THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 "l PLUNGED INTO THE ARMS OF A MAN AT THE H ELM. " Page U2.
 
 THE 
 
 YOUNG WRECKER 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FLORIDA REEF; 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 Trials and Adventures of Fred Eansom, 
 
 BY 
 
 RICHARD MEADE BACHE. 
 
 ifth (Edition. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 ALFRED M ARTIE N, 
 
 1214 CHESTNUT STREET.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in tho year 1869, by 
 
 CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for 
 the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
 
 Q 
 
 * THE author has endeavored, in the following story, to 
 
 3J deviate as little as possible from fact, so as to combine 
 
 ^-v 
 
 ** instruction with amusement. Personal familiarity with 
 
 - 1 the scene of the tale has enabled him to make its descrip 
 tions strictly accurate. The incidents are natural, many of 
 
 fbi 
 
 ** them having actually occurred. The original of Dr. Cluzel 
 c\| was the well-known Dr. Perrine, whose amiable character, 
 and great enthusiasm in the cause of science, caused hia 
 untimely death to be universally regretted. 
 
 0' 
 
 o 
 
 
 Q 
 
 O 
 
 a 
 ui 
 
 449807
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 An Old Bachelor introduces himself to the Young Reader Describes 
 his present Appearance and Feelings Promises to tell the Story 
 of the Adventures of his Boyhood 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Our Hero, moved by a Spirit of Adventure, begs his Father to grant 
 him permission to make a Voyage He is refused Repines at what 
 he considers his hard Fate Makes the Acquaintance of the Son of 
 a Sea-Captain Renews his Request to his Father, and is again re 
 fused \isits his Friend, and runs away by Accident 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Mystery of the preceding Chapter explained Our Hero's painful 
 reflections His position on the Schooner Flying-Fish, Porpoises, 
 Dolphins. Whales Diversions of the Crew Southern Cross Gulf 
 Stream Water-Spouts Arrival off the port of Havana Gloomy 
 forebodings again overwhelm our Hero His letter home Captain 
 Edson's Sympathy and Advice 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Sunrise off Havana The Harbor The Wrecker Filling Cloud Cap 
 tain Edson's promise His Visit to the Wrecker Mingled despon 
 dency and hope 44 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Captain Edson's Mission crowned with Success The Captain of the 
 Wrecker an old Friend Captain Edson obtains a Situation as Cabin- 
 Boy for his Protege, who, in mentioning his Name to his Employer, 
 necessarily announces it to the Reader 52 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Captain Bowers gives Fred Ransom a vacant berth in the Cabin 
 Fred Ransom performs his Duties aboard of the Schooner The 
 Captain gives him leave to go Ashore The Quays, Fish-Market, 
 Havana Lottery, Volantes, the Paseo, Tomb of Columbus, Captain- 
 General of Cuba 58 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Flying Clmid sails from Havana The Vessel The Crew The 
 Cook The Newfoundland dog, Jack 71 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Flying Cloud anchors off the Marquesas A party from the 
 Schooner go ashore The Srenery of tne Keys and inner Ba)' 
 The Graining One of the Party devoured by a" Shark 70 
 
 1*
 
 VI CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Discourse of Bill Rtiggles The announcement of the Norwe 
 gian's Fate to the Captain and Crew Their Horror The Captain's 
 Sermon The Burial Service The Schooner sails UO 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Captain Bowers Key West The Conchs 98 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Captain Tuft and his Friends The Excursion to Sand Key Captain 
 Tuft's Cook. Sol Reflections on the Wonders of the Reef The Re 
 turn to Key West lui 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Character of the Sailor Landing Wild Cattle The Mad Bull 
 The Captain's intention to Sail 112 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The effect of a Gale upon the Color of the Water about the Reef The 
 Flying Cloud sails from Key West Her cruise between the Florida 
 Reef and Keys 118 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Fred Ransom describes (he Reef and Keys, in order that the Reader 
 may more fully enjoy the Adventures which are to follow, and also 
 acquire some knowledge well worth obtaining 122 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 How the occupation of Wrecking is pursued Observations on the 
 Character of the Wreckers 132 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Flying Clovd weighs Anchor She comes to Anchor at her 
 Wreck ing Station The Wrecker's Life 130 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Fred Ransom's first day's experience at Wrecking He, Rill Rnirglps, 
 John Linden, Thomas Deal, and Dennis Hracly, the Irishman. go 
 ashore They tr.ke Jack, who always wants to be one of a 1'nrty 
 where there is likely to be any Sport HI 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Boating Party land A Mishap befalls Dennis Brady He speedily 
 recovers Rugsjles among the Cormorants and Pelicans The Puny 
 capture a Jew-Fish? Turtling Postponed 151 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Fh/ing Clrrud inspects the Reef Captain Bowers sends the Men 
 Bohore for Wood Brady has bad luck again lots 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Men are sent Ashore again They Resume the Wooding of the 
 Schuouer lianuiUtl provides them with a Treat for Supper 174
 
 CONTENTS. Vii 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Men goTurtUng They meet an Acquaintance to whom they par 
 marked attention Something about Turtles What Switchcl is A 
 Garden on the Bottom of the Sea 179 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Flin'rtfj Cloud rides out a Gale A Disaster on the Reef The Flying 
 Cloud arrives the Day after the Fair 193 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Fred Ransom gives some Extracts from his Journal, which records 
 some curious things that he saw and something of what he did and 
 the news that he received 107 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 George Bowers and the long-expected News from Home The tide in 
 the Affairs of Fred Ransom is at the Flood which, Shakespeare 
 says, "Leads on to Fortune." 203 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The Kate Ramsey relieves the Flying Clmtd on the Station north of In 
 dian Kev The latter SHils for Cape Florida Fred Ransom and 
 George Bowers listen to the Men spinning Yarns Brady excels all 
 the rest 217 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The Anchorage at Cape Florida Fred Ransom and George Bower? 
 What they did, and what they saw, after they were put m command 
 of a Dingy 229 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The two quarter-boats are sent to the Main-land to procure Water at 
 the Punch-Bowl A Storm A Ship insight Captain Bowers sails to 
 give his Advice and render Assistance The Ship goes ashore on 
 the Reef. .1 234 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Rescue of the Ship's Crew All aboard the Flying Clnud The Storm 
 continues The Flying Cloud lying at her Anchors and riding out 
 the Gale 243 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The Wreck driven higher on the Reef Wreckers heave in sight- 
 Two are retained by Captain Bowers They take a load from the 
 Ship, and sail for Key West Brady's quarrel on shore with the ' Bis; 
 Ingiu," and how it ended 207 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 The Water subsides along the Reef The Flying Cloud continues the 
 Wrecking The irrepressible Brady describes the appearance of the 
 Irish Indians The Return of the two Wreckers All the Wreckers 
 weigh anchor Fred Ransom makes the Acquaintance of the family 
 of Captuai Bowers 26ft
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 The Salvage settled by the Admiralty Court in Key West The Flying 
 Cloud sails from Key West She comes to anchor off Indian Key 
 The Captain. George, and Fred, go ashore and spend the evening 
 With the family of Doctor Cluzel 27i 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 The Flyintj Cloud sails from Indian Key She arrives at her old An 
 chorage The Captain visits the Wreck The Crew set to work to 
 save the Iron about it 281 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 George Bowers and Fred Ransom make a Voyage The Oak Forests 
 on St. John's River The Captain's invitation to the boys on 
 their Return Fishing at night, without hooks or bait The Sport, 
 and how it was enjoyed 286 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 How to find a Turtle's Nest Habits of the Turtle Turning Turtles 293 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The Miami The Everglades The Deer-Hunt The Siesta The Fight 
 with Panthers Indians prowling in the Forest BOS 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The Return to the Forest The Surprise by Indians The Capture of 
 George The Pursuit The Rescue 321 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 The Captain giv*M the Alarm The Commandant's Suspicions His Re 
 quest to the Oaptain The Indian's Confession Jack's Death and 
 Burial 335 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 The Flt/ir.g Cloud sails for Indian Key The Message from Captain 
 Bowers to Dr. Cluzcl No Attack expected that Nix n't The Surprise 
 The Massacre The Murder of the Doctor The Escape of his 
 Family and of Fred Hansom 341 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Fred Ransom's Reflections A Ship on Fire The Rescue of the Crew 
 Mutual Recognition 3(50 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Arrival at Key West Fred Ransom and Party sail for New York Tha 
 Voyage Home The Old Bachelor's Adieu 377
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 OR 
 
 FRED RANSOM. 
 
 x. 
 
 AN OLD BACHELOR INTRODUCES HIMSELF TO 
 THE YOUNG RE ADER - DESCRIBES HIS PRES 
 ENT APPEARANCE AND FEELINGS - TELLS 
 THE STORY OF THE ADVENTURES OF HIS 
 BOYHOOD. 
 
 AM an old bachelor. I have 
 reached that time of life at which 
 we old fellows are generally supposed 
 to be fat, and to wear gold spectacles 
 and very easy shoes. If you will pic 
 ture me thus, the result will be a suf 
 ficiently accurate portrait of my per 
 sonal appearance and identity. 
 Although I am about to write some of my 
 own adventures, I do not purpose writing about 
 my present self, but of myself when I was very 
 different from the sketch which I have" made.
 
 10 THE YOUNG WP.ECKEH, 
 
 Every old bachelor was once a young one, and 
 every young one was once still younger, when, 
 although a bachelor, he was known only as a 
 boy. It is the story of the boy, who is now an 
 old bachelor, that I am about to narrate. 
 
 As you may perchance wish to know some 
 thing of the character and feelings of the person 
 who addresses you, and how he came to do so, I 
 will indulge your curiosity. 
 
 We old fellows have not all those cares of 
 family which fill the hours of others with pleas 
 urable duty, and time often hangs heavily on 
 our hands. Many of us try to do our duty. 
 Heaven forbid that we should be blind to the 
 need that this world has of earnest workers ! 
 But, after all, a man may minister to the needs 
 of others, and yet there come vacant hours, 
 when he must return to himself, and require 
 ministering to his own. If he lacks not plenty 
 of the goods of this world, he may have heart- 
 yearnings that are quite as pitiable as hunger, 
 thirst, and want of shelter. Would that every 
 one could be spared the sharp pang that I have 
 sometimes experienced when fondling the joy 
 and pride of some household, the chubby boy 
 who tossed his arms with glee, and twined his 
 little hands in my shaggy beard ! 
 
 Sometimes, especially at night, when I return 
 to rny lonely chambers, and feel the influence
 
 OP. FRED RANSOM. 11 
 
 of a home where there is no presence of a life 
 closely allied to mine, a vague, aching sense of 
 void bends over my nature. But these are feel 
 ings which you are now too young to compre 
 hend, and which I trust that you may never 
 experience. 
 
 I read, walk, go where my services are 
 needed, I force myself to accomplish set tasks; 
 but yet, with all this, I am not contented. Of 
 friends I am not destitute. One may possess 
 friends, and still be very lonely; for one can 
 not live forever at their houses. So it happens 
 that I generally dine at my club, but now and 
 then I accept a friend's hospitality. But I am 
 not sufficiently engaged, for regular employ 
 ment is necessary to happiness. I will write, 
 thought I. If I have no boys of my own to 
 listen to the story of their father's life, the 
 family of boys in the world is large enough to 
 gratify my wish for hearers. I had often 
 thought of writing it, but my intentions came 
 to nought, until a trivial incident, occurring a 
 few days ago, fixed my resolution to carry out 
 the project. 
 
 I will now tell you the circumstance which 
 determined me to write, to show you upon what 
 trifles great undertakings sometimes hinge, 
 for it is no small undertaking to write a book, 
 and then I shall enter upon the story of my 
 adventures.
 
 12 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 The other day, I returned home after a 
 lonely dinner, and throwing myself back in an 
 easy chair, I went off into an after-dinner 
 reverie. It was a warm afternoon, one of 
 those when the atmosphere seems to hum with 
 heat. At such a time, one's senses seem to be 
 peculiarly alive to the impression of sounds, the 
 faintest murmur being articulate, and yet a 
 part of one grand chorus. A big fly kept 
 droning around the room, except when it 
 inserted itself in a crevice, and extricated itself 
 with a whiz and dash against the nearest ob 
 struction. Lulled by the intense heat and the 
 buzz of the insect, my mind rambled away to 
 the places in which I had spent some of my 
 earlier years. I vividly recalled the tropical 
 scenes, among which I had once passed my days. 
 They came to me like a story of adventure, and 
 passed in review as if a diorama unrolled before 
 me. Suddenly the big fly struck violently 
 against my face. I started, and made a switch 
 at it with my pocket-handkerchief. " Too bad," 
 I thought, " to miss the rest." I laughed aloud, 
 as I exclaimed with delight, "Why it is my 
 own story. If it could be so interesting as a 
 reminiscence, why would it not prove interest 
 ing to those who have never heard it? My 
 mind is made up, I will write it for the enter 
 tainment of others, and for my own."
 
 OS FRED EANSOM. 13 
 
 n. 
 
 OUR HERO, MOVED BY A SPIRIT OF ADVEN 
 TURE, BEGS HIS FATHER TO GRANT HIM 
 PERMISSION TO MAKE A VOYAGE-HE IS RE 
 FUSED- REPINES AT WHAT HE CONSIDERS 
 HIS HARD FATE-MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE 
 OF THE SON OF A SEA-CAPTAIN-RENEWS 
 HIS REQUEST TO HIS FATHER, AND IS AGAIN 
 REFUSED -VISITS HIS FRIEND, AND RUNS 
 AWAY BY ACCIDENT. 
 
 WAS born, not of. " poor but re 
 spectable parents," as the phrasa 
 goes, but of respectable parents who 
 were well-to-do in the world. At an 
 early age, my father settled in New 
 York. He was an Englishman, born 
 in the town of Sheffield. Soon after 
 his arrival in this country, he es 
 tablished himself in New York, in the busi 
 ness for which Sheffield is famed, and very soon 
 afterwards he married the lady who was the 
 mother of our hero myself. Not many years 
 after that event, my poor mother died. Not so 
 early, however, that I have not a distinct recol 
 lection of her; but early enough for me to lose,
 
 11 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 at a tender age, the affection and cherished 
 counsel which exercise so great an influence 
 over the life of every one who has been so for 
 tunate as to possess them. 
 
 My father intended me for his ovrn business, 
 but having a thorough appreciation of the 
 value of a good education for every one, no 
 matter what course of life may be pursued, 
 he placed me at an excellent school in the 
 city, intending to keep me there until I should 
 be at least seventeen years of age. "Without 
 having any distaste for business generally, or 
 for my father's business in particular, I grew up 
 with that indefinable longing that is common 
 to many boys a desire to roam. A vague 
 feeling constantly beset me that I must ramble 
 somewhere in the world. I persuaded myself 
 that if my wish were gratified, my propensity 
 might be overcome. It was not long before I 
 imparted these feelings to my father, and beg 
 ged him to let me go upon a voyage of some 
 sort ; but .1 found him opposed to it, and I 
 thought him obdurate. Pie represented to 
 me,, that my wish was nothing but a sense 
 less craving for excitement, and that if 
 it were manfully resisted, it could be sub 
 dued, and that it was my duty to conquer it. 
 All this he eaid to me, talking as many a father 
 has done to his son, and will do fruitlessly to the
 
 OH FEED RANSOM. 15 
 
 m 
 
 end t>f timo. My arguments were based, as I 
 have intimated, upon the very reverse reasoning. 
 I contended that the gratification of my wish 
 would serve the purpose of alfeying my desire, 
 and that deprivation would only serve to 
 increase it. We could come to no satisfactory 
 conclusion, as we were so diametrically opposed, 
 and time passed, and, after a while, the subject 
 was not resumed between us. I saw that he 
 was fixed in his determination not to give his 
 consent to my wish, and when, after many 
 unavailing attempts to shake his purpose, I 
 came to this conclusion, I was silent in refer 
 ence to the matter. 
 
 Meanwhile, I continued to go to school, and 
 to fulfil my duties, but I also continued to brood 
 over the hard fate, as 1 thought it, which pre 
 vented me from seeing something of the world, 
 and which would probably sente'nce me to a 
 life spent without ever visiting those scenc.3 
 which I delighted to picture in my mind. 
 Whether it was that I had a natural 'propensity 
 ibr rambling, or whether the obstinacy of my 
 niture had been aroused by the opposition with 
 which the first expression of my wishes had 
 been met, or whether both these causes con 
 spired to render me impatient of control, and 
 doubly desirous of escape from it, I do not 
 know; but certain it is, that my longing to
 
 16 TEE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 travel somewhere became daily more intense. 
 However, I pursued my studies with some 
 relish, for books have always been to me sources 
 of interest and <jnjoyment. But the undercur 
 rent of my existence was the vain, ill-defined 
 desire which I have expressed to you. Pos 
 sessed with this constant longing, which seemed 
 immeasurably removed from the possibility of 
 gratification, it gradually became my habit to 
 frequent a certain tier of wharves which wero 
 situated at a convenient distance from our house. 
 In my uneasy condition of mind, I felt that if 
 I could not travel, there was some solace in 
 being near the instruments with which man has 
 learned to conquer space, and transport the arts 
 and treasures of other lands to his own door. 
 These wharves of which I speak, were chiefly 
 frequented by a class of small vessels which 
 brought fruit from the West Indies to the New 
 York market. Laden with fragrant oranges, 
 bananas, and other tropical fruits, which, heaped 
 up in fabulous profusion, seemed to me to have 
 brought with them the very atmosphere of the 
 sunny climes in which they grew, these tiny 
 vessels possessed to my youthful eyes the beauty 
 of gondolas. And yet they were sorry-looking 
 vessels, the largest not more than a hundred tons 
 burthen. 
 
 Of course, it was not long before I formed
 
 OR FRED RAX30M. 17 
 
 the acquaintance of some of the people who 
 sailed in them, and, naturally enough, too, I 
 first made the acquaintance of a boy who was 
 about my own age, and who turned out to be 
 the son of the captain of one of the largest of 
 the vessels. From that time forward, my desire 
 to go to sea became more uncontrollable than 
 ever. I sometimes passed the whole of my 
 leisure in the cabin of his schooner, and often 
 diverted myself by imagining that we were at 
 sea. Boy-like, I soon frankly confided to him 
 my wishes, and the ill-success that they had 
 met when I expressed them to my father. He 
 consoled me by saying that the " ' old man' 
 would come around after awhile," but he ob 
 served that, for his part, he could not see why 
 I was so anxious to go wandering about, espe 
 cially to leave such a city as New York, where 
 there were lots of fun going on all the time. 
 He only wished that he could change with me, 
 for that then we would both be suitad, for he 
 would give me his place, and welcome. " Where 
 Y7as the fun," said he, "in pitching around at sen, 
 between New York and the West Indies, when 
 a fellow could live all the time in a city, and go 
 to the theatre, and have a regular jolly time." 
 I replied, that it was all very well for him to 
 talk in that way, when he, although so young, 
 had. seen something of the world, in touching 
 2*
 
 18 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 along the coasts of Mexico, South America, and 
 the "West Indies ; but I felt that I had, in 
 comparison, seen nothing. My visits generally 
 ended by our spending the evening together at 
 some entertainment, which he declared to be 
 better fun than going to sea, and joked me 
 about asking our fathers whether they would 
 not swap sons. 
 
 This acquaintance was not particularly con 
 genial, except from his being associated with my 
 chief desire. Soon after meeting him, his fath 
 er's vessel made two or three voyages, and I saw 
 hint only at intervals of several months. During 
 the absence of the vessel, I committed all sorts 
 of vagaries. I used to go down to the wharf and 
 take a look at the berth in which she usually 
 lay, and every thing connected with voyaging 
 had now become so dear to me, that I kept in 
 one of my pockets a piece of tarred rope, such 
 as sailors call old junk, and this I would some 
 times furtively withdraw and smell, as if it ex 
 haled the most delicate perfume. 
 
 The vessel had been absent for three or four 
 months, after I made the acquaintance of the 
 captain's son, when she came into port about 
 the middle of September. It was in the year 
 1839. As usual, many hours had not elapsed 
 before I heard of her arrival, and paid a visit 
 to the wharf. For several days, I made my
 
 OR FRED HANSOM. 19 
 
 customary visits to the place. One day as I 
 parted from my friend, who was called Charley 
 Edson, I mentioned that I should probably be 
 unable to see him on the morrow, as it would 
 be my fifteenth birthday, and my father had 
 intimated that we would spend it together as a 
 holiday. He answered that I must be sure to 
 come on the following day, for that they had sold 
 their cargo, and intended to sail as soon as 
 some other business was transacted. 
 
 The next day my father proposed that we 
 should make an excursion to a certain place 
 one of the numerous beautiful spots by which 
 New York is surrounded. I eagerly acceded 
 to his proposition, and we started off together. 
 
 It is not necessary to my story to enlarge 
 upon the events of this trip, for I cannot even 
 now recall my father's kindness, and his solici 
 tude for my enjoyment, without pain at the re 
 collection of the sequel. Perceiving that he was 
 in an unusually pleasant mood, I judged that a 
 favorable opportunity had arrived, to resume 
 the subject upon which I had been so long 
 silent. I therefore commenced by reminding 
 him that I was now fifteen years of age, and 
 represented to him, that I had lately shown 
 my discretion, by not urging him. to grant 
 my wishes; but that now, as they were as 
 strong as ever, and I had, for some time, zeal-
 
 20 T H E Y U N G \V tt E C K E R , 
 
 ously pursued my studies, I lioped tliat he 
 would permit me to indulge in at least one 
 voyage. At this discourse his countenance fell, 
 and I saw, subsequently, that his pleasure for 
 the day had gone. However, he replied, kindly, 
 that he wished me, as he had already said, to 
 continue my studies until I was at least seven 
 teen years of age. He remarked, that he had 
 hoped I had given up my whim, and seen how 
 foolish it was. It was best, he continued, that 
 I should remain at school for two or three years 
 longer, and then settle down into a business 
 man, and aid him in his affairs, the burden of 
 which was daily increasing. 
 
 It was my turn now to be disappointed, and 
 the rest of our holiday passed uncomfortably 
 enough. I had not a thought that was not 
 loving and filial, or else I would not have been 
 BO sad. 
 
 Late in the afternoon we returned to the 
 city. My father parted from me kindly, saying, 
 as I went towards my room, " You will think 
 better of this, my son, and one of these days, 
 you will know that I am right." I was sor 
 rowful and vexed sorrowful that my scheme 
 had again miscarried, and vexed with myself, 
 because I had caused my dear father unhappi- 
 ness, on a day when he had sought to ccntribute 
 to my pleasure.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 21 
 
 In this uneasy frame of mind, I wandered 
 out of the house, about dusk, and mechanically 
 bent my steps towards the wharves which I 
 frequented. The shades of evening deepened 
 as I walked along, and lamp after lamp was 
 lighted along the streets through which I 
 passed. By the time that I had reached the 
 river, night had fallen, and the badly illumina 
 ted docks looked gloomier than usual, owing to 
 my emerging from the brilliant streets of the 
 city. Here and there one could discern the 
 tracery of rigging defined against the sky. 
 An occasional glimmer of a smoky lamp, a 
 hoarse voice, the fall of a plank, or something 
 of the sort, now and then indicated that the 
 vessels at the wharves were not wholly deserted. 
 The night was very sultry, and I sauntered 
 leisurely along, until I reached the place where 
 the schooner lay. 
 
 The only person about seemed to be the cook, 
 who was stirring around his galley, making 
 preparations for his next day's duties. I hailed 
 him, and asked where all the people were. He 
 told me that the men had gone to town for a 
 while, and that the captain and his son had 
 gone there too, on business, as the schooner was 
 to sail early in the morning, so as to take ad 
 vantage of the first of the ebb, for the tide 
 would turn to run out about daylight. I an-
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 swered that I would wait, and seated myself on 
 the taffrail, and watched the lights of the ship 
 ping which lay at anchor in the harbor. The 
 tide was running out then, so there would bo 
 one intervening tide before the one which was 
 to serve the schooner. As the stream flowed 
 swiftly by the vessel, as she lay bow foremost in 
 one of the wharf-slips, the laving, gently plash 
 ing sound was most agreeable on an evening so 
 hot. I became impatient of waiting, however, 
 and after I had amused myself with seeing all 
 that could be seen on deck, I resorted to tho 
 cabin, and took a seat on a cushioned locker. 
 
 I felt sure that my friend would not return 
 before ten o'clock, but as I had determined to 
 wait, I lay down on the locker and thought over 
 my day's excursion, my father's disappointment 
 and mine. At last I fell into a doze. When 
 I awakened, I thought, from my feelings, that 
 I must have been sleeping soundly. I awoke 
 giddy ; every thing seemed to reel around me. 
 With a strong effort, I fully aroused myself, 
 jumped up, and staggered across to the other 
 tide of the cabin. Sick at the stomach, I 
 clambered with difficulty up the companion- 
 way, and plunged into the arms of a man at 
 the helm.* I was at seal
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 23 
 
 OIHI^IPTIEIR, IIZ. 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF THE PRECEDING CHAPTER 
 EXPLAINED OUR HERO'S PAINFUL- REFLEC- 
 TIONS-HIS POSITION ON THE SCHOONER- 
 FLYING FISH, PORPOISES, DOLPHINS, 
 WH AL ES-D IVERSIO NS OF THE CREW- 
 SOUTHERN CROSS-GULF STREAM- WATER 
 SPOUTS-ARRIVAL OFF THE PORT OF HAVANA 
 -GLOOMY FOREBODINGS AGAIN OVERWHELM 
 OUR HERO-HIS LETTER HOME-CAPTAIN ED- 
 SON'S SYMPATHY AND ADVICE. 
 
 PLUNGED, as I said, on deck, 
 
 
 
 and into the arms of the steers 
 man, who staggered against the wheel 
 as I lurched over to leeward, arid, 
 steadying myself by a strong effort, 
 glanced around just in time to see 
 the captain and my friend rushing 
 aft with blank amazement written on 
 their faces. Blank as they looked, my expres 
 sion must have out-rivalled theirs, as I stood 
 supporting myself by the rail of the vessel, and 
 swaying to and fro with every roll of the sea 
 sea-sickness and dismay blended in my counte 
 nance.
 
 21 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 " How did you get here ?" breathlessly ejacu 
 lated the captain, as soon as he and his son 
 reached my side. My friend uttered not a 
 word. I saw, at a glance, that he thought I 
 was a regular stow-a-way. 
 
 At this point, the poetical unities of tims, 
 place, and action, suggest that I should intro 
 duce a thrilling passage consisting of a pathetic 
 appeal to be put ashore. The soberness of 
 truth, however, induces me to tell the fact, that, 
 at the moment when the captain greeted me 
 with the words, "How did you get here," 
 a spasmodic effort contracted my body, ] 
 turned from him, and falling heavily on tho 
 rail, and hanging over it like a limp bolster, 
 I poured forth those libations which man offers 
 alike to Bacchus and to Neptune. 
 
 I dwell not upon the ensuing scene, in which 
 I made a fruitless attempt to explain the fact of 
 my presence. I was assisted to the cabin, and 
 induced to lie down until a more favorablo 
 opportunity for talking should arise. They 
 would have left me on deck, for the benefit of 
 fresh air, had not the sea been running so 
 high, that the schooner was constantly wot 
 from stem to stern by spray, and occa 
 sionally shipped some water. 
 
 Although I was not in a condition to explain 
 matters, I was not so far overcome that I
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. L'O 
 
 could not think ; and the misqry of the en 
 suing hours, during which, perfectly realizing 
 my situation, I turned over in my mind the 
 occurrences of the preceding day, was almost 
 intolerable. The thought of what my father 
 must imagine, made me wretched, when, in 
 addition, I recollected that I was absolutely 
 powerless to control the course of events. 
 
 Two days elapsed before I was able to crawl 
 from the berth which my boy-friend kindly 
 relinquished for my benefit. But long before 
 that, mutual explanations had been made of 
 the occurrence which appeared so extraor 
 dinary; and which, nevertheless, happened in 
 so simple a manner, that that is the point 
 which is really extraordinary. 
 
 It seems that the cook of the vessel had 
 correctly informed me, when he told me that 
 the captain and his son had gone to the 
 city on business, and that the men were also 
 off on leave, in anticipation of sailing in the 
 morning. It happened that the captain and 
 his son, when on their return, came across 
 the sailors, who were engaged in carousing, and 
 making a disturbance in one of the streets ad 
 jacent to the vessel. Perceiving, at a glanco, 
 that if he was to carry out his purpose of 
 sailing in the morning, he must ensure tho 
 presence of his crew, who might be commencing 
 3
 
 26 THE YOUNG WKECKER, 
 
 one of those sprees which sailors sometimes pro 
 long for two or three days, the captain halted, 
 and, after a long altercation, in which prom 
 ises and threats were mingled in about equal 
 proportions, he managed to prevail upon his 
 men to accompany him to the schooner, where 
 they arrived in a very lurching and sea 
 men's last-day-on-shore fashion. 
 
