The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1907-08-20
lin Shallow
RS. Waters.

Copyright, 1907. by Mary McKeOn.e

= Copyright 1907, by Mary McKeon.@
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When it became knownn throughout
the town and the fishing feet that aft
er one more trip to the Banks Dave
Bliss, who had for three years been
mate of the Swordfish under the cap
taincy of Josh Baker, would take out
the Mary and Jane and become a cap
tain himself, there was not a begrudg-
ing word or a selfish thought z l's
Dave was "a young man and popu-
lar one. He was a good sailor and
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 ito be mar
ried the day he assumed his new COM
mand If it had been for Captain Bakr
er to choose son-in-law from the fifty
single men in the fishing feet, he
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 to know each
other as landsmen can never know one
another,
!, Out on the Banks that day it was
squally weather. The air was cold and
raw, and the sea heaved up and CUR
agled and growled as if demanding vic
tins. Every craft needed watching,
and none was more closely watched
than the Swordflsh. There came a mo-
ment however, when the captain was
below for drink of something hot,
and the mate had his eyes on a tramp
steamer shearing her way through the
feet, and that very moment il was
when q squat struck down with the
swiftness of a cannon ball, and the
,Swordfsh was thrown on her beam
ends.
4 1t was inevitable mat confusion
should follow. With her masts fat on
the water and her sails bellying 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 periled his life IN the doing of it.
That went for naught, however. No
man is so jealous of his reputation as q
fisherman. He knows, and his owners
know, that there must be accidents at
sea, no matter what the vigilance, but
co.. oil = T.,
an injury. to his reputation.
So it was that the news ran through
the fleet Of sixty sail almost as If by
telegraph, that the Swordfsh had been
dismasted in squall which had spared
all others. There must have been care
lessness, of course. Captain Baker
blamed Dave Bliss, and Dave Bliss re
scented the criticism, so the first of the
feet to reach home had 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 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 it 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 ehope 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 feet and the town had taken
sides, but she believed in her lover.
Hell never enter my door againr'
said the father as he stood and looked
at the girl.
but it couldn't have been his fault,
and we are to be-tO be married." she
protested.
HE should have seen the squat. He
! shouldn't have lost his head afterward
and cut away the masts. He comes
here no more. He shall never be SON
in-law of mine l wan 70 hear nothing
more about it,"
That evening Mary received a note
from Dave by the hands of boy. He
said not 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 to change. He had not lost
Of ho -
Mary and Jane. She would be ready
for sea in ten days He hoped that his
Mary would believe in him and that
things would come right in the end.
/ The reply he received strengthened
and encouraged him, and he went
about his affairs as if the gossip of the
town were naught to him. The Mary
and Jane sailed with the feet. Aye.
more than that, she headed it. 1t had
been predicted that she would prove
fier, but when her canvas hads been
l 49,