The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1907-04-11
In Shallow
Waters.
Copyright 1907. by Mary MeKeon
BY KIRK MCGEE.

/ kS<<tIcS<<S1ES<ScE< S<SSISczzc>>1cSSS Z
When it became known throughout
! the town and the fishing fleet that aft
! err one more trip to the Banks Dave
Bliss who had for three years been
j mate of the Swordfsh under the cap
taincy of Josh Baker, would take out
the Mary and Jane aud become a cap.
tain himself, there WAS not Il begrudg
Ing word or a selfish thought
Dave was young man and a popu
! lar one He was a good sailor and q
| lucky fisherman. 1t WAS known that he
was in love and WAS already engaged
| to Captain Bakers daughter Mary. and
/ the talk was that they we're to be mar.
ried the day he assumed his new com
mand. II 1t had been for Captain Bak.
er to choose a son-in-aw from the fifty
single men in the fishing fleet, lac
would have held out his hand to Dave
In preference They had fought the
perils of the sea together for three
years, and they had come 10 know each
other as landsmen can never know one
another
Out on the Banks that day it was
i squally weather The air WIS cold and
raw. and the sea heaved up and CUR
/ gled and growled as # demanding vic
/ Tins Every craft needed watching,
and none was more closely watched
than the Swordfsh. There came mo
ment. however. when the captain was
below for drink of something hot,
and the mate had his eyes on tramp
steamer shearng her way through the
/ fleet. and that very moment ii WAS
] when a squall struck down with the
swiftness of a cannon ball, and the
Swordtish was thrown on her beam
ends
1t was inevitable that confusion
should follow With her masts fiat on
the water and her sails belying out
the boat could not right to an even
keel. and it was the mate himself who
seized an ak from Its beckett and cut
away the shrouds. letting the strain
take them overheard. 1t was the only
thing to do to save the schooner, and
he perilpd his life in the doing of It.
That went for naught however. No
man is SO jealous Of his reputation as n
fisherman. He knows. and his owners
know, that there must be accidents at
sea, no matter what the vigilance, but
for all that an accident is a smirch and
an injury to his reputation.
SO il was that the news ran through
the feet of sixty sail almost as If by
telegraph. that the Swordfish had been
dismasted in a squat which had spared
all others There must have been care
blamed Dave Bliss, and Dave Bliss re
scented the criticism, so the first of the
fleet to reach home had a story to tell
that quickly spread all over the town
The fisher craft that goes down at sea
is talked of for a week The fisher
craft that loses a mast or set Of sails
is not forgotten for six months.
When the Swordfish came limping
home week or so behind all others,
there was a gulf between master and
mate. The crew were divided In senti--
ment 1t was the same with the towns
people. When il was known that the
craft had arrived, Mary Baker sat at
the window and waited for her father
and lover They had always come to
the house in company upon their re
turn. The hours went by, and at last
the father arrived alone. His face was
stern set, and hope went out Of her
heart as she saw It, She had heard the
gossip Of the early arrivals, but hoped
that it was exaggerated. She knew
that the iieet and the town had taken
sides, but she believed in her lover
Hell never enter my door again.
said the father as he stood aud looked
mt the girl
"Bul il couldn't have been his fault,
and we are to be to be married, she
protested
lie should have seen the squat He
shouldn't have lost his head afterward
and cut AWAY the masts He comes
here no more. lie shall never be son
ln-law Of mine. want to hear nothing
more about it
That evening Mary received a note
from Dave by the hands of a boy He
said not a word against her father
He simply asserted that he had done
the best he could and that before see
Ing her again he would wait for public /
opinion 10 change He had not lost
the confidence of the owners OF the /
Mary land lane She would be ready |
for sen In ten days He hoped that his |
Mary would believe In him and that |
things would come right In the end.
The reply be received strengthened
and encouraged him. and he went |
about his affairs as if the gossip of the ,
iOwn We're naught to him The Mary |
and Jane sailed with the fleet Aye, |
more than that. she headed It. II had |
been predicted that she would prove |
| fier, but when her canvas had been
stretched and her rigging frightened up |
she smoked along like steam 1t was
Ter misfortune to pass the Swordfsh |
lose aboard During the two weeks |
IN shore Captain Baker and his old
nate had met three or four times a
lay. but as total strangers. They could
laVe looked into each others eyes now.
nut they did not There was no anger
-. l.. Al