The Washington times., 1938-03-11

ONSA NJ AhS Oh AZ OuU NOA Y "
tion," he wrote.
Then the letter went on to de
scribe the beauties of the sea anC
the friendship of his shipmateS
but 1t wss a fact that the drops
might well have been tears.
When, six weeks before, Shal
lard James had gone aboard the
Oraoey as deck cadet, he had car
ried With him, along with the pre-
scribed sea bag the usual romantic
conception of work at sea held by
the average 17-year-old. Captain
BlackfuSS had made short work
Of it.
His nickname, THE Punk" had
come as a result of his first watch
at night. Deck cadets stand watch
aboard ship with a quartermaster
and a Ships officer, and Shallard,
being newcomer. had the least
desirable watch of all. He stood
with the third mate, stolid Ger
man, and the Greek third quarter
master from 4 to 8, morning and
evening.
That first night, the third mate
had ordered him to go aft and
read the after pinnacle and the
log.
BECOMES CONFUSED
It was blowing a near-gale on
the after deck, and Shallard, con-
fused, had looked into the bin
nacle in the dim light of a Ian
tern. Attempting to be Smartly
nautical he had snapped into the
speaking tube, "Nor'east by east,
sir!" That's what it had looked
liked to him.
In the wheelhouse, checking the
ships compass which should have
corresponded to the after pinnacle,
Third Mate Schurz ripped out a
mighty Teuton oath-"Himmel!"
he roared, Der compass iSs off"
The compass at which he was
looking read southwest by west.
In o moment he had summoned
the captain to the bridge.
Blackfuss, torn from his slum-
berS, Stormed onto the bridge, an
oilskin thrown over his old-fash-
ioned nightShirt. Apprised of the
situation, he ordered the engines
stopped, and soon the ship lay
wallowing in the swell. Then he
went aft to check the after bin
nacle himself.
After an excited few minutes it
was established that the two COM
passes actually checked-that the
deck cadet, Shallard James, had
misread his float. The roar that
resounded in the night would have
done credit to a sea lion; it was
not for nothing that Captain
Blackfuss had the reputation of
being able to swear for 10 minutes
steadily above a bowling gale with
out repeating himself once. AS
he finished his Jeremiad, he fixed
Shallard with a flashing eye
"and listen to me, you-you punk,
don't ever let me catch sight of
you looking at a compass again!"
The word had flashed over the
ship next day, and henceforth he
was known as The Punk. His
deckmates seized on the name
with glee as did every one else
aboard.
FooliShly he had taken the cap
tain at his word, and all his COM
pass reading, taking ships posi-
ton, and other technical jobs, had
been done in fear and trembling
yet they had to be done if he was
to pass his examination at the
conclusion Of the voyage. This
imposed a nervous strain, which,
together with overwork during
supposedly off hours, and the
constant unfriendly Raging Of his |
shipmates had changed him from
a happy, spontaneous youth to
someone overSensitive, nervous
and fearful.
AS The Punk tried to finish his
letter home, the word came that
they would sail in a half hour,
and he ran to the bridge to take
his place at the signal telegraphs.
The sky was a sickly, greenish
yellow overhead, and the sun was
obscured by the haze. AS his
glance went out the ports to the
free ocean, he saw a livid cloud,
encompassing the entire horizon,
swiftly approaching.
STORM APPROACHING
He remembered what he had
heard Of these storms off the Mex
ican coast, and the fact that they
were usually accompanied by tidal
waves which could sweep over the
breakwaterS and into Tugalpa