Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1899-11-23
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DICK RODNEY; !
Or, The Adventures of !
An fton Boy.
ny JAMES GRANT.

BY JAMES GRANT

posed her crew. became for the time
the lions and oraces of the smoking
room and porch of the UNCOVERED tav-
ern whore IL Was tacitly agreed that
nothing could be said about Lord Dun
can, or the licking he gave these
Dutch luhbers off the Texel. in our
grandfathers' days.
! had never seen Dutch craft be-
fore thus the quaint aspect of this
schooner, with her deep waist, her bow
and stern which We're SO clumsy In
their form and strength, so exactly
alike, and tilted up till she resembled
q cheese cut in half her leeboards, her
+ brown, oak planks all bright with var
I uish, and her little cabin windows en-
/ circled by alternate stripes Of red,
green and white paint, all made her,
I to me, a source OF wonder: and | was
+ daily on board having obtained a free
4 entry. after the bestowal of some
schnaps q e., gin and water) upon the
/ captain. Jan van Zeeryogel, who told
/ me many strange tale of the North
sea, for he was n pleasant and COM
municative old fellow, having. as he
told me. a wife and children, who kept
his farm on the isle of Wolfersdyck,
near South Beveland, while he tempted
the dangers OF the ocean to dispose OF
its agricultural produce.
One night while the schooner was
still on the gridiron, but when her re-
pairs were nearly completed, was
with him in the little dungeon which
he called his cabin; darkness had set
in and the hour was ate-later than
| ought to have been abroad-for we
kept early hours at the rectory; but
the novelty of the situation, the old
Dutchman's stories. the fumes of his
meerschaum, and the effect OF some
peaches, which he gave me from a
large gall pot, wherein his wife had
preserved them in brandy, rendered
me careless as to how the time passed.
After a while I proposed to leave the
schooner and return hont, b.t Capt.
Zeervogel said that as he intended to
sleep that night on board and as the
crew were all ashore, he begged that |
would have the kindness to remain in
the cabin for few minutes until he
returned from the little tavern where
they we're located as he ha9 oome Or
! IL rs tn siye
u he tide will rise higher tonight
than usual" he added Il must have
the schooner made more secure by ad-
ditional warps. else there is no know
ing what may happen.
could not in courtesy refuse. though
in no way disposed to remain In that
gloomy little cabin. but he trimmed
the lamp anew, as If to make the place
more CHEEKY and, without waiting foi
| an answer, went on deck. | heard him
descend the side ladder; and as he
passed away, stumbling among the
logs and chips of the little dockyard
| | had the unpleasant conviction of be-
ing alone
NV watch told me 1t was now th'
time for supper-2Rd prayers at the rec
! tory, from which l I'D been too Ions
absent. Then vague em2aan o
: alarm came over me, as | expected ev
, cry instant to hear some unaccounta
: BILE sound, or to see something tha
might terrify me; SO, to gather "Dutcf
, courage" ! very unwisely took ont
or two more of Captain Zeeryogel'
peaches, which as already stated, wer
. preserved in brandy, and consequent.
were more potent in effect than tn
2 spirit itself.
I Dearly did ! pay the penalty of tha
( act of indiscretion
e | listened intently, but heard N
sound indicative of the captains re
e turn Once, there seemed to come