Adventures Of Tad

AUTHOR OF "PlPPKB ADAMS," "BLOWS OUT io Sba," "Paul Graitom," Etc. [Copyrighted, 1X86, by D. Lotkrap t Co., and PublMied by Special Arrangement.] '. CHAPTER IV.- CONTIKUID. "It mayn't matter much to you, Tad," he said, very tenderly and reverently, "but it matters c'nsider'ble to Him that'i watchin' you from up aloft, for if He hadn't some sort of sailin' orders for you, He never'd V sot you drift on this hero sea of life. Now, my lad," Captain Flagg continued, impressively, "only for your overhaulin1 and runnin' down that privateerin' ehap under false colore, I'd have lost the ship's papers, and nigh forty dollars in clean cash, to say nothin' of the good turn you did Polly here, this mornin', which I ain't like to forget. And, sumrain' it all up," said the Captain, patting blushing Tad on the houlder, "I've made up my mind to jive you" "No, ," interrupted Tad, with a decisive shake of the head, "I didn't want any thing for what I've done." "To give you - a chance aboard the "Mary J.," - 'to be-e-e-e a galliant iail-yer bo-o-o-o-y.' " Trolling out the concluding words, which were a reminiscence of some old sea-song, in a deep voice, that might have come from his cavernous boots, the Captain leaned back in his chair, and beamed benevolently upon Tad, who did not seeca quite as much overeóme by the magnitude of the offer as one might at first suppose. "I'm ever so much obligcd, Capt'n Flagg," faltered Tad, conscious that Polly was waiting for his answer, with a look of pleased expectancy in her bright face, "but I'm afraid" "That you'll be sea-sick? Oh, that's nothing - you'll get right over it," broke in Polly, with impetuous assurance. And so well assured did both f ;ither and daughter seem to feel that Tad would jump at theproffered honor, thatTad's half-uttered ref usal died away on his lips. "AU right, sir, I'll do my best," said Tad, sturdily;and, slapping him jovially on the back. Captain Flagg declared that nobody could do more than that. "I began to the very sheerpole my■elf," explained the Captain, in the fulness of his heart, "and, when I was your size, was ïuftin1 logs to a mili; then I pulled bow-oar m a gund'low, nd after I'd gone two or three trip3 to the Banks, I shipped as f o' mast hand in a coastin' vesseL I was a good many years workin' myself from the ío'c'íle to thequarter-deck," said Captain Magg, with a solemn shake of his head, "but I doneit, and now I'm c'mm&nder and owner of a quarter of the Mary J.' " If good Captain Flagg had been master of a two-thousand-ton A-l fullrigged clipper, he could not have spoken with more conscious pride than in this simple narration, and after regarding hini with admiring awe, as one to whom the wonders and mysteries of the sea were an open book, Tad glanced curiously around the cabin. It was a quaiat little interior, with eurtained berth on either side, and a state-room, ïuther larger than a goodsized dry-goods box, at the back of the steps leading down from the deck, which was occupied for the present by ! Miss Polly Flagg, who was making her , vacation voyage with her father, as a reward of merit forimprovement in her studies at the Bixport town school. The main-mast, which ran up through the cabin floor and roof about midway, had nails driven in it on which were hung the Captain1 s oil-clothes and Polly's big sun-bonnet. A sort of foldingtable, attached to the after-part of the mast by a hinge, could be turned up out of the way when not in use. A dingy-faced clock, like a big letter O, looked down from the wall, while opposite was a highly-colored lithograph representing the once famous clipper "Dreadnought" plowing through very green seas under' a very blue sky. There was no carpet on the floor, which, however, was scrupulously clean, whije three chairs, in various stages of dilapidation, composed the entire stock of furniture; but to Tad it was one of the most delightful places imaginable, and he longed for bed-time to come, so that he could stow himself away in the little berth which had been assigned to him by Captain Flagg. "All han1s on deck!" gravely announced the Captain, as the city clocks struck one. Ephraim, who had been stretehed at length on one of the lockers, gathered himself up, and, motioning Tad to follow, climbed leisurely up the companion-way. "We' re goin1 to get under way this afternoon," said Eph, "and there's a tremendous lot of things to do;- let's see_what'll we take holt of li'rst?" Eph looked listlessly about him, and then, thrusting his hands in pockets, leaned against the rail in a meditative attitude. Captain Flagg came forward and squinted alof t at the little mast-head pennant, after which he followed the example of Eph. Polly, recovering the small dog from the galley, where George Washington was singing a Methodist hymn as he washed the dinner-dishes, sat down with it in her arms, on a coil of rope. And Tad.looking silently on, began to think that the hardships of a sailor's life had been greatly oveiTated. By and by Captain Flagg remarked that he guessed the tide was about right, and they'dbetter think of getting unaer way. Certain lines were let go and hauled on board, and in some mysterions