Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-07-21
DAILY STORY
THE GIRL WITH THE d
BONNIE BROWN HAlRSi
Original!

s0gisfaai.I
Grandpa, tell us about the worst
storm you ever saw at sea- said Tom
my, aged eight.
NO, don't" protested his little sister.
we were all saved"
"ThatI be NICE" said the girl.
1--WE left Naples on the 4th Of No
vember with twenty passengers.
Among them was a girl who seemed &c
be alone There was character enough
in her face for a dozen heroines. She
had brown hair, and when l first saw
her it was tied up with bonny blue
ribbon like the girl in the song. l was
second mate, and whenever she came
on deck the cap'n was sure to growl at
me for some neglect of duty. But
didn't mind it SO long as l could see
the girl with brown hair.
I'VE had pleasant weather in the
Mediterranean, but we'd no sooner left
Gibraltar than a nor'easter began TO
blow which developed into the worst
storm l ever saw at sea. The waves
time one fell on us 1 thought we'd new
er rise from under it. At last one big
ger than the rest struck us and stove
in "a portion of the deck. We had all
we could do to keep the ships head i'll
the right direction, and the pumps
must be manned at once, so that we
couldn't spare men TO repair the deck,
and they couldn't repair 1t in such Il
storm anyway. The best we could do
was to cover the gap with sail, but
the next big wave that came showed
the canvas down like tissue paper.
There was such an uproar among the
passengers that the cap'n told me to go
down into the cabin and try to quiet
'em. AS soon as l left the companion
way l saw the most terrible sight i'm
Gginable. Some of 'em were praying,
some holding on to stanchiOns, white
as ghosts, while the water, knee deep,
swaShed with the rolling OF the ship.
Some OF 'em had got up on to the table
that ran the length of the cabin TO
escape the water.
The first single person 1 saw was
the girl with the bonny brown hair.
She was helping an old woman to keep
from being dashed against things when
the ship lurched. As soon as she saw
me she beckoned me to come to her
and said:
These people are in the condition
of children, and. having taught chill
dren. l know how important 1t IS 10
keep their minds occupied. Can't we
find something to turn theirl attention I?
Propose something
what do you say to a game of
pussy wants a corner?"'
Il was so encourage by her GOODNESS
that L would have joined her In any
scheme, however ludicrous. Turning, 1
said to the passengers:
Were coming out of this, but you
people are spelling your chances by
demorallzng the crew witmyour howls.
We must have something TO do, and
we will be as cool as the men Come, |
lets have a game of pussy wants n
corner
The girl and | each backed UP |
against stanchion and another man
and another woman presently did the
same. a young boy of fifteen was in
duced to come into the game. and the |
girl and L made Il rush to change cor
ners. l let the boy in purpOsely and |
kept out of Il corner for some time. |
every now and then dragging some one |
into the game. In five minutes we had |
all the ablebodied people in it, and the |
game was in full swing | made
lunge for corner. fell purposcly |
against Il cabin wave and got UP
drenched. Several persons laughed.
The next time anything ludicrous hap
pened more laughed. and finally every
body i'll and some out of the game were
laughing. l never missed an opportu-
nifty for doing something comical, nor
did the girl. Her hair came down, and
cnce when the water by the rolling of
the ship was thrown all together she
swan and shouted that she was mer-
maid. Then | dived with swasI. I'M
der the table and. coming up, slid into
a vacant corner.
"All this was very well, but we
keep it up forever. We did
so as long IS we could; then the girl
in my ear rs | passed her,
Blind mans buff I whipped out my
and she tied it over my
eyes, taking care that Il place WAS
left for me to see through. This gave
me a fine opportunity to put myself
into ludicrous positions. and in few
minutes l was playing my part amid
shouts of laughter. Suddenly / heard !.
the capn's gruff voice roar down the ,
with the strength of IL {
fog horn: II
Steamer aheadr
Il tore the handkerchief off my head Il
and dashed on deck, knowing that crit l
cal work was to be done getting in {
touch with the coming ship. AS the S
storm was the biggest the sight before
ne was the gladdest / ever saw in my \
ife a great big steamer OH our port Z
quarter coming right for us. \
I'VE were all safely transferred and
)ur own ship drifted away. She kept \