Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-12-14

J and take off half a dozen of your best
hands in irons, why, perhaps you'd m
derstand better.
That was what they were after
with this same whaler I'm telling you
about. And the skipper, he knew it.,
just as well as if he'd seen it in print.
The Lowestoft lad was standing look
Ing over the weather taffrail. and he
says, guess ny goose is cooked now
The mate of the whaler says, Yes, my
lad, If those Britishers hear you talk
two words with that burned English
accent Of yours, they'll have Won in
thelr long boat as sure as pixies isn't
boathooks.' Shall hide. sir?' saws the,
lad. That's none of my business saws
the mate. If you're going TO hide,
don't tell me where to find YOU. that's
all And the mate turns his back and
walks off, and the fo-castle lad sinks
down below.
Well, the frigate sent her long boat
on board the whaler and took half
dozen Irish seamen. While the two
ships lay to, the frigate drifted stern
toward the whaler, and the Yankee
lads could see the name on her stern
IN gilt letters, with his gracious high
ness King Georges lions and crowns
H. NJ. S. Peacock
oh, you think you know that name,
Ell? Hold on till I tell you about that
/ LoWestoft lad. No, the Britishers didn't
get him-not much
The captain of the whaler didn't
see anything of that boy at the muster.
nor yet the first nor the second mate
But before the Britisher cleared off
they had to see the ships books. and
OF course, there was the youngsters
name as plain as you like. Then they
began hunt high and low for their
missing boy, although the captain
sWore the boy was born at Nantucket
ana his father was a well-known citi-
zen OF that port. But right in the
middle of the argument there was a
splash on the lee side of the whaler and
shout, Man overboard,' So they
lowered boat. But it was no good.
the second mate came back and re-
ported that the lad-the very lad thew
were all trying to find-had gone down
the third time, and they couldn't find
his body-the sharks must have taken
it. So the British officer remarks
That's what comes of trying to dodge
the kings service And with that he
takes himself off and goes to tell the
edlfying story to his shipmates aboard
the Peacock
WAS that lad eaten by those sharks?
Not much. What's the use of fore
chains? What's the use of a dolphin
striker-eh?
by the time the Britisher had
sneered off and gone and the crew of
the whaler had about gotten through
over their messmate that the
cruel sharks had eaten, that Lowestoft
lad was good and dry. Only, no doubt,
he was little cramped with hanging
on the fore brace and hugging the
dolphin striker of the whaler. How
ever, when he saw that the danger was
all over, he just crawled in over the
bow taffrail with kind of a sheepish
grin on his face. And there you are.
"Glad to see him? Of course they
were. 1t was all the skipper could do
that would have attracted the attention
of the British frigate and brought her
back on them
But from that time on the Lowest
oft boy was prime faVorite on board
of that whaler, can tell you, and he
might have come to be a whaling skip
per himself if it hadn't been for two
things.
well, one thing was the lad had
set his heart on a girl that lived up the
coast this way bit. She was after
ward my mother, it so happened. Yes,
that how's I came to get the story.
The lad had the honor to be my father
in later years.
Then another thing was he wanted
to get whack at the British for what
they Gid to him. 1t appears he didn't
like the notion Of taking a swim among
the sharks every time a British ship
ran across his ship. So, to avoid that,
be SHIPPED aboard a United States war
ship, and the name of that ship was
the Hornet-see?
so the next time that lad saw his
gracious royal majesty's ship the Pea
cock, why, he didn't jump overheard,
nor have to swarm up the fore chains
and the stays of the hornet, nor hang
on to dolphin striker. But on the
contrary, ne stood by on the main deck
and handled a breeding Of broad
side gun, and had the pleasure OF hol-
lering with his Yankee messmates
when the British ensign went down
and the stars and stripes went up
above it.
That's one reason why / have
kind of family prejudice in favor OF
those old-fashioned jib-booms and dol
phin strikers You may think it funny
in me, but hate to see vessel that
hasn't a Jib-boom. But, mind you, you
mustn't think that's the only reason 1
have for sticking to dolphin strikers
because my father stuck to one. | can
tell you things that happened in my
own experience.
s'But there. That's enough of yarn
for one afternoon, isn't it?'-Augusta
Prescott.