The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-14
A GALE OR TWO.


Capt. Gasket, peering from the window
Of his cottage on Bayberry road, finds
his indignant surprise at the neigh
bors' attitude toward a bit Of a breeze
modified by the spectacle of a wall OF
fluid earth, twenty feet high and Of
complete opacity. advancing down the
lane at a speed OF twelve knots. A
slight frown disturbs his placid fore
head Of an experienced navigator.
You can't stay ashore without get
ting dirty" he mutters. and turns back
to the fire. It Is a good fire, built OF
driftwood gathered at the surf's edge.
borne without haste over the yielding
sand and piled in grotesque shapes
(the work Of Poseidon's Idle moments)
upon a clean swept hearth. The wave
washed fragments burn with a great
crackle and a play Of red, blue and
green sparks. To the man who sits
before the fire II Is a magic blaze.
evocative OF many memories.
To these memories the o "a Of the
gives some Of Its own force and d.
rection. Before Capt. Gasket rises the
vision OF his first passage. as an or
binary seaman, on a limejuicer bound
homeward through the immense
reaches of the blue Pacific. He fancies
he can see again the remote island OF
Manga Reva with twin submits rising
100 feet above the sea. their lovely
verdure yelled by a blue mist that
| appears to be an e%xhalation from the
brilliant color Of the deep water sur.
rounding. Al, day the ship had lair
becaimed within sight of the delicate
contours of that distant bit Of land
But in the first dog watch a black
cloud. rising from the hidden valley
ashore. had ~signalled the swift ap.
proach of a sharp squall.
All hands on deck were busy shortly
with the first serious bit OF ships work
of that memorable passage. While the
Welsh skipper, screaming his orders
and dancing about the poop In undig'
niied excitement. rave no n aboart
a seconds peace until he had put hi
ship under topsails and set a cours'
ofshore from the dangerous cora
reefs round about. the men OF botl
watches tool in eleven OF the twenty
three sails that had been set in forty
four minutes. including the courses
Well. not a record. but still a livel!
bit of work. Having snugged up tn
main topsallant stay sail. Ordinary Sea
man Gasket FASTENED painfully TO tn
deck Othe ratllnes tortured his bar
feot) to watch with exhilaration HI!
first storm at sea.
But that had been nothing. He ha'
scorned the mere recollection OF |
later when a rising pampero, emery
ing from the River Plate. had rage,
for three days and burst the sole
from his Sea boots. Another pair.
fun size too small. had been procure,
from the captains SOP chest at tn
outrageous price OF twenty-five shil
lings. chargeahle against his payda
in Scotland. And these had gone {
flinders in a hurricane in the Mort
Sea. All, that storm was the china
of that passage. After you have actti
ally sighted the friendly 81. Abh's Hea
light off the entrance OF the Firth G
Forth II il totally discouraging {
spend thirty-six hours in a tumu'
which drifts you eighty miles To lee
ward and leaves You somewhere n
the coas, Of Holland in the midst c
II ll vi l'bN'I llNlAaiS ''N w va
mented with brown sails.
Cl,ncing 20 the life lines and dodgin
the hlackly glitterirc wall of wat'
which. bursting, Allied the deck hrea'
high with a boiling food. young Gask'
had crep, aft. wet and shjvsring frni
head to foot. IN ring n double stroke O
the after bell. i, was . O'Clock {
night. The mate. MFR. Walker, clun
gloom!ly to a topsail sheet at the ha
OF the mlzzen.
ANY sign OF a letup. s!r?' venture
the ordinary seaman Mr.. Wake
uttered a dismal sound indicative Z
uegat!on.
: We'll. this will about do me-" con
mented the youth. with chatter!r
teeth.
Yes. I expect So" was the emil
matte reply Of the mate. whose iror
J was not customarily SO polite.
Yet an end had come and with II
! fresh beginning. In many voyages
many seas, through gales % a mo
formidable aspect than any Of thes
= the romantic youthfulness OF tho o
p binary seaman had matured Into
: manhood courageous. simple and e1
, during. For Il is a fact that, for q
term II their vouchsafed lives. the u
. changing sea confers on rs WORSHIP
pers a measure OF Its imnort
freshness and h%oundlcss beauty.
LA TOURETTE HOUSE.