Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-04-07

n
under drill. Surgeon Usher of the
Lawrence and a young 1nidshipman
rowed me to Gibraltar island, well
out into the harbor, where the surgeon
presented me to Perry-a tall, shapely
man, with dark hair and eyes, and
ears hidden by tufts of heavy beard
He stood on rocky point high above
the water, glass to his eye, looking
seward. His youth surprised me: he
was then %. had read much of him
and was looking for an older man. He
received me kindly: he had fine dig
nifty and gentle manners. Somewhere
he had read Of that scrape of mine
the last one there among the Aveng-
ersSHe gave my hand squeeze and my
sword a compliment l have not yet
forgotten, assuring me of his pleasure
that l was to be with him awhile.
The greeting over. we rowed away to
the Lawrence. She was chopping laz-
fly at anchor In light breeze, her sails
loose. Her crew. cheered her COM
mander as we came under the frown-
ing guns.
"They re tired of waiting" said he;
they re looking for business when
come aboard"
He showed me over the clean decks:
II was all as clean as a puritan par
lor.
Captain" said he, ''tie yourself to
that big bow gun. 1t g the modern
sling Of David, only its pebble is
big as rock. Learn how to handle It,
and you may take fling at the Brit
ish some day"
He put D'ri in my squad, as re-
quested, leaving me with the gunners.
went to work at once, and knew
shortly how to handle the big machine.
D'ri and l convinced the captain with
no difficulty that we were fit for
fight SO soon as it might come.
1t came sooner than we expected.
! The cry of Sail ho!" woke me early
one morning. 1t was the 10th of Sep
| TENDER. The enemy was coming. Sails
were sticking out of the misty dawn
few miles away. In a moment our
decks were black and noisy with the
hundred and two that manned the YES
sell 1t was every hand to rope and
Windlass then. Sails went up with
snap all around us, and the creak of
of blocks sounded far and near. In II
| minutes we were under way, lead
| ing the van to battle The sun came
| up, light ting the great towers OF can
| vas. Every vessel was now feeling for
the wind, some with oars and sweeps to
aid them. A light breeze came out
of the southwest. Perry stood near
me, his hat in his hand. He was look
| ing back at the Niagara
Run to the leeward of the islands,"
said he to the sailng-master.
Then you II have to fight to the
| leeward," said the latter.
Don't care, so long as we fight"
said Perry. "Windward or leeward, We
| want to fight"
Then came the signal to change our
course. The wind shifting to the south
east, we were all able to clear the is
lands and keep the weather-gauge. A
cloud came over the sun; far away the
mist thickened. The enemy wallowed
to the topsails, and went out of
sight. We had lost the wind. Our
sails went limp; flag and pennant hung
lifeless. A slight rain drizzled down.
breaking the smooth plane of water
into bubbles. Perry stood out in the
drizzle as we lay waiting. All eyes
( were turning to the sky and to Perry.
He had a look of worry and disgust.
He was out for a quarrel, though the
surgeon said he was in more need
of physic, having the fever of malaria
as we'll as that of war. He stood there,
tall and handsome, in a loose jacket
of blue nankeen, with no tign of weak
ness in him, his eyes flashing as he
looked at the sky.
Dri and stood in the squad at the
straw hat; his flannel shirt was open
at the collar.
Ship STAINS LUX an OIL COW chawin,
'er cud," said he, looking off at the
weather. They s a win comm over
there 1t II give 'er a slap n tn
side purity soon, mebbe. Then she
ii switch 'er tail n go on bout 'er
business"
In a moment we heard a roaring
cneer Dack amluSnlpS. Ferry nad come
up the companionway with his blue
battle-fag. He held it before him at
arms-length. | could see a part of
its legend, in white letters, Don't give
up the ship"
'My brave lads" he shouted, Shall
we hoist it?"
Our "Ay, ay' sir" could have been
heard a mile away, and the flag rose,
above tossing hats and bowling voices,
to the manroyalmasthead
The wind came; we could hear the
sails snap and stiffen as it overhauled
the fleet Behind us. In a jiffy it hunted
our own hulls and canvas, and again We
began to plough the water. 1t grew
into q smart breeze, and scattered the