The Sandman: His Sea Stories Part 13

The Spaniards never once thought of fighting, but surrendered right off.

It would have been very foolish for them to fight, for they were only ten men, in a s.h.i.+p that wasn't fitted for fighting; and the English s.h.i.+p was a big s.h.i.+p fitted up on purpose to fight, and she had a crew of three or four hundred men.

So a boat soon put off from the English s.h.i.+p, with sailors in it, and came to the side of the _Industry_. And Captain Sol was hurrying to put a ladder over, so that the English officer could come up without any trouble. But the officer didn't wait for any ladder; he and his men swarmed up the side like flies. And Captain Sol met the officer, and he laughed and said that he was glad to see him. And the officer smiled and wondered why that was, and he shook hands with Captain Sol; and then Captain Sol and the officer went into the cabin together. And Captain Sol told the officer about the Spanish privateer.

When the officer had heard the story he said it was hard luck, but, as the vessel was a Spanish prize, he should have to take her. He thought that the Admiralty court would fix that matter all right. And Captain Sol sighed and said that he hoped so, but he didn't know much about Admiralty courts. He had understood that American owners were apt to get the worst of it. And then Captain Sol and the officer had a gla.s.s of wine together, and it was so good that they each had another gla.s.s; and then they went on deck.

The officer bundled the Spaniards into the boat and left ten Englishmen to take their places, apologizing to Captain Sol for leaving him so short-handed. The _Industry_ generally had a crew of twenty-five or thirty men. Then the officer got into the boat and rowed away. Captain Sol was to take the _Industry_ to Gibraltar, which was right on the way to Leghorn, too. And it was pretty near, so that he ought to get there the next day.

Then Captain Sol had an idea. He served out a little rum, first, and he told the crew that if nothing happened he would take the s.h.i.+p straight to Gibraltar. But the Spaniards were pretty thick between where they were and Gibraltar, so he thought he would ask them a question. If they should be taken by the Spaniards again, and the crew should be left on board, would they agree to sign as his crew, for a voyage to Leghorn and other ports?

When the English sailors heard that, some of them began to grin; and they talked together for a little while, and then they said that they would agree to do as Captain Sol had said. And Captain Sol was pleased, and he served out another helping of rum all around. The sailors called it grog.

Sure enough, they were captured again, the next morning, before they had got within sight of Gibraltar; and the Spanish s.h.i.+p put on board the _Industry_ a prize crew of nine men. But she left the English crew on board, for she had already taken several other prizes; and she had put other prize crews on board of those prizes, and she had their crews as prisoners. And her captain was afraid to have more prisoners because he would have nearly as many prisoners as he had men left in his crew. Then the Spanish s.h.i.+p told Captain Sol to steer for Algiers, and she sailed away about her business.

Captain Sol did as he was told and steered for Algiers. But, in the night of that day, the two mates went, while the Spanish crew weren't looking, and they set free the Englishmen and gave them a paper to sign.

That paper made them Captain Sol's sailors. And then they gave each man pistols and a cutla.s.s, and the first mate took half of the Englishmen and went to the forecastle, where four men of the Spanish crew were sleeping; and the second mate took the other five Englishmen, and he went on deck, where the other five men of the Spanish crew were on watch, but he hid his Englishmen. And Captain Sol was walking back and forth on the quarter deck, and suddenly he began to whistle softly. And all the Englishmen sprang out, and they had that Spanish crew captured before they knew what had happened. But they didn't have to hurt anybody, they captured them so quickly.

Then Captain Sol changed the course of the _Industry_ so that she was heading for Leghorn, and he got to Leghorn in due time; but he had some trouble in getting rid of his Spanish prisoners.

And n.o.body ever knew whether Captain Sol meant to be captured by the Spaniards, that last time, or not.

And that's all.

THE RACE STORY

Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great s.h.i.+ps came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.

And because s.h.i.+ps had come there for a great many years and all the sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the s.h.i.+ps had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.

The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's and they owned the s.h.i.+ps that sailed from it; and, after their s.h.i.+ps had been sailing from that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their office to Boston. After that, their s.h.i.+ps sailed from a wharf in Boston.

