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November 25, 1882.
=$e32GOLDEN DAYS:e=>
815
-To Arthur, however, there was a sad-
ness mingled with the pleasure. For
who would welcome him with anything
like the love he had once known? He
would be nearer to the grave of his
mother. That was all.
It was his ‘‘trick”’ at the wheel as the
bargue stood off from the Aleutian
Islands, and avhile the stout topsails
pulled like giants and the top-gallant-
sails swelled with a graceful fullness, he
uld not help feeling that Cape Horn
. Must be just a little ahead of the bow-
sprit instesd of thousands of miles
away. He even caught himself looking
for it.
As days wore on, however, this feel-
ing was forgotten. Even Rute’s ‘enthu-
siasm was no match for the length of the
Western Hemisphere; and with all
~ hands the old humdrum of sea life was
resumed, just as if they had been out-
. ward bound.
At Honolulu the barque made a stop,
as one mizht call at a wayside inn_ upon
a long journey, and bere Captain Carver
prepared for final departure.
Fow!ls and live pigs were put on deck.
Sweet potatoes, oranges, cocoanuts and
Yains were procured in abundance, and
fresh water was stowed between decks
in place of that which had ‘* made a sea-
son” in the Arctic.
Arthur thought of poor Jack and Jill,
and felt sorry that the simple fellows
could not have lived to see again their
beloved Oahu.
He found Honolulu as orderly as a
New England town, and, indeed, much
nore strict in its police regulations, and
could not but muse upon the marvelous
change wrought upon this spot since the
tine of. the great navigator, Captain
James Cook.
And now for Cape Horn! As the ship
mace sail from Oahu and gained an off
ing to the southward of the group to
which it belongs, the shores of the vari-
ous Hawaiian Islands put on a most at-
tractive appearance. .
Far off, the great voleano upon Maui
was sending out puffs of smoke, its sky-
ward summit, ten thousand feet bigh,
being the last object that faded astern.
huge speri-whale was captured
“next day, and a week later, three others
were tuken from aschool. The ship's
oil was thus increased to four thousand
three hundred and fifty barrels, and
now, wallowing with a deep and easy
roll, she stood into the South Pacific.
“T wonder,” said Rufe, “if Mrs. Gib-
jib will be looking from her up-stairs
windows when we get off Cape Horn?”
“And I wonder,” remarked Polydore,
“what Mr. Jonth would have done fora
watch if I hadn’t been able to thpeak
the language of them theamps? It wath
ine that got it back for him.” |
Cape Horn was reached, but Mrs. Gib-
ajib was probably not at her window,
and so may have lost the chance of seeing
her old friends go by.
CHAPTER XXIX.
A FACE OUT OF THE PAST,
The Isabella was off the very pitch of
the cape, tuinbling along with a fair
wind, and making a prodigious swash as
she went heavily down in the trough of
the broad-backed waves. . .
» “¥iow the sea does run!” cried Rute,
“Lucky it’s fair for us. There comes an
old he-one now! Whew, don’t that fel-
low give usaswing! Hear that foretop-
sail slat back against the mast!”
“See the to’gallants’ls taken in, Mr,
Robbins,” said the captain. ‘“1’m afraid
we shall lose ’em. It won’t do to crack
on too much, even if we are going
home.” * ,
“Lay up, you boys, and furl the to’-
gallants’Is!’’said the mate. ‘ Let go to’-
gallant halyards, men, and clew up!”
Arthur and Rufe were on the fore-top-
gallant yard, with two others to help
them, when their attention was attracted:
by what seemed a boat directly ahead,
and a mile or two off.
The discovery was instantly made
known on dock, and when the vessel
ad run on a little further, she was
brought tothe wind as carefully us pos-
sible. ‘
The boat, hovever—a merchantman’s
yawl—rode with difficulty in. the heavy
swell, and as her crew were manceuvre-
ing to bring her alongside, she was filled
by the cap of aseaand turned bottom
up, leaving ten forlorn heads struggling
above water, .
