Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1910-03-16

by the court to hang at noon ON Fri
day, the 3Oth of June. There won't be
no SIGH day fer u.s. This 'ere ship left
Wellington year ago and has been
a-sailin' and a-sailin', till we've gone
clean round the globe. You're naviga
tor enough to know, cap'n. that we've
lost one day in our reckonin'. Tonight
Wen cross the international date line
and jump a day in our record. 1t
won't be Friday, June 80, but Satur-
day, July L.
"Boss, you'd ougtter seen the way
he looked at me when l said that 1t
seemed as if the idee struck him hard.>
"'This is Thursday he said, amt
it%
"'Aye. aye. sirr
eff we don't reach the date line
afore tomorrow noon it'll be Friday,
and the hangin' will be legal
"'Aye, aye, sir! But if we do reach
the date line afore tomorrow at noon
it'll be Saturday accordin' to the new
reckonin', and Mr.. Withers can't be
swung accordin' to the sentence of the
court
1.-The cap'n looks up at the sky and
skins his eye along the horizon. Then
he turns to the fust officer, who was
standin' by
"'You got the sun today, didn't you,
Mr.. Greevis?
"'Aye. aye, sirv
"'How far do you reckon we are
from the one hundred and eightieth
meridian?
Bout ninety miles, sir
'"Then the cap'n put his eye round
the horizon ag'in. 1 knowed well
enough what he was a-thinkin' about.
With the wind we was a-gittin' we
couldn't make the date line afore the
time set for the hangin' WOrse'n that,
the wind was a-dyin' out
"'Well. my man. he said, kind of
chucklin',' 4 reckon Mr.. Withers II
hang, and hang legally
BOSS, as we men walked forward,
do you know. every mothers son of us
had his eye on the sky a-tryin' to see
/ some sign of wind. But there wasn't
no sign nowhere. A thin thickness
stood on the horizon. but that didn't
mean nothin', so far as | could see.
and didn't see no hope. / went be-
low and put my arms round Mr..
! Withers, who was a-sittfn' pale and
thoughtful-like, and tried to tell him
! about it ALL but my speakin' tube was
| clogged, so l couldn't say nothin'. and
one of my mates had to tell him. He
thanked me and asked how the wind
was a-holdin'. l says it was a-dyin'
down. The color went out Of his face,
no putin off my sailin' day for the
big ocean,
II rubs my shirt sleeve agin my eye
and goes up on deck to look for wind.
Do you know, boss. the sails was
a-fappin'. l turned my eyes skyward,
| feelin' as if there wasn't no hope no.
where, and seen that the thin thick
ness wot told you about was a-thick-
enin' some more. Besides, there was
a few bits Of clouds wot looked higher
n the misty bank behind, with dark
centers and ragged edges. / turned
about to the quarterback and seen the
cap'n was a-lOokin' at 'em too. Then
some of the other men on deck begun
to watch 'em, and pretty soon up
comes all the off watches, every man
a-lookin' out at them ragged clouds.
"Arter awhile the cap'n, SEEM it
wouldn't do to put off preparations
any longer, called all hands to shorten
sail and git the ship ready for a gale
Well, it struck us bout eight bells. II
wasn't none of them white squalls wot
blows over in a hurry. but a roarin'
wind. backed by big bank of clouds
THE Polly Milford went over on her
beam ends, but the flynn jib had been
left, and that Studded her, and after
rOckin' to port, then to starboard, then
to stern, she slid down from the crest
Of high wave and was buried in q
sea of buttermilk.
"At any other time, boss, we'd ruthel
not seen that wind. Now we prayed
for it to keep a-blowin' But as night
wore on we found the ship was a-leak
it; then she listed, and-well, it begun
to look as if one man d better hans
| Lh1lh q nun ClCW ~ W Tie UOIlOLu.
amt a-goin' to tell you bout tina
black night, them roarin waves, tina
howlin' wind.
Gall to onct the flynn jib busted int
ribbons. The cap'n lost his head an6
was a-givin' orders so wild that M
one would obey 'em; the fust officer
was a-shakin' with fear, and it begun
to look like we'd got to git some III
to command or founder.
There was a rush for the forward
gangway. Down went half a dozer
, of us, and up we brings Mr.. Wither.
and puts him in command The cap'1
didn't make no protest He was too
skeered to think of anything excep
drownin'. Mr. Withers TUX the helm
, hisself. sent me below with a gang
to work the pumps. managed to gi
up another jib and saved the ship.
THE next mornin' the wind dropped
. to ten knot breeze, and there on tn,
horizon was land We knouod xuo,t