 After getting them aboard and below, the 
 captain was puzzled to know what to do next, 
 for the men were in that rickety condition 
 of moral perception, when they would have 
 readily made the most solemn promise not 
 to go ashore again, and would have broken 
 it the next minute without the slightest com 
 punction. In this dilemma, he chanced to 
 look at the river, and perceived* that the 
 tide was still ebb. In a moment, he made 
 up his mind to secure his crew, by taking 
 advantage of the last of that ebb, instead of 
 v.'aiting for six hours, and then taking the 
 first of the morning's ebb. No sooner said 
 than done. A schooner does not require 
 many men to handle her. The captain, his 
 son, and the cook, soon cast off the hawsers 
 by which she was made fast to the wharf, 
 and by putting her jib aback, forced her out 
 of the slip. In a few mirfutes all sail was 
 act, and we were under way, with a fair wind.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 27 
 
 The cook, it appeared, had seen me sitting 
 on the taffrail, where I had taken my sta 
 tion to await my friend's arrival; but soon 
 missing me, he concluded that I had gone home. 
 At that very moment, however, I was sleeping 
 with a boy's heavy slumber, and with the 
 lethargy entailed by a long and hot day's 
 excursion, and a previously agitated condition 
 of mind. The sea, at first, was comparatively 
 smooth, and the motion had been violent only 
 for a short period preceding the time when I 
 arrived on deck. The men, having been ascer 
 tained to be incapable of duty, the sole re 
 maining chance which I would have had of 
 being discovered by the captain or his son, 
 failed, as they, with the cook, were obliged 
 to remain all night on deck, and navigate the 
 vessel. 
 
 The affair is now explained. Morning 
 dawned, and found us far out of sight of land, 
 the men just returning to their duties, ono 
 having already been stationed at the wheel ; 
 and the captain and his son would, within 
 a few minutes, have found me in the cabin, 
 had I not at last awakened, owing to the 
 violent rolling of the vessel, and rushing up 
 on deck, discovered myself to their astonished 
 eyes. 
 
 The question soon arose as to what was to b
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 done. What could not be done was very plain 
 at least to the captain. If I had ever had 
 the slightest notion that he would touch at 
 some point on the coast and land me, I was soon 
 disabused of that impression. Every sea-cap 
 tain, even the most amiable, has the idea that 
 the laws of his vessel, be she never so small, ara 
 as immutable as those of the universe. No 
 thing renders the human mind so despotic, as 
 the command of a few planks at the mercy of 
 the elements. 
 
 It was clear that I could not land any 
 where short of the place where it had been 
 decided that the schooner was to make a port ; 
 unless, indeed, we were to be shipwrecked, an 
 event not likely to befall a vessel possessed of a 
 captain accustomed to the coast along which we 
 sailed. 
 
 After much debate, it was finally settled, that 
 as the vessel was not to return to New York 
 before three or four months, I should be left at 
 Havana, at which place she was to stop for a 
 few hours on her way to one or two ports 
 in the islands to the southward of Cuba. 
 
 Idleness at sea is an abomination in the eyes 
 of every good skipper, and I was soon set at 
 work to earn my right to the passage which I 
 was taking very much against my will. I was 
 very anxious to do what I could, to render my
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 29 
 
 title good to my board and lodging, and to 
 ingratiate myself with the captain, who, all 
 things considered, treated me very kindly. Not 
 that I was really so much indebted to him, if 1 
 faithfully performed the tasks allotted to me, for 
 there is always so much to do about a vessel, 
 that any supernumerary can fairly earn his 
 salt. But my introduction had been so uncere 
 monious, that notwithstanding its being unin 
 tentional, the affair was very likely to try the 
 patience of many a man. Here was I, neither 
 officer nor common seaman, a passenger with 
 out money or clothes, and, on account of many 
 circumstances, to be got rid of at the first oppor 
 tunity that offered, and yet to be got rid of with 
 decency, and as the friend of the captain's son, 
 although an uninvited guest, occupying a place 
 in a cabin where there was little room to spare 
 even to one most welcome. 
 
 As to my own feelings, I had settled into a 
 frame of mind in which, although still dis 
 tressed at the late event, I had summoned up 
 my fortitude, in order to make the best of every' 
 thing and to be guided by circumstances. I re 
 solved that I would write to my father the very 
 moment we arrived at Havana. As for re 
 turning to his house before I received some inti 
 mation of his pleasure, reflection showed me that 
 such would not be the most prudent course; for 
 3*
 
 SO THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 I now felt to the full extent, how almost impossi 
 ble it must be for him to credit the statement 
 which I had to make, that the occurrence which 
 followed the conversation on my birthday had 
 no connection with it, but was a mere coinci 
 dence. I made up my mind to write to him, to 
 explain every thing, and to await his reply be 
 fore going home. If he told me to return, 1 
 would return immediately. .. Whether he be 
 lieved me or not, I resolved that my course 
 should be equally obedient. I must wait, how 
 ever, to learn his decision. I had no doubt that, 
 in the meantime, I, a great, strong, healthy lad, 
 could successfully measure myself with the 
 world, and earn my own livelihood. 
 
 For a few days after sailing, the wind proved 
 light .and baffling, and we did not make much 
 
 o O' 
 
 progress. My sea-sickness wore off, and I be 
 gan, in a measure, to relish the novelty of the 
 life and scenes by which I was surrounded. At 
 last, a whole-sail breeze from the north-west 
 set in, and the vessel careened with every stitch 
 of canvas set, and steered due south. 
 
 As we sailed farther and farther south, we 
 began to find our clothes oppressive. I had no 
 change, and my friend no change to spare, so I 
 suffered at first from what after all was a very 
 petty inconvenience. 
 
 The vessel's track often lay through water
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 31 
 
 alive with schools of flying-fish. These, when 
 alarmed at our approach, or at that of sorao 
 voracious fish in search of prey, often leaped by 
 hundreds from the water, and skimmed along 
 just above the surface of the waves, on which 
 they occasionally struck and with a ricochet 
 prolonged their flight. They make no move 
 ment with their wings, which they merely ex 
 tend upon leaping from the water with the 
 impetus of their previous speed through that 
 medium. On rising above its surface, the wind 
 propels them, and judging by the manner in 
 which they sometimes slant their wings, and 
 diverge from their original course, the proba 
 bility is that they possess the power adroitly to 
 take advantage of the different currents of 
 wind ; or, with the same current, to modify, in 
 some measure, the direction of their flight. 
 The wings of this fish are its long pectoral fins. 
 They are slight, translucent, and supported by 
 delicate spines. To show you that, beyond a 
 very limited degree, the flying-fish cannot con 
 trol the direction of its flight, you only need be 
 informed that it often flies over the bulwarks of 
 a vessel and falls on her deck. It frequently 
 comes aboard at night, and, in that way, we 
 sometimes found a mess of fish all ready for the 
 pan. 
 
 Porpoises we saw by thousands. They dis-
 
 32 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 ported themselves about the vessel, seemingly 
 without the slightest fear. They are much 
 quicker than the fastest steamship under way. 
 They often indulge in queer freaks. As I 
 watched them under the bow of the schooner, I 
 often saw one swim with its tail almost grazing 
 the cut-water. In that position it would adopt 
 the same course as that of the schooner, with 
 out deviating so much as half a point, and 
 swim thus for a minute or two, then dart off, 
 and return almost immediately to its station. 
 
 We once saw a school of whales; but they 
 were too far off to be distinctly visible. Of 
 course, there were many other fish which we 
 saw, and many sea-birds were often in sight. 
 We were ceaselessly followed by the inevitable 
 Mother Carey's chickens. 
 
 I must not omit that wonder of wonders, the 
 dolphin. The men harpooned one of these fish, 
 and all hands were soon collected to see a sight 
 which is always fascinating. My satisfaction 
 was marred by knowing that what gratified 
 our curiosity was agony to the poor creature. 
 
 If you expect, from my description, to receive 
 any thing like an adequate idea of the beauty 
 of the dolphin, you will be astonished when you 
 see one. No painter that ever lived, could paint 
 a dolphin, for he would have to paint fifty dol 
 phins, in colors of a brilliancy which the art of
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 33 
 
 man lias not yet produced. I can but give you 
 a faint impression of what I saw. 
 
 Kecall the colors of rich changeable silks, or 
 all that ever charmed you in a soap-bubble, and 
 then imagine a great fish with these gorgeous 
 hues covering the glossy surface of its body. 
 On emerging from the water, it looks as if it 
 had come from a bath of rainbow. The pris 
 matic colors blend, dissolve, renew, and fade 
 away. With convulsive throes the fish ap 
 proaches its death agony, and then slowly the 
 colors pass away, and a cold, ashen, lead-like 
 hue steals over the body. The dolphin is then 
 dead. 
 
 The weather was so fine that no one spent 
 much time below. As there was not much dis 
 tinction between quarter-deck and forward, we 
 boys generally found ourselves grouped with 
 the sailors, under shelter of the bulwark to 
 windward. There I was for the first time in 
 structed in all those mysteries of tying intricate 
 knots, splicing, plaiting, carving, sewing, and 
 the thousand and one knickknackeries with 
 which the sailor beguiles his moments of lei 
 sure. As the wind was now fair, there was 
 scarcely any thing to be done from morning 
 till evening, except to wash the decks down 
 at daylight, and to take an occasional turn at 
 the wheel.
 
 34 THE YOUNG WRECKE.R, 
 
 "We had so much leisure, that at last even 
 the amusement of making knots, etc., began 
 to fail, from sheer exhaustion of all the va 
 rious devices; and symptoms of a desire to 
 tattoo every body within reach, took possession 
 of one of the sailors, who was an adept in that 
 branch of the fine arts. As I had not the 
 slightest mark upon my person, I was looked 
 upon as a very desirable subject upon which to 
 practise a little etching, but I resisted all over 
 tures, and he was forced to content himself with 
 adding a few dolphins to the waters which sur 
 rounded a ship under full sail, that decorated the 
 arm of one of the old salts. Although I have 
 been a good deal at sea since that time, I have 
 never changed my mind about this kind of 
 ornamentation, which many a boy has been 
 silly enough to adopt and heartily repented. 
 
 The Southern Cross was now visible. I must 
 say that I was much disappointed in this con 
 stellation. Like most others, it has no very 
 marked figure. It can be recognized as a cross, 
 but it is a very misshapen and lopsided one. 
 
 Grand, mysterious, awful, I thought the 
 waste of waters, but they were not blue. I 
 could not distinguish blue, or else the sea was 
 not blue, but a dull green in bright light, va 
 rying in shadow to a slaty tint. I found that 
 the seamen did not trouble themselves much
 
 OR FEED HANSOM. 35 
 
 about such investigations. I inquired of Cap 
 tain Edson, who briefly replied that the sea 
 was blue in some places and greeii in others. 
 This answer made me hope that we should come 
 to one of the places where it was blue. As 
 he had not volunteered to tell me more than I 
 mention, I did not press him, for a captain of a 
 small vessel is a very great dignitary, not to be 
 approached, when at sea, except, with much awe 
 and circumspection. 
 
 We soon stood in further to the westward. 
 As we had been steering south, we had kept 
 well away from the coast, to avoid the current 
 of the Gulf Stream, which, you remember, 
 leaves the Gulf of Mexico, and after running 
 parallel with the coast of the United States for 
 some distance, gradually recedes from it until off 
 the Banks of Newfoundland, whence it is deflected 
 in the direction of Europe. The weather was so 
 clear, and the wind so favorable, that Captain Ed- 
 son determined to run toward the westward until 
 he neared the edge of the Gulf St.-eam, and 
 then lay a new course for Havana. He al 
 tered the direction of the vessel by a few 
 points, and we then felt as if we had almost 
 reached our destination. The slightest incident 
 at sea, looking to a prospective arrival, no 
 matter how distant, gives zest to life aboard 
 ship. We changed our course about daylight,
 
 36 THE YOUNG WHECKER, 
 
 and before eleven o'clock, I saw plainly, by the 
 great number of birds, that we must have 
 greatly reduced our distance from the land. 
 Very far from the coast, even at the greatest 
 distance at which we had sailed, sea-birds had 
 followed in the wake of the vessel, but now 
 they were ten times as numerous. 
 
 About 11 A. tyL, I was standing near the 
 captain, when he turned suddenly to me, and, 
 pointing over the vessel's bow, said, " There, my 
 boy, you said you wanted to see blue water, I 
 hope you will mid that blue enough for your 
 taste. That is the Gulf Stream." 
 
 I looked ahead, and saw at about two or three 
 cables' lengths off, that the color of the water 
 was entirely different. But it looked dark; I 
 could not detect the slightest bluish tint. I 
 had barely time to say so timidly, when tho 
 vessel clove her way into the dark liquid, and, 
 in the schooner's length, we passed from the 
 faint green sea into the deepest indigo that you 
 can conceive. I almost shouted with delight. 
 The water in which we were sailing seemed to 
 be a different medium from that which we had 
 left. It was so dark that it looked as if it 
 could not be so thin as the other so loatery. 
 When the shadows of the .clouds rested on it, it 
 was as black as night, but when the sun shone 
 out, it lighted up with every tint of blue, from
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 37 
 
 dark indigo in the trough of the wave, to light, 
 brilliant blue, just before the feathery crest 
 broke into diamond spray. I could have stood 
 for hours on deck, gazing at this phenomenon, 
 had we continued in the stream ; but the cap 
 tain had no idea of stemming a strong current 
 of several miles an hour, and he kept away by 
 changing his direction to the southward and 
 eastward, and, in a few minutes, during which 
 we ran on the edge of the stream, we gradu 
 ally left it, and in an hour or two shaped our 
 course afresh for Havana. 
 
 The next day I saw another sight, a water 
 spout, or, I should say, many water-spouts. 
 The weather was extremely hot, and great 
 clouds, which, to my inexperienced eye, seemed 
 to betoken immediate rain, gathered in huge 
 masses, like mountains in the sky. As I was 
 watching these form and dissolve, and change 
 unceasingly, I suddenly observed a tiny cono 
 protrude from one. I knew in a moment what 
 it was. Then, a similarly shaped object arose 
 from the sea. The upper cone gradually grew 
 longer and longer, all the time approaching tho 
 other, and waving gently to and fro with the 
 action of the wind. 
 
 Little is known of the cause of this phenom 
 enon, which occurs on land as well as at sea. 
 Ir* Lhe former place, there is not sufficient 
 4
 
 38 THE YOUNG WEECZER, 
 
 moisture to produce the lower cone. At sea, 
 sometimes the upper cone is the first to form, 
 and, at other times, the lower one precedes it. 
 There are many variations, too numerous to 
 describe in this place. 
 
 The water-spout is supposed to be similar in 
 character to the dust-storms which prevail in 
 portions of Asia, Africa, and in the interior of 
 South America. The best authorities on the 
 subject ascribe the phenomenon to the action of 
 the wind, but confess that it is marked by a 
 highly electrical condition. There are other 
 theories, but I have told you enough of what 
 relates to the scientific part of the phenomenon, 
 and I now return to the description of the way 
 in which it generally looks at sea. 
 
 There is no appearance to which the upper 
 cone in motion can be so well compared, as to 
 the gently waving, hesitating manner with 
 v/hich an elephant approaches its proboscis to 
 an object on the ground. No sooner do the 
 cones meet, than an agitation seems to take 
 place, atid the column, reaching from sea to 
 heaven, commences to reel and whirl rapidly 
 off, until broken and dissipated in its frantic 
 waltz. Sometimes I saw three or four water 
 spouts at the same time, either formed, or in 
 various stages of formation. Occasionally, a 
 cloud would let down its trunk for some dis-
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 39 
 
 tancc, and then withdraw it, as if it had con 
 cluded not to take a drink at that place. 
 
 From certain indications, it is known that 
 the column is not composed solely of vapor, 
 but that a great body of water is actually sus 
 pended in the air. It is possible, therefore, 
 that as the column is continuous, water from 
 the sea may be carried up and enter the vapor 
 of the clouds. We know that the clouds, by 
 the reverse process, discharge their vapor in 
 the form of water. Some observers state that 
 the column in breaking invariably discharges 
 fresh water. 
 
 On the morning of the day following the last 
 of which I have spoken, the captain announced 
 to us boys that we would probably arrive off 
 Havana by evening, but that he was afraid he 
 could not reach there before sundown, in which 
 case, we would not be able to enter the port 
 before daylight the next morning. It seems 
 that a regulation of the port of Havana for 
 bids vessels to enter after sundown. The rea 
 son assigned for this rule is, that the shipping 
 is so crowded in the harbor, that vessels en 
 tering at night endanger those lying at an 
 chor. 
 
 As the captain had surmised, we arrived 
 too late, just in time to see the first glimmer 
 from the light-house which stands at the en-
 
 40 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 trance of the harbor. However, we had known 
 for an hour that we would not be able to get 
 into the harbor that night. The captain, after 
 some orthodox grumbling and knocking around 
 every thing within reach, steered away and got a 
 good offing, still within sight of the light, and 
 here we lay off and on, as they say at sea, all 
 night. The captain and Charley soon turned 
 in, after the former had given some directions 
 as to the sailing of the vessel. They were 
 soon sound asleep, and I was left alone with 
 my meditations. 
 
 These were not of the pleasantest kind. In a 
 few hours, I was to lose the only friends I had 
 ./in those parts, and be put ashore in a country 
 where I did not even speak the language of the 
 people. However bravely youngsters may 
 frequently talk, and they do often indulge in 
 that way, when it cornes to such a pinch, they 
 are not apt to consider themselves more than a 
 match for any difficulty, as they would lead 
 people to suppose when the difficulty is imagi 
 nary. I confess that I felt my courage quite 
 abated now, when I was in sight of the spot 
 where my self-reliance was to be put to the 
 test. As I sat at the cabin table, with my face 
 buried in my hands, the better to exclude ex 
 ternal objects, and bring my thoughts to a 
 focus, I did not feel myself to be such an Intel-
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 41 
 
 lectual and physical giant as I had deemed 
 myself when I purposed grappling with the 
 world. I felt that I was a boy, and not a very 
 big one either, nor a very wise one for his years, 
 few as they were. In fact, I felt very miser 
 able, and I, the cabin was very dark, and the 
 captain and Charley were fast asleep, well ! I 
 blubbered. You must not mention it. Of course, 
 it was very babyish. You would have done 
 very differently, you think. Pooh ! that is just 
 what I would have said, had I been told of such 
 a scrape as the one in which I found myself, but 
 I blubbered. How long I continued to cry 
 I do not know, but I was suddenly startled by 
 a gruff voice from the captain's berth. 
 
 " Hollo, my fine fellow," said the voice, as 
 a tumbled - looking head protruded from the 
 curtains, "have you taken so much to the 
 sea that you are brimming over with salt 
 water ?" 
 
 The head nodded at me in a kindly way, 
 and I saw that it meant its words to cause 
 me to cheer up. 
 
 "Captain," I stammered in reply, "if I had 
 only known you took a little interest in me, this 
 would not have happened ; but I did n't like to 
 speak to you, and ask your advice." 
 
 " Speak away," said he, bringing his legs out 
 side of the berth, and sitting bent forward 
 4*
 
 42 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 on the edge of it, " you must n't suppose because 
 I'm not inclined to lay much out on words, that 
 I have n't got some heart for other people s 
 troubles. I knew you'd have to speak to 
 me afore you went ashore, and I just waited 
 till you raised a signal of distress." 
 
 Upon this I opened my heart ffe~ely, and, in 
 the course of half an hour's talk, found that I had 
 mistaken the captain's nature, as boys are very 
 apt to do in the case of their elders. He told 
 me that he. would be obliged to land me, that 
 was certain, but that he would do every thing in 
 his power to aid me in getting shipped aboard 
 of some vessel. In reply, I mentioned my pro 
 jected letter to my father, and my intention not 
 to return to New York until I received news 
 from him. After cogitating awhile, he approved 
 of this; and added, that as I might to-morrow 
 ship aboard of some vessel which might be on 
 the eve of sailing, I had better write my letter 
 at once. So he got out his ink-bottle, and a few 
 dilapidated pens, which looked as if they had 
 been used for cleaning bedsteads ; and I was 
 once more left alone, as the captain rolled over 
 into his berth with a last kind word and a 
 cheery good-night. 
 
 So, by the light of a miserable lamp v and with 
 the aid of a miserable pen, and my own 
 thoughts, more miserable than both, I wrote to
 
 OK FRED RANSOM. 43 
 
 my father, and narrated all that the reader 
 knows. And, meanwhile, we tacked to and fro, 
 and the night waned, and day had almost 
 broken before I threw myself exhausted and 
 feverish into the berth by the side of Charley.
 
 THE YOU1TG WEECKKE. 
 
 TV. 
 
 SUNRISE OFF HAVANA THE HARBOR--THE 
 WRECKER FLYING CLOUD - CAPTAIN ED- 
 SON'S PROMISE-HIS VISIT TO THE WRECK 
 ERMINGLED DESPONDENCY AND HOPE. 
 
 AINLY did I essay to sleep. The 
 bustlo and the swash of water 
 overhead, as the crew sluiced the 
 decks, the noise made by my com 
 panions while dressing, and the ra 
 pidly increasing light prevented my 
 obtaining the rest which I courted. 
 I dressed myself and joined the 
 groups on deck. We were about three miles 
 from land. As I looked towards shore, I 
 could distinctly perceive the light-house and 
 some of the dwellings near Havana. The wind 
 was ahead, and we were beating towards the 
 harbor. The only thing on the water was a 
 schooner, which, by her evolutions, appeared to 
 be making for the same destination. 
 
 There is something inexpressibly lovely in a 
 fair weather sunrise at sea in a tropical climate.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 45 
 
 The air which, later in the day, becomes too 
 fervid, is then tempered with a pleasant cool 
 ness. Gliding through the dark blue waters 
 that encroach upon the very shores of Cuba, 
 surrounded by the peaceful -looking sky, and 
 inhaling the sea-breeze, just scented with fra 
 grance from the land, one may travel far with 
 out finding a lovelier scene than a clear sunrise 
 off Havana. 
 
 The schooner which I had noticed, was sail 
 ing on the opposite tack, and we rapidly in 
 creased our distance from each other. Just as 
 we went about, I observed that the other vessel 
 was also in stays. Y/e then rapidly approached 
 each other, and I could distinguish a long, low, 
 fast-sailing vessel, flying at her peak what I 
 took to be the American flag. 
 
 I ran forward to find the captain, who was 
 seeing that the chain was all clear, prepara 
 tory to letting the anchor go in the Larbor. I 
 pointed out the flag to him. 
 
 " Yes," said he, glancing up, and answering, as 
 if he understood my thoughts, " if I don't mis 
 take, you are in luck." After another look at 
 her, he resumed, " If things can be arranged, as 
 I guess we can manage, this vessel will suit 
 you to a T. You see, according to your plan, 
 as you did n't want to return immediately to the 
 North, I was puzzled; for, said I to myself, of
 
 46 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 course, he cannot very well find employment in 
 Havana, for he don't speak Spanish, and, iiko- 
 \vise, if he ships, of course he won't want to 
 ship aboard of any but an English or American 
 craft, where they speak his own language. 
 Then I thought to myself, he don't want to 
 go a long voyage to England, and perhaps some 
 other cruise before he is free, nor yet to the 
 North, until he hears from his father. The 
 short of it is just this here. If that vessel turns 
 out to be what I think she is, a Florida 
 wrecker, and her captain is not a most uncom 
 mon obstinate man, you 're suited at the first 
 go off. You can ship aboard of her, and there 
 you'll be until you can get word from New 
 York. I don't believe there '11 be a mite of 
 trouble ; for you see the wreckers take a crew 
 on shares. If they get any salvage, every man 
 has his portion ; but if they are not lucky, the 
 owners only lose the grub they provide." 
 
 While the captain was engaged in this un 
 usually long speech, the two vessels were 
 rapidly nearing each other upon opposite tacks, 
 which seemed as if they would bring them into 
 collision if they maintained the same course. 
 But as we approached still closer to each other, 
 I perceived that the other schooner, being a 
 fast sailer, would cross athwart our hawse. 
 Sure enough, a few minutes afterwards, she
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 47 
 
 ran pilst us, cleaving the water as if she had 
 been instinct with life, and triumphed in her 
 speed. 
 
 As she weathered us, our captain shouted 
 through his trumpet : " What schooner 's that, 
 bound in ?" Another trumpet answered from 
 the stranger's deck, " Wrecker, Flying Cloud; 
 Key West, for Havana ; who are you ?" Our 
 captain bellowed in reply, " Cygnet, from. New 
 York." Then plash, plash, plash, went the 
 water from, our bow, as the voices ceased, and 
 the noise of the rush of the other vessel sub 
 sided, and we once more clove our way alona 
 through the sea. 
 
 The captain's apparent certainty that I 
 would find no difficulty in shipping aboard 
 of the trim-looking wrecker, raised my spirits, 
 and when, a few minutes afterwards, we were 
 entering the harbor, I felt sufficiently relieved 
 in mind to be able to enjoy the scene. 
 
 On the left of the entrance of the harbor, 
 stands a magnificent light-house, placed on tho 
 comparatively low rocks which form the base 
 of some great hills on which Moro Castle is 
 situated. The entrance itself is extremely nar 
 row, and so uniform in breadth, before it ex 
 pands into the harbor, that it seems almost 
 like a canal. Moro Castle runs along the lofty 
 bills, its walls dipping :nto the ravines, and so
 
 4b THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 adapting themselves to the peculiarities of the 
 surface, that they look as if they had become 
 molten at their base, and had run into tho 
 slopes. 
 
 The tall, smooth shaft of the light-hou.'>e, 
 rising out of dark, rugged rocks, and contrast 
 ing with the undulating lines of Moro Castle, 
 completes the outline on the left of the en 
 trance. The reader must add to the masonry 
 a tint of dark yellow, in vivid relief amidst 
 tropical green. Under these southern skies, 
 nature blends colors, and adds shades of her 
 own. Man can scarcely devise any thing so 
 hideous, that, in time, she will not beautify it 
 with vegetation, and paint it with a master 
 hand. 
 
 On the right of the entrance, the ground is 
 low, and there, houses are numerous, but the 
 city does not fairly commence until just beyond 
 the narrow gut which leads from the sea. As 
 the wind was ahead and very light and the 
 passage narrow; short as it was, we would have 
 had to make many tacks before getting inside 
 of the main harbor, had we not lowered our 
 sails, put some men in the jolly-boat, and towed 
 the schooner througn. 
 
 The wrecker had preceded us by half an 
 hour, and we could see her lying at anchor in 
 the harbor.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 49 
 
 Yv 7 hen llie men had pulled about four or fivo 
 hundred yards, we came in plain view of Ha 
 vana, which is situated on the right of the 
 harbor, a land-locked bay, whose only com 
 munication with the sea is through the narrow 
 passage described. The unhealthiness of Ha 
 vana can, in part, be properly attributed to its 
 situation on the bay, which, filled with nume 
 rous shipping, from which filth of all kinds is 
 constantly discharged, lies under a tropical sun 
 that must breed disease from its almost staor- 
 
 O 
 
 nant waters. The tides in this portion of the 
 Gulf of Mexico rise and fall only between one 
 and two feet ; so that ^in Havana there is no 
 influx and reflux of vast quantities of water 
 which would cleanse the harbor of its impu 
 rities. 
 
 We were soon swinging at anchor. Now 
 that the excitement caused by our arrival and 
 the novel scenes which presented themselves, 
 had ceased to distract my thoughts from the 
 uneasy reflections which had beset me, I re 
 lapsed into the gloomy train of reflection which 
 my unhappy situation engendered. I was look 
 ing disconsolately at the shore, and completely 
 lost in my thoughts of home, when I started 
 at being touched on the shoulder. Turning 
 around, I saw the captain, who smiled pleas 
 antly, and said: 
 5
 
 50 THE YOUNG WRECL.ER, 
 
 " Now, my lad, cheer up. Don't be down 
 hearted. All will come right. You have ex 
 plained every thing in your letter to your 
 father. He'll believe you, I know. You see 
 I'm a father myself, and I know how ono 
 feels." 
 
 This was balm indeed to me, for my doubts 
 of my ability to take care of myself weighed 
 lightly in the balance, compared with the heart 
 ache which I experienced when I allowed my 
 self, for an instant, to dwell upon the thought 
 that my father might perchance refuse to be 
 lieve my story, repudiate me, spurn my love, 
 and, perhaps, even declare that I should never 
 have his forgiveness. Loving, I had always 
 known him- to be, but then I was about to call 
 upon him to credit what appeared to be an im 
 possibility. 
 
 " Captain," I said, turning towards my kind 
 friend, " you have said the very word I needed. 
 It is n't the thought of how I 'm to get along, 
 that distresses me, but just what you said." 
 
 " Well, then, cheer up," said the captain, in 
 reply. " I tell you again, it will all come right 
 rny word for it. For the present, I '11 help 
 you out of one part of your trouble. I did n't 
 intend to stay very long in this port, but I '11 
 settle your affairs before I sail, or else I '11 
 never leave it. I 'm bound for that wreckei
 
 OE FEED RANSOM. 51 ' 
 
 now. You wait here. I can get along without 
 you better than if you were with me. Keep 
 up your courage. Hollo," he shouted, to 
 the men in the jolly-boat, which was now lying 
 along-side, " drop a little astern." 
 
 He threw his leg over the schooner's rail, 
 caught hold of the man-ropes at the side, and, 
 in a jiffy, he was steering for the schooner; 
 and I was left on deck wistfully looking after 
 him, until Charley came up, and began to 
 chaff me in regular boy-fashion, as to whether 
 I hadn't had about enough adventure. At 
 a certain age, boys are apt to possess so little 
 sensibility, that they are often brutal without 
 meaning to be. However, on this occasion, I 
 was not hurt. The captain's certainty that with, 
 my father all would come right, coupled with 
 my strong hope that I should be able to get a 
 place aboard of the wrecker, had revived my 
 spirits. I felt as if I had quaffed some subtle 
 elixir that quickened my pulses and made my 
 heart beat high with hope.
 
