Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1903-05-13

nose between us Dys lne. ;sWlnQ, dIls 10y.
ging over I0sknots with stiff northerly
breeze Then the Never Fear drew
{; cad of the bunch. and we shook a
ropes end over the taffrail. You can't
blame a crew for feeling a little fris-
ky when they're leading the fleet, and
their duck is lifting them landward
at the rate of a mile eVery-six min
utes.
Before dark we had a good lead
over the nearest schotSar, and when
we went down to supper their running
lights were twinkling well astern. The
wind showed no signs Of going down;
on the contrary it seemed to be fresh
ening every minute This just suited
us, for we had the best rough-weather
boat on the Banks. and we knew that,
even if we did have to put in a single
reef, our rivals behind would be put
ting in two.
The cook gave us the best he had
that night. If there was a man on
board who failed to do justice to that
smoking hot supper, didn't see him.
The only dissatisfied ones were the
watch on deck. who began to be afraid
that there wouldn't be anything left
for them, and who kept shouting down
the companionway for us to give them
show.<.<>.
after scNSer- those who had no
work on hanu busted themselves in
writing letters, making boats, or play
ing games. During the trip had
played checkers good deal with one
of the men named Howard Johnson. A
few days before we had arranged a
tournament of five games; each had
{ won two, and now was to. come the
rubber. We set our pieces, and three
or four of our shipmatcs gathered
round us to watch the battle.
"The- board was equipped after a
unique fashion. In the middle of each
square was little hole to receive a
short brad fixed in the bottom Of the
checkers. This prevented them from
rolling off, and we could play, even
WQSu IIG NcSSSl NcS Ol uOl -DSeihA SA3uSb
without fear that the position of our
men would be disturbed by the motion.
"At it we went in good earnest and
a series of cautious exchanges soon left
us only three kings apiece. Then en-
sued several minutes OF maneuvering
to gain the advantage, j was just get
ting my opponent in a tight place when
all at once we heard the captain shout
from deck:
"All hands to reef the mainsail!'
$50 engrossed had we been in our
game that we had paid but little at
tention to what was going on above,
and we were hardly aware that the
s.aysail, foretopsail, balloon jib and
maintopsail had already been taken in.
But that last order brought us up all
standing for we knew that it would
never have been given without need.
"I grabbed my REFER from its hook
and pushed my arms through the
sleeves, jammed my cap down on my
head, pulled on my mittens and made
Jump for the companionway. Th 'ngs
were lively enough outside. A living
gale was blowing. and the spray flew
over the bow, as the Never Fesc heeled
to her lee rail, cut through the tum-
bling seas. The sky was perfectly
clear and dark blue, and the stars
shons large, cold and brilliant.
"In few seconds the deck swarmed
y with men,. The halyards were Stacked
away, the bull-rope hauled out, ear
rings passed, and We began to knot
the reef points. AS first hand 1 took
nv place at the end of the boom
which was very long one. running
out almost 16 feet beyond the stern