The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1902-12-18


little rowboat on Long Island Sound.
Nothing gives me greater delight than
10 paddle out a mile Or so from
shore, and there lie on my oars dream
ing, marking the play of sun anu Wind
On the water, and watching the vessels
aud steamers glide by.
In July and August. 1893, passed
4 few weeks in q Connecticut shore
town not many miles east of New
Haven. To this city my skiif had been
sent down hy'steamer from New York,
ind had rowed her from New Haven
harbor to the mooring in a cove near
my boarding place. The JOY OF that
afternoon in the free air and sunlight
IAN be appreciated only by man who,
ike myself, had been porinS over
ledger columns in back office for
Eight hours 4 day for ten months. 4
crescent of big blisters adorned each
IF my palms at the end Of the trip,
but my nerves were tranquil and ]
slept like q log that night.
The next day the thermometer regis
tered between ninety and 100 degrees.
and up to 1 o'clock in the afternoon it
was too warm to do anything but
browse in a hammock under the apple
rees behind the house. l got an early
supper, and just before sunset pulled
but into the sound. Soon I was beyond
the tree-tops set up to mark the boun-
iaries of the oyster beds.
The water was unrufiled. East and
west down either shore to the horizon
moved q long, broken procession o.
rugs and steamers, staining the cloud
less sky with their black smoke. The
few sailing craft in sight were notion
less, their sails hanging idly in the
still air.
Farther and farther out padded,
the soft dip Of the oars sounding pleas
antly in my ears. The sun dropped
below the horizoE; the red Of the west
darkened and disappeared, and it was
night, with myriads of stars reflected
ON the glossy blackness Of the sound.
Lamps began to sparkle along the
shore, while masthead lanterns and
red and green running lights told the
position Of moving steamers whose
bulls had become invisible in the
gloom.
I stopped rowing and established
myself comfortably on my back in the
bottom Of the boat, pilloWing my head
on the bow. The cool darkness, the
salty fragrance Of the ocean air, the
gentle motion of my skif, and the dis
tant sound Of bells and whistles from
passing steamers and the land all in
duced a peaceful drowsiness, which
soon lapsed gradually and impercepti-
bly, into q dreamless sleep.
7 must have been unconscious for
two or three hours when the rocking
Of the boat awoke me. Cramped and
stiff from my slumber in the night
air on the uncushioned boards, I start
ed up to find myself enveloped by a
thick mist, which covered the sound
like blanket. It was not very deep,
for the stars shone family through it,
but all other objects We're cut of from
my view. There was no wind, but an
ocean swell, rolling in from the east,
was stirring up quite sea.
Although without a watch, I knew
that it must be well on toward mid
night. It dawned on me that I had
been and still was in q very danger
Gus position, not because I expected
any trouble in finding the land, but
because I was in the track Of tugs and
steamers. shivered st the thought Of
the peril to which I had been exposed
while asleep. Beneath that shroud Of
mist my skiff was invisible to a look
out, and might have been. crushed
like an egg shell by some steamers
PROV without a soul on board being
the wiser for il.
Shipping my oars, I listened to the
whistles speaking to one another
through the fog. The general course Of
all the vessels was east and west. If,
without endangering myself, I could
approach tow of barges near enough
to see which way they were heading
I could then determine the quarters
Of the compass; for if the boats were
loaded I knew that they would be
going east; if light. then west, on
their way back to New York.
Oo-oo-ooh! Oo-oo-ooh! The increas-
ing loudness of whistle to my left
told that tug was swiftly approach
ing. Lying on my oars, waited, pre-
pared to row forward quickly or back
water, as might he necessary. Nearer
and nearer came the footing. and
could hear the rush of water beneath
the unseen prov. and the puff, puff of
steam. Suddenly, twenty feet away,
appeared a black stem, nosing rapidly
through the fog. 1t was little too
close for comfort. As the tug swept
by I caught a glimpse of a tow-rope
dragging over the stern, and Judged
from her Size that she probably had
two coal-laden barges behind her. 1
could hear the voices of the men
on board growing fainter in the dis
tance.
Another black phantom passed; it
was the first barge, loaded low in the
water; after her at an interval came
another. AS they were loaded 1 knew
that they We're heading east, and
that the shore therefore lay in front
of me. I settled myself On the thwart
and braced my feet for the row in.
So interested had I been in my cal
culations that 1 had barely noticed 4
confusion Of whistles that occurred
shortly after the passage Of the tow.
Hence 1 was altogether unprepared,
after my third stroke, to hear another
boat approaching through the fog from
the opposite direction. 1 backed water
vigorously, just in time to escape be-
ing run down by tug that was max.
ing the water fly as she dashed west.
ward.
( ssaEhs tae splash ct o saps. aaa