 THE TOUNQ WKECZEH, 
 
 CIHI^IPTIEIR, 
 
 CAPTAIN EDSON'S MISSION CROWNED WITH 
 SUCCESS THE CAPTAIN OF THE WRECKER 
 AN OLD FRIEND CAPTAIN EDSON OBTAINS 
 A SITUATION AS CABIN-BOY FOR HIS PRO- 
 TEG E* , WHO, IN MENTIONING HIS NAME TO 
 HIS EMPLOYER, NECESSARILY ANNOUNCES 
 IT TO THE READER. 
 
 hour passed before I saw the cap 
 tain's boat quit the side of the 
 wrecker and row for our vessel. 
 The length of the captain's absence 
 had created in my mind a misgiving 
 that his mission had been unsuccess 
 ful. Now that I saw him leaving 
 the wrecker, I rejoiced; for to know the worst 
 was better than to be in suspense. As my 
 gaze was directed towards the boat, I saw the 
 captain rise up in the stern-sheets and wave his 
 hat. I was instantly relieved he had suc 
 ceeded. In a few minutes he was aboard, and, 
 shaking me by the shoulders, clapped me on the 
 back, as he exclaimed, " I told you so. I felt in 
 my bones that the vessel had arrived 'specially
 
 OHFREDKANSOM. 53 
 
 for you. Why, the captain turns out to be an 
 old friend of mine, although I had not seen him 
 for these fifteen years. That 's what kept me so 
 long. Meeting an old friend that way, made 
 me forget, for a few minutes, the business I went 
 on. Then, when I came to talk of you, it took 
 a few minutes longer. But there is no trouble 
 about your shipping. He 's glad enough to get 
 a boy. He says he 's wanted one for some time. 
 The place is only a cabin-boy's, mind you, but I 
 don't see that you can better yourself, for you 're 
 not a sailor, and not even a man." 
 
 I professed myself delighted, as you can very 
 well imagine. Then the captain told me that 
 the wrecker would not sail for two or three 
 days, and that his own vessel must leave early 
 the next morning, but that I should stay with 
 him until just before sailing, when he would put 
 me aboard of the Flying Cloud. He then left 
 me, as he had to go ashore on business, and, by 
 his advice, I went down into the cabin, and 
 added a long postscript to my letter to my 
 father. I told him to address his reply to Key 
 "West, Florida. That is the port in which 
 the wreckers "fit out", and receive letters, 
 papers, and supplies of every kind. 
 
 The captain, his son, and I, spent the evening 
 together, and I felt as if I was about to leave 
 friends whom I had known all my life; so
 
 54 THE YOUNG WEECK^R, 
 
 entirely do constant companionship, intercourse, 
 and kindly offices disregard time as a measure 
 of the length of friendship. 
 
 My letter had been posted, and it would pro 
 bably leave Havana in the course of a day or 
 two. At the time of which I am speaking, no 
 regular line of steam-ships plied between New 
 York and New Orleans, touching at Havana on 
 both trips; so it might be a month before my 
 letter to my father would reach him, and 
 another month before a letter could reach Key 
 West. And then, if I were off on a wrecking 
 cruise, as I expected to be, it might be three 
 months before I should hear from New York. 
 This was supposing the most unfavorable case, 
 that each letter would be a month in reaching 
 its destination ; but, then, both vessels carrying 
 the mails, in which the letters were to go, 
 might make short passages, and, instead of each 
 being a month on the voyage, the time con 
 sumed might be less than two weeks for each. 
 This, on the other hand, was too favorable a sup 
 position, so I concluded to take the mean, to 
 allow three weeks for each trip. That would 
 bring a reply to Key West in the course of 
 six weeks. Allowing three weeks more before 
 my letter reached me, at the unfrequented point 
 where we would probably be stationed, I con 
 cluded two months to be the time by which I
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 55 
 
 might reasonably expect to hear from home. 
 Before I turned in for the night, I had gone 
 through my calculation many times, as people 
 in such circumstances always do; and by dint 
 of reasoning to myself, that, at the worst, 
 it would not be very long before I should 
 hear from my father, I felt more ease of mind 
 than I had yet experienced. 
 
 Matters appeared to be taking a satisfactory 
 turn, and the captain's view of my father's 
 action in my regard had had so happy an effect, 
 that I resolved to give way no longer to despon 
 dency. 
 
 When day dawned, our deck was at once astir 
 with preparation for departure. The captain 
 Beamed grieved to be obliged to let me go, 
 although he tried to be cheerful, and to give mo 
 courage. I was very loth to leave; so much so, 
 that I verily believe, had the choice of going or 
 staying been mine, I would not have had resolu 
 tion to put in practice the plan which had been 
 so well matured. I was scarcely able to eat a 
 morsel at breakfast, and, after that meal, I 
 silently followed the captain out of the cabin. 
 "While he was ordering the boat to be lowered, 
 I bade good-bye to Charley, and then took my 
 seat in the boat, by the captain's side. In 
 eix or seven minutes, we were along-side of the 
 wrecker. I clambered .up the side, after the
 
 56 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 captain, who gave me a shove by way of intro 
 duction to a jolly-looking person who was stand 
 ing on the quarter-deck to receive us, and 
 whom he accosted as Bowers. " Mind you 
 do well by this boy, Bowers," he said, "or 
 else we two '11 fall out. He 's my property. 
 He's a sort of a sea-waif that I picked up." 
 Capt. Bowers' appearance was so very good- 
 natured, that I at once felt relieved of the only 
 doubt that I had had about my change of 
 commanders. 
 
 " And now," said Captain Edson, " I have not 
 a moment to spare; I must take advantage of 
 this wind. Good-bye, Bowers." He shook the 
 captain's hand heartily, and then taking mine 
 in both of his hands, he gave it a wring, and 
 just as he released it, clasped it over a hard 
 little package, which I mechanically clutched. 
 "Good-bye, boy," he said, as he turned to go. 
 "It will all come right. So far, so good." By 
 the time that he had finished his last sentence, he 
 was in the boat, and pulling rapidly away. 
 
 I made a faint attempt at twirling my hat 
 around my head, in token of farewell, but I 
 failed miserably. I felt that I had lost a dear 
 friend; as in truth I had, for I never saw 
 him again. A few mouths afterwards he died 
 of yellow fever.
 
 OIL FRED EANSOM. 57 
 
 "What did Captain Edson say your name 
 was," inquired a voice at my ear ? 
 
 "Fred Kansom, sir," I replied, starting and 
 letting fall the paper which Captain Edson had 
 left in my hand. 
 
 "You've dropped something," said Captain 
 Bowers ; " your money, I reckon, by the ring." 
 
 " I have n't got any money, sir," I said, " un 
 less" I paused, stooped, and recovered the 
 paper, and hastily tore it open. Out rolled fif 
 teen dollars in gold coin.
 
 58 
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 VX. 
 
 CAPTAIN BOWERS GIVES FRED RANSOM A 
 VACANT BERTH IN THE CABIN FRED RAN- 
 6OM PERFORMS HIS DUTIES ABOARD OF 
 THE SCHOONER-THE CAPTAIN GIVES HIM 
 LEAVE TO GO ASHORE-THE QUAYS, FISH- 
 MARKET, HAVANA LOTTERY, VOLANTES, THE 
 PASEO, TOMB OF COLUMBUS, CAPTAIN-GEN 
 ERAL OF CUBA. 
 
 HE object of the wrecker's visit to 
 Havana was to procure a supply 
 of sugar for some of the merchants of 
 Key West. Happening to be at Key 
 West, for the purpose of undergoing 
 repairs, which were just finished when 
 the merchants desired to replenish 
 their stocks of sugar, the vessel was chartered 
 for the voyage to Havana. Her business in 
 Havana was not to detain her more than two or 
 three days, at the end of which time she. could 
 in a few hours run over to Key West, which is 
 about eighty-two miles distant. 
 
 Captain Bowers turned out to be as good- 
 natured as his appearance indicated. As Cap 
 tain Edson had predicted, I was certainly in
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 59 
 
 luck ; for, besides having a most desirable com 
 mander, I was accommodated aboard the vessel, 
 as I believe cabin-boy never was before. There 
 was no bunk forward to spare, and this fact 
 gave the captain a plausible excuse for granting 
 me permission to occupy one of the vacant 
 berths in the cabin. How Captain Bowers came 
 to be guilty of this queer proceeding will bo 
 best explained by the following conversation 
 which ensued between us, immediately after I 
 had gathered up the fugitive coin which had 
 dispersed in as many directions as there were 
 pieces. 
 
 "Fred," said the captain, "my friend, Cap 
 tain Edson, has told me all about your situation, 
 and appealed to me to do the best I can for you. 
 I intend to do that, if you deserve it. Whether 
 you do, or not, is yet to be tested. Meantime 
 I '11 take it for granted, and commence by doing 
 the best I can for you. You 've been carefully 
 brought up, and would n't find it very pleasant 
 to stay forward with the crew, who are good 
 fellows enough, but rather rough, and not 
 exactly the kind of people you 've been used to 
 living with. So, although I never heard of a 
 cabin-boy's shipping in the cabin, as it happens 
 my friend takes an interest in you, and I 'm dis 
 posed to do the same, now I know your story, 
 why you can have a berth in the cabin, and live
 
 60 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 aboard tlie schooner until you can get word from 
 your father. You '11 have to serve the cabin, just 
 like any other cabin-boy, and lend a hand any 
 where you 're needed ; but I think you 're pretty 
 well off for a chap who has got into such a scrape," 
 
 " Indeed, I am, captain," I replied, " and I am 
 very much obliged to you for your kindness to 
 me, and I '11 do the best I can to deserve it." 
 (This promise, let me here say, I religiously 
 observed.) 
 
 " Well, see that you do, and it 11 be the best 
 thanks that you can give me," rejoined the cap 
 tain. Now I Ve got through with what I had 
 to say, and I 'm going ashore on business. 
 What are you going to do with yourself? 
 
 I answered that I supposed I would begin my 
 duties immediately. 
 
 " All right," said the captain, " I 'm glad to see 
 that you realize your position. But after you 
 get things set to rights, suppose you go ashore, 
 and buy some clothes, for Captain Edson told 
 me you had n't a stitch except what you Ve got 
 on your back. Hold ! I guess you 'd better wait 
 for that, until we arrive at Key West. This is 
 an awfully dear place, and your money would n't 
 go very far. However, if you 're inclined, you 
 can go ashore to-morrow, and see the sights. 
 I guess it will take you pretty much all day to 
 day, to get things fixed about the cabin, as it 
 has n't been cleared up this lon<? time."
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 61 
 
 A few minutes afterwards, the captain was off 
 for shore, and I spent the whole day in setting 
 things to rights, cleaning out the lockers, throw 
 ing accumulated rubbish overboard, and wash 
 ing and putting away that portion of the cabin 
 crockery, which, not having been in daily use, 
 was as dusty as it ever could have been when 
 lying in the china shop. These operations, with 
 sweeping, scrubbing paint, rehanging the cur 
 tains of the cabin windows and berths, occupied 
 me during the whole day, and I had barely 
 finished by evening, when the captain returned, 
 and congratulated me upon the favorable change 
 effected by my exertions. 
 
 The next morning, after I had served the cap 
 tain's breakfast, there was nothing for me to do, 
 so, as he was again going ashore to spend the 
 day, he took me in his gig, and landed me, with 
 full permission to devote my time to seeing 
 Havana. Telling me that if I would return 
 to the same place at six o'clock in the eve 
 ning, he would then be going off to the vessel, he 
 bade me good-morning, and left me standing on 
 the quay. 
 
 The quay was not formed of a number of pro 
 jecting wharves or piers, but consisted of a long 
 line of wharf, following the outline of the shore 
 of the harbor. Although small, it presented 
 the same general appearance as the levees 
 6
 
 62 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 which, some years afterwards, I saw on the 
 Mississippi, at New Orleans. This quay, at the 
 time of which I speak, was planked wholly, or 
 in great part, with huge timbers of mahogany. 
 These have been since replaced by a less val 
 uable wood; but you must not suppose that- 
 mahogany is as dear a wood in Cuba as it is 
 in the United States, for it grows in the West 
 Indies. 
 
 Besides the vessels lying at anchor in the 
 harbor, among which were some Spanish men- 
 of-war, numerous small craft lay alongside of 
 the quay. These, from the limited amount of 
 accommodations afforded by a single wharf-line, 
 were chiefly moored "end-on" to the quay. 
 Numerous little boats, with awnings over the 
 stern, lay along shore, in quite a tier, awaiting 
 their chance of a fare. Others, which had 
 been so fortunate as to find one, plied busily 
 about the harbor. 
 
 I saw the fish -market of Havana, which is 
 one of the finest in the world. The sale of fish 
 was a monopoly enjoyed by an individual who 
 had matters pretty much his own way, as far 
 as the fishermen were concerned ; for he paid a 
 stated price for fish of five pounds in weight, 
 but if they were less than five pounds, he exact 
 ed four or five fish, and paid no more. Never 
 theless, owing to the abundance of fish in those
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 63 
 
 Caters, catching them proved profitable enough 
 to induce men to supply the market. 
 
 In so warm a climate, fishing is a somewhat 
 precarious business; for a cargo is sometimes 
 lost when a vessel is becalmed for many hours. 
 That, however, is not of frequent occurrence. 
 The cause of the loss of the fish, at such a 
 time, is that they then lack a fresh supply of 
 water. When the fishing - smacks roll and 
 plunge in a seaway, the water is constantly 
 changing. These vessels are built with a large 
 compartment, which is called the well. The well 
 is supplied with water, by means of holes bored 
 through the vessel's bottom. When such a vessel 
 is under way, or even when she is rocking at 
 anchor, the water in the well is constantly 
 changing; but when there is no motion, the 
 supply ceases, and the fish sicken and die. Fish 
 are extremely delicate in their nature, and the 
 fishermen are obliged to watch and remove any 
 which may show symptoms of being sick ; other 
 wise, the whole cargo may become infected. 
 The operation of removal is generally performed 
 by boys, who dive into the well. 
 
 Some of the things which I have mentioned, 
 tnd others which I still have to tell, I did not 
 .earn on shore, but gathered from Captain 
 Bowers, or later experience of my own. 
 
 After I had rambled about the quay for some
 
 64 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 time, and seen every thing there, I concluded 
 to go into the city. 
 
 The first place that I visited was the tomb 
 of Columbus, in the cathedral. The city 
 seemed to me a most curious place. The 
 houses are often painted blue or yellow; and 
 they have bars at the windows, so that the first 
 street into which I rambled, reminded me for all 
 the world of a menagerie. The houses gen 
 erally had large portes-cochere, which are car 
 riage ways passing through the face of a build 
 ing. The houses are constructed around the 
 ides of quadrangles, thus enclosing a court-yard 
 in the centre. This is the usual mode of build 
 ing in hot climates; for it ensures coolness, 
 especially in the court-yards, which are often 
 planted as gardens, and embellished with foun 
 tains. 
 
 By this time, the sun had got pretty high, 
 and I stopped under the shade of a massive 
 porte-cochere, and looked out upon the busy 
 streets. The pavements are of stone, and so 
 narrow, that it is in vain for pedestrians to at 
 tempt to confine their steps to those walks. 
 Had they existed in Europe at a period when 
 men were apt to take the wall and make it a 
 point of honor not to budge an inch, the adult 
 male population would have been exterminated. 
 
 I had read Don Quixote, and some of the
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 65 
 
 sights that I saw, reminded me very much of 
 the scenes described in the adventures of that 
 renowned knight. I saw mules carrying water 
 in casks suspended at their sides. Others car 
 ried loads of green fodder, which covered them 
 so completely, that nothing was visible except 
 their tiny hoofs stepping daintily along. Others, 
 again, bore panniers of oranges. I stopped the 
 owner of one of these, and bought some of his 
 fruit. I could not speak Spanish, but I held 
 out ten cents that the captain had given me as 
 part of the change for one of my gold pieces, 
 and made a sign towards the oranges. I have 
 'since found that money is a language which is 
 universally understood and which, more than 
 any other, appeals to the human heart. I ex 
 pected to get only a couple of oranges, but I 
 received ten and had not pockets enough in 
 which to stow them. So I disposed of seven 
 about my person, deposited two on the ground 
 of my shady nook, and commenced operations 
 on another. Many as I received, I suppose that 
 I must have paid the usual penalty of a 
 foreigner that of being cheated. 
 
 I sucked away very complacently at my 
 oranges, and, at the same time, continued to 
 take in all that was going on in the street. 
 The volantes, or carriages, are very peculiar. 
 They are like great gigs. They have no
 
 66 THE YOUNG CHECKER, 
 
 springs, but the absence of springs is compen 
 sated for by the position of the body of the 
 vehicle, which, being placed forward of the 
 axle-tree, and resting on the shafts, receives 
 the benefit of their elasticity. These volantea 
 are generally drawn by one horse, bestridden 
 by a negro in top-boo ts.^ They hold two per 
 sons comfortably, but they are often occupied 
 by three. Private vol antes sometimes have an 
 extra horse attached by traces, which meet at 
 a pintle that is inserted dn an eye placed on the 
 outside of one of the shafts. Even with two 
 persons, what with the big gig-top and the 
 people inside of it, and the negro on the 
 hors^, the horse seems to be the smallest part 
 of the turnout. He is constantly reminded 
 of his duty by lashings, which his driver freely 
 bestows. In truth, I never saw horses and 
 mules so unmercifully treated as they are in 
 Havana. Of course it is not among the horses 
 belonging to private carriages that this mal 
 treatment occurs. 
 
 Seeing so many of these vehicles pass, I camo 
 at last to examine one which stood in the cor 
 ner, just in the rear of my sheltering porte- 
 cochere. It was a very elaborate one, and 
 seemed to be very much out of place; for it 
 was carelessly backed up on a pile of rubbish, 
 and the harness was thrown over the dasher,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 67 
 
 and trailed in the dust. I afterwards ascer 
 tained that these circumstances are not at all 
 unusual in Havana, where, even in handsome 
 establishments, there is generally manifest a 
 thorough absence of what we call "keeping." 
 I afterwards learned from Captain Bowers, that 
 many volantes were made in the United States, 
 expressly for the Havana market. I confess 
 that on hearing this, my interest in them was 
 considerably lessened. People are so constitu 
 ted, that remoteness strangely affects the ima 
 gination. In a foreign land, they gaze with 
 deep interest at objects on which, at home, they 
 might perhaps bestow a passing glance. I re 
 collect that once when, years after the adven 
 tures that I am now recounting, I visited Table 
 Rock, in South Carolina, I saw an old woman 
 who lived at the foot of it, and marvelled in 
 my presence why people came so far to clamber 
 to its giddy height. From girlhood she had 
 lived there, but never once thought of setting 
 foot to its ascent. 
 
 It was dreadfully hot by the time that I left 
 the shade of the porte-cochere, having deter 
 mined to see more of the city, as I had only 
 a few hours left, and we were to sail on the 
 following day. I wandered about, stopping 
 every now and then, to take shelter in some
 
 GS THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 nook, and recruit my energies by partaking of 
 another orange. 
 
 I was so lucky as to come across the drawing 
 of the famous Havana lottery. This is an in 
 stitution carried on by the Government, and as 
 fairly conducted as it is possible to be ; but, like 
 all lotteries, it does not benefit the buyers of 
 tickets as much as it does the proprietors of the 
 concern. Individuals occasionally draw large 
 sums, but dearly do they pay for their success, 
 by imbibing the spirit of gambling, which gen 
 erally leads them to risk and lose all and more 
 than all that they have gained. 
 
 The monthly drawing of the lottery was 
 conducted with great ceremony. It is the 
 event upon which the hopes of thousands are 
 centred, and there is always a large crowd in 
 attendance. All the saints in the calendar are 
 dinned with applications for a lucky number. 
 The amount of injury effected by this lottery 
 is incalculable. The gambling it begets and 
 encourages, the petty thefts suggested by a 
 desire to buy tickets, the misdirection of 
 thought and energy, in the hope of some lucky 
 stroke, are all such evils as no good Govern 
 ment would visit upon its people. And the 
 Government of Spain is not good. It is un 
 scrupulous. If it can contribute to its coffers, 
 what matters a little vice among its subjects I
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 69 
 
 As evening approached, I followed the cur 
 rent of people, which seemed to be tending in 
 a certain direction from the quarter of the city 
 in which I then happened to find myself, and 
 I came to the Paseo, or drive, upon which there 
 was a great concourse of carriages and pedes 
 trians, and a fine military band playing. Here 
 is the palace of the Governor of Cuba, who 
 is called the Captain-General. His is a distin 
 guished post, with large emoluments in salary 
 and perquisites of office. In fact, the position 
 is that of viceroy, and it is always held by 
 Spain's most powerful nobleman. 
 
 This drive, promenade, and music are the 
 every-day amusements of the Habanese. I did 
 not remain very long to enjoy the display, for 
 I observed that the sun was going down rapidly. 
 I took my departure, and hurried back to the 
 quay, following the streets which I imagined 
 would lead me to the spot at which I had 
 landed in the morning. I did not hit it exactly, 
 but after a little search, I discovered it, and 
 seated myself on a pile of boxes to await the 
 captain's arrival. In a few minutes he ap 
 peared, and made a signal to the schooner to 
 send the boat ashore. While the boat was 
 pulling in, the 'captain inquired kindly of mo 
 Low I had managed to worry through my long
 
 TO SHE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 day asliore. I gave him a brief sketch of my 
 doings, at which he laughed, and said, 
 
 " Who but a boy could have been contented 
 to wander, for pleasure, about the streets of a 
 city, so hot that the chief occupation of the 
 inhabitants is to try to keep cool. And where 
 did you get dinner, pray ?" 
 
 I replied that I had bought so many oranges 
 for ten cents, that I could not have eaten any 
 thing more, if I had tried. At this he laughed 
 again. In a few minutes the boat reached the 
 quay. The captain motioned me to get aboard. 
 He jumped in after me, and we shoved off 
 for the schooner.
 
 OK FRED RANSOM. 71 
 
 THE FLYING CLOUD SAILS FROM HAVANA-THE 
 VESSEL-THE CREW-THE COOK-THE NEW 
 FOUNDLAND DOG, JACK. 
 
 UT into 'the waters of the deep 
 blue Gulf we sailed, as the rising 
 sun threw a golden pathway over 
 the expanse of*- sea. The morning 
 was beautiful, and as the schooner 
 dipped merrily into the waves, and 
 sped away on her course, the buoy 
 ant movement, balmy air, clear sky, and lovely 
 scene, dissipated the last vestige of melancholy 
 with which I had been oppressed! I felt that I 
 had done all that lay in my power. The full 
 consciousness of this renewed my determination, 
 of the previous evening, to cast away all vain 
 misgivings, and put my trust in Providence. 
 From that hour forward, I was myself again. 
 
 The shores near Havana are very abrupt ; for 
 within a few yards of the stagnant-looking wa-
 
 72 THE YOUNG WKECK.ER, 
 
 ter of the harbor, the schooner was dancing 
 amid the deep blue waves. 
 
 I was not disappointed in the Flying Cloud. 
 She was a trim-looking craft, rather long for 
 her beam, and with quite low bulwarks. She 
 had that easy movement \\hich one accustomed 
 to vessels can recognize as indicating a good 
 sea-boat, as readily as an accomplished ridei 
 can judge, by the first few paces of his horse, 
 whether it possesses the elasticity fitting it for 
 the saddle, or the jolting gait that should con 
 sign it to the cart. 
 
 Our crew consisted of eight men. One was 
 an Englishman, one an Irishman, and another 
 a Norwegian. The five others were Concha 
 from Key West. In reference to the Conchs 
 of Key West, I shall, hereafter, have something 
 to say. 
 
 I must not forget to mention our black cook, 
 Hannibal. A most important personage every 
 where is a cook, white or black, and in no placo 
 more important than on board ship. Even in 
 the worst pro-slavery times, I never saw a black 
 sea-cook that was not thought to have rights 
 which white men were bound to respect, and, 
 in truth, which they were very anxious to 
 respect. 
 
 A cook at sea has it in his power to make 
 the men very comfortable, or very uncomfort-
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 73 
 
 % 
 
 able. In either case, whether too favorably dis 
 posed to them, for the interest of the ship's 
 stores, or inclined to annoy them, by bad cook 
 ery or short allowance, he can safely follow 
 his own devices in a thousand ways so covert 
 as to escape detection, while the effect of the 
 whole is clearly apparent. For instance, how 
 can the fact be fixed that the " doctor " deliber 
 ately burned the coffee, instead of its condition 
 being owing, as he states, to the men's calling 
 him at an inopportune moment to lend a hand 
 somewhere. Or, how can it be proved that the 
 salty and nauseous flavor of the pea-soup was 
 not caused by some one's meddling with his 
 bucket of fresh water, and leaving it filled with 
 salt water; when, while -all hands were engaged, 
 the "doctor" had secretly dipped the water 
 out of the sea, and filled the soup-kettle to the 
 brim. 
 
 We had another blackey on board, but he 
 belonged aft, although he did not confine him 
 self to that portion of the vessel. He was a 
 fine Newfoundland dog, the finest that I ever 
 saw. He was not one of those unwieldy beasts 
 which pass their existence in acquiring excessive 
 fat, but a great rollicking fellow, all animation 
 and playfulness. He was a noble brute no, 
 not a brute 1 
 7
 
 74 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 " the poor dog, in life the firmest friend, 
 
 The first to welcome, foremost to defend, 
 Whose honest heart is still his master's own, 
 Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone, 
 Unhonored falls, unnoticed all his worth, 
 Denied in heaven the soul he had on earth: 
 While man, vain insect! hopes to he forgiven, 
 And claims himself a sole, exclusive heaven."* 
 
 Although Jack, as I said, belonged aft, he 
 was not allowed to make use of the cabin, 
 unless in case of storm. So, even at night, he 
 remained on deck, taking up his station by 
 lying across the door which was at the head of 
 the companion-way, as it is called, that is the 
 staircase leading to the cabin. The sagacious 
 animal knew the occasion upon which he was 
 not to be considered an intruder, and when it 
 rained, he tumbled down the steep stairway, 
 and ensconced himself in a corner, with an 
 air of much self-possession and of being quite 
 at home. 
 
 The captain was as kind as possible to me, 
 but his manner, after our first interview, and 
 my day's liberty on shore, was less demonstra 
 tive : as if he felt that the discipline of the ves 
 sel required me to know and keep my place. 
 
 * Byron's " Inscription on the monument of a New 
 foundland dog." The dog " Boatswain " died, and was 
 buried at Newstead Abbey, at which place the monument 
 may still be seen.
 
 OR FRED HANSOM. 75 
 
 As I was not destitute of tact, I took the hint, 
 and kept aloof. Boy as I was, I saw quito 
 clearly that my position was a very strange one, 
 and on observing the captain's .manner to me, I 
 determined to avoid all that might savor of 
 presumption. I was therefore careful not to 
 approach him, unless he addressed me. 
 
 Of course, I did not eat with the captain, for, 
 being the cabin-boy, I was obliged to serve his 
 meals. I was not required to wait, but to bo 
 within call, and after the captain had finished, I 
 sat down at the same table. It was considerate 
 in him not to send me forward to eat with the 
 men, as well as to allow me to sleep elsewhere. 
 
 It was the 20th day of October when we left 
 Havana. We had sailed from New York on 
 the 26th of September, and although, during 
 part of the voyage to Havana, we were favored 
 with a fair wind, the light, baffling winds of the 
 first few days had prevented our making much 
 way, so that the voyage to Havana was not a 
 quick one. 
 
 The wind was now ahead, but we had so 
 short a trip to make, that unless we were be 
 calmed, it could not, even with a head-wind, 
 consume more than two days.
 
 76 
 
 THE YOUNG WKECKER. 
 
 VIZI. 
 
 THE FLYING CLOUD ANCHORS OFF THE MAR 
 QUESASA PARTY FROM THE SCHOONER 
 GO ASHORE THE SCENERY OF THE KEYS 
 AND "INNER BAY-THE GRAINING-ONE OF THE 
 PARTY DEVOURED BY A SHARK. 
 
 ^0 evening of the second clay af 
 ter sailing from Havana, we arrived 
 off the Marquesas, and came to an 
 chor -for the night, intending to run 
 into Key West on the following 
 morning. The Marquesas Keys are 
 a group of small islands lying to 
 the westward of Key "West. They are the 
 westernmost group of Keys, except the Tortugas. 
 The group consists of numerous islands, with 
 only slight intervals between them, sweeping 
 around in a gradual curve, thus enclosing a 
 land-locked and shallow bay, studded with little 
 tufts of islands rising out of its shallow waters. 
 Beneath these waters, narrow and deep channels 
 run in various directions, and connect with the 
 Btraits separating the encircling land.
 
 OH FRED RANSOM. 77 
 
 "When day broke we found ourselves "be 
 calmed. We were only about fifteen miles from 
 Key West, and lying in the Reef- Channel. As 
 the island of Key West was indistinctly visible 
 although the town of Key West could not be 
 discerned, we felt as if we had almost arrived 
 at our destination. Meanwhile, there were 
 no signs of a breeze, and as it would not 
 probably rise until the sun became consid 
 erably higher, three of the men, about an hour 
 after daylight, came aft, and asked the captain 
 for the use of the schooner's boat, for the pur 
 pose of going ashore and having some sport. 
 The captain, after a glance around the ho 
 rizon, gave the men permission to go, cautioning 
 them to be on the lookout, and return the very 
 moment that the breeze sprang up. Turning to 
 me, he said, 
 
 "How would you like to go? I shall not 
 need you, now that I 've had breakfast." 
 
 I was very glad to receive permission, and 
 after requesting and obtaining leave to 
 take Jack, who had become very sociable with 
 me, I started with the party, which was com 
 posed of the Englishman, the Norwegian, and 
 one of the Conchs. When we came within 
 fifty yards of the shore, Jack jumped over 
 board, despite our endeavors to hold him, and 
 swam for the beach. The men wei e afraid that 
 7*
 
 78 THE YOUNQ WRECKER, 
 
 he might be devoured by the sharks, but ha 
 reached the shore in safety, and long before we 
 had landed, he was tearing up and down the 
 beach, thrusting his muzzle into the water along 
 the edge, and rending the air with barks and 
 howls of delight. The wildest thing in nature 
 is a dog just released from ship-board, and 
 landed on a long, smooth beach. Poor Jack 
 was frantic with joy, and it was some minutes 
 after we had landed, before he sobered down 
 into a mood of quiet enjoyment, in which ho 
 gambolled ponderously around us, while, with 
 panting sides and protruding tongue, he re 
 gained his exhausted breath. 
 
