Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-10-24

'''''''
: &c. When there's somebody tlrown,!ln
atd You know there's Il cllalIct. to saw.
ON. you'll take ciIHnres. and hin.
no'lIIn Of can. that You wouldn't TAX"
! YOU had time 70 e. down ani c;ll,la
| little. see suhietil!n doiit. once III
may moi ST lie YOU as belIl i.nvt,in :.
out of Tie U>tl.tl run hut that ha>, III
| Ways seemed to ;ae clear grit I'll. :
| h''tIi;n' else Twa'n't savin life ,:.!
| 'hei: twas jest Il matter of bus ness
| 1T happened up off the coast Of
Maine long in .he seventies WAS at
| IN as sort Oi second mate on Il iuni,nT
| schooner Twas pitch black Ii: gil. .
II mornin rather, bout t o'clock
| hloWin Ike all possessed and cOller'i
| Greenland. We struck Il rock that
! wa Mt even down on an Eldredge chart
and punched hole in the Scllooner's
side jest above what ought 10 have
been the water line, only she was heel
ell over so that twas considerbl he
low it most of the time. We had a
mean crew aboard. Portugees mainly.
and poor ones at that The skipper
+ WAS below asleep. and When he cotbe
on deck things WAS I'D bad way
| We'd got the canvas off her, but she
was takin' in water every time she roll
| ed. and there WAS Il sea gDln that was
trarin things loose in great shape We
Sh;pIn.,l one old grlyl,lck that ripl,r'.
off strip Of th" lee rail Jest the s;tlns:
rs you'd rip the edge off the cover of
Il pas1eboani hoN-neNer made 40 NOR.
In>s about il either
| Il didn't see lr,thn to do but git out
the boats. but the skipper he Wa I thai
klnu He sized things mp in hurry
! /! tell You l.e drove the crew ha q.
| ON was praNiu to the Virgin and
/ ''"1h"r haf swcarin Il blue streak to
| the pumps and set me over 'rm With
| a revolver to keep sem workin' Then
| him and the fu>t mate and one OF two
of the best hands fousted out Il SPARE
! sail weighted one edge Of it to keep
| II down. and got it over the side nl;tac
| fast. Of toi.lSe.
',ffhrH= him and the mate stripped
| to tl1cir undercloihes, rugged sort Of
: bGS'n chair over where the hole in the
side WAS took hammers and Il pocnr!.
t,i Of nails apiece and started in to
nail that canvas over the hole.
Twas frcezin' cold. and the old
schooner was rollin' like a washtub.
g, One minute I'd see the skipper and the
: mate h'istel Up in the air, hammerin'
for dear life. and then, swash Under
they'd 60. clear Under and stay there.
seemed to me. forever. Every dip |
thought would he the end, and Ia shet
my eyes. eXpe'tin' to see 'em gone
when she lifted: but no: up they'd
come. fetch breath. shake the salt
wafer out of their eyes and go to work
again.
-Four hours and quarter they was
at il. four hours. mind you. and under
water a good ha'f of the time; but
they got that sail nailed fast fin'lly:
! We got 'em OH deck when twas done.
and we had to carry the fust mate to
the cabin. But the skipper jest sent the
! cook for a pail of bilin' hot coffee.
:: drunk the whole of it. put on dry
clothes over his wet 6annels and
stayed on deck and worked that
schooner into Portland harbor. the
men pnnnrin' clear green water out of
the hold every minute of the way.
Now, that always seemed to me
| to be the reel thing Twa'nt a Ques-
| ton of sayIn' iife-we could have took
to the boats and, nine chances ont Of
ten. got ashore all right, for 'twa mt
very fur But no. the skipper said bed
| never lost vessel, for an owner Vt,
and he want gojn' to lose this one.
! And he didn't either. by Judas! No,
sir!''
'"rhat was splendid!'' exclaimed Ell.
sic. II should like to have known
that captain. Who was he, Captain
| DavisY'
| "Well, the fust mate was Obed Sim
mons-hes dead nOw-but he used to
live over on the road towards East
Harniss. The skipper-well, he was Il
Teller you know"
"'Twas Cap'n Fri" said Mrs. Snow
with conviction.
'"lhat's right. ma'am. Perez told
I you, ] s'pose.
"No, nobody told me- just Guessed
| it. I've seen Il goa many folks in my
time. and caI'late I've got so can
tell what kind man is after I've
known him little while. l jedGcti
Capn Fri was that kind, and when
you said we knew that skipper was
almost sartin twas him."
"Well!" exclaimed Ralph. Il don't
believe | should have guessed it. I've
always liked the captain, but he has
seemed so full Of fun and so easy
going that never thought of his doing
anything quite so strenuous.
Captain Davis laughed. I've seen
fo'mast hands try to take advantage OF
that easy goin' way fore now,' he said
but they never did it but once. Cap Il
Fri is one of the finest fellers that even
! stepped, but you can't stomp on his
toes much, and he's clear grit inside
And say" he added, don't you TEL
J onvhodv I told that story, for lie