Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1901-01-03

power of the evil eye. For indeed my
sworn shipmate's manner was often
strangely distracted
Sometimes he would sit gazing mood
lily at his work: Sometimes he would
stare intently at the fantastic shadow
pictures which the jcrky flames cast en-
the dark bushes at the edge of the cir
Gle Of light ana then he would set to
and destroy greater part of the fab
ric he had toiled over and start patient
ly to fit and carve it all afresh.
And the old man, who, when not on
guard below. seemed always to be
watching these attempts. would rub
his shining hands and burst out into a
. weird "Oh. no, ho"' of approval
/ Now and again the modeler would
I take one of his tiny craft to a secluded
! part Of the harbor and openly saying
I he wanted no company would test it.
+ so we supposed. And how his play
I things had behaved in these trials we
/ could always guess by the look on his
/ grave face when he returned, pleased
or gloomy according to the result.
strange vessels in the old days at Whit
by, where the unbelieving jeers of the
shipwrights had made him destroy
them. and though | and the others,
looking at his new designs with the
critical eye of sailors rather than with
the partial one of comrades, pointed
out 10 him grave defects and useless
innnNpfiOnc hn
wait, wait. wait, and not criticise the
unfinished work until we could base
our judgment on shown results rather
than on the strange and unlikely looks
of his new models.
And so in the long summer evenings
when our work was done, while Alec
pondered and labored, the rest of us
smoked our cigarlllos, drank palm
wine, spun yarns of mermaidens and
sea monsters and giants such as Ma
gellan found by the icy southern ocean.
And sometimes we sang the old sea
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 n demons accompaniment, but to
some of us their very horror was their
charm.
But when the labor Of collecting the
planks and timbers was nearly over by
our captains orders we others began
hnil1ino fpt- oh IN - n
ing her upon what we considered the
fastest and handiest lines, making her
In fact model from which, as we be-
lieved, 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 mizzen, from the
poop lanterns to the heavy round tops,
from forecastle to aftercastle, she was
as pretty plaything as the heart of a
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 |
doubt
1t was declared a holiday when the |
two little vessels were placed in COM
petition on the rufiled waters of the /
harbor, and after slowing the Span.
ards away snugly In their jail Except
some half score who were dispatched
On pig hunt and afterward were the
cause OF no little uneasiness to us) all |
hands assembled to see the trial
Two courses were to be sailed-one a
lead run before the wind the other a
rial or speed close hauled-for, as VIII
lie Trehalion justly put It, "a haystack
an drift, but 1t takes n tidy ship to
'un to windward In anything like
Alec captained his own bark and l
'urs, and when each navigator had
sails the two vessels were
leaded, with the wind straight Off
hore, toward the other side of the
larbor.
AS regards looks, our bark unQues-
ionably made the braver show. Her
quare stern lowered out OF the wa
er like the gable of some quaint old
ouse, and her frownlng ports com
handed the sea all around. Her
curses, topsalls, sprItsall and mizzen |
ellled ont In graceful curves, and her
luff, sturdy bow rode over the wave
ITS like some restive charger and
burned them into foam beneath her
eel Proud would the pygmy captain
ave been who could have stood on
nat lofty poop and looked down at
ne pygmy crew in the waist below
$ they passed in and out OF the doors
their house In the forecastle She
as pretty craft and one that made
mariners heart burn within him in
'yful anticipation OF her certain vic
Try.
Alec's vessel caused no such thrill.
he was low In the water. had no cas-
g forward, had not even a raised
pop and possessed but one deck and
lat flush through all It's length. Her
)ws were sharp and much cut away,
hlch augured Ill for her safety in
,avy sea Uhough truth TO tell she
emed TO ride over the ell high waves
the harbor as dry as our own YES
ID. and her stern was pared down TO
/
ater A strange sight truly. {
But II was her rig which excited our
eatest wonder. Her two pole mnsts |
ID no round tops and but little OF c
rouds or stays. Moreover, they car !
ID nothing but fore md aft canvas [
long sails hoisted between gan and
,om lnboard and triangular sails on 5
e boltsprlt. She had only four sails Il
all, and so strangely were they cut b
at there was no sign OF bag In them v
Nccpt when she was running free, II
Id In n word they set as Hat as h
ards. n
Yet In spite OF all our vessel did not
ow the other craft her heels, but ~
rmcd rather TO be stralnlng every Il
Inter TO keep her place. o
rhc two went ashore within three O
ronds OF one another, and the men -
40 were waiting their arrival took
I'm up and hailed that Captain Ire
ld's boat was first.
Nh, wen, we'd see what she could do IA
n wind Not much there. some OF us III
lcied. III
Jucc more sail was trimmed and the NJ
lie craft were set TO claw OFF dead c'
shore. with what was TO them Il
lvy beam sen running. IL WAS n CO
k In which many well found ship
great Tonnage had utterly failed, as d'
,usands of rock gashcd corpscs can GO
Incss, and we, for our part, were I'm NJ