 Near the mouth of one of the straits which 
 divide the Keys, we fastened our boat, by its 
 painter, to a stake of drift wood thrust into the 
 beach. We then strolled off along the outside 
 shore to the end of the Key on which we had 
 landed, and came back to our starting-point. 
 
 Not a breath of air was stirring yet, as we 
 distinctly perceived by a glance at the schooner's 
 pennant, which trailed down the main-mast, 
 without the slightest flutter. 
 
 " What do you say, boys, to a trip inside of 
 the Keys ?" inquired the Conch, who formed one 
 of the party. " We can see the schooner's top 
 masts over the trees, and if a breeze springs 
 up, we '11 be out and aboard in a jiffy. There '3
 
 OE FRED RANSOM. 79 
 
 always lots of fish feeding inside, and I've 
 brought the grains along, and we may come 
 across something." 
 
 " I 'm agreeable, for one," answered Bill Bug 
 gies, the Englishman. " What do you expect 
 to strike ?" 
 
 " Oh ! any thing we come across, that 's fit to 
 eat/' said the Conch, whose name was John 
 Linden. " Hurry up, we may not have more 
 than a few minutes longer on shore. The wind 
 scarcely ever keeps down beyond nine o'clock, 
 and it 's eight now. 
 
 As Buggies disengaged the knot of the 
 painter from the stake around which it passed, 
 we jumped into the boat, which he shoved 
 astern, and heading her bow towards the inlet, 
 shot her fairly into it, and springing into the 
 stern-sheets as she passed, he took the tiller, 
 and the two other men put out the oars. 
 
 The channel leading into the bay between 
 these two Keys was quite deep, and not more 
 than fifty yards in width. The men had nob 
 rowed more than as many yards, before the 
 boat passed the slender line of Keys which en 
 closed the bay, and we found ourselves in the 
 land-locked waters which I have described. 
 
 With the exception of the channels which tra 
 versed the bay in several directions, the water 
 was evidently very shoal. Silence reigned
 
 80 THE YOUNG \VEECKER, 
 
 supreme. Except, at intervals, the discordant 
 cry of some wild bird, and the noise made by our 
 party, every thing was still. .These occasional 
 noises only served to heighten the effect, as an 
 indifferent light is said to render darkness visi 
 ble. So completely shut in from the ocean was 
 this little lake, that, even in a gale, its surface 
 must have been all but unruffled. 
 
 " Hollo !" exclaimed John Linden, as he 
 looked over his shoulder, while he tugged away 
 at the bow-oar, " I see a rippling, way ahead ; 
 who 's to get the grains ready and strike ?" 
 
 " You, I suppose, you 're the best hand at 
 that," replied Kuggles. "Who ever heard of 
 any body's using the grains when there 's a 
 Conch aboard ?" 
 
 " All right, but I can 't strike and row too. 
 "What kind of a hand are you at an oar, Fred?" 
 said he, addressing me. " Can you pull ?" 
 
 " I never tried, I said, " but I 'm willing," I 
 added, " to do rny best." 
 
 " Never tried, but you think you can !" 
 said Buggies, grinning. "That's like the Irish 
 man and the fiddle. He had n't ever tried to 
 play, so he did n't know but he could." 
 
 " It 's lucky Brady is aboard the schooner, 
 or you 'd have a spat with him about making 
 jokes on Irishmen," observed Linden. " Do n't 
 waste any more time with your chaff. You
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 81 
 
 come and take my oar, for we're gaining on 
 those fish, whatever they are. You can let the 
 youngster steer. You can steer, I suppose, 
 can't you ?" said he, again addressing me. 
 
 Being more confident of my steering powers 
 than of my rowing ones, as green-hands 
 about a boat usually are, I said that I could 
 steer. 
 
 " "Well," said Linden, " there 's no help for it; 
 we want a good strong oar, so you take mine, 
 Bill, and let him take the helm. I do n't intend 
 to trust much to your steering, though, Fred. 
 Jest recollect this, when I say starboaid, star 
 board, keep putting your helm more and more 
 down that way, to your right, and when I say 
 port, port, keep putting it more and more 
 t' other way." 
 
 Bill Ptuggles stepped over a couple of 
 thwarts, and took the oar which the Conch 
 relinquished, and the latter pulled out hia 
 grains and adjusted them on the end of a pole. 
 Meanwhile,! kept repeating to myself, starboard 
 goes this way, port goes that way ; for although 
 by the time I had reached Havana, I considered 
 that I was able to steer pretty well, I felt some 
 what doubtful when I found the duty suddenly 
 devolve upon me, with doubts clearly expressed 
 as to my ability. 
 
 The grains are of iron, consisting of a socket
 
 82 TEE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 joining a two-pronged fork with barbed points. 
 A stout line, about the size of that generally 
 used for hanging out clothes to dry, is made 
 fast at the junction of the socket and prongs. 
 The end of a pole of about twelve feet in length 
 is then placed in the socket, and the line is led 
 up along it, and kept taut, so as to hold the 
 grains securely in position. The other end of 
 the line is made fast in the bow of the boat, and 
 the slack coiled all ready to pay out as rapidly 
 as required. The man who strikes, stands in 
 the bow, and poises the pole in both hands, and, 
 if necessary, throws it several yards with un 
 erring precision. 
 
 By the time that the arrangements for 
 striking were completed, we were within a hun 
 dred yards of the fish which had attracted our 
 attention. They were a great school of mullet. 
 They were flashing through the water, and 
 leaping out of it by hundreds, as if terrified by 
 some enemy. 
 
 "Starboard," cried Linden, starboard, star 
 board, more yet, hard a-starboard; let's take 
 that channel. Now steer for that tall tree on 
 the little island ahead. By gracious, boys, I 
 Bee what's the matter with them mullet; it's 
 the biggest kind of a white -shark fishing for 
 them, as I'm a sinner." 
 
 " Can 't ym strike him," I eagerly exclaimed.
 
 OR FEED RA3TSOM. 83 
 
 " Strike him," said Linden, " wliy we have 
 got a line that would n't hold him easier than a 
 stran' o' silk. He 's off anyhow. He 's taken 
 that other channel. Jest look at them mullet 1 
 By gracious, he 's taking in provisions for a 
 month. It seems to me that we 'd better be 
 thinking of going back, so as to be within hail. 
 If the wind should spring up, the captain will 
 want to be off in less than no time. Head 
 your boat the other way, Fred; you can see 
 the channel plain enough between the mud-flats 
 under water." 
 
 I did as I was told, and the boat had barely 
 reversed her course, when I observed a motion 
 in the water about fifty yards ahead. 
 
 " There 's something," I shouted to the Conch, 
 who was just taking his grains off the pole. 
 
 " Sure enough, so there is," he replied, re 
 adjusting the grains, and resuming his station. 
 " Confound it, it 's nothing but a big saw-fish !" 
 
 I stood up in the stern-sheets, and I could seo 
 a huge animal slowly swimming along in the 
 same direction as the one which we were pur 
 suing. It appeared so sluggish in its move 
 ments, that I felt sure of our being able to 
 capture it, so I begged Linden to give us pome 
 sport. He said that we would lose our 
 grains if we attempted to strike it. But I was 
 too much excited to be reasonable. I had
 
 84 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 never seen a fish harpooned, and I felt sure, too, 
 that the Conch did not really think that we 
 would lose our grains, but did not wish to 
 strike the fish, because it was unfit to eat. 
 
 "Do strike it," I urged. "If you lose the 
 grains, I '11 get you another pair when we ar 
 rive at Key West." 
 
 ""Well! here goes," he said, and with that 
 ho plunged the grains into the fish, which, by 
 that time, was almost under the bow of our 
 boat. "Port! port!" he shouted, as the line 
 spun out, " pull men, and let 'a get more way 
 on the boat." 
 
 The line whizzed out like lightning, and the 
 men gave way with a will. Just as the full 
 extent of the line paid out, jerk it went, as if 
 it would break, and the boat rushed rapidly 
 through the water. 
 
 " Steady, Fred," shouted the Conch; "keep 
 her head with the line. If you keep her off, 
 it '11 part. 
 
 "Aye! aye!" said I, feeling quite nautical, 
 and using a seaman's answer to correspond with 
 my dignity as steersman. 
 
 The boat rushed along with surprising ve 
 locity, the water boiling around her bow. I 
 stood up for a better view. I saw that the 
 line was very tense. Now and then, near the* 
 bow, it whipped on the surface of the water
 
 ' PORT ! PORT ! ' HE SHOUTED, AS TH 
 
 E LINE SPUN OUT." Page
 
 OR FEED EANSOM. 85 
 
 and then clove through it, indicating that the 
 fish swam at various ^depths. Suddenly the 
 Conch shouted in a hurried manner, 
 
 " Keep away from the starboard bank. 
 There 's a channel on the starboard side, lead 
 ing right off our course." 
 
 Without comprehending why I was ordered 
 to do so, I put the tiller hard a-starboard, so as 
 to keep over towards the bank on our port bow. 
 I had hardly had time to shift the helm, when 
 the boat careened, and " fetched up " on the 
 mud-flat, which was only about two feet under 
 water. Over it she went for ten or fifteen 
 yards, stirring up the mud, and spirting the 
 water all over us. Suddenly snap went the 
 line, and the boat stopped plumb. I had 
 scarcely breath to ejaculate, 
 
 " Is the line broken ?" 
 
 "Parted, sure enough !" said Linden. We Ve 
 lost our grains. A line of that size can 't hold 
 all creation. It was stronger though than I 
 thought for. If it had n't been the saw-fish 
 took that channel, and hauled us on the bank, 
 the line wouldn't have parted after all." 
 
 When the boat stopped, the men sprang to 
 their feet, and laughed and shouted at the 
 mishap, while around about the startled sea- 
 birds wheeled with shriller cry, and winged 
 their flight farther from the boisterous merri-
 
 86 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 ment. After many relapses into fitsi of laugh- 
 ter, the men at last regained their sobriety. 
 
 "Better luck next time," said Linden, and 
 with that he commenced with his oar to shove 
 the boat off into the channel, adding, " but you 
 need a harpoon, and a heavier line for that 
 sort of work. V/hen we get up the Reef, I '11 
 show you some sport." 
 
 The cause of our losing the fish was that it 
 suddenly entered another channel, which ran 
 off nearly at a right angle with the course 
 which we were steering. The consequence was, 
 that as the boat had some scope of line out, the 
 fish was well up the new channel while we were 
 still in the old one. So instead of being able 
 to enter the mouth of the former, we were for 
 cibly dragged by a short cut on top of the bank 
 which divided the channels. Here the line, 
 which had scarcely been able to bear the strain 
 when the boat was in deep water, broke, and she 
 rested on top of the bank, in shallow water in 
 which she was not quite afloat. 
 
 Afloat once more in the main channel which 
 we had left, the men resumed their oars, and, 
 with now and then a laugh and a sally of fun, 
 headed the boat again towards the inlet. 
 When we reached the inlet, we saw that out 
 side there was a dead calm, and not a soul 
 stirring on the deck of the schooner.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 87 
 
 " I move wo wait here," suggested Bill Bug 
 gies. " We 're not wanted aboard, and what 's 
 the use of going off until we 're obliged to ?" 
 
 Nobody gainsaying this proposition, we de 
 termined to wait until the wind came up, or tho 
 captain made a signal to us. The painter was 
 once more passed over the stake on the beach, 
 and we amused ourselves by rambling off into 
 the mangroves. We certainly had not been 
 absent more than ten minutes, when, on emerg 
 ing from the woods to return towards the boat, 
 we saw that she was adrift. On reaching the 
 stake, we found that it must have become 
 loosened by using it for mooring the boat. Tho 
 eddy caused by the tide's flowing into the inlet, 
 had carried the boat out from shore, from 
 which, by tugging, she must have withdrawn 
 the stake, and drifted off still farther. She 
 was now about fifty yards from shore. 
 
 " By gracious, but the captain will be mad/', 
 Eaid Bill Ruggles. "Have any of you got a 
 line about you ? If you have, I '11 put a rock 
 on it, and throw it aboard the boat and haul 
 her in." 
 
 No one had a string over a yard long, and 
 there we stood looking at the boat floating 
 quietly out of reach. 
 
 " Standing here doing nothing won 't fetch'
 
 88 THE YOUNG WEECKER, 
 
 her ashore, observed the Norwegian. " I U 
 strip and swim for her." 
 
 " No you won 't" answered Linden. " Are 
 you fool enough to go in swimming off one of 
 these inlets, where sharks are coming in and 
 going out, 'specially when the tide 's rising ? 
 Did n't I say that was a white - shark I saw in 
 the bay ?" 
 
 " Well, suppose it was," replied the Norwe 
 gian, " I 'm a good swimmer, and I have n't got 
 above fifty yards to swim, and you can 't keep 
 me now, here goes, clothes and all." 
 
 With that, before any one could frustrate his 
 intention, he sprang into the water, and struck 
 out for the boat. He was, as he had said, a 
 good swimmer, and he had not proceeded more 
 than half the distance to the boat, when we 
 cheered him. As we did so, a dull splash 
 Bounded in the inlet beside us. Looking 
 in that direction, we saw the dorsal fin and part 
 of the back of a great white -shark. Startled 
 at our voices, it had given a sudden flirt in the 
 water, and now helfl on its course straight out 
 of the inlet. 
 
 Paralyzed for a moment, no one spoke. Then 
 every one shouted, Shark ! shark ! shark ! 
 Swim for your life ! 
 
 The Norwegian gave one glance over his'
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 89 
 
 elioulder, and struck out frantically for the boat. 
 We held our breath in suspense. 
 
 At that instant, the huge fish seemed anima 
 ted with a sudden perception. Instantaneously 
 its dorsal fin disappeared below the surface of 
 the water. 
 
 We glanced at the swimmer and the boat. 
 The Norwegian's efforts were nerved with des 
 peration. He was within six yards of the boat. 
 In a moment more, his hands were grasping her 
 gunwale. But suddenly throwing up his arms, 
 he fell backward and submerged in the sea. A 
 thrill ef horror ran through us. The boat 
 rocked with the tumultuous agitation of the 
 waters on which she floated. Our blanched faces 
 turned on each other, as, with one accord, we 
 exclaimed, My God 1 
 
 8*
 
 90 
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER. 
 
 THE DISCOURSE OF BILL. RUGGLES-THE AN 
 NOUNCEMENT OF THE NORWEGIAN'S FATE 
 TO THE CAPTAIN AND CREW-THEIR HORROR 
 -THE CAPTAIN'S SERMON-THE BURIAL SER- 
 VICE-THE SCHOONER SAILS. 
 
 I be henceforth spared the 
 horror of a sight like that ! Yet 
 we saw nothing but a disappeai- 
 ance, save, as the boat presently 
 swung within the influence of the 
 current flowing into the inlet, and 
 swept near us, we noted, with a 
 shudder, that the water on which she floated 
 was tinged with crimson. 
 
 We scarcely spoke for some minutes. Me 
 chanically, Bill Buggies grappled the boat with 
 a stick, as she passed close to the beach on our 
 side of the inlet, and then sat down on the 
 ground, and Linden and I sat down beside him. 
 At last Buggies spoke : 
 
 " Well, shipmates," said he, " I Ve been fol 
 lowing the sea this many-i-day, but I don't
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 91 
 
 know as I ever felt quite so cut up as I do this 
 here minute. I've seen men drownded, and 
 some smashed by falling from aloft, and mum- 
 moxed up all sorts of ways, but dash me if this 
 don't go ahead." Here he wiped away a tear 
 with the cuff of his coat. "I say," he resumed, 
 " any thing but that. You can 't pound a man's 
 life out any way that he 's afeard of, if he 's a 
 lad of spirit, but, dash me, this 's enough to 
 scare any one. I 'm not much at prayers, but I 
 feel as if we ought to do something that way. 
 Here 's a poor fellow gone to his last account, 
 and not a soul to say something comfortable 
 over him, with an Amen to the end of it." 
 
 If Buggies had not used the most chaste lan 
 guage in his discourse, he had at least spoken 
 to the hearts of both of his hearers. 
 
 "I feel jest so," replied Linden. "Why, 
 Bill, I Ve lived, boy and man, on the Reef, these 
 twenty year, and I never see that sight afore, 
 and I pray God I never may again. It do n't 
 often happen, for all sharks is so thick in some 
 places. Then I Ve knowed him ever so long, 
 and who 'd have thought that was to be the way 
 he was to go." 
 
 We were all so absorbed in our thoughts, 
 that we had not observed the wind, which had 
 come up and begun to blow quite freshly. 
 As Buggies was about to rejoin something in
 
 92 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 answer to Linden, he happened to glance to 
 wards the schooner, from which he observed 
 that signals were being made for the boat to 
 return. 
 
 " There !" said Buggies, " they 're hailing us, 
 and there's a breeze stirring that must have 
 been up this half hour ! I did n't know it. I 
 forgot all about the wind, and everything else. 
 Come ! aboard with you ! The captain does n't 
 know what 's happened yet. I 'm thinking he '11 
 take it as hard as any of us." 
 
 In a few minutes we were along-side of the 
 schooner, and jumped aboard of her, just as the 
 captain, who had been walking impatiently up 
 and down the quarter-deck, strode forward and 
 commenced with, " Where have you men " 
 Suddenly observing the expression of our faces, 
 and the absence of one of the party, he said 
 quickly, " What 's happened ? Is the other 
 man hurt ?" 
 
 "No, captain," said Kuggles, "he's out of 
 pain. He 's took." 
 
 "Took! Taken! how taken ? not by a 
 shark ? Heavens ! you do n't mean that 1 
 
 " Yes, I do, captain," replied Kuggles, deject 
 edly. " He was took by a shark afore our eyes, 
 and we could n't do nothing to save him, not 
 one of us." 
 
 The crew drew around the group on deck,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 93 
 
 and echoed the words of Buggies, "Took by 
 a shark !" The captain grasped me by the arm, 
 and led me away to the cabin. " My boy," said 
 he, when he had made me sit down, " this is too 
 horrible for belief. You can tell me how this 
 happened, better than one of the men. Let me 
 ' hear." 
 
 I narrated to the captain, as clearly as I could, 
 how the catastrophe took place, and how 
 powerless we were to prevent it, as the man 
 had suddenly jumped into the water, before any 
 one divined his intention. I concluded by 
 mentioning how we were all overwhelmed, 
 and what Buggies had said to us of the horror 
 of such a death, when compared with any 
 other. 
 
 " Yes," said the captain, when I came to this 
 part, "Buggies is a rough, but a good-hearted 
 fellow. What he said, suggests something to 
 me. It would be well to take advantage of this 
 opportunity to say a word to the men. Go, 
 Fred, and call them aft. I will meet them on 
 the quarter-deck." 
 
 The men quickly assembled, and the captain 
 approaching the group, addressed them as 
 follows : 
 
 " Men : I cannot let this occasion pass with 
 out saying a word or two to you. "We sailors 
 you, I, and all of us are apt to trust too much
 
 94 TEE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 in ourselves. Here 's a lesson of how little 
 strength, skill, and courage, may avail. You 
 now feel how utterly dependent we are on a 
 higher power. Think seriously over this dread 
 ful fate, and your thoughts will be better than 
 any thing I can say better than the best ser 
 mon. And now, although we cannot bury your 
 shipmate with the funeral rites which usually 
 attend the dead, we can at least read a portion 
 of the religious service." 
 
 With these words, the captain drew a small 
 prayer-book from his coat-pocket, and opening 
 it at a place which he had marked, he solemnly 
 read the burial service, omitting only those por 
 tions which were not applicable to surrounding 
 circumstances. 
 
 By the time that the beautiful epistle of St. 
 Paul was finished, the auditors were much affect 
 ed, and when the captain, reading beyond, 
 reached the words of the service: "In the midst 
 of life we are in death : of whom may we seek 
 for succor, but of thee, Lord !" two of the 
 sailors fairly gave way, and sobbed aloud. 
 Since then, I have often heard the service read 
 at the grave, but I never heard it read with so 
 great effect as then, when the sudden removal 
 of a companion, by a fate so horrible, disposed 
 all hearts to bow in submission before the Al 
 mighty.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 95 
 
 "Now, men," added the captain, in a quiet 
 voice, after he had given the concluding suppli 
 cation, to which all fervently responded, " heave 
 up the anchor, and lot's get under way and 
 leave this place."
 
 96 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 OIHL^IPTIEIR, ZKZ- 
 
 CAPTAIN BOWERS-KEY WEST-THE CONCH3. 
 
 HE scene which was enacted after 
 the occurrence of the terrible event 
 detailed in the last two chapters, gave 
 me some insight into the character of 
 Captain Bowers. Chary of speech with 
 regard to his feelings, he was never 
 theless imbued with deep religious 
 sentiment. 
 
 Although a strict disciplinarian on his vessel, 
 he was always kind to the men, and ever ready 
 to afford them any pleasure that was reasonable. 
 In all my subsequent intercourse with him, I 
 found him to be most considerate to every one 
 with whom he came in contact. 
 
 To me, immediately after the event at the 
 Marquesas, he was particularly kind ; and I as 
 cribed his conduct to his belief that a young 
 boy must have been terribly shocked by such 
 an occurrence. In the course of two or three 
 days, he gradually resumed his old manner;
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 97 
 
 and this confirmed me in my previous belief 
 that he did not consider it good for the disci 
 pline of the vessel to be seen in familiar inter 
 course with a person, who, of necessity, was 
 obliged, in most things, to be one of the crew. 
 
 We reached Key West without any incident 
 worth recording, and as soon as we had made 
 fast to our wharf, the captain gave me leave to 
 go ashore, and provide myself with the clothes 
 of which I stood in so great need. These I 
 readily found. They were goods made in New 
 York. I soon disposed of my slender stock of 
 cash, but that did not disturb me, for I had 
 obtained all the clothes which I required, and 
 of money for other purposes, I had no need, 
 having no other wants. 
 
 The town of Key West is situated on tho 
 northern part of the western end of an island 
 which bears the same name. The island is 
 situated a little north of latitude 24 30', and a 
 little west of longitude 81 40' west from 
 Greenwich. It is between four and five miles 
 in length, and, at the broadest part, is not quite 
 a mile in width. It has an elevation of only a 
 few feet above the sea. Once, when a terrible 
 hurricane prevailed there, the water of the 
 ocean was so heaped up on the coast, by the 
 violence of the wind, that a large portion of 
 Key West was submerged, and the inhabitants 
 9
 
 93 THE YOUNG WKECKER, 
 
 were compelled to seek refuge on the highest 
 ground, which is about the middle of the island 
 
 The town of Key West was well laid out, and 
 contained some very desirable dwellings. Tho 
 houses were generally provided with verandahs, 
 similar to those which are usually found in tropi 
 cal countries. The chief business of the town 
 consisted in fitting out and supplying the wreck 
 ers, and all the people were devoted to nothing 
 else : if, perhaps, we except a few travelers, who 
 came for health, and sometimes left their bones. 
 Every thing revolved about that business ; and 
 every one was an owner of a wrecker, or a cap 
 tain of one, or a mate of one, or a sailor on one, 
 or some female relation of these. 
 
 Very little food was grown upon the island. 
 Back of the town, there were a few patches of 
 land under cultivation, but they could not sup 
 ply more than a very limited amount of food. 
 Groceries came from New York ; fruit from 
 Havana ; beef from the main-land of Florida. 
 Fish and turtle abound on the E,eef, whence 
 Key West receives a surfeit. The most re 
 markable edifices in Key West were the lat- 
 teen towers tall, airy-looking structures of 
 wood, from whose dizzy heights the Reef could 
 be seen for miles. Cocoanut trees grew luxuri 
 antly in the gardens, and limes were found in 
 plenty.
 
 OR PEED RANSOM. 99 
 
 Back of the town, and separated from it only 
 by a narrow intervening space of open ground, 
 the mangrove woods commenced, and covered 
 nearly all the Key, although, in places, the 
 growth was either diminutive or sparse. And 
 now you have a picture of Key West. 
 
 The Conchs, of whom incidental mention has 
 already been made, inhabit one portion of the 
 island. Their quarter is called Conchtown. 
 They were originally Bahamans, who settled in 
 Key "West, and pursued wrecking for a liveli 
 hood. Whether a man is a native Bahaman, 
 resident in Key West, or whether he is born in 
 Key West, seems to make no difference : he is 
 known as a Conch. 
 
 The name of Conch is taken from that of tha 
 large shell-fish which are found in great num 
 bers in the waters of the Gulf. It is said to be 
 applied to the Bahamans of Key West, because 
 the popular belief, or pretence, is that they 
 subsist principally upon the food of these shell 
 fish. A Conch, it is asserted, can dive to tho 
 bottom of the ocean, where the water is not 
 more than twelve fathoms in depth, and there 
 crack and eat one of his namesakes for break 
 fast. 
 
 However true that may be, and I leave you 
 to judge of the probability for yourselves, I am 
 unable to certify or deny it from my own perso-
 
 100 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 cal experience. In the case of any other peo 
 ple, we might decide at once that they could 
 not live long enough under water to make 
 the shortest repast; but it so happens that 
 the Conchs are most expert divers, and rules 
 which apply to most men, do not apply to 
 them. 
 
 To people generally, the following will appear 
 within bounds. It was at least vouched for by 
 many residents of Key West. A gentleman, on 
 a fishing party to the Reef became sea-sick, and 
 lost his false teeth overboard. One of the party 
 noted some bearings of the land, and when 
 they returned to Key West, a Conch engaged 
 to find the teeth and restore them to their 
 owner, in which extraordinary undertaking ha 
 succeeded. 
 
 It must not be inferred from the circum 
 stance that the Conchs exclusively inhabit a 
 particular quarter in the town of Key West, 
 or from their having acquired the reputation of 
 being skilful divers and wreckers, that they nevei 
 occupy stations above the grade of common sail 
 ors. Many captains, mates, and owners of 
 wreckers, come from these people. However, the 
 majority, as elsewhere, are comprised in the class 
 of ordinary seamen ; and these, doubtless owing 
 much to the fish diet upon which they chiefly
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 101 
 
 subsist, are easily recognizable by their appear 
 ance and carriage. 
 
 They are a long, lanky, and sallow race, 
 tough and wiry, and capable of much endurance 
 in the region where they are acclimated.
 
 102 
 
 THE YOUN3 WRECKER, 
 
 IXX. 
 
 CAP1 AIN TUFT AND HIS FRIENDS-THE EXCUR 
 SION TO SAND KEY-CAPTAIN TUFT'3 
 COOK, S O L_- REFLECTIONS ON T H E WON- 
 OERS OF THE REEF-THE RETURN TO KEY 
 WEST. 
 
 Captain Bowers was wait 
 ing for the schooner's cargo of su 
 gar to be unladen, and was receiv 
 ing the stores which were to last 
 during her cruise on the wrecking 
 station for which she was bound, he 
 had no need of my attendance, as 
 he lived with his family in Key West. 
 
 The leisure which thus fell to my lot, enabled 
 me to make a very pleasant excursion to Sand 
 Key, which is about eight miles to the south of 
 Key West, and the southernmost possession of 
 the United States. It contains an area of a 
 couple of hundred square yards. Its surface is 
 barely above the level of the ocean, and it does 
 not possess a single blade of any sort of vegeta-
 
 OR FRED RANSOM 103 
 
 tion. At the time of which I speak, it presented 
 much the same appearance that it exhibits now, 
 except that since then the United States Gov 
 ernment has built there a huge light-house of 
 iron, supported on piles of the same material. 
 Some years before the erection of this light 
 house, another structure, for the same purpose, 
 had been swept away by the hurricane already 
 mentioned, which well-nigh destroyed the whole 
 island. 
 
 The opportunity of making this trip to Sand 
 Key was afforded me by a Captain Tuft, the 
 captain of a wrecker which was fitting out at 
 the wharf where our schooner lay. Captain 
 Bowers had happened to mention my story to 
 him, and this seemed to interest him in me ; for 
 one morning when paying a visit to Captain 
 Bowers, he mentioned his intention of going to 
 Sand Key, on the following day, and asked per 
 mission to take me with the party. 
 
 The next day, about an hour after daylight, 
 we started in a good stout sail-boat, twenty- twc 
 feet in length, decked over the bow, and pro 
 vided with washboards. 
 
 She was a staunch little craft, and, foi her 
 size, carried an immense spread of canvas. 
 Her sail, however, did not prove too much for 
 her, although she heeled over, and every thing 
 strained and cracked, and her mast bent as if it
 
 104 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 would go by the board. In an hour and tec 
 minutes from the time of our departure from 
 Key "West, we landed on Sand Key. Captain 
 Tuft, before starting, had not communicated to 
 me the purpose of his visiting that place ; but 
 while we were sailing there, I learned from the 
 conversation of the party, consisting of six per 
 sons in all, that the excursion was made for the 
 purpose of having a feast on a certain fish, 
 called sand-fish, which frequent the coast of 
 Florida, and are found in large numbers in the 
 waters around Sand Key. The captain had 
 brought the cook of his vessel with him, and 
 had provided himself with all the appliances 
 necessary for preparing the fish, not forgetting 
 those accessories in the way of bread, butter, 
 pickles, and condiments of all sorts, with which 
 such parties are generally provided. I found 
 that I had fallen in with a party of bons vivants, 
 who had come down to regale themselves in 
 epicurean style. 
 