Two of the Isabella’s boats were low-
ered, but it was iinpossible to save more
than seven of the unfortunate seamen,
The last one rescued was clinging to an
oar, and, as he rose and sank in the great
surges, Arthur caught him by the hair.
Wet, bareheaded, breathless and ex-
cited, neither rescued nor rescuers may
have looked much like themselves.
_ Atal! events, it was not till the vessel
had been reached, and the seven poor
fellows placed safely on her deck, that
Arthur suspected the person he had so
roughly pulled in to be any one he had
ever seen before.
Then, looking intently at the mere boy
before him, he cried, with a sudden re-
cognition ;
“John Brown, as I’m alive! How in
the name of gooduess did you get here,
John?”
The Brown boy recognized his friend
at the same instant, and the meeting was
a joyful one for both,
Soon Arthur was in possession of all
the facts.
With the forced consent of his parents,
John had left home in a merchant brig
bound for Valparaiso, but in the neigh-
borhood of Cape Horn she had sprung so
bad a leak that the crew abandoned her.
“Catch me going to sea again!” said
John. “I know a trick worth two of
that. Water is well enough as long as it
isn’t too deep. am glad I tried it,
though, because now I shan’t try it any
more.”’
“Why, we’ve been where the water
was deep, haven’t we, Art?” said Rute.
“In somes places ’twas ’most over a
man’s head.”
But John was a new sailor, and there
was very little of the duck in bis coimpo-
sition—a_ good, smart, lively boy, but
with no inclination to suffer more than
he was obliged to.
“Oh, how glad Grandma Brown will
be to find him cured!” thought Arthur,
Rapidly the barque, with her head to
the northeast, sank the shores of Terra
del Fuego. . |
“*Good-by, old Land of Fire!’’ cried
Captain Carver. ‘“Ishall never see you
again. And,” he added with a quick
jerk of his head, “by joy! I dunno’s IT
want to,””
He was going home—good, careful old
man—to enjoy a competence, earned by
a forty years’ conflict with the deep, and
who Gan wonder that he felt glad? From
fifteen to filty-five he had heard the trum-
pet of the ocean gale, and what of quiet
was now in store for him had been well
earned. .
And now, night after night, the Ma-
gellan clouds grew dim and the South-
ern Cross lower upon the horizon. The
Isabella, though so heavily ladened, was
fast nearing the equator, .
« Keep a watch for your old friend, the
north star, Arthur,” said Mr. Robbins,
“You'll see hin above the ocean prett,
soon. He left the bottom some time ago,
and bas almost got his head out of
water.”’ .
Arthur had not only learned naviga-
tion himself, but had induced Rufe to
Jearn it also; and both of them knew
when the pole star and the dipper would
rise over the great hill of waters, which
yet did not look like a hill. .
What a glow awoke in their young
hearts to see these familiar sentinels of
the north peep one pleasant evening
above the waves, as if beckoning: the
mariners homeward!
“The north star! the north star!’ they
eried. ‘The north star and the dipper—
we've raised them at last! Hurrah!”
They would have known, with none to
tell them, when the equator was passed,
when they were off the West Indies, and
when they were nearing Bermuda. It
isa fine thing for even a foremast hand
to command some knowledge of a sci-
ence which will at all times show his po-
sition upon the trackless ocean.
Just south of Bermuda the barque fell
in with a school of. sperm whales, and
John Brown, who, at his urgent request,
was permitted to take Polydore’s place
with Mtr Arnold, enjoyed a long-desired
opportunity of encountering the mon-
sters of the deep. _
That day’s experience, however, was
enough for the poor country boy, who
thought it rough usage when driven
overboard by an old bull, whose jaws,
closing upon the boat, considerably
shortened her. :
Two of the whales were captured, with
a combined product of ninety barrels.
And now crowding all sail toward the
Gulf Stream, Captain Carver threw over-
board his “tryworks,” all hands being
glad to see the last of thei. .
“T feel relieved to see that pile of
brick go over the side,” said the lucky
old captain. “And now for Gay Head.”
