The Washington herald., 1907-02-08
IN SHALLOW WATERS.
BY KIRK MEG EE.

When it became known throughout the
town and the fishing fleet that after
one more trip to the Banks Dave Bliss.
who had for three years been mate OF the
Swordhsh under the captaincy Of Josh
Baker. would take out the Mary and
Jane and become a captain himself,
there was not a begrudging word nor a
selfish thought.
Dave was a young man and a popular
one. He was a good sailor and a lucky
fisherman. II was known that he was in
love and was already engaged to Capt
Bakers daughter Mary, and the talk was
that they We're 10 be married the day he
assumed his new command IF il had
been for Capt. Baker to choose q son-in-
law from the fifty single men in the fish
ing feet, he would have held out his
hand 10 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
squaly weather The air was cold and
raw, and the sea heaved up and gurgIed
and growled as if demanding victims
Every craft needed watching, and none
was more closely watched than the
Swordfsh. There came a moment. how
ever, when ths captain was below for a
drink Of something hot and the mate
had his eyes on tramp steamer shear
ing her way through the fleet, and that
very moment it was when squat struck
down with the swifness Of a canon
ball and the Swordfsh was thrown on
her beam ends.
It was inevitable that confusion should
follow, With her masts fiat on the water
and her sails bellying out, the boat could
not right 10 an even keel, and 30 was the
mate himself who seized an axe from its
beckets and cut away the shrouds let
ting the strain take them overheard. 1t
was the only thing 10 DO TO save the
schooner, and be periled his life in the
doing Of it. That went for naught, how
ever No man is so jealous Of his repu-
tatiOn as "a fisherman. lie knows and his
owners know that there must be acct
dents at sea, no matter what the vigi-
smirch and 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 SWordnsh had been
dismasted in a squall which had spared
all others. There must have been care
lessHess. Of course. Capt Baker blamed
Dave Bliss, and Dave Bliss resented the
criticism; so the first Of the fleet 10
reach home had a story 20 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 a set of sails is
not forgotten for six months
When the Swordfish came limping home
a week or so behind all others. there was
a gulf between masteTaH mate. The crew
were divided in sentiment. It was the
same with the towuspeople. When it
was known that the craft had arrived,
Mary Baker sat at the window and wait
ed for her father and lover They had
always come TO the house in company
upon their return. 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 il. She had heard
the gossip Of the early arrivals, but
hoped that il was exaggerated. She knew
that the fleet and the town had taken
sides. but she believed in her lover.
Hell never enter my door again." said
the father, as he stood and looked at the
girl.
But 1t couldn't have been his fault.
and we are TO be-to be married." she
protested.
on. ebovTf how soon fE ,o,,oI1 II.
shouldn't have lost his head afterward
and cut away the masts. He comes here
no more. He shall never be q sOn-in-law
Of mine. l want TO hear nothing more
about Il"
That evening Mary received a note
from Dave by the hands of boy He
said not a word against her father He
simply asserted that he had done the
best he could. and that before seeing her
again he would wait for public opinion
To change. He had not lost the conf
dence of the owners Of the 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 II the gossip of the town were
nauSht 70 him. The Mary and Jane
sailed with the fleet Aye more than
that-she headed IT, 1t had been predicted
that she would prove a flyer. but when
her canvas had been stretched and her
rigging frightened UP she smoked along
Ike steam. II was her misfortune to pass
the Swordhsh close aboard. During the
two weeks on shore Capt Baker and his
old mate had met three or four times "A
day, but as total strangers They could
have looked into each others eyes now
but they did not There was no anger in
the new captains heart, but the other
flushed. compressed his lips. and those
who were watching him realized that he
felt as if an insult had been put upon
him.
That first voyage of the new craft is
still recalled at the fish houses. in the
sail lofts and Offices, and wherever fish
ermen gather TO gossip. She shortened
the run TO the Banks by two DAYS. She
was slowing away cod when the other