 We had scarcely beached the boat, before the 
 black cook, Sol, was out with his cast-net, and 
 making a straight line for the seaward side of the 
 Key, where he thought that he perceived signs 
 of fish. As this was the part of the day's di 
 version which pleased me most, I picked up the 
 fish-basket, and quickly followed him. The 
 main body of the Key was quite smooth and
 
 OR FRED BAN?OM. 105 
 
 sandy, but, on the outside, the shore was broken 
 up, by the action of the sea, into boulders of 
 coral rock, scattered so profusely, that, by the 
 exercise of a little agility, Sol and I leaped 
 from fragment to fragment, and thus avoided 
 going into the water. In the pools formed by 
 the absence of fragments in some places, whole 
 schools of sand-fish flashed around, and darted 
 in and out through the numerous openings to 
 the sea. 
 
 "Whist!" suddenly ejaculated Sol, and with 
 that, he crouched low, and throwing his net 
 over his arm, crept cautiously towards one of 
 the pools. In an instant more, the net had left 
 his hand and fallen fairly in the midst of a 
 school of fish. 
 
 Just as I said that the net fell fairly in tho 
 midst of the fish, it suggested itself to me that 
 you may not know hew a casting-net is made, 
 and that it were well if I here describe it, as 
 you cannot otherwise conceive how, by thro win 7 
 a net on top of fish, they can be entrapped. 
 The seine, the scoop-net, and the casting-net, are 
 all constructed upon different principles. The 
 scoop-net captures fish by being raised from 
 below; the casting-net by falling from above; 
 and the seine acts by the intermediate process, 
 and merely encircles the fish, whereupon they 
 can be hauled ashore.
 
 106 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 The casting-net is circular in form, and about 
 three yards in diameter. For the purpose of 
 keeping its edge close to the bottom of the 
 water, little pellets of lead are placed around 
 it at equal distances. A strong cord is at 
 tached to the centre of the net, and in throwing 
 the net, the end of the cord is passed around 
 the left wrist. The mass of the net is then 
 supported in a heap on the left arm, while it 
 is spread across between the left and right 
 arm, the latter of which supports and encircles 
 it around its curve. This partial spread of the 
 net, is what enables the caster to throw it so 
 that it will open fully. If he held it otherwise, 
 it would fall in a lump; but he extends one 
 portion in its destined position, and suddenly 
 launching that out into the air, the mass of net 
 held on the left arm follows it, and the whole 
 assumes a -horizontal position, and falls flat on 
 the surface of the water. 
 
 When Sol cast his net, there ensued such a 
 thrashing and splashing and darting and leap 
 ing of fish, that it seemed to me that he must 
 have missed his aim, and I intimated as much 
 when I saw him deliberately hauling the net 
 towards the rock on which he was stationed. 
 
 "No, sah," chuckled Sol, "dis niggah hab 
 cotch too many fish. Dey nose him by dis time, 
 and dey nebber tries to get away."
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 107 
 
 "How about those that left in so great a 
 hurry, Sol?" said I. 
 
 "Yah, yah; you see dey was disapp'inted 
 bekase dey could n't get in, and dey lef sudden. 
 De fish on dis Keef knows dat it 's not ebery 
 cook can do 'em up so brown as old Sol, so 
 dere 's gin'rally a rush to have the honor of me 
 cookin' 'em." 
 
 There had certainly been a rush on this oc 
 casion, for as Sol slowly and carefully hauled 
 his net to the rock on which he stood, I could 
 see that it was alive with pan-fish from five to six 
 inches in length. "We carefully carried it to the 
 sandy ground back of the coral boulders, and 
 there disengaged its glistening burden. 
 
 While I was putting the fish into the basket, 
 Sol made off in a new direction, and by the 
 time I had finished, I saw the net swing out 
 again, and fall into one of the neighboring pools. 
 Carefully hauling in the cord, Sol gathered up 
 the net, and approaching me, deposited on the 
 Band a still bigger catch than his first one. 
 
 " I reckon we 'se got enough to commence 
 on," said Sol, as I heaped the basket nearly to 
 the top. 
 
 " To commence on ! "Why Sol, there 's enough 
 for a ship's company !" 
 
 '' Dey 's ekal to two ships' companies any day, 
 the captain and his friends. I've fished for
 
 108 THE YOUNG WKECKER, 
 
 dem genelmen afore, sah, yes, sah, dey 's pow 
 erful feeders on small fry. It '11 do to com 
 mence on. I '11 tote de net, it '11 wet you, you 
 tote de basket, will you, sah ?" 
 
 We returned to the other end of the Key, 
 where, by this time, the captain and his five 
 friends had built a fire in a portable stove, and 
 had put up a shelter of canvas supported by 
 four poles thrust into the ground. Under the 
 shade of this awning, the captain and his 
 friends appeared to be making themselves very 
 comfortable with a bottle of light wine and 
 Borne biscuit. Some such arrangement as the 
 awning was very desirable, for although, in this 
 region, the temperature in the shade never 
 rises above 96 Fahrenheit, the heat in the sun 
 is excessive, and the glare from the white coral 
 sand intense. Under shelter, the sea-breeze, 
 which rarely ceases to blow, renders the ordi 
 nary temperature delightful. 
 
 "Hurry up, Sol!" exclaimed Captain Tuft, 
 " the sail from Key West has given us all rave 
 nous appetites. I didn't touch a morsel for 
 breakfast, just to save myself up for this treat. 
 I drank a cup of coffee, that 's all." 
 
 Sol was at that very moment hurrying up, 
 being engaged, with the Gulf for a basin, in 
 cleaning and preparing the fish for the table, or 
 rather, the ground spread with a few napkins.
 
 OH FEED RANSOM. 109 
 
 Securing my services, we soon had a couple of 
 dozen fish seething and sputtering in the frying- 
 pan. This certainly could not have been more 
 than a quarter of an hour from the time when 
 they were caught. 
 
 Sol was right about the quality of the captain 
 and his friends as trencher-men. It is true 
 that none of them had had breakfast ; all, like 
 the captain, having avoided eating any thing 
 before leaving Key "West, for the sake of the 
 breakfast which awaited them at Sand Key. 
 The fish were small, too ; but then (indisputable 
 fact) the basket had been nearly full, and no 
 fish were left for me and Sol. Sol soon got 
 over that difficulty, and in five minutes had 
 caught another mess of fish, from which we se 
 lected the finest, and let the rest go, at which I 
 wickedly informed Sol that they must be very 
 much " disappointed." 
 
 I found the sand-fish delicious. The bones 
 are so delicate, that although one might wish 
 them smaller, they are not large enough for one 
 to think of picking them out. The most agree 
 able method of eating these fish is by removing 
 the head, taking the tail between the fingers, 
 and conveying the fish to the mouth without 
 the aid of knife or fork. 
 
 By the time I had finished my breakfast, to 
 which Sol added his society, by standing and 
 10
 
 110 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 munching near the place where I sat in the bow 
 of the boat, the captain and his friends were 
 well under way in sea stories and segars. Sol 
 had commenced to wash up the crockery, and 
 I, having nothing to engage my attention, wan 
 dered back to the coral boulders from which 
 Sol had cast his net. 
 
 Some of them lay so closely together, that I 
 could sit on one, and place my heels on two 
 others. As I sat in this position, I gradually 
 came to notice all sorts of little creeping things 
 and fishes and marine plants, which, from their 
 diminutive size, had not at first attracted my 
 attention. I got down on my hands and knees, 
 and then lay prone on my face, and examined 
 the water between the boulders. It was swarm 
 ing with life of every variety. One little fish 
 particularly engaged my attention. It was 
 very small, not more than two inches long, and 
 its minuteness was probably the cause of its 
 not being alarmed at my proximity. In com 
 parison with it, I was probably so gigantic, that 
 it did not even realize my presence. Its color 
 was the most beautiful mazarine blue, when it 
 paddled into the shadows, and when it emerged 
 into the light, it took a cerulean tint. On the 
 Beef, these fish are called blue-fr;h, and they 
 grow much larger, being, when full grown,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. Ill 
 
 several inches in length. They never attain a 
 large size. 
 
 I lay for a long time watching this fish, and 
 the other living things that, in great numbers, 
 occupied every little shallow ; and then I sat 
 up, and looked along the stretch of Keys and 
 Reefs, and thought how strange was thia mul 
 tiform and myriad life, how wonderful this coral 
 which built solid walls of rock from the waters 
 of the sea, and ceaselessly and harmoniously 
 followed out the Divine Thought, in obedience 
 to the Divine Will. 
 
 " Fred ! Fred !" I suddenly heard the voice 
 of the captain shout, "All aboard, now; we 're 
 ofi for Key West I" 
 
 The wind was abeam, and in a little more 
 than the time taken by our first trip, we 
 reached Key West. After thanking the cap 
 tain for his kindness, I went aboard of the 
 Flying Cloud, which was deserted by the men, 
 some of whom were looking on, while the others 
 were engaged in helping to land wild cattle 
 from a neighboring schooner, just arrived from 
 the main- land of Florida.
 
 112 THE YOUNG WHECKEK, 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF THE SAILOR - LANDING 
 WILD CATTLE-THE MAD BULL-THE CAP 
 TAIN'S INTENTION TO SAIL. 
 
 it is true, as Shakespeare says y 
 that we, meaning men and wo 
 men generally, are but children of a 
 larger growth, the sailor is always 
 the veriest child. 
 
 Doubtless it is the freshness of 
 mind and impulsiveness, which he 
 retains in original purity, that so captivate the 
 popular heart. The strange compound which 
 he presents of diffidence and self-conceit, of su 
 perstitious awe and quick intelligence, of spor- 
 tiveness and pugnacity, of all, in short, that is 
 ill-regulated and contradictory, is discovered 
 only in the conduct of the child and of the sailor. 
 I found our men dancing in glee around the 
 spot where the cattle were being landed. The 
 more the bulls raged and strained to break 
 away, th3 more the crew shouted with delight.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 113 
 
 On the wharf was an open space, on which 
 TV ere congregated some cattle which had been 
 landed. When fairly herded on shore, after 
 being released from the dark and noisome hold 
 of the vessel, and from the fastenings by which 
 they were hoisted to the land, they seemed to 
 find so great solace in companionship, that they 
 stood gazing around them with stupid wonder 
 ment, as if striving with their dull perceptions, 
 to take in their situation, and mutely inquiring, 
 " What torture next ?" The moment of landing 
 was the fearful period for each beast ; and each, 
 in turn, resisted as strenuously as horns and 
 hoofs and bellowing could avail. 
 
 The operation of landing the cattle was ef 
 fected in the following manner : First of all, 
 a block and tackle were rigged aloft on the 
 schooner. The end of the tackle was then fas 
 tened around the horns of a bull or cow. An 
 other rope was fastened to the horns, and its 
 end passed through an iron ring in the 
 wharf. When the men hauled away on 
 the tackle, the animal was, of course, grad- 
 dually elevated through the hatchway, and 
 suspended in mid-air. Hanging thus, it looked 
 as if dislocated in every joint, and stretched 
 entirely out of shape. When its hind hcofs 
 were sufficiently high to clear the rail of the 
 schooner, the men on shore hauled away on tha 
 1C*
 
 114 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 rope which passed through the iron ling, and 
 as soon as the hind hoofs cleared the rail, the 
 tackle was eased away until they touched the 
 ground. But the men who were in charge of 
 the rope on shore then had to be on the alert ; 
 for the very moment that the animal felt 
 ground, a complete transformation took place. 
 The meek, piteous beast of the lengthened 
 carcass, became the well-knit, ponderous bruto 
 of flaming eye, distended nostril, foaming 
 mouth, and pawing hoof. 
 
 With any scope of line, the infuriated animal 
 would have broken away, and taken vengeance 
 upon its tormentors. To avoid the danger of 
 this occurrence, when its hind hoofs touched 
 ground, the tackle was quickly eased away, and 
 the rope passing through the ring was hauled so 
 suddenly that the animal's head was brought 
 into forcible contact with the ring on the ground. 
 In this position, it fell and rose, foamed and 
 bellowed, until, exhausted with rage, its quiet 
 ness confessed defeat. It was then released, 
 whereupon it abjectly trotted off to join the 
 troop of animals which had gone through the 
 same process, and now, as spectators, stood 
 with fearful curiosity, gazing at the perform 
 ance in which they had just ceased to be 
 actors. 
 
 Our men enjoyed all this vastly, and three
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 115 
 
 of them, as volunteers, were manning the rope 
 which passed through the ring. At last camo 
 the turn of a particularly savage black bull.- 
 There was great trouble to make the tackle 
 fast to his horns ; but it was at last accomplish 
 ed, and he slowly rose above the hatchway. 
 He was, in form, a splendid fellow, and as 
 sleek as if he had been groomed. The us'ial 
 operation was coming to an end; the Lind 
 hoofs touched; the tackle was eased away; and 
 the men at the ring brought the animal's head 
 down with so great violence, that his fore-feet 
 gave way under him, and he fell on his chest. 
 But with a bellow of concentrated rage, he 
 sprang to his feet, and gathering his body into 
 a heap, in which every muscle was brought into 
 play, he made one superlative effort, and broke 
 his bonds. In an instant, all was confusion on 
 the wharf. The bull staggered from the excess 
 of force which he had put into his effort. 
 Then, shaking his head, and glaring around, 
 purpose seemed to settle upon him. His head 
 lowered, and he rushed at the nearest man. 
 
 But the man was a Bailor, or else he would 
 never have been saved. Dropping instantly, he 
 rolled over and over like a bundle, and just as 
 he fell over the edge of the wharf, he grasped 
 it with both hands, and held on. All this oc 
 cupied but a few seconds. The bull was
 
 116 THE YOUNG WHECKER, 
 
 disconcerted at the extraordinary manoeuvre of 
 an enemy who had put his body out of sight, 
 but left a head looking at him over the level 
 of the wharf. Drawing a deep breath, expres 
 sive of mingled amazement and animosity, he 
 paused, then glanced around to discover his 
 other enemies. They had had time to take 
 refuge in all directions, and, with a snort of 
 defiance, the bull made straight for the town of 
 Key West. 
 
 The men came out of their places of security, 
 rushed on the wharf, and shouted, " Mad bull ! 
 mad bull !" As our eyes followed him dashing 
 up the street which ranged with the wharf, we 
 could see the people scampering in all direc 
 tions, and taking refuge in the porches and 
 door-ways of houses, or in any shelter that pre 
 sented itself. We could see the beast occasion 
 ally swerve from his course, as he caught sight 
 of some one, and when disappointed, resume his 
 career. He had not more than a mile to go 
 before he reached the woods, and only a portion 
 of that distance lay through the town. For 
 tunately, no one was injured, and as we hurried 
 towards the woods with guns, we heard the 
 eharp crack of a couple of rifles which fore 
 stalled our intention, for we found the poor 
 bull weltering in his blood, and dead. 
 
 When we returned to the Flying Cloud, I
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 117 
 
 met Captain Bowers, who had heard of the 
 disturbance, and had come down to the vessel. 
 He made a few inquiries of me, and then, 
 said: 
 
 " We are to sail to-morrow, Fred. Are you 
 all ready ?" 
 
 " Quite, sir," I replied, "I had nothing to do, 
 but what I did on the day when we arrived. 
 Please, sir, do n't forget to leave my name with 
 the owners, so that if a letter comes for me, it 
 will be sent up the Reef with your mail." 
 
 " Certainly not, Fred; I will attend to that. 
 Have you any thing else to ask ? Make sure, 
 now, for we '11 sail to-morrow, for certain." 
 
 " No, sir," I answered, " nothing but that." 
 
 " Good-evening, then," said the captain, as ho 
 left me. 
 
 "Good-evening, captain," I replied, as I 
 walked away and fell into a thoughtful mood, 
 revolving in my mind, my father's letter, my 
 home, and the mysterious Reef, to which, by a 
 strange conjunction of circumstances, 1 was 
 proceeding as the cabin-boy of a wrecker.
 
 118 
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 THE EFFECT OF A GALE UPON THE CCLOM 
 OF THE WATER ABOUT THE REEF-THE FLY 
 ING CLOUD SAILS FROM KEY WEST-HER 
 CRUISE BETWEEN THE FLORIDA REEF AND 
 KEYS. 
 
 ,HEN on the following morning, I 
 came on deck, a norther, which 
 had commenced to blow on the pre 
 ceding night, was still unabated. It 
 blew steadily : neither " lighter nor 
 heavier," a sailor would say. So it 
 continued for three full days. Al 
 most the first thing that struck me was the 
 change that had taken place in the water. It 
 had become a dirty cream-color. On inquiry, I 
 ascertained that the storms on the Reef always 
 produce this effect. 
 
 Of course, the sea is always swashing over 
 every part of the Eeef, detaching fragments 
 from the massive corals, shattering the more 
 fragile growths, and grinding both together,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 119 
 
 and against the bottom, until they crumble to 
 pieces, and even become reduced to powder. 
 This product of the material of the Reef, and the 
 ceaseless labor of the sea, is called disintegrated 
 coral, and forms the only sand known to the 
 region of the Florida Keys. When a violent 
 wind, like a norther, prevails, this sand along 
 the beaches, and in the shallows, and even in 
 the depths, is stirred up ; more is added to it 
 by the constant wearing of the sea, atid, 
 after a few hours, the whole of the waters 
 about the Reef become turbid and tinged 
 with the cream-like color described, and re 
 main so until some hours after the storm has 
 subsided. 
 
 We lay at Key West for three days, when 
 the norther ceased. After shipping a man to 
 supply the place of the Norwegian, we cast 
 loose from our wharf, and set sail up the Reef. 
 On our larboard hand, lay a stretch of innu 
 merable Keys, often so close together, that we 
 could not distinguish any break in the land, 
 until we came abreast of it, and " opened " the 
 inlets through which other Keys were visible, 
 appearing scattered in the waters, back of the 
 well-defined line that we were coasting. All 
 were low, some of them not being more than 
 two or three feet above the l^vel of the sea, 
 and others were partially overflowed. They
 
 120 THE YOUNG WEECKER, 
 
 all exhibited, in greater or less denseness * of 
 foliage, the uniform, universal mangrove trees. 
 
 The wind was so fair that we could lay our 
 course along the Beef, and it was now beautiful 
 weather, as is usually the case after a norther, 
 so that I enjoyed the sail exceedingly. I had 
 become so used to my duties, which in them 
 selves were quite light, that I felt them to be 
 only nominal, having plenty of time at my 
 disposal, and luxuriating in the novel scenes by 
 which I was surrounded. At first, there had 
 been two drawbacks to my happiness. In 
 leaving Key West, I realized more than ever 
 that I was indeed cast upon the world, and 
 dependent upon my own resources, and I was ig 
 norant of what were my father's sentiments 
 towards me. I also yearned for companionship. 
 Strictly speaking, I belonged neither forward 
 nor aft, and felt and acted accordingly. Thesa 
 sources of uneasiness marred, but could not 
 altogether destroy, my pleasure. I once more 
 buoyed myself up with the arguments which 
 I had previously used to conquer my dejec 
 tion, and, at last, came to my former saga 
 conclusion, that if misfortune were destined to 
 come, I ought not to meet it half way, and 
 then if it were not, (and with a father so good 
 and kind, why % should I suppose it probable?) 
 I should find that I had been giving my-
 
 OR FEED EANSOM. 121 
 
 self gratuitous pain. As for want of com 
 panionship, I reasoned with myself that ifc 
 was a small matter, and soon threw off the 
 longing, and gradually resumed my late re 
 signed and contented mood. youth, thy 
 griefs are fleeting, but thy hopes and joys pe 
 rennial ! 
 
 11
 
 122 
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 FRED RANSOM DESCRIBES THE REEF AND 
 KEYS, IN ORDER THAT THE READER MAY 
 MORE FULLY ENJOY THE ADVENTURES 
 WHICH ARE TO F O L L O W , AND ALSO AC 
 QUIRE SOME KNOWLEDGE WELL WORTH OB 
 TAINING. 
 
 S I draw near those scenes in which 
 I was destined to spend several 
 months, it would be well, for the 
 sake of the better understanding of 
 what is to follow, and for that ot 
 general information, if the reader 
 will fancy himself aboard of the 
 Flying Cloud, as she sails along the Keys, 
 and, meanwhile, learn something about the pre 
 sent formation of the Reef, how it was made, 
 and how the work still goes on under the charge 
 of little builders, to whom the task was com 
 mitted thousands and thousands of years ago by 
 the Great Architect of the Universe. 
 
 In general terms, the Florida Eeef includes
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 123 
 
 all the coral ledges and neighboring Keys ; but 
 to speak more precisely, the Florida Beef is 
 one great ridge of coral, stretching contin 
 uously from a short distance north of Capo 
 Florida, to several miles beyond Key V/est. 
 This is the Beef proper, the Reef which must 
 bo distinguished as such; for it is the only 
 thing thereabouts really entitled to the name, 
 for the reason that it is the only great coral 
 bank lying under water. Except some patches 
 of coral sand, not comprising more than a few 
 square yards, it is entirely submerged, whereas, 
 the Florida Keys form a long line of islands, 
 covered with verdure, and many of them capa 
 ble of cultivation. 
 
 Commencing at Virginia Key, the northern 
 most island of the Florida Keys, and just above 
 Cape Florida (for the Cape is the southern end 
 of Key Biscayne, the next Key to Virginia 
 Key), the R,eef, except the few patches men 
 tioned, is a great submerged bank, which runs 
 in a gradual curve to a point west of the Mar 
 quesas, where it stops abruptly, and forms, 
 with the banks around the Marquesas, the main 
 entrance to the Beef- Channel and to the Harbor 
 of Key West. Commencing at the north again, 
 the general trend of the Beef and Keys, for 
 about sixty miles, is S. S. "W. ; then, for about 
 one hundred and forty miles, W. S. "W. ; and
 
 124 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 then, between thirty and forty miles, including 
 the Tortugas, the rest of the line takes a 
 direction about W. N. W. The line of the 
 Reef and Keys curves so regularly, that it 
 forms the segment of a circle with a diameter 
 of about two hundred and forty miles. 
 
 Parallel to the great submerged coral bank, 
 which I have said constitutes the R,eef, and 
 varying in distance from two to five miles from 
 it, lie the Florida Keys, the appearance of which 
 has been already described. The southernmost 
 one is Sand Key, to which Captain Tuft took 
 me on the fishing excursion from Key "West. 
 The westernmost ones are a group named the 
 Tortugas, so called from the abundance of tur 
 tles found in the neighboring waters.* 
 
 The Reef is really the left bank of the straits 
 of Florida, through which the Gulf Stream 
 flows into the Atlantic. It also forms a natural 
 breakwater for the Florida Keys, throughout 
 their whole extent ; for the top of the Reef, 
 being only a few feet under water, protects the 
 Keys from the violence of the waves, and 
 although there often is surf on their beaches, 
 it is of a very different character from that 
 driven in from an open sea. Ordinarily, the 
 
 * The name formerly used for turtle was tortoise, and 
 the word Tortugas is derived from the Spanish word for 
 tortoise tortuga.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 125 
 
 water of the channel between the Keys and 
 Heef is not more agitated than usual in the 
 lower parts of bays. 
 
 All that we see here, and all that lies beyond, 
 for miles and miles further than any distance 
 which you can actually conceive, although you 
 may know it to exist, is the work of little 
 animals, a species of polyp, so minute and de 
 licate, that before one constructs its rock castle, 
 a little pinch between the finger and thumb 
 would deprive it of existence. For thousands 
 upon thousands of years, they have gone on 
 untiringly constructing a great peninsula of a 
 continent. 
 
 ) What the present Reef is, the Keys once 
 were. They were a coral Eeef, commencing to 
 the northward, at the same point at which the 
 present Reef begins, but extending further, and 
 ending in the group of Keys called the Tor- 
 tugas. Now, still counting from the eastward, 
 we come to the densely wooded shore of the 
 main-land of Florida. This consists of a line 
 of hummocks, which are neither more nor less 
 than an ancient line of Keys, situated on an 
 ancient line of Pweef. Back of this main-shore 
 of low bluSs, and after penetrating the growth 
 which covers a low strip of land called the 
 Indian Hunting Grounds, we come to the first 
 of seven parallel lines of hummocks that have 
 11*
 
 12G THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 already been discovered. These are all known 
 to be the successive lines that have in turn 
 formed the Florida Reef. From Beefs, they 
 became Keys, and from Keys, main-land. Thia 
 is strange enough, but more wonders probably 
 remain than those which have been revealed ; 
 for there is reason to suppose that the whole 
 peninsula of Florida has been formed in tho 
 same manner.* 
 
 Between the present E,eef and Keys, there 
 is now a deep channel, but in the course of 
 time, the Beef will complete its growth, and 
 the channel between the present Beef and Keys 
 will fill up by the same process which is now 
 connecting the present Keys with the main 
 land, and which has already been completed 
 between the shore bluffs and the lines of hum 
 mocks in the interior. 
 
 You may ask what the limit of this Beef 
 extension is to be. The answer is very simple. 
 The Beef-building polyps cannot build in water 
 exceeding fifteen fathoms in depth, and not far 
 from the present Beef, the Gulf Stream rolls 
 its almost unfathomable waters. 
 
 * For the fact as to the number of lines of ancient Reef 
 discovered on the main-land of Florida, as well as for 
 several other facts included in this chapter, I am indebted 
 to Professor Agassiz's work entitled, "Methods of Study la 
 Natural History."
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 127 
 
 "Without doubt, in picturing to yourselves 
 the corals, you have always imagined them to 
 be either like those delicate red or roseate ones 
 used for trinkets, or like those whose exquisite 
 whiteness and antlered gracefulness render them 
 conspicuous in parlor or cabinet. The corals, 
 however, are of many colors, and of various 
 kinds of entirely different structure. 
 
 The corals build Reefs only in tropical cli 
 mates. The Reef is a wall of lime-stone formed 
 by the animals from the lime which exists in a 
 state of suspension in the salt water. Theso 
 polyps have the power of assimilating the lime, 
 that is, the animals convert the lime to the 
 purposes of their existence. Digestion, for in 
 stance, is the process of assimilating food, and 
 although lime does not become the food of these 
 polyps, but, on the contrary, their dwellings, 
 yet in thus appropriating this substance to the 
 purposes of their existence, they perform one 
 of the acts called assimilation. 
 
 The direction of a line of Reef conforms to 
 the shore off which it is situated. If the shore 
 is straight or curved, so, also, in the same 
 degree, will be the Reef. Sometimes, as in the 
 Pacific, it has surrounded an island, which, by 
 .the sinking of the ocean bottom, has disap 
 peared below the surface, while, at the same 
 time, the Reef has grown until it reached
 
 128 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 nearly to the surface, and then, gradually 
 collecting a soil upon which a dense vegetation 
 has sprung up, it has been transformed into a 
 verdant ring of land surrounding a lake in mid- 
 ocean. 
 
 Now that you have learned where the corals 
 choose the sites for the construction of their 
 homes, it is time for you to become acquainted 
 with the mode in which they proceed. The foun 
 dations of a Beef are laid broadly and strongly 
 by a kind of coral which constructs huge knobs 
 of many feet in diameter. These, the sailors 
 on the Reef, call " coral heads." The present 
 Beef is about seventy feet in height, and the- 
 whole base of it is composed of " coral heads." 
 When in the commencement of a B-eef, these 
 " heads " have multiplied and grown in height, 
 until the water has become as shallow as six 
 fathoms in depth, the condition of their pros 
 perity, which requires a certain pressure of 
 water, ceases, and with it ceases their further 
 development. They give place to another kind 
 of coral, which, in time, gives place to another, 
 and another, until just below the surface of 
 the sea, the top of a Beef is crowned and va 
 riegated with a delicate growth of fragile 
 corals, corallines, sea-fans, &c. 
 
 The Beef is now finished, and forms a solid 
 wall of lime-stone, abrupt on the seaward side,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 129 
 
 and sloping gently landward. Now another 
 process completes the sea-wall. The action of 
 the waves on the Reef has detached great 
 masses of coral, broken them into fragments, 
 and' ground them into sand. This sand, and 
 materials composed of shells, decaying animal 
 matter, timber and mud from the main-land, 
 are gradually collected among the light corals 
 on the summit of the Reef, until, at last, a 
 tolerably secure soil begins to appear above 
 the surface of the sea. On this, the waves 
 soon wash up the same material that com 
 menced to form the land, and it is rendered 
 still more secure. Vegetation is now the only 
 thing needed, and it comes by accident : that 
 is, if aught can be accident that so resembles 
 design. 
 
 The greatest resource which these spots 
 have, is in the mangrove tree, with which 
 nearly all the Keys are .more or less covered. 
 In the condition of little stalks with roots at 
 the end, the mangrove seeds float in great 
 numbers around the E-eef and Keys, and are, 
 of course, deposited wherever the waves carry 
 them. No sooner do they obtain a foothold, 
 than they begin to sprout rapidly, for salt 
 water does not impede their growth. As they 
 shoot up, they throw out numerous roots, not 
 only below, but above, so that the stem is
 
 130 THE YOUNG WKEC.KER, 
 
 surrounded by a gnarled, fantastic enclosure, 
 over which it is difficult to clamber. In this 
 uncouth basket-work, which looks like a night 
 mare of rustic arbor furniture, all sorts ot 
 materials collect, and the permanence of tho 
 new-born Key is tolerably well assured. 
 
 "We now come to the process by which a 
 Reef becomes, first, the shore of the main-land, 
 and, afterwards, hummocks in the interior. 
 While the Reef is being built, the channel 
 between the Keys (or former Reef) and the 
 main-land has been gradually filling up with 
 mud-flats, and by the time the Reef is com 
 pleted, and another one commenced outside 
 (for the latter does not commence until the 
 other is finished), the channel between the 
 Reef and Keys begins to fill up, while 
 that between the Keys and main-land will 
 have closed, thus making the Keys part of the 
 main-land. 
 