manner, quite incomprehensible to Tad, the "Mary J." was 8lowly extricated from the maze of surrounding vessels, the sails hoisted by the united force of the ship's company, exclusive of Miss Polly, and with a favoring wind the venerable forty-ton schooner began her voyage. "Bring up the spy-glass, Polly," said Captain Flagg, who sat oomfortably on the head of the rudder, his hard hands grasping the spokes of the wheel. "What is it, sirP" asked Polly, as, having brought the instrument in question from below, her father, placing it at his eye, gazed back at the end of the wharf from which the " Mary J." had cleared. " I thought I saw some one I knowed; that's all, Polly," was the reply. Be kept the fact to himself, however, that the person in question was none other than the ubiquitous Jones, who, observant of the Captain's telescopio gaze, placed the tip of his thumb at the end of his nose, and twiddled his fingers derisively. " He's bound to keep track of that 'ere little han' bag," said Captain Flagg to himself, with a dubious shake of the head. For Captain Flagg had become convinced, after hearing Tad s Btory, that Mr. Jones, who was evidently a sharper of the first water, had tained in some way best known to ■ self that the sachel contained something of considerable valué, or he never would have " shadowed" its possessor so persistently. " I' 11 advertise it for the boy soon's ever we get home," he mentally decided, and then gave his undividcd attention to the reponsibility consequent upon his command. "Mr. Small," said Captain Flagg, gravely, "have the decks cleared up, an' then let the port watch go below." "Aye, aye, sir," answered the longlegged, sandy-haired youth, who, in his dual capacity of officer and crew, was "Mr. Small," or "Eph," according to cireumstances. That is, as "Chief Mate" he was addressed with the prefix of "Mr.;" as a member of the port watch, which now consisted of himself and Tad, he received his more familiar title of "Eph." . ■ "Come for'ard along oí me," said Mr. Small, ungrammatically and brusquely, motioning to Tad, who was staring at the passing tugs and vessels In open-eyed amazement, and the latter meekly obeyed. "Them's the jib halyards," said Mr. Small, reclining in an easy posture against the foremast, with one hand in his trousers' pocket, while witb the other he poiuted to the rope in question, "an' you coil 'em up on that air pin, same as the others is." Tad having accomplished the task satisfactorily, Mr. Small proceeded to j point out in their several positions the jib down-haul, the fore and main halyards, and peak halyards, and the fore and main sheets, withsomeinstructions as to their several uses, showing Tad how to coil them up properly, so that tbey would be clear for letting go if needful. "There - them's all the ropes," said Mr. Small, with an air of relief. "Now, all you' ve got to do is learn how to steer, an' tie a reef p'int, an' you'll be as good a sailor as anybody." So saying, Mr. Small pulled a jackknife and a piece of shingle from his pocket, and, setting down on the fore hatch, began whittling, while Tad, greatly surprised and considerably rclieved to find that the whole art of seamanship was so easily learned, drifted to the rail, where he stood gazing delightedly at the panorama spread out before him. Great ships, pulled by little panting tug-boats- with sides rusty from a long sea-voyage- carne slowly up the harbor; while others, with loosened sails, began their outward-bound voyage, with the chanting song of the sailors as an accompaniment to the clanking capstan. Enormous iron steamers, handsome bi-igs and threemasted schooners as large as the ships themselves, passed and repassed, in bewildering succession. "I think it's real nice to be a sailor," j said Tad, enthusiastically, to Polly, who was walking the deck, followed by the small dog. Polly had named him "Bounce," and as he trottcd soberly at her heels, on a pair of very short, unsteady legs, he resembled nothing so much as an animated bunch of black zephyr worsted. "Oh, I knew you'd like it," was Polly's confident answer, "and you'll like it all the better before the voyage is over." Tad was quite delighted at this prospect. But it occurred to him all at once- and for the first time- that if the voyage should be a very long one he was rather poorly off for clothes. Thoueh perhaps (he thouarht) Captain Flagg could stop somewhere on the way and buy him a few, out of the wages which hewas beginning to earn. "Where is the vessel bound to, miss?" askcd Tad, respectfully, being much impressed by the matter-of-fact manner in which Polly spoke of the voyage that lay before them. " Why, away down East, to Bixport, where father and I live," returned Polly, with a comprehensive wave of her hand, which took in about half of the northern and eastern horizon. " Bixport's a real nice place, though it isn't quite as big as Boston," she continued, expían atorily, and Tad caught himself wondering if it was anywhere near the Arctic regions of which we had read, and if so what he should do for an overcoat - for even then he was beginning to feel chilly in his threadbare suit. So the afternoon