Rocky Ford enterprise., 1910-05-13
CHAPTER X.

In Which ! Hear the Tale Of the First
Officer.
Tuttle required while getting
started. pulling aside his dangling
coat-tails to sit down facing me, and
then twiddling his long fingers with
his gaze bent on the deck. take It
that his intellectual operations were
naturally slow, although he was swift
enough in all matters appertaining to
seamanship. Anyhow. he sat there for
SO long. his whole appearance so sleek
and oily. that lost all patience. shuf-
fling my feet on the deck. The noise
served to arouse him.
1T commenced somethin' like over
two years ago sir" he began. mouth.
ing each word with care. "A little
earlier in the season than this is now
was master of the whalin' bark
Betsy, sailin' from Province town,
an We were homeward bound after
about IS months cruisin' in the South
Pacific. carryin' fair cargo OF oil an
whale trimmings. We were roundin'
the Horn. being about 20 degrees west
and sc degrees south when the real
trouble began. l know that was rath.
er low latitude. but we had been
buckin' against head winds an a high
sea for more'n a week, an besides
were short.handed. five of the crew
havin' skipped out at Somers island.
where we put in after fresh WATER
Anyway. It was about there that a
storm hit us from out the nor'east.
guess 1t must have been one end OF .
hurricane. ] never see nothin' fiercer.
even In those seas. There was nothin'
to do but turn tail an scud. the ropes
and canvas being SO stin with ice
Well. We battened down. an took
chances. but for n while I thought
every wave was goin' to do for the OIL
hooker an send US all to Davy Jones'
l couldn't see 1--WE feet from the rail,
an had to keep diggin' Ice out O.
my eyes to see Mt all. The wind had
the feel Of solid wall. sir"
Tuttle was leaning forward now, his
elbows on the table. His lean. solemn
countenance had lost its listIessness.
and also noticed the eager interest
imprinted on the faces Of his two COM
rades.
we was Jest roundin' the point"
he went on as soon as he took a long
breath, the Betsy keelin' over SOS
her deck was half awash. an with no
more than maybe 100 yards O. clear
water to the good. Back o. an ugly
lookin' headland the coast seemed to
fall away sudden into sort O. cove.
which was piled high with great ice
hummocks, behind which the ice wall
rose up sheer almost to the top o. the
rocks. There was a sorter shelf along
the edge Of 1t. an a-settin' up there in
full view was the damndest lookin'
vessel ever l saw in so years O. sea
farm. So help me God. sir, I saw
1t with my own eyes. as plain as I'm
lookin' at you, II was h'isted up all
o 20 feet above the lower ice-field. an
sort o careened over where II was
froze fast SO as to show the decks
amidships clear to the inner rail. You
remember them ships what Columbus
sailed in? Well. this hooker was that
kind. only a blame sight bigger. l
guessed her at $50 or 900 ton, but she
had the same sort O. build-a big high
stern, with an after-cabin clear acrost
IL, the waist sunk down in a curve. an
the fo'castle raised up like n house.
with blunt bows. an u monster bow
spirit forkin' straight up into the air.
The whole outfit was SO cased with
Ice an glittered so in the sun that II
seemed like q part O. the Ice cliff.
which had took that queer shape from
thawin' an freezin'. Damme II I
didn't think It was somethin' like that
for minute-a blame freak o. nature
but when l grabbed the glasses. an
got a good look through them, 1t was a
ship all right. the kind you read
about in the books what navigated
these waters a hundred or more years
ago. | was still a-starin at II with all
my eyes when We raised the stern.
which stood h'isted up a bit higher
than the bow, an where the steady
dash OF the waves didn't break clean
over II, an the sun fell just right SO
| read the hooker's name. BY God.
did. sir! II was there plain as day:
Donna Isabel, Cadiz."
(To BE CoNTINUED.)