 You do not, of course, imagine that, while I 
 was sailing along the Reef, I gleaned all the 
 information which I have imparted. All I saw 
 was, on one hand, a long stretch of green 
 islands, and on the other, the great ocean, with 
 the surf dashing, in places, on the intervening 
 Reef. What I have told you was learned 
 where most information is gained from books. 
 Then, too, my life on the coast, during the
 
 OE FEED RANSOM. 
 
 following months, made me very familiar with 
 that region. 
 
 Now you will more readily comprehend, and 
 therefore more fully enjoy the adventures to be 
 narrated. 
 
 i
 
 132 
 
 TIIE YOUNG WEECKEPw, 
 
 OHLAJPTIEIR, IX1V. 
 
 HOW THE OCCUPATION OF WRECKING IS PUR- 
 SUED-OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHARACTER 
 OF THE WRECKERS. 
 
 ETWEEN the Beef and Keys the 
 wreckers lie securely at anchor, sta 
 tioned near enough to one another 
 to enable them, by sailing a few 
 miles in each direction, to survey 
 the whole extent of the Reef. In 
 case of necessity, as soon as they 
 sight each other, they communicate by signals. 
 Imagine this long stretch of Reef with its wreck 
 ers stationed at regular intervals along its course. 
 There they lie, ever ready, at a moment's notice, 
 to sail at a signal of distress. Not more speed 
 ily do the buzzards, from their aerial heights, 
 descry the distant prey and grow from nothing 
 to specks, and then to distinct birds winging 
 their flight from every quarter, than the fast 
 wreckers spread their canvas wings, and flock
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 133 
 
 towards the vessel of the stranded mariner. But 
 the purpose that actuates them is very different. 
 One comes to quench, if need be, a lingering 
 spark of life, but the other comes to save and 
 restore. 
 
 It is a very common, and, at the same time, 
 erroneous belief, that the wrecker is one, who, 
 on occasions, does not scruple to show false 
 lights to lure the unwary navigator to destruc 
 tion, and who, under pretence of saving pro 
 perty and life, is ever ready to resort to pillage 
 and personal violence to secure possession of 
 merchandise. This idea comes entirely from 
 the knowledge which every one possesses, that, 
 in wrecking, what is the loss of one man is the 
 gain of another. But so it is, in greater or less 
 degree, in all the transactions of life. It is evi 
 dent, that if this notion about the wreckers is 
 correct, the same influence must corrupt nearly 
 all mankind, and especially it would not be safe 
 to live with lawyers and physicians, for fear 
 of being drugged, or constantly set by the ears. 
 In all my intercourse with wreckers, I found 
 them to be men, much like others of their 
 species ; and if there was any thing objection 
 able in their mode of life, it was in a par 
 ticular injurious to themselves, and about which 
 you will learn when I come to the history of 
 our daily life. 
 12
 
 134 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 "Wrecking, according to a system like that 
 established in Florida, by law, should not be 
 confounded with the coast piracy, which, in 
 old times, often existed in what were called 
 civilized countries, and which still exists along 
 barbarous coasts. There was a time, when, 
 even in civilized countries, the wreck was con 
 sidered the lawful property of the king of the 
 country where it was cast away. Then there 
 was little mercy for the property or lives of 
 the shipwrecked, except that which the salvors 
 chose to extend. But in Florida, now, what 
 ever wrecking there may once have been, when 
 the island of Key West was a favorite resort 
 of smugglers and pirates, the business is as 
 regularly conducted as any occupation in which 
 seamen are engaged. The wrecking vessels are 
 there to give aid, but if a captain chooses to 
 refuse it, even if he needs it, he can use his 
 own pleasure. When, however, he puts his 
 vessel and cargo in charge of any one of the 
 vessels that come to his rescue, the captain of 
 the latter becomes responsible for all further 
 proceedings, and takes full command, and em 
 ploys others to aid him, or not, as he judges 
 fit. When the stranded vessel, or the mer 
 chandise, or both, are saved, the amount due 
 to the salvor is awarded by the Judge of an 
 Admiralty Court. The sum adjudged to be
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 135 
 
 duo to the wreckers, in proportion to the loss 
 which ihey have averted, is termed the salvage. 
 If, now-a-days, there is any thing nefarious 
 about wrecking, it is generally on the side of 
 the wrecked. Many a vessel, for the sake of 
 obtaining the money for which it was insured, 
 has been intentionally driven on the Beef, du 
 ring a night of quiet weather, when there was 
 no danger of her going to pieces. 
 
 The wrecking vessels being strung at inter 
 vals along the Reef, between it and the Keys, 
 every now and then we passed close to one 
 and received a hail and inquiry whether we had 
 brought any mail for her from Key West. But 
 we had none, except for a vessel which we 
 expected to find near to the station for which 
 we were bound ; so after shaking the schooner 
 up in the wind, for a minute or two, so as to 
 give the captains a chance to have a short 
 talk, we kept away on our course. 
 
 We sailed along most prosperously until 
 about dark, when we came to anchor just off 
 Indian Key, on which there were a number of 
 houses. The captain went ashore to visit some 
 one, but as he did not order me to accompany 
 him, I had no opportunity of seeing more 
 than the general appearance of the Key, an 
 which I could plainly distinguish the houses 
 of the settlement,
 
 136 
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 OIBZ^IPTIEIR, 
 
 THE PLYING CLOUD WETGHS ANCHOR-THE 
 KING-FISH-WE COME TO ANCHOR AT OUR 
 WRECKING STATION-THE WRECKER'S LIFE. 
 
 HE next morning I was aroused 
 by the voices of the crew, as they 
 cheerily sang while heaving up the 
 anchor. In a few moments I was on 
 deck and engaged at my duties. 
 The first one always consisted in pro 
 viding the captain with a cup of cof 
 fee. The cook had already given one apiece to 
 the men. This coffee drinking I found to be a 
 regular custom on the Eeef. With a good cup 
 of the exhilarating beverage, the men can bet 
 ter perform their duty before breakfast. 
 
 Before I could get on deck, the crew had the 
 sails set, and the anchor apeak; and just as I 
 put my head above the companion-way, I saw 
 the jib run up, and the schooner's head fall off, 
 as the quick clicking of the windlass told mo
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 137 
 
 that the anchor was clear of the bottom, and 
 the schooner under way. 
 
 The morning gave promise of as clear a day 
 as the preceding one had been.. We had a 
 spanking breeze, but it was dead ahead. How 
 ever, as we had only about ten miles to go before 
 reaching our station, the direction of the wind 
 did not trouble us. 
 
 We had hardly sailed five miles, when, in a 
 vessel bearing down for us, the captain recog 
 nized the schooner which occupied the station 
 to the northward of ours. She was now on her 
 morning sail along the Reef, to sight the next 
 wrecker to the southward. Lately she had had 
 double duty to perform, on account of our 
 absence. As she had a fair wind, she soon 
 neared us and luffed up, whereupon, we threw 
 her mail aboard of her, and she kept away, 
 and resumed her course down the Reef. 
 
 Our black cook, Hannibal, suggested to me, 
 that it would be a good plan to troll for somo 
 fish, so I got out my tackle, with which I had 
 provided myself at Key West, procured a chunk 
 of pork at the galley, baited one of my biggest 
 hooks, and let it float out well astern of the 
 schooner. It had not been in the water more 
 than five minutes, when I saw a large fish dart 
 at the bait, and, at the same time, the line 
 Blackened, and then jerked violently. I gave a 
 12*
 
 138 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 sliout, and hauled away with all my might 
 and main, but I could not go hand over hand 
 more than twice. I was just able to hold the 
 fish. 
 
 " You 're got 'urn," said Hannibal, running 
 quickly aft, and chuckling at my success. " He 
 too much for you alone, massa, let me lend you 
 a hand." 
 
 " He will be too much for both of you," said 
 the captain, emerging from the cabin, " for he '11 
 part the line if you try to haul it in while the 
 vessel has so much way on her. " Here (to 
 the man at the helm), luff the schooner up in 
 the wind's eye." 
 
 The schooner ran up into the wind, until her 
 sails were all shaking. 
 
 " Now," said the captain, as the vessel began 
 to lose her head-way, " haul in as fast as you 
 can, Fred. Hannibal you help him." 
 
 Hannibal and I hauled away as directed, and 
 soon got the fish on deck. It was a splendid 
 king-fish, a species of pike quite numerous in 
 the waters of the Eeef. 
 
 " There, Hannibal," said the captain, " take 
 him forward and make him into a chowder. 
 There '11 be enough for the cabin, and all hands 
 forward." 
 
 I followed my piize forward, perfectly de 
 lighted at my success, as, before that occasion, 

 
 OE FRED EANSOM. 139 
 
 I had never caught any thing larger than a 
 river perch. I suppose that if I had then been 
 called upon to estimate the weight of the fish, 
 I would Tiave set it down at several hundred 
 pounds. 
 
 In about an hour, we came to our appointed 
 station off the Reef. The sails were soon furled, 
 and the captain took breakfast. The men had 
 had theirs while we were under way. 
 
 Here we were, at last, on our destined sta 
 tion, to remain how long, I had not the slightest 
 idea, for the intentions of owners and captains 
 are not communicated to cabin-boys and crews. 
 Shrewd guesses, however, are often made as to 
 matters which are not mentioned. Nice calcu 
 lations of the probabilities of a vessel's stay 
 are often gathered by the men from mere trifles. 
 
 The crew were set to work at scraping and 
 slushing down the masts, and at resetting and 
 tarring down the standing-rigging. The day 
 passed in this and other work needed to put the 
 schooner in perfect condition. Aboard of a ship 
 at sea, the work is ceaseless. On a schooner, 
 like ours, of less than a hundred tons burden, 
 the work, of course, bears no comparison with 
 that aboard of a ship. Besides, it is less in 
 proportion ; for as a wrecker lies much at 
 anchor, she is not subjected "to the wear and 
 tear incidental to a vessel constantly under way.
 
 140 THE YOUNG WKECKER, 
 
 Still, there is always something to be done on 
 the smallest vessel. 
 
 The experience of the following few days 
 instructed me in the whole business of wreck 
 ing, but it was not until I reached a more 
 mature age, that I was enabled to realize the 
 feature to which I once alluded as objectionable 
 in the life of the wrecker. Not being employed 
 at regular wages, he is paid his proportion of 
 salvage. His profession is that of taking a 
 share in a lottery. He may draw a prize, but 
 he is more likely to receive a blank. The case 
 of the whaler, who also goes ori shares, is differ 
 ent, for he is sure of something. But the 
 wrecker may serve a long time, and earn abso 
 lutely nothing. Meanwhile, where is he ? On 
 board of a small vessel with a large crew, and 
 without sufficient work to employ his body or 
 mind. He has high hopes for the future, sus 
 tained by some crumbs of comfort from the past.
 
 OR FEED HANSOM. 
 
 141 
 
 2CVIT 
 
 FRED RANSOM'S FIRST DAY'S EXPERIENCE A f 
 WRECKING-HE, BILL RUGGLES, JOHN LINDEN, 
 THOMAS DEAL, AND DENNIS BRADY, THE 
 IRISHMAN, GO ASHORE-THEY TAKE JACK, 
 WHO ALWAYS WANTS TO BE ONE OF A PARTY 
 WHERE THERE IS LIKELY TO BE ANY SPORT. 
 
 'UST at the peep of day, on the 
 following morning, the Flying 
 Cloud got under way, and sailed 
 eight or ten miles to the northward, 
 until she sighted the wrecker that 
 had passed us the day before, and after 
 wards repassed us in order to resume 
 her station on the Beef. The wrecker was un 
 der way for the purpose of sighting our vessel. 
 No wreck appearing on the Reef, between the 
 two schooners, they reversed their course ; the 
 Flying Cloud running past her anchorage, and 
 examining the Beef, until she sighted a wrecking 
 eloop that was under way from the next station 
 to the southward. She then reversed her course,
 
 142 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 for the second time, and ran towards her an 
 chorage. 
 
 " Where will we sail now ?" I inquired of 
 Ruggles, with whom I was standing on the for 
 ward deck. 
 
 " Nowheree, to-day," he answered, " unlessit 
 should blow this afternoon, and then the cap 
 tain might chance to get under way again." 
 
 "And is this all that we shall have to do 
 every day ?" I asked. 
 
 " Well, yes," said Ruggles, " about all, 'cept 
 keeping the schooner in good order, and some 
 times getting under way in the afternoon, if it 'a 
 blown heavy along through the day, 'mounting 
 to a storm. We always take a good squint at 
 the Reef, the first thing every morning ; for 
 night 's the likeliest time, you see, for vessels to 
 pile on it." 
 
 " It seems to me, Bill," rejoined I, " that 
 wreckers must have mighty easy times." 
 
 "Well," said he, "for sea-faring men, they 
 do have about the easiest times a-going. 'Cept 
 . when they gets a wrack, and then a crew has 
 about enough to do in a week to last them for a 
 year. What with getting a wrack off, or a- 
 saving of her cargo, and a- taking on it to Key 
 West, and every thing about it, why the crew 
 has a-plenty to do, I tell you."
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 143 
 
 " How do you kill all your spare time ?" I 
 asked. 
 
 " We gin'rally get plenty of liberty on shore, 
 and the Beef is fairly alive with fish and turtle, 
 and such like. We can 't hardly miss catching 
 something, even when we 're off, just for a spell, 
 to cut wood for the schooner. Then a man can' 
 stand a precious lot of sleep, if he practises at 
 it. But you ain't a-goin' to complain about not 
 having enough work to do, be you ? If you be, 
 I guess you '11 find some of the crew as '11 ac 
 commodate you with some of their 'n." 
 
 "You had better believe I don't intend to com 
 plain about that," said I, laughing, "but I 
 thought wreckers were every day pitching 
 around off shore in a heavy sea, or floating 
 about on rafts and saving people's property and 
 lives, and doing all sorts of desperate things, 
 and when I began to suspect how different it 
 was, I felt like asking some questions that 's 
 all." 
 
 " You may see more of jest that sort of thing, 
 
 of pitching around, etcetery, than you care for, 
 
 : before your times 's out," said Buggies. "But it 
 
 : do n't happen every day, because it do n't storm 
 
 every day, and ships is n't lost along the Reef 
 
 every day it does storm. Wrackers is like an 
 
 army preparing for battle; easy times in camp,
 
 144 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 and then blue blazes, and then easy times, and 
 blue blazes again." 
 
 " That reminds me, Bill," said I, " to ask you 
 why the schooner has arms aboard. ' The Indians 
 about here are peaceable, are they not ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," replied Euggles, " the Indians 
 around here is peaceable enough. They 're 
 the Spanish Indians ; but you know the Semi- 
 nole Indians, to the northward of them, are at 
 war now with Uncle Sam, and Indians is a 
 curous set. You don't know where to have 
 'em ; they 're peaceable with you one day, and 
 your throat 's cut afore morning. I expect the 
 owners think it 's about as well to be on the safe 
 side, and keep arms aboard the schooner." 
 
 " But, Bill," said I, " what is the use of peo 
 ple's having arms, if they are not always ready 
 to use them. We did n't keep any watch on 
 deck last night, did we ? What is it to prevent 
 Indians from capturing the vessel at night ?" 
 
 " Nothing, as I knows on," Ruggles replied, 
 " 'cept what I told you just now, that Indians is 
 curous critters. They 've a mortal fear of tack 
 ling a vessel. There 's nothing they be afeard 
 to try ashore, if there 's plenty of trees and 
 bushes around, but they do n't like the looks of 
 ft vessel. Perhaps it 's because it seems such a 
 mighty big thing to their canoes, and besides, as 
 I told you, it 's against the natur of Indians to
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 145 
 
 do any fighting, unless there 's plenty of woods, 
 or other cover around, and if they attack a ves 
 sel, they 've got to paddle off to her jest as if it 
 was open ground, only worse, because on open 
 ground they could scatter if they wanted to, 
 but in canoes they 'd be huddled together." 
 
 " Do the men go armed, whenever they go 
 ashore ?" I inquired. 
 
 "Mostly," said Buggies, "when they go to 
 the main-land; leastways, it 's been so ever since 
 I 've been here ; but on the Keys, we 're not 
 always so partic'lar." 
 
 "Why, when you land on a Key," said I, 
 "how can you tell that there may not be Indiana 
 from the main-land there, prowling around in the 
 mangroves. Their canoes could be hid, just by 
 hauling them their length from the edge of the 
 shore." 
 
 " Well, we do n't know, that 's a fact," said 
 Puiggles, "but it's jest a risk we run, some 
 times. I reckon it is n't much of a risk though, 
 for as I was a-teliing you, these Spanish Indians 
 are peaceable -like. Still what 's the use of 
 having arms if you don't carry them, I say, 
 and I do n't trust an Indian nohow. It 's a'most 
 as easy to take the arms in the boat, as to leave 
 them behind, but the wrackers' crews has got 
 used to knowing there's Indians around that 
 eeem to be peaceable inclined, and I reckon 
 13
 
 146 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 that 's the reason they often forget to carry 
 their arms. But I often says, boys, would n't 
 it be safer if we 'd bring some muskets along, 
 for, says I, if we meet Indians, says I, and they 
 get to know we 're in the habit of going without 
 arms, it might n't be safe for us. My belief, I 
 says, is, that the Indians gin'rally thinks the 
 crews has arms along with 'em in the boat. 
 I 've met parties of Indians several times, when 
 I 've been with a boat's crew over to the main 
 land, but they never troubled us. They're 
 always asking for tobacco, but they're very 
 civil." 
 
 " Heady, about !" sang out the man at the 
 helm. 
 
 Bill Kuggles left me, and ran to tend the jib- 
 Bheets. 
 
 " Helm's a-lee," again sang out the man who 
 steered. Then came the rattling of blocks, and 
 shaking of sails, as the schooner ran up into the 
 wind, and went about. 
 
 " Draw away !" shouted the helmsman. 
 
 Bill Ruggles and the man with him tending 
 the jib-sheets, eased them away, and Bill re 
 turned to me, saying, 
 
 " We '11 fetch our anchorage on this tack ** 
 
 "Is there any thing to prevent, cut gom s 
 ashore, when we come to anchor ?" I inquired. 
 "The captain has had his dinner, that clears
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 147 
 
 me. Is there any thing for the crew to do? 
 Would n't you like to go ? How do you think 
 that the rest would like to go ?" 
 
 " I '11 go quick enough," said Ruggles. "I '11 
 jest see who else '11 like to go, and one can ask 
 for all. It won't be more than ten minutes 
 afore we'll be at anchor, and as soon as the 
 sails is furled, I reckon the captain '11 give us 
 liberty, if too many do n't ask. I reckon there '11 
 be enough of the crew that won't want to go, 
 for any work that the captain may have to do 
 this afternoon." 
 
 Kuggles inquired, and found that John Linden 
 and one of the other Conchs, named Thomas 
 Deal, wished to go, and also the Irishman, whose 
 name was Dennis Brady. They and Ruggles 
 and I would make a party of five, a very 
 good number, four to row, and one to steer the 
 boat. I was deputed to go and ask permission 
 of the captain, who readily gave it, on con 
 dition that the sails should be furled before we 
 started. 
 
 " All right," said I, addressing Ruggles, as 1 
 rejoined him. " We can go after all hands furl 
 the sails." 
 
 "Come, boys," cried he, putting his head 
 down the hatchway, " tumble up here, and stand 
 by to furl sail the moment we let go our 
 anchor. The captain says we can go."
 
 148 THE YOUNG WHECKEH, 
 
 In the course of a quarter of an hour, the- 
 vessel was lying at anchor, with every thing 
 snug, and the men lowered away one of the 
 quarter-boats, and began to put various things 
 into her. 
 
 " Let 's take every thing," said Linden, " har 
 poon, grains, and a couple of muskets, and then 
 we '11 be ready for any game that comes along." 
 
 Jack seeing all these preparations, was seized 
 with so intense a wagging of his tail, that he 
 ?Jmost wagged his hind feet off the deck. 
 
 " Old Jack wants to go," said I, " I guess we 
 can take him without asking permission, can't 
 we?" 
 
 "Oh yes!" said Ruggles; "here, you men, 
 lend a hand and help him into the boat. That 's 
 it, take hold, two of you, e-a-s-y now with 
 him." 
 
 " My ! but it 's the nate way he has to get 
 aboord," exclaimed Brady, as Jack scrambled 
 down the side of the schooner. " But he 's the 
 wise one, though, and if he was n't so cloomsy, 
 bedad ! he 'd be the image of the dorg I had in 
 the ould counthry." 
 
 " Gammon, Dennis !" said Buggies, very un 
 ceremoniously, as he shoved off from the vessel, 
 and took his seat at the tiller. " You never had 
 a Newfoundland." 
 
 " It 's the thruth that I 'm filing ye," said
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 149 
 
 Brady, giving way lustily with his oar. " The 
 finest dogs in the worruld conies from Ireland. 
 Me ooncle has a pack of Newfoundlands." 
 
 "A pack of Newfoundlands I" said Kuggles, 
 shouting with laughter. 
 
 "Aye !" rejoined Brady, " it 's a pack of New 
 foundlands; an' sure, and what is there so quare 
 about that? On an eshtate like me ooncle's, 
 about half the size of Floridy, a great many 
 dorgs is naded." 
 
 "Well, suppose there is," said Ruggles, 
 "Newfoundlands ain't hunting dogs, be they? 
 What are you talking about packs for ?" 
 
 " There 's where you 're out," replied Brady, 
 "for it's jest for huntin' me ooncle keeps 'em, 
 for the stags in Ireland is so big, that nothin' 
 short of a Newfoundland is equal to pullin' 'em 
 doon." 
 
 "Nonsense!" said Ruggles, "if a Newfound 
 land can pull them down, he can't ketch 'em." 
 
 "And that's jest where you're out agin," 
 retorted Brady, not at all disconcerted, " for 
 that 's what I was jest a-going to tell ye when 
 I was afther spaking about the dorg Jack being 
 so cloomsy. He 's cloomsier nor me dorg in 
 Ireland. Me dorg was one from me ooncle's 
 raising, and, bedad ! he 'd beat any greyhound 
 ye ever see run." 
 
 "That'll do for one," said Buggies; "I'll
 
 150 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 swow, if that don't beat cock-fighting. Now, 
 jest you tell that to the marines." 
 
 " An' sure, and it 's the maranes is the sinsible 
 min, compared with the likes of ye," retorted 
 Brady. 
 
 Luckily, at this point in the conversation, the 
 landing on the beach commenced, or there is no 
 saying where the dispute would have ended, for 
 Buggies being an Englishman, and Brady an 
 Irishman, they were always sparring with each 
 other.
 
 OR FRED HANSOM. 151 
 
 THE BOATING PARTY LAND-A MISHAP BEFALLS 
 DENNIS BRADY-HE SPEEDILY RECOVERS- 
 RUGGLES AMONG THE CORMORANTS AND 
 PELICANS-THE PARTY CAPTURE A JEW-FISH 
 TURTLING POSTPONED. 
 
 had been blowing a pretty stiff 
 breeze since early in the morn 
 ing, and as there was some surf beat 
 ing on the beach of the Key on which 
 we landed, the men jumped out of 
 the boat, and ran her high and dry 
 ashore. 
 
 Brady had hardly leaped into the water, from 
 his side of the boat, when he gave a cry of pain, 
 let go of the boat, and hopped and hobbled to 
 the nearest place out of reach of the surf, where , 
 he seated himself, and writhed about, uttering 
 moans of distress. 
 
 We quitted the boat, and ran to his assist 
 ance. 
 
 "Howly Moses! Howly Moses!" roared
 
 152 THE YOUNG WEECK-ER, 
 
 Brady, " I 'm kilt entirely." Hereupon, ha 
 rolled over and over in a series of contortions 
 accompanied with cries of " Howly Moses." 
 
 " He 's trod on one of them sea-urchins," said 
 Buggies. " I 've told him afore that he 'd ketch 
 it some of these times, if he jumped out of the 
 boat barefooted. Here, Brady, my boy, hold 
 Btill a bit, and 1 11 take the spines out with my 
 jack-knife." 
 
 But Brady continued his cries and contortions, 
 and went on as if he was mad. 
 
 " Brady," remonstrated Buggies, " you 'd bet 
 ter let me pick the spines out: jest be quiet a 
 minute. The longer they stay in, the worse 
 it '11 be for you, and your foot '11 swell up tho 
 size of two." 
 
 At this, Brady seemed to return sufficiently 
 to his senses to be able to keep still, and hold 
 out the sole of his foot, which was bleeding and 
 quivering with pain. Buggies knelt down be 
 side him, and commenced to pick at the flesh 
 with his jack-knife. In a few seconds he re 
 moved a blackish splinter, as sharp as a needle, 
 and then another, and another. 
 
 " Here, one of you/' said he, " wet a hand 
 kerchief, a piece of shirt, or any thing you 've 
 got about you, so I can wash the sand and blood 
 away." 
 
 One of the men brought a dripping handker-
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 153 
 
 chief, aiid the sole of Brady's foot, on being 
 washed, exhibited about a dozen black marks 
 where the spines had penetrated. B-uggles now 
 proceeded adroitly, and soon extracted the rest 
 of the spines, although he was often interrupted 
 by the wincing of Brady, who continued to ejac 
 ulate, " Howly Moses !" 
 
 " Now they 're all out," said Buggies, gently 
 washing the foot again, and depositing the heel 
 on a flat piece of coral ledge, so that the sand 
 could not get into the incisions in the sole, " and 
 I hope you 've larnt a lesson about jumping out 
 of the boat barefooted. Them urchins is thick 
 around here." 
 
 "An' faix, an' is it urchins ye call 'em," 
 said Brady, recovering his tongue; "but it 's the 
 quare name they has ! In Ireland, it 's the little 
 byes as is urchins. The things in me fut is the 
 divil's own byes, bedad !" 
 
 "Why, don't you have sea-urchins in Ire 
 land?" said Buggies, maliciously, seeing that 
 Brady was getting over his pain. " I thought 
 you had every thing in Ireland." 
 
 " And there 's where ye 're right," replied 
 Brady, not disposed to acknowledge that Ireland 
 was deficient in any thing. "Barring snakes 
 and toads, that Sint Pathrick druv away, 
 there 's nothing we have n't in the ould coun- 
 thry. But, for a moment, I jest disremimbered
 
 154. THE YOUNG WEECKER, 
 
 the sea-urchins. la Ireland they grow to a 
 wontherful size. On me ooncle's eshtate that 
 raches to the say-shore, he once had a line of 
 thim set, jest to keep smugglers from landin' at 
 night." 
 
 " Now, Brady," said Euggles, " quit that. I 
 believe what you got jest now was a punishment 
 for the whopper you told in the boat, and here 
 you 're at it again." 
 
 " A whopper, was it, indade," said Brady, 
 " bedad, if you stuck to the thruth yourself, you 
 would n't be afther thinking other people didn't 
 tell it." 
 
 " Well, it 's more 'n I can do to believe some 
 of your yarns," said Euggles. " I say, if Ire 
 land 's such a fine country as you make it out, 
 why do so many of you leave it ?" 
 
 " Why do we lave it : and it 's aisy to answer 
 that. We 've got a duty to perforrum, to 
 spread ceevilization in the worruld, and carry 
 instruction to haythens like you." 
 " You 've got it, Bill," shouted the men. 
 " He 's too much for you !" 
 
 " But it 's obleeged to ye I be for docthering 
 me fut, and no offince," said Brady, rising, 
 and hobbling to the boat to get his shoes and 
 Blockings. 
 
 " Now, boys," said Linden, " what did we 
 come here for? There's no game about here.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 155 
 
 Let 's go back of the Keys, on the flats, and see 
 if v/e can 't find something to strike." 
 
 " Hold a bit," said Kuggles, " I know what I 
 want to do. I Ve been wanting for some time 
 to get a pelican's pouch to hold my smoking 
 tobacco, and I 'm going through the mangroves 
 to a place where I know I can get a shot at a 
 pelican." 
 
 " I 'm off now," continued Buggies. " The 
 place is jest 'round the north end of the Key. 
 I '11 walk along the outside beach until I get near 
 the place, and then I '11 work through the 
 mangroves, until I come in sight of the birds. 
 You'd better launch the boat, and keep along 
 the beach; but don't keep out too far from 
 shore, or the birds '11 see you, and I won't be 
 able to get a crack at them. As soon as you 
 hear me fire, you can pull away, and if my 
 bird 's dropped in the water, you '11 be able to 
 get it for me. I only want one : but I reckon 
 I '11 take both muskets along, so if I miss the 
 
 first shot, I '11 have another one." 
 ' i 
 
 Euggles and I walked along the beach for 
 about half a mile, and, as we neared the end of 
 the Key, we turned into the mangroves, and, with 
 much difficulty, made our way among their roots. 
 After going about a hundred yards, and slipping 
 and stumbling around through the dense 
 growth standing in water, for the back part of
 
 156 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 the Key was below the level of the sea, we 
 began to distinguish the edge of the mangroves. 
 Buggies crept cautiously forward, and I fol 
 lowed him until we got very near to the edge, 
 and then moving a little towards one side, we 
 came opposite to a slight opening, which proved 
 to be a long and shallow inlet leading out to the 
 waters back of the Key. 
 
 " Hist !" said he, " do n't make any noise." 
 I advanced cautiously to the place where 
 he was standing, and thence I could see, 
 through the opening, a little Key which was not 
 more than forty yards off. In the branches of its 
 mangroves, there were multitudes of pelicans 
 and cormorants. They did not seem to be 
 aware of our presence, and rested on the 
 limbs of the trees, as if with a sense of perfect 
 security. The pelicans had a peculiarly grave 
 and ancient appearance, and they and the cor 
 morants seemed to be on excellent terms. The 
 leaves of the mangroves, and the trunks of the 
 trees were whitened with the droppings of the 
 birds, for this was one of their favorite resorts. 
 