wore slowly away. Captain Flagg smoked and steered, Polly played with the dog, Gteorge Washington got supper, Eph Whittled up another shingle (which he pulled out from under the hatchcovering), and Tad meditated. "Strike eight bells, Mr. Sniall, and cali the watch!" shouted Captain Flagg, in a stentorian voice, as a glance at his old-fashioned time-piece showed that it was four o'clock p. m. The chief mate shut up his jack-knife reluctantly, rose to his feet, and, dusting off his tarry trousers with great überation, Btruck eignt resounding strokes on the small bell for'ard. Then, lounging aft, he relieved the wheel, and, seated on the rudder-head, steered with one hand, while the other absently fingered his jack-knife in hjs pocket. Captain Flagg now t.ok a seat on the edge of thelittle trunk cabin, yawned, squinted his eye toward the western horizon, where the sun was going down in a great sea of purple and gold, and patronizingly beckoned to Tad, who, with some diffidence, sat down beside the ancient mariner. " Like your shipmates in the port watch pretty well, my lad?" inquired the Captain, kindly. With a shy glance at unconscious Polly, who was tantalizing Bounce by swinging the big sun-bonnet by the strings, before his nose, Tad said he liked 'em ever so much. "That's proper," approvingly responded Captain Flagg, "andmindthat you learn all you can from 'em. Eph is a tremen' us smart sailor," continued the Captain, lowering his voice as he regarded the youth in question, "and what he don't know about ship's duties and reggerlatioas ain't worth knowin'." As Tad's eyes involuntarily followed the direction of the Captain's gaze, he secretly wondered whether it was eccentricity that prompted Mr. Small to wear a íaded calicó shirt, a battered slouch hat, tattered vest and dingy canvas trousers. For Tad's idea of a sailor's rig was derived from the one or two highly-wrought nautioal tales which he had read in his life. He fancied that in all climates and weathers, Jack Tar wore a little glazed black hat with long ribbons, and a blue jacket resplendent with brass buttons, blue trousers, silk stockings and low-quartered shoes. "Buthe'sthe - the greatest chap to whittle I ever see in my life," pursued Captain Flagg, meditatively - " thcvery greatest." Polly, who overheard the remark, laughed gayly in the depths of her sunbonnet. "He's got half a bunch of loose shingles in the bottom of his bunk, that he saved from our last deck-load, and takes out a fresh one e very time he goea below- that's where George Washington gets his kindlings for the galleystove from," she remarked, demurely. "The most I'm afcared of," observed her father, in a coniidential whisper, "is that his usin' of a jack-knifo so much might get the vessel into some sech a scrape as the ol' British Kast Indy ship 'Win1 sor Castle' got into once whilst I was a sailor." "What was that, sir?" eagerly inquired Polly, knowing full well what a repository for the material out of which sea-yarns were spun was her fat her" s manly ehest. "Well," slowly returned the Captain, "near's I can remember, the story's this: The ship was on her home-bound passage from Chiny, an' got beealmed for two or three days somewhere on the 'quator. So, it bein' hot, and the sailor to the wheel bein' a absent-minded sort of a chap, what does he do but out knife and cut his name - 'James W. Dunn' - along on the rim of the m'hogany wheel!" Here Captain Flagg emphasized the enormity of the offense by a portentous shake of the head, and went on: "So, when the Cap'n came on deck, there was a pretty row. He claps Jim in irons, and d're'tly they got into port, had him 'rested, and the only way poor Jim could get out of it was by paying for a bran'-new wheel." "That was too bad!" interjected Tad, who was eagerly listening. "Well - yes," assented Captain Flagg, who had a curious way of sometimes combining the practical and scriptural when occasion offered, "but it goea to show, Thaddeus, that - the- the - way of transgressious is hard, and - anyhow-1-" said the Captain, breaking off his quotation rather hastily, as he saw a gleeful twinkle in Polly's eyes, "anyhow, it took nigh all the wages Jim had coniin' to him, and so he feit so bad that he went to c'nsult a great London lawyer about it." "I don't see what good that would do," observed practical Polly; but, paying no attention to his daughter's unconscious sarcasm, the Captain went on: "The lawyer, he studied over it a spell, and told Jim to go off to sea ag'in, and, when he carne back to London, to give him a cali. So Jim went off, and shipped on a long v'y'ge, and it was nigh two years 'fore he was back; the 'Win'sor Castle,' she'd come in meanwhile, and the lawyer had her libeled, as they cali it - a kind of a warrant served on her, like a 'tachment on property. And what do you s'pose," asked the Captain, slowly, at this culminating point of interest, i "what do you s'pose was the charge he brought ag'in the owners of the ship?" Polly timidly thought it might be the ï sailor's false imprisonment;sheremembered to have heard that such things were done sometimes, while Tad shook bis head in silent bewilderment. [XO BE CONTINUED.]