Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1907-01-04
THE GIRL WITH THE
BONNY BROWN HAIR

"GranQpa, tell US aDOut Tue WOrSt
storm you ever saw at sea-" said Tom
my. aged eight.
"No, DON'T" protested his little sister.
'I'll tell you about a storm in which
we were all saved"
"That'l be nice." said the girl.
I'VE left Naples ON the 4th Of No |
vember with twenty passengers.
Among them was a girl who seemed to
be alone. There was character enough
in her face for 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 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 / ever saw at sea. The waves
struck US with such force that every
time one fell on us thought we'd new.
er rise from under it. At last one big.
ger than the rest struck us and stove
In 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 at once, SO that we
couldn't spare men to repair the deck.
and they couldn't repair it in such
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 / left the companion
way l saw the most terrible sight I'M
aginable. 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
1.-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
me she beckoned me to come to her
and said:
"These people are in the condition
Of children, and, having taught chill
dren, 1 know how important it is to
keep their minds occupied. Can't we
find something to turn their attention 2
"sPropose something
"'What do you say to a game OF
pussy wants a corner?"'
) II was SO encouraged by her GOODNESS
, that | would have Joined her In any
scheme, however ludicrous. Turning,
said to the passengers:
"'We're coming out of this, but you
people are spelling your chances by
demoralizing the crew with your bowls
We must have something to do, and
we will be as cool as the men. Come
: let's have a game Of pussy wants 6
corner
1.-THE girl and I each backed III
against a stanchion, and another mar
and another woman presently did the
same. A young boy Of fifteen was in
duced to come into the game, and tn,
girl and made a rush to change cor
{ ners. l let the boy In purposely ant
0 kept out Of corner for some time
I every now and then dragging some ON
: into the game. In five minutes we hat
all the ablebodied people in 1t, and tn
game was in full swing. l made
lunge for a corner, fell purposel,
against a cabin wave and got vi
] drenched. Several persons laughed
2 The next time anything ludlcrous hap
e pened more laughed, and finally every
D body In and some out of the game wer
| laughing. / never missed an opportu
nifty for doing something comical, no
did the girl. Her hair came down, an,
cnce when the water by the rolling o
the ship was thrown all together sh
u swan and shouted that she was a mel
e maid. Then l dived with a swash ur
!. der the table and, coming up, slid int
! vacant corner.
i 'All this was very well. but w
couldn't keep 1t up forever. We di
SO as long as we could; then the gir
whispered In my ear as passed hei
) Blind mans buff / whipped out m
II handkerchief, and she tied 1t over m
y eyes, taking care that a place wa
IL left for me to see through. This CAV
n me fine opportunity to put mysel
!, into ludicrous positions, and In a fe,
minutes I was playing my part ami
shouts of laughter. Suddenly hear
. the cap'n's grufr voice roar down til
% companionway with the strength of
re fog horn:
ID "sSteamer ahead!
IL II tore the handkerchief off my hea
II and dashed on deck, knowing that cri
81 ical work was to be done getting
"A touch with the coming ship. AS tn
, storm was the biggest, the sight befor
me was the gladdest ever saw In m
life, great. big steamer on our pol
q quarter, coming right for us.
r I'VE were all safely transferred an
our own shin driftad Sha Eor