 " Shall I pop over that old grand-daddy of a 
 pelican," whispered Ruggles, designating, with 
 the muzzle of his musket, a very patriarchal- 
 looking individual. He had hardly spoken 
 before the stroke of oars was heard. Tho
 
 OR FILED RANSOM. 157 
 
 wings of the birds all lifted simultaneously, and 
 they arose in a cloud. 
 
 " No time for picking out a bird now," said 
 Ruggles, aiming at the nearest pelican. 
 
 Bang, went the gun, and the pelican fell 
 dead in the water, and the other pelicans flew 
 rapidly away. Not so with the cormorants, 
 however, for they continued to stupidly flap 
 about in the air, hovering over the dead pelican, 
 and sometimes descending to take a look at it, 
 and then flying away a short distance, only to 
 return. The temptation was too much for 
 Kuggles, who seized my musket j.ust as a cor 
 morant was returning for another look, and 
 shot it within three yards of the spot where 
 the pelican lay on the surface of the water. 
 
 " There!" said Euggles, " I hope you 're satis 
 fied now ! You was so curous about it, I thought 
 I 'd let you see how it felt. That 's not what I 
 did it for, though, Fred: I was only joking. 
 What I shot him was for to see if the things 
 can be made fit to eat. I Ve tried 'em, and 
 could n't eat 'em, but Hannibal says they was n't 
 fixed right, because the rank part 's the skin, 
 and it ought to be took off; so I promised I 'd 
 fetch him one some time, and let him show what 
 kind of a fist he 'd make at cooking of it." 
 
 The sound of the approaching boat grew 
 more distinct, but we kept along shore so aa 
 H
 
 158 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 to get to the beach, because it would have been 
 impossible for the men to force the boat through 
 the mangroves to the place where we were stand 
 ing, and if we had gone to the edge of the man 
 groves, we would have been up to our waists 
 in water. After going a short distance, Bill 
 Ruggles sang out, 
 
 "Boat ahoy!" 
 
 The sound of the oars ceased, and Ruggles 
 shouted again, 
 
 " You '11 find two birds in the water, abreast 
 of the roost. You '11 have to come back to the 
 nearest point on the beach for us, there 's no 
 getting out to the edge of the mangroves 
 here." 
 
 " Aye ! aye !" was answered from the boat, 
 which we could not see on account of the dense 
 growth, and the stroke of the oars recom 
 menced as we resumed our way towards the 
 beach. As soon as we reached that place, we 
 took our shoes off, and wrung out our stock 
 ings, for the water among the mangroves had 
 sometimes been over ankle-deep. The men in 
 the boat soon landed near us, having found the 
 birds without difficulty. The pelican turned 
 out to be a large one, with a very fine pouch, 
 which contained a fish. Bill Ruggles took the 
 fish out, and then separated the pelican's pouch 
 from its lower bill. Brady commenced to pluck
 
 OE FRED RANSOM. 159 
 
 the cormorant, saying that it was the only thing 
 he M have to do with it, "the rest might ate it 
 and wilcome." 
 
 " "What kept you so long ?" said Deal, " we 
 thought something must have happened to 
 
 you." 
 
 "Something did happen to us," said Ruggles: 
 "we missed our way. But you oughtn't to 
 have come around the point until you heard me 
 fire. You came very near making me lose the 
 birds. If you 'd come a few seconds earlier, 
 they 'd have been off." 
 
 " We gave you plenty of time, Bill," replied 
 Deal. " A pelican pouch may be worth a heap 
 to you, but there 's no use of spending all the 
 afternoon getting it, 'specially when I know 
 where we 'd be pretty sure to find something 
 worth having. There 's apt to be turtle back 
 of this Key. I know the place well. I was 
 once on this station in the wrecker Susan Day. 
 Jest back of here, about a quarter of a mile, 
 there's some holes in the mud-flats, where I 
 scarcely ever missed finding turtle." 
 
 " Well, boys," said Ruggles, " I 'm very sorry 
 if I 've been a-keeping of you from going there, 
 but you Ve only got to say the word, and we '11 
 go there now. There's plenty of time. I 
 do n't believe it 's more 'n three o'clock. What 
 would you say it was by the sun? Holdl
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER 
 
 Fred lias a watch. What time is it by your 
 watch, Fred ?" 
 
 " Lots of time," said Buggies in reply to my 
 announcement of the time, " we sha' n't have to 
 go off to the schooner until near dark. Come, 
 let 's start : be lively, Tom, you were in a big 
 hurry jest now." 
 
 The men put out their oars, and were rowing 
 slowly along the southern edge of the inlet, 
 and almost touching the mangroves with the 
 tips of the port oars, when Linden stopped 
 rowing, and held up one hand. 
 
 " Did you hear that, Tom, ?" said he, ad 
 dressing the other Conch, while we all listened 
 to hear the noise to which he alluded. 
 
 " No," said Deal, " I did n't. What was it ?" 
 
 " I 'm certain I heard a jew-fish," resumed 
 Linden. " Get out the grains, Tom, you 've got 
 the bow oar. Jest slip your oar in gently, and 
 put the grains on the pole. They 're ready in 
 the bow, with the line made fast. There it ia 
 again, do 'nt you hear that?" 
 
 At long intervals, a noise under water, like 
 the sound of a muffled drum, reached our ears. 
 Boom boom boom, it went. The men kept 
 perfectly still, and not an oar was dipped into 
 the water, while Deal skilfully unshipped his 
 oar, and stepped lightly into the bow of the
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 1G1 
 
 boat, as he drew the pole after him, and at the 
 same time adjusted the grains. 
 
 " I should judge it must be as much as fifty 
 yards off," said Deal. "Don't make any 
 noise." 
 
 Boom boom boom boom, again went the 
 jew-fish. 
 
 " Give the boat the least bit of head-way," 
 said Deal, turning slightly around, and speaking 
 to Linden and Brady : " and you, Bill, steer as 
 you see my grains point." 
 
 I left my seat by the side of Ruggles, and 
 crawled cautiously forward, until I could crouch 
 down in the boat, behind the place where Deal 
 was standing high up in the bow, and balancing 
 his grains with the most perfect address. The 
 bow had a stout grating set into it, about six 
 inches below the gunwale of the boat, so that 
 Deal was enabled to stand in a very command 
 ing position. I peered into the water, which 
 was so limpid that I could distinguish old roots 
 and shells lying on the bottom, and once 
 in a while, we heard the jew-fish repeat the 
 monotonous boom boom. 
 
 The men gave the boat only enough motion 
 for steerage-way, barely touching the blades 
 of the oars in the water. Suddenly, I saw the 
 grains pointed in a certain direction, as a ges 
 ture from Deal, and a half turn of his head 
 14*
 
 162 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 towards Buggies, showed that he had discovered 
 the jew-fish. I strove to penetrate the ob 
 scurity of the water in that direction, but my 
 face was just above the gunwale of the boat, 
 and I looked through the water at an acute 
 angle, whereas Deal had the great advantage 
 of looking from an elevation which increased 
 the angle made by the line of vision with the 
 surface of the water. But more than all, Deal 
 had the advantage of a practised eye; and 
 we had rowed three or four yards before I 
 could distinguish the fish as it lay in the 
 water under the overhanging boughs of man 
 groves. 
 
 It was perfectly still, except the movement 
 of its fins and tail, and lay just within the 
 shadow of a tree, with its snout almost touch 
 ing the line in the water between sun-light and 
 shade. The water was at least five feet deep, 
 and at the shortest distance to which we dared 
 approach, it would have been impossible to 
 strike the fish by throwing the pole like a dart. 
 So Deal made a motion to the men to rest on 
 their oars, and quietly dipping the grains below 
 the surface of the water, he gradually extended 
 the pole until the points of the grains wero 
 within six feet of the fish, and then, with a rapid 
 shove, he transfixed it. 
 
 Instantly, a tremendous splashing ensued, and
 
 O'R FUED RANSOM. 163 
 
 the fish was darting away, when Deal took a 
 turn of the line around a cleat in the bow of 
 the boat. This proceeding nearly caused the 
 loss of the fish, for it was very large, and the 
 grains were not so secure that its powerful 
 efforts to escape would not have eventually 
 disengaged the tormenting irons. At last, it 
 seemed on the very eve of breaking away, when 
 Deal, doing what would have occurred to no 
 one but a Conch, or, certainly, what no one but 
 a Conch could have done well, jumped into the 
 water, which was up to his arm-pits, and duck 
 ing below the surface, bestraddled the fish, and, 
 at the same time, thrust each of his hands 
 
 Y- 
 
 through its gills. In this position, he appeared 
 above the surface, managing the fish as if it 
 had been a restive horse. At one moment, he 
 had it under control, and at the next, it would 
 make a desperate effort, and carry his head 
 below the surface of the water. If they had 
 been left to fight it out in single combat, the 
 jew-fish's chance of escape would have been 
 quite as good as the Conch's chance of pre 
 venting it. But Linden jumped into the water, 
 and grappled with the fish, and, by the united 
 exertions of the two men, they managed to 
 hoist it into the boat, where it thrashed 
 around as if it would stave every thing to 
 nieces.
 
 164 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 The capture of the fish was thought to be a 
 sufficiently good piece of luck to serve for the 
 afternoon's sport, so it was decided to defer the 
 turtling until another occasion, in order to have 
 plenty of time to visit all the holes where Deal 
 had stated that he was certain to find turtle. 
 The men thought that if they started on the 
 expedition now, it was so late that they might 
 be chasing a turtle when the time came to go 
 aboard of the Flying Cloud, in which case, 
 they would be obliged to desist from the pur 
 suit. All hands agreeing to put off the ex 
 cursion until another occasion, the boat was 
 turned towards the outer mouth of the inlet, 
 and tjie men pulled towards the schooner. 
 
 When we came along-side, the jew-fish, as 
 the most distinguished passenger, was passed 
 aboard of the schooner, and received by 
 Hannibal and one of the crew, with many ex 
 pressions of admiration. 
 
 " You hab had luck," said the ever-grinning 
 African. " Jest right size, too, 'zactly, precise. 
 I reckon he 'a not over seventy-five, is he ? 
 "When dey 's over a hundred, dey 's pretty coarse 
 fish, but smaller size is very nice indeed, very 
 nice indeed/' 
 
 " And the way he was cotched, was a caution, 
 cook," said Brady, as he came lamely up the 
 side of the schooner. "It's the first time in
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. .165 
 
 me life, this blessed afternoon, that I seen a fush 
 rid, barring the little marble byes, widoub 
 any clothes on, that sits a-top o' dolphins 
 unthrer fountains. But it 's me belafe 
 thim Concha could live in the wather with 
 aise."
 
 165 THE YOUNG WKECKER, 
 
 THE FLYING CLOUD INSPECTS THE REEF- 
 CAPTAIN BOWERS SENDS THE MEN ASHORE 
 FOR WOOD-BRADY HAS BAD LUCK AGAIN. 
 
 HE next morning, at daylight, the 
 schooner's sails were set, her an 
 chor weighed, and she sailed up the 
 Eeef, until we sighted the wrecker 
 approaching from the next station. 
 Then she sailed down the Reef, pass 
 ing her anchorage, and continuing 
 her course until we sighted the wrecking sloop, 
 which was under way from the station in that 
 direction. Then the course was reversed for 
 the second time, and she returned to her an 
 chorage, after having been under way for five 
 or six hours. 
 
 This was the daily mode of procedure, but it 
 was not invariable. The object of the wreckers 
 is to survey the Eeef, daily, throughout its 
 whole extent; and the only test which can be 
 afforded that it is effectually accomplished, is by
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 167 
 
 sighting each other in both directions, and thus 
 
 O O ' 
 
 they see that there is no wreck in the inter 
 vening space. 
 
 On the morning of which I spoke, when 
 we came to anchor, furled the sails, coiled 
 away ropes, and got every thing in good order, 
 it was between twelve and one o'clock, and we 
 took dinner. Soon after it was over, the cap 
 tain ordered the men to lower away one of the 
 quarter-boats, and go ashore to cut wood for 
 the schooner. Probably seeing my wistful look 
 towards the preparations, he said, 
 
 "If you want to go, you can go, Fred, > 
 that is, if you have got through with your 
 duties." 
 
 " I have nothing to do, sir," I answered ; 
 " unless you have something particular that you 
 wish done." 
 
 " No," said he, " nothing. If you Ve finished 
 your regular duties, be off with you." 
 
 The men, having provided themselves with 
 axes and a keg of drinking water, placed them 
 in the quarter-boat used for the purpose of 
 wooding, and then lowered her from the davits. 
 Jack was immediately seized with an anxious 
 wagging of his tail, accompanied with alternate 
 prostrations and gambols, in the midst of 
 which he was gratified by being deposited in 
 the boat.
 
 168 THE YOUNG WEECZEE, 
 
 The crew of the boat consisted of Buggies, 
 Brady, Linden, Deal, and another Conch, and, 
 as she pulled five oars, each man took an oar, 
 and I occupied the stern-sheets, and steered for 
 a point to which I was directed to head. The 
 men gave way with a will, and in the course of 
 fifteen minutes we landed on a Key a little 
 over a mile distant from the schooner. 
 
 One of the party was left in charge of 
 the boat, and the rest proceeded into the 
 thicket, which soon rang with the quickly 
 descending strokes of the axe. Buggies, Lin 
 den, Deal, and Brady, composed the party of 
 woodmen. While the first three men were 
 engaged in cutting down trees, Brady waa 
 employed in lopping off the branches and 
 twigs of those which had been felled. The 
 party worked steadily for about half an hour, 
 and began to feel so much heated with their 
 exertions, as to wish for the water that had 
 been left in the boat. Accordingly, I was de 
 spatched to help the boat-tender to carry the 
 little keg to the place where the men were at 
 work. 
 
 We soon returned with the keg, and the men 
 drank the water greedily. The afternoon was 
 sultry, and, in the midst of the mangroves, 
 where not a breath of air stirred, the heat was 
 intense.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 169 
 
 " It 's so moighty warrum in here," observed 
 Brady, " I think 1 11 take off me shirrut before 
 I do any more chapping." 
 
 " You '11 be stung by mosquitoes, if you do," 
 said Linden, as he observed Brady stripping off 
 his woollen shirt, and tightening the leathern 
 strap around his waist. 
 
 " The muskatees is n't so bad as the hate," 
 replied Brady, placing his shirt on the fallen 
 trunk of a tree, and seating himself on it, as 
 he hauled a branch towards him, and com 
 menced to trim off the twigs. "And I've a 
 notion, byes, to try the plan a naygur once told 
 me was good for muskatees." 
 
 " What was that, Brady ?" said Linden, pick 
 ing up his axe, and taking an occasional chop at 
 a neighboring tree. 
 
 " Jest what you see," said Brady, " nothin' 
 shorter, to sit in me buff. I wunst landed on 
 one of thim Kays to the southward, and I see 
 a naygur wid his pants strapped 'round his 
 waist, and widout a rag of a shirrut. I says, 
 'ain't ye afeard to go that way for the muska 
 tees.' ' No, indade,' he says, ' for this way they 
 can 't get a good holdt o' me.' " 
 
 "You wait till sundown dressed that 
 fashion," said Kuggles, " and they '11 leave so 
 little of you, they '11 have nothing to take hold 
 on, sure enough." 
 15
 
 170 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 " Be me troth," replied Brady, " I 've liao 
 enough exparience already, for I fale the var 
 mints stingin' me awful. I '11 put on me shirrub 
 widout any more loss o' time." 
 
 The woods once again resounded with the 
 vigorous blows of the axemen, as Brady slowly 
 arose, picked up his shirt, and pulled it over 
 his head. As he slipped his arms into the 
 sleeves, he uttered an exclamation, hurriedly 
 tore the shirt off, and dashed it away from him 
 into the bushes. 
 
 " What 's up now," said Linden, dropping his 
 axe, and walking up to Brady, as he stood 
 rooted to the ground, and clasping one of his 
 arms. 
 
 " The mather is I ? m bit wid a scorpion ; look 
 at thut," said Brady, exposing the place where 
 the scorpion had struck him, and which was 
 already beginning to swell from the animal's 
 venomous sting. " Murther, but it 's the bad 
 luck I have !" 
 
 " Be still, Brady," said Linden, " it hurts 
 bad, but it isn't dangerous. I never knowed 
 any one to die of it, 'cept an old woman in Key 
 West, and the doctors didn't say positive. 
 Put on your shirt, and we'll go right aboard 
 and get some hartshorn from the captain's chest : 
 that 's the best thing for it." 
 
 The men had all desisted from their work,
 
 OE FEED EANSCM. 171 
 
 and grouped around Brady. His shirt was picked 
 up and carefully inspected, and he had again 
 pulled it over his head, and proceeded to about 
 the same point in his dressing as in the former 
 attempt, when he suddenly stopped, and tore it 
 off as rapidly as before. 
 
 "It's bewutched! it's bewutched!" he shouted, 
 as he threw it from him. " I 'm bitten all over 
 me chist and me arrums." 
 
 He was, indeed, stung very severely. The 
 scorpion, or whatever it was, had managed to 
 wound him in half a dozen places, during the 
 short time that he was engaged in extricating 
 himself from his shirt. A couple of the men 
 started towards the boat with him, while the 
 rest picked up the shirt and reexamined it. 
 The second inspection proved more successful 
 than the first, for the scorpion was found in one 
 of the folds of the shirt. One of the men 
 Bpeared it with the point of his knife, and I 
 had an excellent opportunity of examining it 
 as we walked towards the boat. This specimen 
 of the animal was about six inches in length, 
 including the tail, which was composed of 
 several joints terminating in a sharp hook. 
 The body is provided with a pair of crab- 
 like claws, with which the animal seizes its 
 prey. 
 
 As soon as we reached the shore, we got into
 
 172 THE YOUNG W&ECKER, 
 
 the boat, and put off towards the schooner, 
 where we delivered Brady into the hands of the 
 kind captain, who assured him that the stings, 
 although numerous and painful, would not prove 
 fatal, and led him away to the cabin, to undergo 
 the usual treatment of hartshorn. 
 
 When we had committed Brady to the charge 
 of the captain, we took another man in his 
 place, and returned to the beach, to load the 
 boat with the wood that had been cut. In the 
 course of an hour, during which we each made 
 several trips between the woods and the boat, 
 we managed to stow her so full that she was 
 almost gunwale deep in the water. 
 
 The sun had almost set by the time the men 
 had unloaded their freight of wood, sawed or 
 chopped it up, and thrown it into the hold of 
 the schooner. 
 
 Every now and then one of them went to see 
 how Brady was getting along. He had turned 
 into his bunk, and, although suffering pain from 
 the numerous stings of the scorpion, was not 
 by any means in a dangerous condition. But 
 like most of his countrymen of his class, under 
 similar circumstances, he was despondent. It 
 was useless to tell him that no one on the Beef 
 had ever been known to die of the sting of a 
 scorpion; his ready tongue always had some 
 reply which he considered a reason. When
 
 OR FEED HANSOM. 173 
 
 I tried to console him by this statement, lie 
 said: 
 
 " An* sure, an' thim as lives on the Rafe 'has 
 got used to it, one bite at a time, but be the 
 powers, I've got enough- pison in me to kill 
 an illiphant." 
 
 15*
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 THE MEN ARE SENT ASHORE AGAIN-THEY RE 
 SUME THE WOODING OF THE SCHOONER-HAN 
 NIBAL. PROVIDES THEM WITH A TREAT FOR 
 SUPPER. 
 
 HE next day, after making our 
 . usual cruise, the captain ordered 
 a boat's crew to go ashore to procure 
 more wood. The men sent were the 
 same as those of the preceding day, 
 excepting Brady, who was convinced 
 that his wounds were mortal, and per 
 sisted in declaring that his days were num 
 bered. 
 
 I did not join the party until they had 
 brought several loads of wood aboard the 
 schooner, when, as my duties were finished, and 
 I found myself at leisure, I received liberty to 
 go wooding with the rest. More than that, the 
 captain gave me a general permission to ac 
 company the me:i whenever I desired to do so,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 175 
 
 only stipulating that I should be certain that 
 my work was finished. 
 
 When we returned to the schooner, it was 
 time for supper, and Hannibal hurried the men 
 to eat it, ostensibly that he might get his pots 
 and pans cleaned before dark. There was not 
 much deliberation on the part of the men. The 
 wood was soon unloaded, and the boat hoisted 
 up to the davits. Two or three of the crew 
 seated themselves on the coamings of the hatch 
 way, and a couple on water casks, while one 
 or two stood or walked around. Hannibal 
 brought supper, and the men commenced to eat 
 heartily. The meal was fairly earned by the 
 hard labor of wood-chopping. 
 
 " Here 's you' comorant, Bill," said Hannibal, 
 bringing his last dish from the caboose. 
 " He 's nice, I tell you, sah. I save him for a 
 treat." 
 
 Ptuggles received the dish, which had a very 
 savory look, but the smell of it was any 
 thing but appetizing, being decidedly fishy. 
 He looked at it rather dubiously, and then 
 asked Hannibal whether he had skinned the 
 bird. 
 
 " Yes, sah ; ebery bit of skin is off him," re 
 plied Hannibal. " He 's mighty good bird, sah; 
 plump as patridge." 
 
 "Here, Hannibal," sai<J Huggles, after giving
 
 176 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 a sniff at the dish ; " I reckon I '11 let you eat 
 it : there 'a hardly enough for all." 
 
 " After you 'a manners, sah," said Hannibal. 
 " I fix him up beautiful, sah. You must take 
 jest small bit, 'cause I cook him 'special for 
 you." 
 
 " Cook, I do n't like the smell," said Buggies. 
 " If all hands '11 try a piece at the same time, 
 I won't object. What say, boys ? I 've heerd 
 tell they 're first-rate without the skin." 
 
 The men assenting to the trial, each one was 
 provided with a small piece of the cormorant, 
 and held it between finger and thumb ; and it 
 was agreed that, upon counting three, each man 
 should put his piece into his mouth. I hap 
 pened to glance towards Hannibal, and saw 
 him quaking all over in a fit of chuckles. 
 
 "One, two, thr-ee," counted Buggies, and 
 each man smilingly placed his morsel of cor 
 morant in his mouth. Each chewed once or 
 twice, then stopped abruptly, and gazed at the 
 rest with rigid gravity. Human nature could 
 not stand it. Every one's gorge had risen at 
 the revolting dish, and, without one word, 
 the whole party scrambled to their feet, and 
 spat and sputtered over the side of the 
 schooner. 
 
 " Yah ! yah ! yah ! yah !" screamed Hannibal, 
 dancing a frantic jubah, in the excess of his
 
 OH FRED RANSOM. 177 
 
 delight. " I spect I put too much pepper in 
 him. Yah ! yah ! yah !" 
 
 The men rinsed out their mouths, then 
 swallowed some water, and gradually joined in 
 the mirth of Hannibal. 
 
 "That's my last trial of cormorant," said 
 Ruggles. I think it's rather worse without 
 the skin : it tastes like rancid fish-oil. I say, 
 Hannibal, how 's Brady, this evening ?" 
 
 " He 's ruther better," replied Hannibal. " I 
 reckon he 's guv' up the notion he was gwine to 
 die." 
 
 "I say," resurnqd Buggies, winking around 
 the group, " let 's offer Brady some." " Brady, 
 rny boy," he continued, leaning back, and hol 
 loing down the hatchway, "here's a treat 
 we 've got. Hannibal understands fixing cor 
 morant so it tastes as sweet as sucking-pig." 
 
 " As you 've only one burrid," said a voico 
 from below, " I could n't think o' deprivin' ye 
 of it." 
 
 " We Ve plenty to spare," said Ruggles, wink- 
 around again at the group of men, who were 
 nearly suffocated with laughter. " I 've heerd 
 tell it 's good for the blood, when a man 's been 
 etung by a scorpion." 
 
 " Arrah, go 'lang wid ye !" replied the voice, 
 " I '11 not tech a bit of it ! I prefare, like the
 
 178 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 gintry, to take me mate and me fusli on two 
 siparate plates." 
 
 " He 's getting well," observed Ruggles. 
 "When a doctor prescribes for an Irishman, 
 he needn't never examine any thing but his 
 tongue."
 
 OB FRED KANSOM. 
 
 179 
 
 OIHLAJPTIEIR, IXIIXI- 
 
 THE MEN GO TURTUING -THEY MEET AN AC 
 QUAINTANCE TO WHOM THEY PAY MARKED 
 ATTENTION SOMETHING ABOUT TURTLES 
 WHAT SWITCHED IS-A GARDEN ON THE BOT 
 TOM OF THE SEA. 
 
 T blew a norther for three days 
 after the day of which mention 
 has been made in the last chap 
 ter. An unusually bright look-out 
 was kept on the Reef, but nothing 
 appeared to reward the vigilance of 
 the wreckers. 
 On the fourth day, the weather was as ,clear 
 as ever. In Florida, when the weather is fair, 
 nothing can exceed its serenity. The temper 
 ature in the shade is delightful, the atmosphere 
 the purest ether. 
 
 On the day to which I allude, after returning 
 from our usual survey of the Eeef, there hap 
 pened to be nothing for the men to do, so they 
 asked and received permission to go upon the
 
 ISO THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 turtling expedition which had been projected 
 on the afternoon of the capture of the jew-fish, 
 and deferred until an occasion when the party 
 could have ample time to prosecute their search. 
 As I had finished my work for the afternoon, by 
 the captain's terms according me leave at all 
 times that my duties were finished, it was per 
 missible for me to go with the turtlers, and I 
 gladly joined their party. The men provided 
 themselves with the usual gear, with one addi 
 tion, an instrument called a peg, used for 
 striking the hawksbill turtle. The hawks- 
 bill turtle is found in considerable numbers 
 in the waters of Florida. This is the tur 
 tle from which the shell called tortoise-shell 
 is procured. The material is too valuable to be 
 rudely perforated by the grains, if avoidable, 
 and the use of the peg insures the capture 
 of the animal with the least possible injury to 
 its shell. 
 
 The peg is a very simple instrument, con 
 sisting merely of a sharp point of iron with a 
 shoulder and socket. The manner of using it 
 is precisely like that adopted with the grains. 
 Instead of the grains, the socket of the peg is 
 secured with a line, and placed on the end of a 
 long pole. When the shell of a turtle is punc 
 tured by a blow from the peg, the hole closes 
 slightly after the passage of the shoulder of the
 
 OR, FEED RANSOM. 181 
 
 instrument, which is thus fastened in the place. 
 In fact, the operation of the peg in securing a 
 turtle is more certain than that of the grains, 
 for the great barbs of the latter often fracture a 
 turtle's shell so materially as to cause the grains 
 to "draw." 
 
 When the little turtles are hatching, under 
 the influence of the sun, as fast as they extricate 
 themselves from the sand in which, as eggs, 
 they have reposed, their instinct at once carries 
 them down to the water. I have sometimes 
 seen dozens of them, little black objects, not 
 much more than an inch in length, making 
 their way towards the sea, while, collected all 
 around, perched birds of prey, eagerly watching 
 them, and restrained from devouring them only 
 by my presence. 
 
 As we were rowing towards shore, I held my 
 face close over the gunwale of the boat, ex 
 amining the many objects, beauteous ip form 
 and color, that made a garden of the bottom of 
 the sea ; and it was not until we had passed tho 
 inlet, and our boat's keel commenced to touch 
 the mud-flats, that I was obliged to relinquish 
 my inspection of the bright borders of that 
 dark, vast, mysterious, realm. 
 
 Our boat entered the inlet to tho southward 
 of the one in which Deal struck "the jew -fish, 
 and after passing the narrow line of Keys, I, for
 
 182 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 the first time, found myself in the waters which 
 form the broad and shallow bay between the 
 Keys and the main-land. 
 
 The men were all agog to find a turtle. The 
 line was coiled, the grains were adjusted on 
 the pole, and the pole itself was carefully laid 
 amidships, with the barbs pointed over the bow 
 of the boat. Owing to the direction of the 
 wind that had been prevailing for some time, 
 the water was lower than usual, and the boat's 
 keel dragged so heavily that the men unshipped 
 their oars, and used them to pole the boat over 
 the flats. "We had progressed in this manner 
 for twenty or thirty yards, when Linden sang 
 out, Shark ! and we perceived the dorsal fin of 
 the animal appearing above the water on the 
 fiat, about a couple of hundred yards in advance 
 of the boat. 
 
 In an instant, all thought of the turtling 
 vanished. The boy-nature of the sailors, as 
 well as their unrelenting hostility to the shark, 
 instantly made them oblivious of every thing 
 except the presence of the dark object ahead 
 that floundered over the mud-flat in its efforts 
 to work its way into deep water. The rudder 
 was of no avail, now that the boat was almost 
 as much on land as in the water, so it was 
 unshipped, and the men stood on the thwarts, 
 and poled vigorously with their oars, while I
 
 OB TEED RANSOM. 183 
 
 put out a short scull, and added my mite of 
 strength to aid in catching the monster. 
 
 The tremendous noise made by our shouting 
 and splashing soon apprised the shark that 
 enemies were near, and it alternately lashed the 
 water with its tail, and violently wriggled as it 
 used the most desperate efforts to elude the 
 pursuit. Over some places, the water was 
 deeper, and then the shark made better pro 
 gress, then the water shoaled, and the shark 
 found itself almost fast aground. But through 
 or over whatever the shark went, whether fa 
 vorable or unfavorable, it was the same for us ; 
 for following as we did in its wake, we made 
 good speed where it had met deep water, and 
 were retarded, almost in the same degree, where 
 it had floundered over shallow spots. I say re 
 tarded almost in the same degree, because we 
 steadily gained upon the shark, and our only 
 fear now was, that it would reach a channel 
 that was discernible ahead, in the direction in 
 which it was swimming. 
 
