Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-12-22
DAILY SHORT STORY
THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE.
tOriginal.l

ocean on whaling voyage, having re-
Gently lost his wife. resolved to take
their only child, a daughter barely
seventeen years old. with him In his
ship HsrpOon. Irene Tarr was love
ly girl I'm face. figure and disposition.
and her father adored her. He had
not vet begun To trouble himself lest
any young man should take her away
from him
Captain Tarr had spent all his sailor
life whaling on the Alta mite ocean, but
now that the stock of whales was run
ming low there he was obliged TO turn
his attention To n field with which he
was not familiar In looking about
for a man who had had experience
there he hit upon Frank Bristol.
young fellow who had gone ont before
the mast six wars before and made
two voyages on the Pacific. Since he
was but twenty, the captain gave him
no higher berth than third mate. but
he was the only officer aboard the
Harpoon that had had any cOnsidera-
bile experience i'm the Pacific ocean.
There Is love that comes from long
association and love that comes with
q single glance of eyes. The latter was
the case with Frank Bristol and. Irene
Tarr. She saw II young fellow in sail
or trousers and pea jacket. with light
step. head Of curly hair. fearless
blue eye. AMI succumbed. He saw q
girl with that shade of auburn hair
that Is called Titan. or golden. with
contrasting dark brown eyes. and he
bent the knee. During the voyage the
lint iSfn
no more of her than did his brother
officers. Nevertheless the sputtering
fame that had been kindled grew to n
consuming fire.
Meanwhile Captain Tarr walked the
quarter deck obliviOus 10 the fact that
"a sailor without q cent and with only
common school education had won his
daughter, on whom every advantage
had been lavished and who would in
herit 100000 he had accumulated i'm
whale grease.
The Harpoon had sailed as far as the
Hawaiian Islands. then turned south
ward. touching at the Marquesas. from
which she bent her course eastward.
Captain Tarr was thus far we'll pleas
ell with his voyage. He had on board
a goodly supply of whale oil. and one
feature he had somewhat dreaded-his
inexperience as to wind and weather
in the Pacific-had not troubled him at
ALL
Talk about winds In particular wa
ters," he said after being out a couple
Of months. MY opinion is that q man
who has learned TO sail a ship i'm one
ocean should know how TO sail her i'm
any ocean. I find no difficulty here"
That same evening Frank Bristol
had the watch while Captain Tarr was
pacing the deck Suddenly the cap
tain was surprised to hear Bristol give
the order:
MAN the weather braces"
"What do you mean by giving such
an order as that. Mr.. Bristol? Have
yOu lost your seDsesT'
wind coming" was the laconic re-
ply.
The captain walked to leeward and
leaning over the rail. scanned the sea
and the sky from east. TO west
There's no change coming that I can
see. Drop the braces. men,
Hold the braces. / say" said Bris-
tol. with all the firmnfss OF an admi-
raj OF the navy.
els this mutiny?' rOared the captain.
You young rascal, I'll teach you that
haven't been a sailor for twenty
years for nothing. and i command this
ship. Men. drop the braces
The men. Overawed by the superior
authority OF the captain. let go the
braces. or. rather they We're about to
do SO when Bristol cried out defiantly:
Don't man OF you drop a rope for
an instant as you value your lives!''
He had scarcely spoken the words
when there was sudden drop i'm the
wind. The sails hung listless. only
tapping as the vessel rolled. AT the
moment Irene came on deck. Her COM
ing was fortunate. for her father was
fiustered with the INSTRUMENTATION of
his mate and puzzled Mt the dropping
OF the wind.
Haul! Haul taut. Every man
haul,'' cried Bristol.
The yards swung round to meet n wind
that must come out of the opposite
quarter 10 the one from which il had
been blowing. They were no sooner inpo-
sitiOn than the water darkened. the dis
turbsnce coming with lightning speed,
and mighty wind struck the ship.
The HarpoOn shuddered. bent over 10
the leeward ill the tip ends Of the
yards almost touched the water. then
with bound leaped forward.
Irene Tarr was blown into her IA
Tiers arms. and lie took her down into
the cabin. When lie returned the
worst WAS over. and the ship was scud-
ding along safe aud sound. The cap
tain stood on the quarter deck and
called for Bristol 10 come aft. The
men watched the mate. wondering
what reception lac would receive. They
could not hear what was said. but they
saw the captain grasp the mates hand
with evident satisfaction and graft
tude. This was what was said:
Young man. il that wind had struck
us without the sails being shifted she
would have gone over and never right