A long time ago the brig _Industry_ lay at that wharf in Boston, and she was all ready to sail for far countries. And there was a s.h.i.+p that was named the _Augusta Ramsay_ lying at the next wharf, and she was all ready to sail, too, and she was going to the same country that the _Industry_ was going to. Captain Sol had been on the _Industry_ for a long time, seeing that the cargo was stowed as well as it could be stowed, and trying to hurry the lumpers. But he couldn't make them hurry very much.

Captain Sol wanted to get the _Industry_ away before the _Augusta Ramsay_ sailed, so as to gain as much time as he could. For, in those days, the owners of s.h.i.+ps couldn't telegraph to far countries to find out what they had to sell and what they wanted to buy, but the captains of their s.h.i.+ps had to find out those things when the s.h.i.+ps got there.

And the captains had to sell the things they brought for as much as they could get for them, and they had to buy what they wanted to carry back for as low a price as they could.

So it made a good deal of difference whether a s.h.i.+p got there first or not; for the s.h.i.+p that got there first could sell the things that she brought at a higher price, and could buy the things to bring back for a lower price than a s.h.i.+p that got there a little later. So Captain Sol knew that it would be a race, for the whole voyage, between the _Industry_ and the _Augusta Ramsay_. And Captain Henry, of the _Augusta Ramsay_, knew it, too, and he was hurrying as fast as he could. The _Augusta Ramsay_ was a good deal bigger than the _Industry_, but Captain Sol had his mind made up to beat her if he blew the sticks right out of the _Industry_.

So it happened that the s.h.i.+p _Augusta Ramsay_ pulled out from her wharf at exactly the same time that the brig _Industry_ pulled out from hers.

And they both began to set all the sails that they possibly could. And the s.h.i.+p and the brig sailed down the harbor together before a fair wind. A fair wind is a wind that blows about the way the vessel is going. But the _Augusta Ramsay_ was just ahead, going down the harbor, for the wharf that she started from was a little nearer to the channel than Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's wharf; and the channel that led out of Boston Harbor was even more crooked and narrow than it is now. So the _Industry_ couldn't pa.s.s the _Augusta Ramsay_, while they were in the channel and setting all those many sails, and Captain Sol didn't try it.

By the time the _Industry_ had got out into Boston Bay she had set her mainsail and her foresail, and her maintopsail and her foretopsail, and her maintopgallantsail and her foretopgallantsail, and her mainroyal and her foreroyal, and her mainskysail and her foreskysail, and all of her jibs and her spanker and her staysails; and the sailors were busy getting out her studdingsail booms. The studdingsail booms are sticks that stick out beyond the ends of the yards; and, as soon as the sailors had got out these booms, they set the studdingsails that belonged on them, so that it was just as if the foresail and the other sails that had studdingsails had been made so much bigger. And the _Industry_ had set all the sail that she could set.

The _Augusta Ramsay_ had all the sails that the _Industry_ had and, besides those sails, she had the sails that belong on the mizzenmast: the cross-jack and the mizzentopsail and the mizzentopgallantsail and the mizzenroyal and the mizzenskysail and all the mizzenstaysails. But the _Industry_ couldn't set those sails on the mizzenmast, because she didn't have any mizzenmast. And the two vessels leaned a good deal and the foam piled up under their bows and they just flew out of Boston Bay into Ma.s.sachusetts Bay and out past Provincetown into the great ocean; but neither gained on the other any worth mentioning.

And night came and they didn't take in any of the sails that they had set, but they sailed on, in the moonlight. Captain Sol had to keep his crew pretty busy, changing the sails so that the wind would blow on them the right way, and so did Captain Henry. It is a good deal of a job to change these many sails. But morning came, and there was the _Augusta Ramsay_ right abreast of them. And the wind increased, so that the two vessels leaned a great deal; but Captain Sol said that he guessed he could carry his sail as long as Captain Henry could carry his, and he wasn't going to be the first to take in sail. But the sailors didn't like to hear Captain Sol say that because they knew that it meant hard work for them.

