The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1900-02-23

the bunt. The shot from the Sprite had
reduced the head cloths to lib and stavseil.
and yet so impressed was I that we were face
10 face with impending disaster that low
cred and, after a fashion, slowed the jib.
The more l worked the more l felt the
necessity, and, though ] was on fire to re-
turn to the cabin, / held away and turned
my attention 10 the great mainsail which
was hurting TO and fro, the subdued thun-
der OF Its thrashing bunt and quick patter
OF It's reefing points playing out of the mvs-
FERROUS darkness overhead like the sounds
OF a distant storm. Alone l double reefed
that canvas, though l remember very little
OF It, the only thing coming to my mind be-
ing the horrible smooth inkiness of the
water beneath me when l crawled out on the
boom 10 pass the earring and haul taut.
Though my hands worked on deck. my 6eart
was below, and Il was with deep breath
Of satisfaction that saw the last of more
than an hours hard labor Casting of the
main sheet, that l might not be taken IN
aware, l gave a glance at the light on the
Sprite, still lying on our quarter, and then
went below, filed with a mixture of hope
and dread.
McCary was sitting by the side of the girl
as l entered. He looked up before I was
fairly of the steps, and said in a surly
voice:
'Ye had best be no niggard with the
whisky; pass it out"
What do you fnd?" I asked.
Shock" he answered shortly.
"And naught else?'
"Be not so d-n quick" he replied.
There may be enough else inside, l know
not. Outside there's a nasty bit of blow on
the mob and a fractured clavicle There's
the shock TO nurse, but If all's well within
she'll mend in a few days. tt was a narrow
escape she has had! How came she here?"
lis a long story, and one with mighty
/ little to tlatter your side OF the fight, my
friend" / answered. Let that pass. If
you can save both these children, and VIII
| settle down ashore and swear by congress,
III see that your fortunes made as a doctor.
You viii be a rare handl"
III see ye and yer congress id first"
he returned with an ugly scowl. what I
lay hand on, be it rebel or loyal do me
best with. III do it here. l have little
against the ike of Gertrude King. She is a
true lass"
That's well, I answered as went TO the
locker for the whisky. but Gertrude is
flying like myself from Clinton; her loyalty
is to her country, and not, as you think, to
| George III. The title of rebel is one TO be
proud Of" And with this I handed him
the bottle which he took with a logged air,
pouring therefrom dram which would have
/ been more than respectable for man.
watched him closely as he put it to the
girls lips. He held it there until a small
quantity had disappeared, then, as though
10 longer able to restrain himself, he lifted
the remainder to his own and drank it in
a single gulp.
was about to jump on him, when down
the open companion way there came faint
wailing followed by a roar that grew into a
shrek appalling in its intensity. It was the
first howl of the great tempest of rs, and,
turning, 1 made for the companion. Ere
/ was halfway to the deck we We're laid over
TO larboard in a manner that for a moment
prevented my further progress. A mighty
, gush of damp wind struck my face as
hung on TO the rail, and before l could grip
my way hand over hand up the ladder the
| schooner righted and hung on an even keel.
! trembling like a suddenly afTrighted animal.
In an instant l was at the wheel. As
/ quickly as the squat came it passed, but /
knew the weight that must be behind it.
/ Well it was that l had reduced sail and let
| go the sheet, for in such a sudden blast we
would have been thrown so low that the
cargo would have shifted and the end come
in the twinkling of an eye.
As near as I could guess the first rush of
/ air had been from out the southeast, but the
| whole gale that followed struck us fairly on
/ the bow, and, in spite of my jamming the
helm hard over, / think for a space the
schooner made direct sternway. Without a
sail drawing, the din of the thrashing canvas
| drowned al other noises, and in this fashion
we hung in irons until it appeared that the
mainmast would be shaken out of the yes
sci. l could not man the wheel and staysail
/ sheet together, and the former ! dared-nOt
| leave; but the wind settled my dilemma, for
after q time, and when l was getting des-
| perate, 1t whipped point TO larboard, and
in the half glimmer that now came from the
sea, which looked like dish of froth, saw
/ the foot of the staysai streaming over the
starboard bow.
How / dashed the wheel with the helm up
and got forward, l hardly know. Iemem-
| Der 1t was like dragging against a stcEe wall
| to get the sheet half way in, but did it, and
ran back again before we were fairly paid
| of. Now l dashed the helm down and put
M weight on the main sheet, but twas past
| M power 10 move IL Il ICOl- rs i udQ 10
wish to lose time By running toward South
! America, bawled to the doctor to come up.
He did so in a hurry, but demurred when I
told him to lay hold Of the line and haul.
| The sudden tongue lashing l gave him and .
sight Of my face in the light which poured
! from the cabin made him think better of his
! manner, for he gripped the sheet and fell
back with it like a born sailor. 1t vas an
almighty tug as best, but grew easier as we
hauled into the wind, and when the line was
Delayed i commanded him TO take the wheel
while / sheeted home the staysail.
The veriest duffer cannot follow the sea
for year in and out without learning some
thing of the handling of ships, and, though
McCary had probably never laid hand on a
spoke from necessity, he may have done so
for pleasure, as he seemed to know how to
/ hold the Phantom somewhere near the
/ winds eye There was no difficulty, then,
in getting a proper trim to the head cloth,
and by the time the sheet was Delayed and
we stood of on the starbOard tack the
schooner was well under way, her bows smit-
ing the seas. which had risen like magic, in