The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1901-04-05

hUu 80 III the lOHp suIlIncT cNcHInkS
when our work was done, while Alec
pondcrcd and laborcd. the rest Of us
smoked our cigarillos, drank palm
wine. spun yarns OF mcrmnidcns and
sea monsters and giants such rs Ma
gcllan found by the Icy southern ocean.
songs Of England, and sometimes again
new songs OF Spanish torture, Of blood
and OF revenge, songs which the old
man made for us and which he delight
ed to teach us to sing. Cruel, devilish
songs they were, and the old mans
weird laughter ran through the chorus
like q demons accompaniment, but to
some OF us their very horror was their
charm.
But when the labor of collecting the
plnnks and tlmbcrs was nearly over by
our captains orders we others began
building "A toy ship OF our own, design
Ing her upon what we considered the
fastest and handlest lines, making her
In fact a model from which, us we be-
licved, the larger vessel for which we
had collected our material could best
be built. Put upon our mettle by a
challenge to pit our brains against the
captains, we spared no pains to per-
feet the details of our little craft. and
so from boltsprit to mlzzen, from the
poop lanterns to the heavy round tops,
from %forecastle to a~ftcrcastle, she was
Is pretty n %plaything as the heart of n
sailor could desire. And that when put
to the trial she would prove fastest in
sailing, quickest in getting about and
handiest to fight her builders had not Il
doubt.
1t was declared n holiday when the
two little vessels were placed In COM
petition on the RULED waters of the
harbor, and after slowing the Span
iards away snugly in their jail Except
some half II score who were dispatched
on n pig hunt and afterward were the
cause Of no little uneaslness to us) all
hands assembled to sec the trial.
Two courses We're to be sailed-one a
dead run before the wind, the other a
trial Of speed close hauled-for, as Will
lie Trehallon Justly put 1t, "a haystack
can drift. but it takes n tidy ship to
run to wlndward in anything like
weather"
Alec c%aptained his W bark and l
ours, and when each navigator had
trimmed sails the two vessels were
headed, with the wind straight off,
shore. toward the other side of the
harbor.
AS regards looks, our bark unques-
tlonably made the drawer show. Her
square stern lowered out Of the wa
ter like the gable Of some quaint old
house. and her frowning ports COM
manded the sea all around. Her
courses. topsails, sprltsail and mizzen
bellied out in graceful curves, and her
bluff, sturdy bow rode over the wave
let's like some FESTIVE charger and
churned them into foam beneath her
keel. Proud would the pygmy captain
have been who could have stood on
that lofty poop and looked down at
the pygmy crew in the waist below
us they passed In and Out Of the doors
of their house In the f%orecastle. She
was a pretty craft and one that made
n mariners heart burn within him In
joyful anticipation Of her certain VIC
tory.
Alcc's vessel caused no such thrill.
She was low in the water, had no cas-
tie forward, had not even a raised
poop and possessed but one deck and
that flush through all It's length. Her
bows were sharp and much cut away.
which augured i'll for her safety in a
heavy sea Though truth to tell she
seemed to ride over the ell high waves
OF the harbor as dry as our own YES
seD. and her stern was pared down to
nothing where the rudder meets the
water. A strange sight truly.
But 1t was her rig which excited our
greatest wonder. Her two pole masts
had no round tops and but little OF
shrouds or stays. Moreover, they car
ried nothing but fore and aft canvas
| oblong sails hoisted between gaff and
boom inboard and triangular sails OF
the boltsprit. She had only four sails
In all. and so strangely We're they cut
that there was no sign Of bag In them
Except when she was running free
and In q word they set as fiat al
boards.
Yet in spite Of all our vessel did moi
show the other craft her heels, bu'
seemed rather to be straining every
splinter to keep her place.
The two went ashore within three
seconds of mi another, and the mel
who were waiting their arrival tool
them up and hailed that Captain Ire
lands boat was first.
All, we'll, we'd see what she could d.
on a wind. Not much there, some Of III
fancied.
Once more sail vas trimmed, and tn
little craft were set to claw of a deaf
lee shore. with what was to them
heavy beam sea running. 1t was
task in which many a well found shil
Of great tonnage had utterly failed, a
thousands Of rock gashed corpses cal
witness. and we, for our part, were un
willing to try 1t. Alec, however, sat
his vessel could thrash through, and 5
we could not for very shame refuse tn
encounter.
For the little galleon our fears wer
but too well founded. Close hauled a
she was. with all her sheets well aft
"