They sailed on, that way, for a long time, and they never lost sight of each other. But, first, the _Augusta Ramsay_ would be a little way ahead and then the _Industry_ would gain a little and go ahead of the _Augusta Ramsay_. Then, one day, it began to blow harder and harder and Captain Sol knew that they would have a storm. And he got a little worried because he was afraid that he might have to take in some sail before Captain Henry did. For he wouldn't risk his s.h.i.+p just because he had said that he wasn't going to be the first to take in sail. And he looked, through his gla.s.s, at the _Augusta Ramsay_, to see if she took in any of her sails, and he waited as long as he dared to wait. Then, just as he was going to give it up, and take his gla.s.s down, he saw the sailors on the _Augusta Ramsay_ going up on the yards. And he was very glad of it, and he gave orders for his sailors to reduce sail. And the sailors were glad, too, and they swarmed up aloft and took in the sails in a jiffy.

The storm lasted for three days and two nights. The wind blew harder and harder and the waves got higher and higher and the rain came down in sheets. Then it would stop raining, for a little while, and the wind would blow harder than ever, while the flying clouds seemed to be no higher than the masthead. Then it would begin to rain again. But they didn't lose sight of the _Augusta Ramsay_ completely, although, at times, she was hidden by the rain and, for one whole day, they didn't see her at all. But she was there on the next morning. And the _Industry_, all through that hard blow, was sailing under double-reefed topsails, and so was the _Augusta Ramsay_. And double-reefed topsails is very little sail, compared to the enormous spread of canvas that the vessels had set when they left Boston.

At last, after dark of the third day, the wind began to be less and the clouds to be more broken, and Captain Sol knew that the storm was over.

And he made up his mind that he would get out of that place just as soon as he could, for he thought that, just as likely as not, it would be calm there for some time. And he thought that the sooner he got out of any place where there was likely to be no wind, the better. So he didn't go to bed, but he watched the weather, and he waited. Finally, he thought that the _Industry_ could stand a little more sail.

"Call all hands," he said to the mate, "and get sail on her, little by little. We don't want to loaf around here."

It was two o'clock in the morning, and the mate thought that the sailors would grumble; but he didn't care. "Aye, aye, sir," he said.

And he called all hands, and they came up on deck, grumbling at the captain for routing them up at that time, to make sail, when it was blowing hard enough, anyway. But the mate pretended not to hear them, and he ordered some of the sailors aloft. And the sailors that went aloft shook out the reefs in the topsails; and the sailors that were on deck pulled away at the halliards and at the sheets, but they didn't shout out any chanty.

And the _Industry_ began to sail faster. And pretty soon Captain Sol had the men shake out some other sails and hoist them. And the wind was less, and a star showed. And Captain Sol had the men set more sails, so that the vessel had all that she could stand. Then, pretty soon, more stars showed, and the wind kept on going down. And, by daylight, he had nearly all the sails set, and nothing was to be seen of the _Augusta Ramsay_. And Captain Sol chuckled to himself, and went down to bed.

He didn't sleep very long but just took a little nap and then he went on deck again. There were two things that bothered him a little, besides the sailing of his vessel, which couldn't be said to bother him at all; for he always did the very best he could. n.o.body can do any more than that. And, when he had done the very best he could, Captain Sol didn't worry about what would happen; which was very sensible on Captain Sol's part. And the two things that bothered him were, first, where the _Augusta Ramsay_ was; and, second, the disposition of his crew. It seemed to him that they were likely to make trouble. Captain Sol wasn't afraid of trouble, but he knew that the willingness of the crew made a great difference in the speed that could be got out of a vessel in a long voyage. So he made up his mind that he would attend to the second matter first.

Captain Sol had all hands called; and the men came up unwillingly, and they were very cross with Captain Sol because they thought that he had called them to change the sails again. And they had been up nearly the whole of three nights and wanted to sleep. But Captain Sol called them all aft, and he stood by the railing that was at the edge of the quarter deck and he made them a little speech. He said that the men must know that there was a race between the _Augusta Ramsay_ and the _Industry_, and that each vessel was trying to be the first to get to the far country, where they both were bound. It was worth something to his owners to have the _Industry_ get there first, and he would promise the crew five dollars apiece if they beat the _Augusta Ramsay_, even if they only beat her by an hour. And, for every day that they beat her, up to two weeks, he would promise them two dollars apiece. He didn't care about beating her by more than two weeks, because he thought that he would have his cargo aboard, all ready to carry back to Boston, in that time. But there must be no skulking and no unwillingness. Anything of that kind would be severely dealt with, and he would not hesitate to put any man in irons for the rest of the voyage who didn't jump to his duty at the word.

