The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-07-05

feebly out toward the sea. 1t seemed
a desert and lonely land-as wild and
inhospitable as when Ponce de Icons
caravels sailed northward along the
same coast three and three-quarter
centuries before. But it was pleasant
the night was cool and beautiful; my
duties as cook performed l had moth
ing to do but rest and look, and that
night-draped, starlit summer sea was
worth looking at and remembering
Midnight was coming when a little
faint ray, the mere ghost of light,
feebly stabbed the darkness ahead,
vanished and stabbed again. 1t was
another lighthouse. telling US that no
matter how far from home, our Uncle
Sam, so long as we stayed in sight
of his shores, would occasionally lift
up torch to tell US where we were
went comfortably to sleep on the
deck-planks We're soft to my bones
those days-and knew no more until
an invisible force rolled me over and
over and made me claw wildly to
keep, as I thought, from rolling over
board. There was laugh, and as /
sat up, with a gasp of relief the helms
man yelled at me to hustle some coffee
and roust out the watch below.
The boat had come about, was lay
ing way over on her port side and a
strong breeze was driving her along
at rate had never seen her move
before. We were racing with and
overtaking the waves, making them
angry and occasionally causing a
spiteful one to throw a few buckets
full of water aboard as it slid back
toward the stern. / revenged myself
for my unceremonious waking by pull
ing out the skipper and his pardner,
and then 1 tried to placate the whole
crowd with coffee. 1t was easy work,
and as we stood by the helmsman, who
| steered not with wheel but a long,
clumsy tiller, drinking the cheering
beverage out of tin cups, there came a
brightness to the eastward on the sur
face of the sea. 1t glittered more and
more, and then long lances of light
pushed up into the sky where it met
circle, at first no bigger than the up
per rim of soup plate CLEANED over
the emerald rim of the ocean. 1t was
slowly showed, by some invisible power
higher and higher. and began to get
as big as the upper half of a wash
tub. The boat surged and dipped, fol-
minute we took our eyes off the
sunrise, and when we turned them to
it again the great golden sun had
jumped above the water line and sent
a wide, flashing smile across the
miles of tumbling waves straight tc
our little ship. Seemed awfully glao
to see us so near his summer home
We smiled back, of course, and he
climbed little higher so he could look
all over the sea, and every wave turn.
led to azure and its crest to sparkling
lcrystal. And then-the skipper tolc
me to step lively and get breakfast
that he and my other fellow pirates
were starving to death.
| was a bum cook-only the fac
that all the others were good-naturec
and too lazy to wash dishes saved M
from being dropped overheard some
time. But I could make good coffee
: and the boys were generally hungr!
= enough to eat anything. Also, ba'
cook as was, was the peer of an
one of them, as they found out on tn
e return voyage.
While was hustling breakfast, m
eyes were off the scenery, which wa
: not so difficult, there being no violen
e changes. But when had served tn
e grub and had time to look aroun
e again, I saw we were gliding by To-
d headland, turning which opened
e vista of long, wide sheet of waite
d very similar indeed to many reacht
a on the Indian river. On the oces
side was another narrow strip of sar
l. and scrub, like we had seen day afte
day ON our trip south. And to tt
I. west was another wall of forest, whit
!, seemed rather more dense than tho
r farther north. A little way up
d could see, making breaks in this wa
a a tiny dent of civilization. First the
is was discernible bunch of masts al
l spars above a few small sailing We
l. sells, f1imsy docks sticking out in
ID the water, patches of sandy shore, al
20 several buildings behind them. Al
l. that was the Miami of August 18'