The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-12-20
THE GIRL WITH THE
BONNY BROWN HAIR

my, aSeu eivt.
mo, DON'T protested his little sister.
I'll tell you about Il storm in which
we were ali saved
'"That'll be NICE said the girl.
I'VE left Naples on the ith of No.
vember with twenty passengers.
Among them was Il girl who seemed ia
be alone. There was character enough
il her face for a dozen heroines She
had brown hair. and when | first saw
her it was tied up with bonny blue
ribbon like the girl in the song. was
second mate, and whenever she came
on deck the cap'n was sure to growl al
me for some neglect of duty But
didn't mind it so long as | could sec
the girl with brown hair.
I'VE had Pleasant weather in the
Mediterranean, but we'd no sooner left
Gibraltar than Il nor'caSter began to
blow which developed into the worst
storm l ever saw at sea. The waves
struck us With such force that every
time one fell on us | thought we'd ncv
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 in
| the right direction, and the pumps
must be manned ut once. so that we
couldn't spare men to repair the deck
and they couldn't repair it in such a
storm anyway. The best we could do
was to cover the gap with Il 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 capn told me to so
down into the cabin and try to quiet
'em. AS soon as l left the companion.
way | saw the most terrible sight i'm.
aginable. Some of EN- We're praying,
some holding on to stanchons, white
as ghosts. while the water, knee deep.
swashed with the rolling of the ship,
Some Of 'em had got up Oh to the table
that ran the length of the cabin to
escape the water
The first single person | 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
and said:
"'rhcSe people are in the condition
of children. and, having taught chill
Gren. | know how important it is tC
keep their minds occupied. Can't we
find something to turn their attention
Propose something
What do you say to Il game oil
l pussy wants Il corncr!"
! II was so encouraged by her coolnes!
1 Fat | would have joined her in an,
scheme. however ludicrous. Turning.
said To the passengers:
We're coming out of this. but yol
: people are spelling your chances b.
$ dcmor;tliZing the crew with Your bowls
S We must have something to do. allt
we will be rs cool as the men. Come
$ lets have Il game Of pussy wants
S corner.
. The girl and l each backed VI
| against Il Stanchion, and another maj
. and another woman presently did tn
' same. \ young boy of fifteen was in
: tluccl 10 come into the game, and tn
@ girl and | made Il rush to change cor
nerS. | let the boy in purposely ant
+ kept out of Il corner for some time
every now and then dragging some on
into the game In five minutes we ha,
i all the ablehodied people in il. and tn
i game was in full swing. made
:, lunge for Il corner. fell purposcl
against Il cabin wave and got III
= drcnched. Several persons laughed
= The next time anything ludicrous hal
. pencd moro laughed. and finally every
;. body in and some out of the game wer
laughing. never missed an opporty
/, nifty for dong something comical no
. did the girl. Her hair came down, am
!, Cnce when the water by the rolling o
i the ship was thrown all together sll
;, swan and shouted that she was Il mel
maid. Then / dived with Il swaSh III
:, der the table and, coming up. slid int
Il vacant corner.
.'4ill this was very we'll, but w
couldn't keep it up forever. We dit
. so rs long as we could; then the gil
- whispered in my car as | passed hel
= Blind mans buff l whipped out IN
handkerchief, and she tied it over m
!, eyes, taking care that Il place wa
:, left for me to see through. This CAV
T. me fine opportunity to put mysel
~ into lndicrous positions, and in IA fe,
, minutes | was playing my part ami
= shouts of laughter Suddenly | hear
!. the cap'n's gruff voice roar down til
companionway with the strength of
&c fog horn:
"'Steamer ahead!
a Il tore the handkerchief off my hea
" and dashed on deck, knowing that crit
q ical work was to be done getting /
If touch with the coming ship. AS tn
q storm was the biggest the sight befor
If me was the gladdeSt | ever saw in IN
ID life, great big steamer on our POI
a. quarter coming right for us.
d. I'VE were all safely transferred, an
L. our own ship drifted away. She kel
If sinking lower and lower till at las
half an hour after leaving her, we SAY
L.. ~