Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-06-08

aLuOuS his uelglDOrS, tnat MAI. Bonnet
should want to buy ship. But he had
been a soldier in his youth, and SOL
dlers are very apt to change their man
ner of living, and SO, if Maj. Bonnet
had grown tired of his farm and hai
determined to go into commercial en-
terprises, it was not, perhaps, a very
amazing thing that military man
| who had turned planter should now
turn to be something else.
Madam Bonnet had heard of the
ship, although she had not been told
| anything about her step-daughter TAX
ing trip in her, and if she had heard
she might not have objected She had
regarded, in an apparently careless
manner, her husbands desire to navi-
gate the sea; for, no matter to what
point ne might happen to sail, his ship
| would take him away from Barbados
and that would very we'll suit her. She
was getting tired of Maj. Bonnet She
did not believe he had ever been 8
very good soldier; she was positively
sure that he was not a good farmer;
and she had the strongest kind oil
doubt as to his ability as commercial
man. But as this new business would
free her from him, at least for a time
she was we'll content; and, although
she should feel herself somewhat han.
dlcapped by the presence of Kate, she
did not intend to allow that young
| lady to interfere with her plans ant
purposes during the absence of the
head OF the house. So she went hel
way, saying nothing derisive about the
nautical life, except what she consid.
cred it necessary for her to do, in orde,
to maintain her superior position i1
| the household.
Maj. Bonnet was now very much en-.
gagged and a good deal disturbed, for ne
found that projected sailing, even il
| ones own craft, is not always smooth
sailing. He was putting his vessel il
excellent order, and was fitting her ou1
generously in the way of stores and al
manner of nautical needfuls, not for.
getting the guns necessary for de-
fence in these somewhat disordereC
times, and his latest endeavors were
! towards the shipping of suitable
crew. Seafaring men were not scarce
in the port of Bridgetown, but Maj
Bonnet, now entitled to be called
captain was very particular abou,
his crew, and it took him a long time
to collect suitable men,
AS he was most truly a landsman
knowing nothing about the sea or the
various intricate methods of navigat.
ing vessel thereupon, he was com.
PEELED to secure real captain-One
| who would be able to take charge Of
the vessel and crew, and who woulC
do, and have done, in a thoroughly sea.
manlike manner, what his nominal
skipper should desire and ordain
This absolutely necessary parsonage
had been secured almost as soon as the
vessel had been purchased, before any
of the rest of the crew had signed
ships articles; and it was under his
general supervision that the storing
and equipment had been carried on
His name was Sam Lotus. He was a
big man with great readiness oil
speech. There were, perhaps, some
things he could not do, but there
seemed to be nothing that he was not
able to talk about AS has been said
the rest OF the crew came in slowly, but
they did come, and Maj. Bonnet told
his daughter that when he had secured
four more men, it was his intention to
leave port.
And sail for Jamaican" she ex-
claimed.
'Oh, yes" he said, with an affection
ate smile, land will leave you with
your Uncle Delaplaine, where you can
stay while l make some little cruises
here and there"
"And so l am really to go?" she ex-
claimed, her eyes sparkling.
Really to co." said he
She was very happy, and she
laughed.
yours will be an easily laden Ship
said she, "for you take in with you no
great store of goods for traffic But !
suppose you design to pick up your
cargo among the islands where you
than it could be procured here?"
Eyes, yes" he said; you have hit
it fairly, my little girl, you have hit 1t
fairly"
New annoyances now began to beset
Maj. Bonnet. What his daughter had
remarked in pleasantly, the people OF
the town began to talk about unpleas-
antly. Here was good-sized craft
about to set sail, with little or no car
go, but with crew apparently much
larger than her requirements, but not
large enough for the desires of he1
owner. To be sure, as Maj. Bonnet did
not know anything about ships, he was
bound to do something odd when he
bought one and set forth to sail upon
her, but there were some odd things
which ought to be looked into; and
there were people who advised that the
attention Of the colonial authorities
should be drawn to this ship of their
farmer townsman. Maj. Bonnet had
such high reputation as a good citi-
zen, that there were few people who
thought it worth while to trouble
themselves about his new business ven.
ture, but a good many disagreeable
things came to the ears of Sam Lotus
who reported them to his employer
and it was agreed between them that il
would be wise for them to sail as soon
as they could, even if they did not
wait for the few men they had consid-
cred to be needed.
Early upon cloudy afternoon, Maj
Bonnet and his daughter went out in a
small boat to look at his vessel, the
Sarah Williams, which was then lying
short distance below the town.