Northern Weekly Gazette. — 1905-10-14 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

ALDEN.  "I don't hold," said Captain Tarbox, "with the sailor's notion that lawyers are no better than sharks. I've reason to know better. There is lawyer Twigge of our town, who had the settling of a deed man's estate worth nigh on to two hundred thousand dollars, and when he got through he handed over to the widow pretty near five thousand dollars, when he might have grabbed the whole of it without letting the widow have a share. And I believe that there are a good many other lawyers that are every bit as honest as Twiggs himself. If you talk of sea lawyers, I'll admit that they are the biggest scoundrels outside the legislature. For cheek and general cussedness, there is nothing to compare with a sea lawyer. I had an experience with one of • that sort when I was with Captain Pratt, in the "Seabird " or, come to think of it, in the "Colchester." We were coming to the westward, and were well up with the eastern edge of the banks, when we sighted a small boat about three miles on the starboard bow, there being a light breeze from the , southward at the time, and very little see on. We kept the ship aivay till we came up with the boat, and one of the hands jumped into her, and made her fast to the mizzen chains. She was a ship's quarter boat, and was fit to carry thirty men, but she had only one passenger. He was a sailor, by his clothes, and was lying in the stern sheets asleep, or dead, leaving the boat to drift which ever way she chose.  finding that the man was insensible, we ri2-ea whip, and hoisted him aboard. The old man examined him the moment he Wag over the rail, and said that he was alive, but nearly dead with starvation. "Carry him below, and lay him on the cabin locker," gays the captain. "Be mighty careful with the poor chap, for there's very little life left in him. Tell the steward to bear a hand and eet some beef tea, and some blankets, while 1 ovehaul the medicine chest. I asked the captain if I should hoist in the boat, but he said we hadn't any room for her, and that after I had examined her I should cast her adrift. There was nothing in her except five biscuits, a bottle with about two fingers of brandy, her mast anti sail, two pairs of oars, and an empty breaker of water I noticed that a name had been scraped, by accident or otherwise, off her bow, but I thought I could make out the letters "gi " and the end of a swallow-tailed flag that had been Painted alongside of the name. I had her cast adrift, and after we had braced up the yards and put her en her oourse again, I went below to see lOW things were getting on—the second mate being in charge of the deck. The captain and the steward were standing over the rescued man, who wads lying on his back, and looking pretty red in the face for a dying man. Pratt had the men's jaws prised open with the handle of his tooth-brush, and was trying to pour some medicine down his throat. All at 0.1109 he choked, and sat up, and after coughing spell, says to the oki mail, in a good, strong voice, " What's this infernal skylarking? Are you trying to murder me?" " Keep quiet, my poor man," csays Pratt. "We've rescued you, and if you just take this medicine, aad lie still, you'll be all right in a little while."