The times., 1901-06-09
4 Jumping the~Bar


| south. gave promise Of preventing Bob
l from keeping an engagement either at
/ Jetby or anywhere else for that night
/ If he had been a wise man he would
! have slackened down and Teconciled
! himself TO the worst: but he was just
! hardy North Sea skipper, and a stub
/ born one, and he went ahead into the
/ thick fog without slackening speed. and
with hideous walls Of the STREET.-THE one
modern thing in the equipment of the
/ Fearless.
I Once a great three-masted schooner,
! becalmed on the swell, with her canvas
! stin shortened as it had been reefed for
! the gale, rose UP ahead like an apparl-
ton Bob twirled the wheel round, and
the Fearless ran past the ship, her star
! board SPONSOR grinding against her
side A deadly collision had only been
averted by his quickness to think and
act.
He caught sight of a shock headed
/ man on the poop, and the shock headed
man saw him. They roared together,
| believing words which had no reference
to any place on the North Sea chart or
| the map Of the world; and which did
not relate to the compliments of the
| season
You go there yourself" shouted Bob.
as the Fearless vanished in the wet
! gloom. IT'S too hot for fogs. an so
! you needn't plant yourself in the way
| of honest steamboats, an try to "ink
| 'em. You're not even a wind-jammer-
! you're derelict."
The Fearless ran on for an hour long
! er and Bob, becoming uneasy in spite
! of himself, ordered her to be slowed
| down, and then,~Atopped altogether.
| Let her drift a bit, SO we can try an
find out where we are" he said, and
Jack Obeyed.
c+n
Fearless wallowed on the swell. groan-
ing dismalIy. Bob, on the bridge, shiv-
cred in the cold, thick fog looking hard
and listening harder. Where he was
exactly he did not know. All he felt
sure of was that he was somewhere be-
tween the Tyne and the Humber, and
not far from shore; but whether close
to or distant from Jetby he did not
know. It was very exasperatnS, and
ne said 50. The crew, who were quite
as anxious TO get ashore as ne was,
agreed with his remarks, and when Bob
said they might as well shove along
bit as stay there Jack agreed, and said
that for his own part he'd as soon be
under the sea as on it. in weather like
this.
They kept the Fearless going slowly
for an hour; then they stopped her, and
with the lead tried TO locate their posi-
ton.
"One things certain" said the skip
per. and that is that Jetby isn't very
far away. That's the sort o sand that
comes down from the river. Go on
again. nice an easy. Surely the fOgil
have the decency to go at such a 'appy
season as this
The engines clanked, the paddles
thumped, and the trawler went ahead.
Again, like a lost, bewildered creature,
she stopped.
THE tides turned" said Bill, the
mate. an soon there'll be no chance o
gettin' in. I do believe were lyin' off
Jetby."
''Yes-it's turned; it's been ebbin' for
an hour agreed the skipper, dolefully.
Just look at the time we've lost since
this fog came on
If it doesn't clear very soon you'll
not get in to Jetby.", said Bill
Clear or no clear I'll get into Jetby
tonight" replied the skipper, firmly.
Bill tapped his oilskinned arms about
his body to warm himself. From the
sounds one might have thought he was !
beating himself with boards. He laugh |
ed-one or two deep notes which were |
more like outlaws than laughter.
You may get in an you may not,
he said. L fancy the fog an the barn |
have somethin' TO say on that point"
I shall get in" asserted the skip /
per, fog an bar nothwithstandin."
OH" exclaimed Bill. I meant you /
wouldn't float in OF course. if you |
mean to plump on the sand an ride |
over on the paddles, like a fishcart on |
wheels, it's different"
He spoke with some heat and sar-
casm; but the skipper did not answer. !
rs it a very partic'lar appointment |
you've got?" asked Bill, after Il pause. |
1T is-very special said the skip |
Il
about ike this?"
why not run down 1ome? You |
couldn't get q snugger place TO spend /
Yer Christmas in" said Bill. You see,
even if you get into Jetby, there's no /
gettin' out till tOmOrrer mornin'-and a /
man doesn't want to 90 to sea on
Christmas. Anyway, I don't; 70 say
nothing Of the fact that Christmas this
year is on Friday"
Il don't mean 10 90 TO sea for a
week when we get in. It's holiday time.
an ! don't see why we shouldn't enjoy
ourselves as much as anybody" said
the skipper. AS for them as doesn't
want TO put in time at Jetby. I'm willin
TO pay their railway fares ONE. You
can't grumble at that. can you?"
I'm not grumblin," said Bill. I'm
askin'. You don't say what your ap-
pOintment ashore al Jetby is"
NO" replied the skipper, q, don't"
1T can't be fish. becoss we haven't
got any" continued Bill
NO. it isn't fish. an it isn't the gear,
an ii isn't the hull, an I'm not due at
a county court or the gaUl. 1t isn't
seekin an it isn't salvage, an il isn't
the customs, nor it isn't"
Then it's a woman" interrupted
Bill You've got a girl on the sly, an
you're wantin' to see er bad. But 1
wouldn't jump Jetby bar for all the
women in creation; that l wouldn't
Not me-
NO, your wife wouldn't let YOU" re-
piled the skipper. But shut up an
listen. Didn't that sound like the
buOy?'
by George. yes" answered Bill,
after listening for few seconds. Ugh!
Doesn't it give you the 'orrors?'
Let her co. ordered Bob, going to
the wheel
He steamed over the great swell to-
ward the spot from which the dOleful
toll Of the beil-buOy came. His puT
pose was TO run into the harbor while
there was yet water. but the thick fog
forced him to abandon it. There was
nothing for ii but to let the anchor go
ana hold on 10 a known spot. This the
did. and the Fearless rolled and
pitched at her cable, with nothing vis-
ible but dense, wet atmosphere, and
nothing TO be heard except the clang Of
the buoy and the seething roar of the
surf On the beach at the base Of the
cliffs.
Bob. silent at the wheel, waited pa
tiently for the fog to lift, but there was