Upon leaving the Pacific, Tom Rogers,
Arthur and Rufe had been even with
each other in regard tothe number of
whales discovered, but ‘Tom had raised
the Bermuda school, and was declared
the successful coinpetitor.
This result gave Arthur much satisfac
tion. He had. forsome time hoped not
to win it, feeling that there would be no
pleasure in thus getting ahead of his
shipmates in a matter of mere luck.
Rute cared nothing for it, and Tom was
one of the best fellows in the forecastle,
so this matter had been, happily, decided
by fortune.
CHAPTER XXX.
HOME AGAIN.
The Gulf Stream was left astern, and
now all bands began to look northward
for the land.
It was a fine April morning, when
Arthur, coming on deck with. his watch,
looked about him with a kind of sur-
prise, although the sight be saw had
been anticipated.
O1F the quarter lay an island, which
the barque had already passed, while
close upon the lee-Low was a stretch of
shore, crowned by a light-house.
“There it is!’ crie ute, who. be-
longed to the other watch—* there it is
at last, Art! That away yonder, off the
quarter, is No Man’s Land, and this
right here, off the bow, is Martha’s Vine-
ard. See, there’s Gay Head, with the
ight-house on it. Hurrah! Who cares
for Cape Horn now ?””
Artbur half imagined that he could
smell the land, although it was to the
leeward, but this, of course,-was out of
the question, Low fresh and glad it
looked !
With her wide canvas swelling before
the south wind, the Isabella stood up
Buzzard’s Bay, Rufe was quick to note
the spot upon the shore which had been
the scene of his runaway adventure.
“T don’t see the old fish-house,’? he
said, ** but I guess it’s there behind the
trees. I wonder how the musquashes
are getting along? They did mea good
turn, after all, for if they had let me
alone, as I wanted ’em to, I nevershould
have known how a whale looks.
That afternoon the Isabella swung
her chain inthe berth from which she
had sailed two years previous, ani
multitude of men and boys thronged the
wharf asthe bronzed whalemen pulled
on shore in their boats.
Of course neither Arthur nor Rufe
knew asingle soul, but Captain Carver
had all the hand-shaking of an Aimeri-
can President. Polydore, too, was recog-
nized by almost every one. He met,
among others, Deacon Gray.
“Ah, ha, Polydore!” cried the deacon,
“so you’ve got back? Well! well!
Glad to see you. You've traveled more
than ever I did.”
“Deacon Gray,”’ replied Polydore, “T
didn’t travel—no, thir, Deacon Gray—I
didn’t travel, I thailed. I’ve been away
up where they make the porthern lights,
Deacon Gray. theen Martha’s Vine-
yard latht night, too. Hello! old Mithter
Tomkinth hath put up a new wood-
houth in bith back yard thinth I went
away !””
Mother Moshier’s boarding-house was
at once sought, and: the good lady recog-
nizing Arthur,* welcomed him with a
warm grasp of the hand. Rufe she did
not at first remember, as his stay with
her had been only for a few hours, and
he had, moreover, greatly changed.
That evening, upon sitting down at the
well-loaded table, Arthur thought of the,
ors whom he had seen two years be-
‘ore ranged around the board just as they
had come from sea, with the odors of the
forecastle still clinging to their salt-water
garb, |
With what curiosity he, a greenhorn,
had looked upon those sons of the deep!
Now he was himself a sailor, just from
the Arctic Ocean, and he saw at the other
end of the table boys as green as he had
once been—boys who caught every word
spoken by the Isabella’s crew and stored
it up in memory as if it had been some
inspired utterance.
Next day all hands were rigged out in
new clothing, and how smart and attrac-
tive the lads appeared in their bright
calico shirts and neat blne jackets! They
were, perhaps, a little proud of their
brown faces; but this was very natural
and very pardonable, for they were
young. 2
As to Rufe, he had wonderfully im-
proved in personal appearance during
the voyage, ‘The freckles with which he
had Jeft home had disappeared; his face
had lost its staring expression of mis-
chief, and he was really a good-looking
a
John Brown the boys furnished with
clothing and money, so that he, too, pre-
sented an appearance which would have
set Grandma Brown at ease as to his per-
sonal well-being.
