The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-01-03
TN THE TRACK
OF THE TOW
Bv ALBERT w. TOLMAN.

~~~~-~~~~~ ~~>~>>~~~>>.>~~".>>>~~ y,
about the salt water. Among the
pleasantest hours of my life are those
1ss ens Soma my little Not 5SHeoa svsa
me greater delight than to paddle out
d. mile or from shore. and there lie
IN my oars dream!ng, marking 4h ~, me Inc pay ag
watching the vessels and steamers glide
= in July and August 1898, passed
few weeks in a Connecticut shore town
not many miles east OF New Haven.
10 the city my skiff had been sent down
r py stSa her from Rev rev Haven harbor to
the mooring in a cove near my boarding
place. The, JOY Of that afternoon IN the
ne air and sunlight can be apprecia tsd
been pouring over ledger columns in a
back office for sght of day ffF tan
adorned each Of my palms at the eng
of the trip, but my nerves were tranquil
and slept nay dav hog tha1 nghe regis
tered between , ninety 1 and one hundred
degrees. and up to five o'clock IN me
afternoon it was too warm to do anything
ple-tree behind the house: l got an early
supper, and just hcfore sunset pulled out
the tree-tops set up to mark the bounda-
ries of the oyter
a The o0 wae S R1ra to the Eat 6r soa
! and steamers, staining the cloudless
SKY. with their black smoke. The few
their sails hanging idly in the still air.
Farther and farther out I padded. the
in my ears. The sun dropped below the
horizon the red of the west darkened
and disappeared, and it was night, with
myriad DIS Of stars reflected on the CLASSY
blackness Of the sound Lamps began
10 sparkle along the shore, while mast
head lanterns and red and green running
fcTht tn11 hn Of Sfa11J
ers whose hulls had become invisible In
the gloom.
self comfortably on my back in the bot
tom Of the boat, pillowing my head on
the bow. The cool darkness, the salty
motion Of my skiff and the distant sound
of bells and whistles from passing steam
srs and the land all induced peaceful
and inperceptibly into a dreamless sleep
/ l 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 uncush-
Toned boards, I started up to find myself
enveloped in thick mist which covered
deep, for the stars shone family through
it, but all other objects were cut off from
my view. There was no wind, but an
ocean swell, rolling in from the east, was
stirring up quite sea.
Although without watch, knew that
it must be well on toward midnight. It
daWned on me that I had been and still
was in a very dangerous position, not
because I expected any trouble in finding
the land, but because I was in the track
Of tugs and steamers. I shivered at the
thought of the peril to which I had been
exposed while asleep. Beneath that shroud
Of mist my skiff was invisible to lock
AN egg: shell without D soul On board
being the wiser for it.
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 a
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 increasing
7oudness of a whistle to my left told that
on my cars. 7 waited, prepared to row
night rorTt'b be ' necessary Nearer and nearer
came the footing. and I could hear the
rush of water beneath an unseen PROV
and the puff, puff of steam. Suddenly,
twenty feet away: approached black
stem, nosing rapidly through the fog. 1t
was a little too close for comfort
AS the tug swept by caught 2 glimpse
Of a tow-rooe dragging ever the stern
and judged from her size that she proba,
hry had two coal-laden barges behin6
her I could hear the voices of the mon
on board growing fainter in the distance.
Another black pnanLOHl phSStu' IL Weo
the first barge, loaded low in the water;
after her at an interval came anotF er
AS they were loaded I knew they were
+ heading east, and that the shore therefore
Law in front of me. I settled myself on
the thwart and braced my feet for the
row in. o,,
tiOns that I had barely noticed con-
fusion of whistles that occurred shortly
after the massage of the tow. Hence !
was altogether unprepared, after my thlrd
stroke to hear another boat approaching
through the fog from the opposite dlTe C.
ton ] backed water vigorously. just IN
time to escape being run down by tug
that was making the water fly as she
dashed westward.
I caught the splash of a rope, and wait
ed Soon came the huge black hulk OF an
empty barge, rising high above the WAFER:
It passed so near that l backed announcer
stroke to be. out of the way of the one
which I felt sure was Following II. soon
I heard another tow rope whipping tne
surface. and second barge the size OF the
first swept by. listened for several Sec
onds, but hearing no further SOUND a., l
bent to my oars again, teel1ng sure tlde
there were no more bargeS.
had gone perhaps thirty feet When
something struck the bottom OF my sklI.
A large cable rose square1y beneath the
boat Swapping it into the air AS my boat
dropped back it fell stern first and cap
sized. throwing me out. When I went
under I lost my grip on the oars, and on
coming to the surface again | moved my
hands frantically about in the hope OF
finding them.
Two or three inches above the water my
fingers encountered something rounu ana
wet and closed about it like a wise 1t
was the cable which had capslzed me- A
third barge had been towing after the
other two and it's hawser had proved the