The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1912-11-22
CHAPTER V-(continued.)

CHAPTER V-(Continued)
Stand by!' roars Nat. It's a
Fquall, dead astern and comm abilin'!
II take her, Bile You look out for
them tops'ls'
so Nat grabs the wheel and Bile
tears for'ard and sends the two fo'mast
hands aloft on the jump. Zach was
skipper but all he done was race
around and boiler and trip over his
own feet. IL hit 'em fore they got
even one topsl clewed down. That
one, the foretops1 twas, split to rags.
The main tops1 was set, and when the
squall struck, the rotten old topmast
went by the board 'Kerrash-on Course
splinters flew like all possessed, and
one of EN-, about a foot long, sailed
past Mats head, where he stood heav-
in his whole weight on the wheel, and
lit right on the pinnacle, smashin' it
10 matches.
We'll, there they was, afioat, but
with their upper riggin' gone and the
compass smashed fat. A howlin' moth
wester BLOWN and fog thick as ever.
Zach was a whimperin', f1dgetin' old
woman, Lafayette and Emulous was
prayin' in the scuppers-and that amt
an exercise they're used to, neither
even Bile was mighty shook up and
worried-he says he was himself But
Nat Hammond was as cool and re-
freshin' as the bottom Of my well up
home.
Then Nat suggests gettin' the spare
ompass and, 10 and behold you! there
want any. Compasses cost money
and moneys made to keep, SO Zach
thinks.
so there they was Wind was fair,
or ought to be, but twas BLOWN hard
and so thick you couldn't hardly see
the jib boom. Zach he wanted to an
Choir, then he didn't, then he did, and
SO on. Nobody paid much attention
TO him.
What1H we do, Nat?' says Bile.
He knew who was the real seaman
aboard
Well, If twas me, | wouldn't an
Choir till I had to. Prob1y twill fair
off tomorrow, but if it shouldn't, we
might have to lay out here all day.
Anyhow, we'd have to wait for a full
tide.'
I'm afraid we're off the course
says Bile, else we'd been acrost the
bar by this time
Well Nat tells him, if we are off
the course and too far inshore, we
would have made the bar-the Bay
port bar-if not the Trumet one And
IL we're off the course and too far out,
we'd ought to have deeper water than
five fathom, hadn't we? Course I'm
not sure, but What's that, lands
man.?
Three and a half, sir says the fell
Ter with the lead. That showed they
was edgin' in somewheres Nat he
shifted, for all the world like a dog
catchin' a scent, so Bile declares.
Tell you | smell home says Nat,
calm and clipper, and I'd know that
smell If l met it in Jericho. Ha!
there she deepens again That was
the bar and we're over it.
The wind had gone down to a stiff
sailin' breeze, and the old Debby s.
slapped along afore it. Sometimes
there was twelve foot under her keel
and sometimes eight or nine. Once
twas only seven and half. Zach and
Bile both looked at each other, but
Nat only smiled.
"'Oh, you can Taught hollers Zach
'Tain't your vessel you're runnin' in
to danger. You amt paid out your
good money
NAT never answered; but he stopped
smilin'
And all to once the water deep
ened. Hammond swung her up into
the wind.
:" Now you can anchor says he
And bout time, too, l guess says
Bile. callate the shippers right.
This is Horsefoot and we're right be-
tween the shoals. Yes, sir, and hear
breakers. Lively there!'
"They hove over the mudhook and
dropped the sails. Nat shook his
head
Breakers or not says he, Z tell
you I've smelt home for the last half
hour. Now, by the jumpin Moses,
can taste it,
And inside Of a couple of shakes
come the rain. 1t poured for while
and then the fog cleared. Right across
their bows was Trumet, with the town
clock strikin' ten. Over the fat place
between the hills they could see the
light on the ocean side. And they was
anchored right in the deep hole inside
the breakwater, as sure as I'm knee
high to a marlin spikel
Bile just stared at Hammond with
his mouth open.
Nat says he. you're a seaman. if
DO say 1t. l thought I was a pretty
good bay pilot, but I can't steer a yes
sci without compass through night
as black as Pharaoh's Egypt. and In a
thick fog besides, and land her square
on top of her moorin's. If my hat
want SlOShjn' around tb;r+r IN,