash up forward-to the surprise of
the officer of the deck-into the lump-mus-
cled arms of old Tom Ravenwood, gunner's
mate. The scene broke all hands up, can
tell you that. The fellows standing around
all coughed foolishly and in a choked sort
of way and looked off in the other direc-
ton. AS for the old man. after he had held
his daughter in his arms for minute or so
as embarrassed. and yet happy, as
a man could look-said he to me, knucxling
at his clear old eyes and trying to pry him
self loose:
LOOK a-here, mate, jest you keep an
eye on this bit O. cargo for me fur half
minit will ye, ontil l lay below an see
about them amnition hists?'
But the ammunition hoisrs' were too
thin a subterfuge. The old man didn't want
to make a show Of himself"