And, when Captain Sol had finished his speech, the men all shouted out a cheer for him and another cheer for Captain Jonathan and Captain Jacob.

And they weren't grumbly any more but they were glad. And Captain Sol turned away and looked through his gla.s.s to see if he could make out the _Augusta Ramsay_. But he couldn't see any sign of her.

So Captain Sol sailed the _Industry_ across the wide ocean and down around the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean; and he carried sail until it almost cracked the masts, and his crew were as willing as they could be and n.o.body skulked. But, all that time, there was no sign of the _Augusta Ramsay_. And they sailed into the wide river and anch.o.r.ed; and Captain Sol sold the things he had brought and bought the things to carry back, and still there was no sign of the _Augusta Ramsay_.

And he loaded the _Industry_ with the things that he had bought, and he hoisted his anchor and sailed away down the river. And, just as he came to the ocean, there was the _Augusta Ramsay_ sailing in.

Captain Sol had the sails fixed so that the s.h.i.+p wouldn't go ahead and so did Captain Henry. And Captain Sol had a boat lowered and sailors got in, to row it, and he went over to make a call on Captain Henry. And he found that the _Augusta Ramsay_ had been caught in a calm place, after that storm, because Captain Henry hadn't been willing to rout his men out at two o'clock in the morning; and she hadn't been able to get out of that calm place for nearly two weeks, but had stayed there, with her sails flapping against the masts, for all that long time. And Captain Henry said that it was a joke on him and bade Captain Sol good bye and wished him a good voyage home. But Captain Sol thought that it was no joke for the owners of the _Augusta Ramsay_.

Then he got into his boat again and went back to his s.h.i.+p. And the _Augusta Ramsay_ fixed her sails so that she would go ahead, and so did the _Industry_. And they sailed away from each other; but Captain Sol had taken Captain Henry's letters.

And that's all.

THE PILOT STORY

Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great s.h.i.+ps came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.

And because s.h.i.+ps had come there for a great many years and all the sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the s.h.i.+ps had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.

The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's and they owned the s.h.i.+ps that sailed from it; and, after their s.h.i.+ps had been sailing from that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their office to Boston. After that, their s.h.i.+ps sailed from a wharf in Boston.

The channel into Boston Harbor was crooked and narrow and a captain had to know it very well to be able to take a s.h.i.+p in safely. A good many captains didn't like to risk it, even if they thought they did know the channel pretty well. So there were some men who made it their business to take vessels out of the harbor, that wanted to go out, and to bring vessels in, that wanted to come in. Those men were called harbor pilots, or just pilots. And they knew just exactly how much water they would find at each place; and they knew the whole harbor so well that they could tell, almost, where every stone, of the size of a hat, was on the bottom of it. In the year 1820, John Wilson was one of these pilots, and he lived at Winthrop. Winthrop was a convenient place for a pilot to live in, for it is on a sort of a point that bends around, so that it is outside of Boston Harbor.

Now John Wilson's house was where he could see, from the windows of a room upstairs, far out to sea. He could have seen Provincetown, on the end of Cape Cod, if it hadn't been so far away that it was hidden by the roundness of the world; and there was nothing, except the ocean and the s.h.i.+ps that sailed on it, between him and Europe. On clear days he was apt to sit at his upper window, looking out over the ocean and smoking. And whenever he saw the upper sails of some vessel beginning to show, far away, over the waters of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, he would hurry off to his sloop, that always lay ready at the wharf, just below; and he would tell the man who was pottering about on the sloop, and who was named Joe, that there was a vessel coming up and that he had better stir his stumps. For he thought that it was the s.h.i.+p _Dawn_. Or, perhaps, it was the brig _Sally Ann_ or the _Coromandel_, or the s.h.i.+p _Pactolys_, or the _Savannah_, or the _Augusta Ramsay_, or the brig _Industry_. For John Wilson knew every vessel that sailed from Boston so well that he could tell a vessel's name as soon as he caught sight of her upper sails.

Then Joe would hurry and John Wilson would hurry and they would sail down to meet that vessel. And John Wilson, if he was the first pilot to get to the vessel, which he generally was, would climb aboard, leaving Joe to sail the sloop alone; and he would take command of the vessel and pilot her safely in, through the channel, to her wharf.