And now for a time Rufe and Arthur
bade farewell to their shipmates of the
last two years till the oil should be
gauged, the bone weighed and the voy-
age settled up.
ood old Hannibal, the cooper, would
froin this moment abandon the sea. His
cooper’s “lay”? had, of course, been ex-
cellent, and, as he had previously laid
by some little property, he could hence-
forth live in comfort.
“Come an’ see de old cooper just as
often as you can, Arty,” he said. “T
naven’t forgot de time off Cape Horn.”
And Arthur pressed ‘the hand of his
good’ black shipmate, and spoke of the
inan-eating shark. ‘
, “Yes,” he said, “1711 call on you al-
ways when T come to the city.”
“ Good-by,” suid Polydore, as Arthur
and Rufe, inv company with John Brown,
were ready to enteracar. “I’ve theen
another monkey up town—he belongth
toa muthic-grinder—and I mean to buy
him to replath my Gumbo if it takth all
my oil to do it. Good-by! What a meth
of folkth 1”
Rufe was resolved that Arthur should
go home with him, and accordingly the
two leit the cars at a stopping-place not
far from Mr. Suiith’s house, while John,
who had twenty miles further to go,
kept on, with the understanding that his
old playfellow should follow hii in a
day or two.
As they entered the little back-gate,
Grandma Smith was just stepping from
the porch-door into the pleasant April air,
She stopped short for an instant, then
started forward with outstretched arms.
“Oh, Rufus, Rufus!” she eried; “10m
so glad—I’m so glad! T feel as if it must
beadream! Mary, Mary! he’s come—
he's come! Oh, I’m so glad—I’m so
glad!”
And close, behind came the mother,
her feet scarce touching the earth as she
rushed to embrace her boy. What a joy
unspeakable had come upon her! How
the world was all made new!
“Oh, Rufus,. Rufus! you can never
know how glad Tam!”
And she clasped him in her arms and
wept in her inexpressible thankfulness,
What a load had left her heart! Oh, the
sufferings of mothers through the freaks
of their thoughtless boys!
Mr. Smith was called, and came hurry-
ing to the house with a feeling he had
not known for two. years. School-hours
were nearly over, and the three sisters
presently arrived to join in the «general
J
Arthur, “that we owe a great deal to
you. If you had been a wild, bad boy,
we might never have seen Rufe again.
But he is easily led, and he took a fancy
to you. I hope you will make your
home here, for a while, at least.”
Two days afterward, Arthur. reached
his old neighborhood, where Grandma
Brown and all the household welcomed
him with a warmth that touched his
heart. He had saved John off Cape
Horn, and the good grandima would have +
Jaid down ber life for him,
Standing by his mother’s grave, he
shed bitter tears over the dust sa beloy-
ed, yet something told him that her spirit
knew of his wellare, and in the thought
of her unseen presence, he felt a kind of
‘here was no longer a lack of friends,
ior asympathetic nature will attract its
ke.
After a few days, he returned to Mr.
Smith's house, now to be made his home
until Rufe and_hitmself should have de-
cided upon their future course,
But be this course what it might, the
two boys felt that they should gever re-
gret their experience among the whalers, |
THE END.
&%-A New Story by O1tven Ortio will be
begun week after next, It is entitled
“Lyon Hart; or, ADRIFT IN THE WORLD.”
Our readers will find this one of the best
stories Oliver Optic has ever written,
oe
—The Suez canal is 85 niiles long, 397
feet wide at the top, 72 feet at the bot-
tom, and 26 feet deep. The total cost
was $57,000,000,000; the toll “eharges are
ten franes per ton for merchandise, and
ten franes per head for passengers, The
receipts for 18S1 were 51,000,000 francs,
‘
oy.
“T believe,” said Mr. Smith, aside, to ~
ot