 The men shouted and laughed and encour 
 aged each other to increased exertion. I never 
 saw a more exciting chase. The water began 
 to deepen gradually, where the shark was, and 
 it was observed to make better speed towards 
 the deep channel, which, however, was still a 
 considerable distance ahead. "We almost lost
 
 184 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 hope, the laughter died away, and thu po 
 ling was, if possible, continued with increased 
 vigor. After going a few yards further, the 
 boat gradually felt more buoyant, and seemed 
 nearly afloat. So was the shark, which had been 
 in the same deep water for two or three min 
 utes. 
 
 " Give it to her, boys ! shouted Buggies. 
 " Lay down to it ! Once more, my hearties ! 
 There she slides ! Never say die !" 
 
 The gurgling of the water, as it commenced 
 to ripple against the bow of the boat, and the 
 rapidly shifting oar-blades used in poling, showed 
 our increased progress through the water, even 
 if we had not perceived that we were gaining 
 upon the shark. But the channel was then only 
 about seventy-five yards ahead of the boat, and 
 the shark had the advantage of us by at least 
 thirty yards, so that to catch it before reaching 
 the edge of the channel, we would have had to 
 make nearly twice its speed. 
 
 " Take your places, boys, and pull," sang out 
 Buggies. 
 
 Every man dropped into his place, except 
 Linden, who Stood in the bow and poised the 
 harpoon, and Buggies, who seized my little 
 ecull, and shoved and guided the boat with it. 
 We came up with the shark when it was not 
 more than fifteen yards distant from the ed^e
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 185 
 
 of the channel, and Linden drove the harpoon 
 into its body. 
 
 Then ensued a scene that baffles description. 
 The shark was still too much aground to run 
 out the line, and it struggled on, lashing out 
 desperately, with its tail. The men, armed with 
 axes, hatchets, and oars, leaped from the boat 
 and attacked it, and, for a minute, there was so 
 close a fight, accompanied with shouting and 
 splashing, that it looked as if, in the excite 
 ment, the , men could not avoid maiming each 
 other. Presently, the shark ceased to be vis 
 ible, and the turbid water failed to disclose its 
 position. 
 
 Some one halloed, " Take care of your legs !" 
 and then followed another scene of confusion, 
 laughable to behold, as the men themselves 
 perceived after they had tumbled head over 
 heels into the boat; for they roared witn 
 laughter, until they were obliged to hold their 
 Bides from exhaustion. 
 
 Not a soul, however, ventured outside of the 
 boat. The men waited patiently until the tur 
 bid water gradually became clear. As the gray 
 clouds in the water slowly floated off, like fog 
 dispersing before the influence of sunshine, a 
 tinge of blood could be distinguished in it, 
 and just below rested the carcass of tha 
 shark. 
 
 If,*
 
 ISO THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 One of the men grappled it with the boat- 
 hook, and pulled it towards him, when, as it la^ 
 along-side, it underwent critical examination. 
 It was not of the most dangerous species, called 
 the white-shark, but it was a dreadful looking 
 creature, about fifteen feet in length, and fur 
 nished with formidable jaws and teeth. 
 
 It is erroneously supposed that the shark 
 always uses several rows of teeth. It has 
 several rows of teeth, but the inner ones lie 
 flat, and seem to be designed by nature to 
 provide the animal with the means of capturing 
 its prey, in case of accident to the outer 
 row. 
 
 Sailors are not always so merciful to a shark, 
 as to deprive it of existence without subjecting 
 it to prolonged torture. Regarding the animal 
 as their most deadly enemy, they not infre 
 quently catch it and fasten to it a billet of wood, 
 to serve as a float. With this appendage, the 
 shark finds it impossible to sink so as to pro 
 cure food, and dies a lingering death of star 
 vation. Whatever opinion one may entertain as 
 to the propriety of killing a shark, and I think 
 there can be no difference of opinion as to the 
 right of man to destroy an animal so rapacious, 
 there ought to be no difference of opinion as to 
 the practice of torturing it. The object of 
 killing it is to prevent future depredations,
 
 Oil FRED RANSOM. 187 
 
 and man's right and duty end with, that 
 act, which should be executed without the re 
 finement of torture. 
 
 The chase had been so long and fatiguing, 
 that the men felt like resting before starting on 
 the turtling expedition, from which they had 
 been diverted by discovering the shark. Be 
 sides, the party had made enough noise to 
 frighten away any turtles, had they been in the 
 vicinity. The men therefore sat down quietly 
 in the boat, wiped the perspiration from their 
 brows, and passed around a tin-cup filled with 
 Bwitchcl from the keg.* 
 
 In the course of a quarter of an hour, they 
 began to show signs of moving, and, by 
 common consent, the boat was shoved off tho 
 flat into the deep channel, into which the shark 
 had so nearly escaped. 
 
 Here, after a short consultation, it was de 
 termined to remain back of the Keys, and to 
 row along the channel, until we arrived opposite 
 to the next Key towards the southward. 
 
 I was allowed to steer, and Deal was stationed 
 in the bow. With these dispositions, the four 
 men at the oars gave wiy, and we shot rapidly 
 along the deep channel. On this occasion, the 
 boat had a yoke on her rudder, to which were 
 
 * Switchel is made of water, with a little molasses and 
 Tinog.ir.
 
 188 THE YOUNG WEECKER, 
 
 attached long tiller-ropes, which enabled me to 
 steer as I stood up in the stern-sheets and thus 
 commanded a view of the whole bay. 
 
 We had rowed a mile, when Deal said : 
 
 "I see something ahead, but I can 't make out 
 yet what it is." 
 
 I strained my eyes in vain. I could not even 
 see any thing. I still needed the practised eye 
 which enabled Deal to see an object long before 
 I could distinguish it, and then to recognize it, 
 when to me it was only faintly visible. 
 
 What I have just said, was proved on this 
 occasion. Deal sang out, " Turtle asleep on the 
 water," at the very moment I could do no more 
 than detect the object which he had for a long 
 time seen. 
 
 "Ease your oars, and pull as even as you 
 can," said Deal, after the men had rowed for 
 some distance. 
 
 The boat glided noiselessly along, until we 
 came within twenty yards of the turtle, when 
 Deal whispered, 
 
 " Kest on your oars." 
 
 The boat glided oh, and Deal's hand, brand 
 ishing the pole, gradually raised higher, until we 
 were within five yards of the turtle. Then the 
 turtle gave a nervous flirt as if it had suddenly 
 awakened. But it was too late : Deal's well- 
 poised lance left his hand, and pierced tli3
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 189 
 
 turtle's panoply, back-plate and breast-plate, 
 through and through. There was little strug 
 gling. The wound was so severe as almost 
 to paralyze the animal, which was dragged 
 aboard and dispatched. It proved to be a 
 small green-turtle of about fifteen pounds in 
 weight. 
 
 This, the men considered a very small prize, 
 although to me it seemed magnificent, and I 
 could not sufficiently admire the animal. Every 
 one is so familiar with the appearance of 
 the green-turtle, that it needs no description 
 here. I should say, however, that whatever 
 points of beauty the green-turtle may have 
 (and who can deny that the glossy, round 
 ing shell, the symmetrically scaled flippers, 
 the cream-colored throat, the white under- 
 shell, are points of beauty), it possesses them, 
 when fresh from the water, in a far higher 
 degree than after it has made a long voy 
 age, and lain for hours subjected to the heat, 
 dust, and plaguing encountered in the streets 
 of a city. 
 
 The men, as I said, not being quite satisfied 
 with so small a turtle, decided to keep along 
 the channel, which still continued to run to 
 wards the southward, about parallel with the 
 line of Keys,^ and about a mile distant from 
 them. After rowing for a considerable distance,
 
 190 THE YOUNG WRECKEE, 
 
 and finding nothing, we commenced to cross the 
 flats, heading for one of the inlets that lead into 
 the Beef Channel. Deal kept a lookout, and 
 \vas soon rewarded by seeing something dash 
 through the water. 
 
 "Green-turtle, boys!" he sang out, "give way 
 strong. It 's a buster." 
 
 I now understood steering so well, that I was 
 permitted to retain my place at the tiller. 
 When I did not see the turtle, I was guided by 
 observing the direction that Deal's grains in 
 dicated. The flats, over which we were going, 
 were much lower than the ones over which we 
 had pursued the shark, and the boat did not 
 draw enough water to make her touch bottom. 
 The men gave way with a will, and sometimes 
 we almost overtook the turtle, which seemed to 
 swim by spirts. When we came within a few 
 yards of it, it darted off with a quick cant to the 
 right and then to the left; and so much, under 
 these circumstances, does the swimming of a 
 turtle resemble a bird's flight, that one can 
 almost imagine that he sees a huge hawk, with 
 out-stretched wings, darting over the bottom of 
 the sea. 
 
 Rapid as the movements of the turtle were, 
 they lacked continuous effort. Perhaps the 
 animal became exhausted. Its flights became 
 shorter and more spasmodic, until chancing to
 
 OE FRED RANSOM. 191 
 
 come across a liole, it no doubt deemed itself 
 comparatively safe in the obscurity of the deep 
 water, for it stopped and remained motionless on 
 the bottom. And, in truth, it was very nearly 
 out of our reach, for as the boat passed over 
 the spot, Deal was obliged to lean, in an awk 
 ward position, far over the bow, and plunge the 
 pole perpendicularly at the dark object on the 
 bottom. 
 
 But the stroke of a Conch is unerring, and 
 the poor turtle was transfixed. It was off this 
 time with all its remaining strength. The line 
 spun out until it grew taut, and the boat 
 commenced to be towed through the water. 
 But as she was towed along, three of the men 
 got into the bow, and slowly, hand over hand, 
 hauled in the line, until the turtle, still towing 
 us, was brought close to the bow. Then a 
 tremendous struggle took place, and the tur 
 tle, with the aid of a hampering line and 
 the strength of four men, was hoisted into 
 the boat. 
 
 It was a fine animal, and must have weighed 
 quite a hundred and fifty pounds, for I know 
 that, when we reached the schooner, the men 
 found it so heavy to pass up the side, that 
 a tackle was lowered, and it was hoisted on 
 deck amid the congratulations of the cap-
 
 192 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 tain and cook. To us, often condemned for 
 days to a diet of fish and salt provisions, 
 the capture of a turtle meant more than the 
 mere gratification of appetite. It meant 
 health.
 
 OE FRED RANSOM. 
 
 193 
 
 CIHLA.IPTIEIR, 
 
 THE FLYING CLOUD RIDES OUT A GALE-A DIS 
 ASTER ON THE REEF-THE FLYING CLOUD 
 ARRIVES THE DAY AFTER THE FAIR. 
 
 HE month of November passed 
 away amid scenes similar to 
 those last described, alternated by 
 the morning duty of carefully in 
 specting the whole Reef for several 
 miles in each direction from our sta 
 tion. Towards the latter part of 
 November, there was one terrific storm, whose 
 fury in the open sea we could realize by the 
 stress that it put on our ground-tackle, even as 
 we lay protected, in a measure, behind the huge 
 breakwater formed by the Beef. Experiencing 
 the effects of the wind, without a heavy sea, we 
 managed to hold on by letting go our sheet- 
 anchor in addition to our other bower. 
 
 The main violence of the storm expended 
 itself at night, and was disastrous along the 
 whole coast. When day broke, the ocean was 
 
 17
 
 194 THE YOUNQ WRECKER, 
 
 a mass of foam driven by the still raging tem 
 pest. "We took a double-reef in all the sails, 
 got under way to examine the Beef, and at last 
 sighted the sloop towards the southward, by over 
 hauling her slightly, for she was under sail, and 
 standing away from us. This fact apprised us 
 that she had sighted something to the south 
 ward, and we kept on our course, knowing that 
 we could not reach the scene of disaster as soon 
 as the wrecker on the station below, but hoping 
 that we would get there in time to be employed 
 by those who took the wreck in charge, and 
 needed assistance from extra crews. 
 
 We were disappointed again; for when we 
 reached the place, quite a little fleet of wreckers 
 was already assembled, and no assistance was 
 needed, in addition to what could be rendered- 
 by the first-comer. The vessel which had 
 struck upon the Reef was a small brig that 
 had been so fortunate as not to strike until the 
 storm had been blowing from the northward 
 and eastward for several hours. In consequence, 
 the water had by that time been driven towards 
 shore in so vast a quantity, that it was quite 
 high on the Eeef. In addition, the brig struck 
 at a place where there was ordinarily rather 
 more than the average depth on the Beef, in 
 fact quite a little channel. The vessel did not 
 draw many feet of water, so that every thing
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 195 
 
 had conspired in her favor. She struck beam 
 on, and, for a few seconds, all hands thought 
 that they were lost. In the darkness, nothing 
 could be ascertained, except that she was on 
 shore, and the heavy shocks of the vessel, as 
 she pounded on the Beef, seemed as if they 
 would break her asunder. All the time sho 
 was nearing safety. After thumping violently 
 for half a dozen times, she was found to be in 
 deep and comparatively smooth water. The 
 lead was hove, six fathoms were found, and 
 she cast anchor. The brig had pounded across 
 the narrow Keef, and lay in the Keef-Channel. 
 Had the water not blown in from the ocean ; 
 had the brig not happened to run aground iu 
 a place where there is a shallow channel; or 
 even, with both these favoring circumstances, 
 had she been a large ship, instead of a small 
 brig, she would have gone to pieces. 
 
 Instead of that, she was saved, although 
 leaking badly ; and, when morning dawned, the 
 first wrecker that discovered her was engaged, 
 and relieved her crew, who had been all night 
 at the pumps, and were nearly exhausted. 
 When we arrived, the pumps were still manned, 
 but the water did not gain on tkem. Tho 
 captain of the wrecker having the brig in 
 charge had just been trying to stop a leak 
 iu her bow, and having been partially sue-
 
 196 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 cessful, he got her under way for Key West, 
 with, one crew at the pumps, and the other 
 navigating the vessel. 
 
 Thus ended the first wrecking scene that I 
 witnessed. Subsequently, the Flying Cloud 
 was more fortunate.
 
 OE FEED EANSOM, 
 
 OIHLA.IFTIEIR, 2CXIZI. 
 
 FRED RANSOM GIVES SOME EXTRACTS FROM 
 HIS JOURNAL, WHICH RECORDS SOME CURIOUS 
 THINGS THAT HE SAW AND SOMETHING OF 
 WHA ' HE DID AND THE NEWS THAT HE RE 
 CEIVED. 
 
 VER since I had left Key West, 
 had kept a journal in which I 
 jotted down the incidents of the 
 day. If there was nothing except 
 the regular routine of duty, I wrote 
 it down in a short, business-like way; 
 Ifut if any thing of particular interest 
 occurred, either aboard or ashore, I wrote it 
 out at my leisure, feeling that the day might 
 come when it might prove of interest to me or 
 to others. 
 
 On the 4th of December, my journal simply 
 Bays : 
 
 "Wind 1ST. N. W. Temperature moderate, at 
 mosphere clear. 
 
 " Got under way at daylight ; sighted the 
 IV*
 
 198 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 wreckers in each direction. Came to anchor 
 in our usual berth. Afternoon very cool for 
 Florida." 
 
 The record of some days about the same pe 
 riod, so vividly recalls my thoughts and actions, 
 that I prefer to quote from it for a while, ra 
 ther than to attempt to change its frankly- 
 written expressions. 
 
 " DECEMBER 6TH. 
 
 " The wind has been all around the compass 
 to-day. We had hardly reached our usual turn 
 ing-point at the northward, when the wind came 
 out ahead, and that made it fair down the Eeef ; 
 and we had hardly sighted the wrecker there, 
 when the wind hauled sufficiently for us to lay 
 our course back to the anchorage. 
 
 "At the anchorage, the water was remarkably 
 clear to-day. In five fathoms of water, I could 
 see every little shell on the bottom., I saw the 
 most curious thing there. The men call it a 
 sea-cat (there is also a fish of that name), and 
 it did look like a cat. It was about ten or fif 
 teen fathoms astern of the schooner. It looked 
 like a tortoise-shell cat coiled up, for it had yel 
 low stripes. I asked permission to take the dingy 
 and get it, and the captain said I might, and 
 Buggies went along and helped me to grapple 
 it with the killick." 
 
 "We took it aboard the schooner. The nearer
 
 OE FRED RANSOM. 199 
 
 we went up to it, the less it looked like a cat ; 
 but, at a certain distance, it was the image. It 
 was nothing, either, but a sort of a sack of a 
 substance about the the color of dirty flannel, 
 and marked with tawny stripes and spots ; and 
 it was these marks that shaded the thing off so 
 well that it looked like a cat. There were the . 
 eyes and nose and legs and tail. We cut it 
 open, and it moved up and down as if it was 
 breathing (but of course it was not breathing, 
 for there were no lungs to breathe with), and 
 every thing that it had inside of it was a 
 thick concern like an entrail, and that was full 
 of coral sand." 
 
 " DECEMBEE TTH. 
 
 " The captain J^eeps a fish-car, fastened by a 
 line to the stern of the schooner. He generally 
 has lots of groupers (that is the most common 
 fish about here, and they make first-rate chow 
 der), and they attract sharks to the vessel. I 
 made up my mind to try to catch a shark, 
 EO I took three cod-fish hooks, and put their 
 shafts together, and barbs pointing out. A 
 shark took hold right away, and carried the 
 hooks off as if they had been sugar-plums. 
 The captain had given me permission to fish 
 from the stern of the schooner, and, as he was 
 in the cabin, he heard me halloo to Hannibal 
 that I had lost my hooks, so he walked two or
 
 200 THE YOUNG WEECKEE, 
 
 three steps up the companion-way and handed 
 me a big hook, which he called a shark-hook. 
 It was about nine inches long, and had a 
 short chain and swivel fastened to the end 
 of the shaft. The captain says there must 
 be a chain, because a shark will bite off any 
 ordinary line, and there must be a swivel, 
 even if there is a chain, because a shark 
 will turn around so fast in the water that 
 it will break or injure the line by twisting 
 it, and with the swivel on the chain, it may 
 turn as much as it pleases, it cannot twist 
 the line. Hannibal baited the hook with a 
 whole grouper, and I jerked the line as hard 
 as I could. The shark did not pull heavily at 
 first, and I began to think that I was going to 
 haul it on deck all by myself; but I had scarcely 
 got its nose out of the water, before it gave a 
 dash, and whizzed out the line so as to burn my 
 hands. I managed to stop the line with my 
 foot, and give it a turn around a cleat, and 
 then I called for the men, but the captain 
 hallooed to me not to let them haul the fish on 
 the quarter-deck; so I took hold with three 
 men, and we led the line outside of the main- 
 shrouds, and then hauled the fish along-side 
 of the schooner. One of the men passed a 
 running bowline, or slipknot, over the slim part
 
 ^ -"3 
 
 "CUTTING OPEN THE SH ARK. " Page. 201.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 201 
 
 of the tail, just in front of the flukes, and the 
 shark was soon hauled on deck. 
 
 "The men would cut it open (they always 
 want to do that the first thing), to see what was 
 in it. It seemed to me that we found almost 
 every thing that had been thrown ' overboard 
 for the last day or two. Hannibal found two 
 old dishcloths that he had thrown away this 
 morning, and there were Bill Kuggles's rusty 
 old tin coffee-cup that had been tossed overboard, 
 and a pair of tarry overalls that had belonged 
 to Linden. 
 
 " The stories that I used to read, that the 
 position of a shark's mouth obliged it to turn 
 over on its back to seize its prey, are all non 
 sense. I recollect one that describes this po 
 sition as favorable for stabbing the animal. A 
 shark's mouth is a big, ugly slit, some distance 
 from the animal's snout, but the shark, in seiz 
 ing its prey, does not always stop, and it never 
 turns over on its back. If it swims from a 
 depth to seize its prey, it rises perpendicularly, 
 like any other fish. If it and its prey are at 
 the same depth, it darts horizontally, and, in 
 passing, turns like lightning on one side, and 
 uses its jaws. It is not a quick fish. Sailors 
 Bay that it cannot catch a bowline towing in 
 the water. But that is an exaggeration. It is
 
 202 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 only a slow fish when compared with the 
 quickest." 
 
 " DECEMBER STH. 
 
 . " The captain got Ruggles to row him off in 
 the dingy. He told me to come along, as he 
 was going to fish, and I might keep him sup 
 plied with conch cut up for bait. We fished 
 just abreast of the inlet, near the anchorage, 
 and caught eleven groupers, two barracudas, 
 and some grunts. After we got through fishing, 
 the captain told Euggles to row slowly along 
 the edge of the mangroves in the inlet, so as to 
 keep in the shade of the trees. Here I found 
 some shells called mickleemocks.* I had often 
 seen them as ornaments in parlors, on side-boards, 
 or on mantel-pieces. It is a sort of turtle- 
 shaped shell with an even slit in it on the under 
 side. The queerest part of finding them is, 
 that I found them on trees (some of the boys 
 at home would not believe that). They were 
 stuck fast to the mangrove roots and boughs 
 that were under the water, and the animals in 
 the shells had such a power of suction, that you 
 had to pull them pretty hard to get them off. 
 The captain told me not to take more than two 
 or three, because they would make so much smell 
 
 ,* Mickleemock is the sound of the word. It is a local 
 name, is probably of Indian origin, and without fixed or 
 thography.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 203 
 
 on the schooner before I could get the shells 
 perfectly sweet. A couple of days ago, he told 
 the men that, if they wanted to clean any more 
 sponges, they must do it on shore, as he would 
 not have such a smell on the schooner. The 
 sponges, when drying, do smell awfully, that is 
 a fact. 
 
 "We went off to the schooner about five 
 o'clock, and I gave my shells to Hannibal to 
 put in hot water, so as to kill the animals. 
 To-morrow I will gouge them out as well as I 
 can, and let the rest dry out, and take the 
 shells home to I was going to say, to my 
 father, but I do not know yet whether he will 
 ever accept any thing from me. I wish that 
 a letter from him would come. This suspense 
 sometimes makes me very unhappy. 10 P. M. 
 by the cabin-clock. It is so late that I must 
 
 turn in." 
 
 " DECEMBER OTH. 
 
 "This afternoon a sail was lowered in the 
 water, so as to make a ' belly,' as the men call 
 it, and all hands went in bathing. The captain 
 says that the men shall not go in swimming 
 off the vessel, on account of the sharks about. 
 The other afternoon I was looking overboard, 
 thinking there were no sharks about, and 
 wishing I could strip off and take a plunge, 
 and I saw a thing, like a black shadow,
 
 204 THE YOUNG WEECKEE, 
 
 coming from under the vessel, and it was a "big 
 shark. I gaess I thought the captain was right 
 after that. "We often talk of the poor Nor 
 wegian." 
 
 "DECEMBER lOin. 
 
 " Bill Buggies taught me to box the compass 
 to-day. It seems hard at first, but it is very 
 easy when you come to look into it. The 
 mariner's compass is divided into thirty-two 
 points. It is divided into quarters by the four 
 cardinal points, north, south, east, and west. 
 The quarters are divided into eighths, the 
 eighths into sixteenths, and the sixteenths into 
 thirty-seconds. 
 
 " To recite the points in order, commencing 
 at the first one west of north, is called boxing 
 the compass backwards. 
 
 " Seamen speak of half points. For instance: 
 midway between south, and south by east, the 
 place is called south by east, half south." 
 
 " DECEMBER HTH. 
 
 " This afternoon the captain had a new suit of 
 sails bent on the masts of one of the quarter- 
 boats ; and to try them, he took me and a full 
 crew on a sail up the Eeef, so as to have plenty 
 of live ballast and crowd sail on, and to row 
 back in case of necessity. The wind died away 
 almost as soon as we left the schooner, but the 
 captain kept on up the Reef-Channel, until
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 205 
 
 nearly dark. Before dark, it was almost calm 
 for a couple of hours, and the water was as 
 smooth as glass. It was quite dark before 
 the men had rowed half-way back to the 
 schooner. The water is more luminous to-night 
 than I ever saw it. When the oar-blades 
 dipped into it, it looked as if a scum had 
 been broken through, and showed below a lake 
 of molten gold. On each side of the boat, 
 a wing of flame spread out from the bow, 
 and in her wake, she had a long fiery tail like 
 a comet's. The captain calls this water phos 
 phorescent, and says that it is caused by im 
 mense numbers of little animals that give out 
 light. 
 
 "As we were rowing back, I asked the captain 
 whether he did not think it was time for the 
 arrival of our mail from Key "West, and he 
 said that he did. He said that he thought 
 that if any letter was coming for me, it must 
 have reached Key West, and the next mail 
 from there would bring it. 
 
 "Until the captain said this, it had never 
 struck me that I might not receive some letter, 
 good or bad. No letter would be the worst 
 thing of all." 
 
 " DECEMBER 12iH. 
 
 "This is a black day in my calendar. Tho 
 captain told me that he wished me to prepare a 
 13
 
 206 T HE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 spare berth in the cabin, as he expected his son 
 within a few days. He said that he could not 
 tell within a few days, but, that when last in 
 Key West, he had told his son that he might 
 come up the Reef at the first opportunity that 
 offered about the middle of December. 
 
 "I do not know what kind of a fellow the 
 captain's son will turn out to be. If I was only 
 an officer of the vessel, or one of the crew ! If 
 the captain's son is a nice fellow, and I belonged 
 in the cabin, it would be splendid. It won't be 
 pleasant to be bossed by a boy no older than I 
 am. I wonder whether it would offend the 
 captain to ask him to let me go forward ? I am 
 neither fish, flesh, nor fowl here." 
 
 "DECEMBER 13TH. 
 
 " No signs of the captain's son yet. The berth 
 is ready for him. The captain has mentioned 
 to me that his son alternately goes to school, 
 and sails aboard of the Flying Cloud, as he is 
 to follow wrecking for a livelihood. He is to 
 be aboard during all this winter." 
 
 " DECEMBER 16TH. 
 
 " The captain's son not arrived yet, and there 
 is no mail yet. The captain's son's name 
 is George, George Bowers. I don't know 
 whether that sounds as if he was a good fellow 
 or not."
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 207 
 
 "DECEMBER 18iH. 
 
 "Shall I never get a letter? The captain 
 says that a mail must be coming along pretty 
 soon. Why don't that fellow George come, if 
 he is coming ?" 
 
 " DECEMBER 19TH. 
 
 * 
 
 " Captain's son and my letter have both come 
 together. Hurrah ! I am the luckiest follow ia 
 the world 1"
 
 203 
 
 THE YOUNG WEECKER, 
 
 GEORGE BOWERS AND THE LONG-EXPECTED 
 NEWS FROM HOME THE TIDE IN THE AFFAIRS 
 OF FRED RANSOM IS AT THE FLOOD, WHICH, 
 SHAKESPEARE SAYS, " LEADS ON TO FOR 
 TUNE." 
 
 journal contains scarcely any 
 thing on the 19th of December, 
 because so much happened, and I 
 was so happy, that I could write 
 nothing save an expression of de 
 light. 
 
 We were lying at our anchorage, 
 when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, a 
 schooner hove in sight. I felt sure that on 
 board were the captain's son and my long-ex 
 pected letter. My heart failed me at the 
 thought of what trouble the former, and what 
 sorrow the latter might bring. In half an 
 hour, the captain discovered that some one was 
 making signals from the deck of the schooner. 
 He closed his telescope, and calling me to him, 
 said:
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 209 
 
 " I feel sure that George is aboard. I make 
 out the schooner to be the Kate Ramsey, \vhicn. 
 was to leave Key West about this time, and 
 aboard of her I see some one waving a hand 
 kerchief." 
 
 In half an hour more, the Kate Ramsey was 
 flying by us, with the captain's son standing on 
 the quarter-deck, shouting, and waving his 
 handkerchief. She rounded to, let go her an 
 chor, and lowered a boat. George Bowers de 
 scended into it with his seaman's chest. In a 
 minute he was clambering up the side of the 
 Flying Cloud, and shaking hands with his 
 father, who led him away to the cabin. I was 
 left on deck in ignorance as to whether there 
 was any mail. I asked one of the seamen who 
 was passing young Bowers' chest out of the 
 boat, whether he knew if there was a mail from 
 Key West. He said that he believed there 
 was. Just at that moment, the captain put hia 
 head above the companion-way and said, 
 
 " Fred, tell the men to fetch that chest aft. " 
 
 The chest was taken aft, and down the com 
 panion-way, and my anxiety continued for a 
 brief space longer, when I heard Captain Bowers 
 call, 
 
 " Here 's a letter for you, Fred." 
 
 I ran eagerly aft, the captain handed me a let 
 ter, and then retired into the cabin. ?was alona 
 IS*
 
 210 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 on the quarter-deck. "With an irresolute feel 
 ing, I turned the letter over once or twice, 
 fearing to examine its contents. Then I des 
 perately broke the seal, and took out a note 
 directed to Captain Bowers. Thrusting that 
 into my pocket, I commenced to read my letter, 
 the first words of which thrilled me with joy. 
 
 This is it. 
 
 " NEW YORK, November 18th. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRED : 
 
 " However good a son you may be (and I 
 believe you to be a good son), you cannot 
 comprehend a father's love until you have 
 been a father. Had I to forgive even dis 
 obedience, I would cheerfully do so, if you 
 showed contrition. But you have not thus 
 offended me, and I have not that to forgive. I 
 have found you ever truthful, how could you 
 then suppose that I might disbelieve your story? 
 I thank Heaven that I can truly say, I do not 
 doubt your word. Grief I have experienced, 
 for when it was ascertained that you were 
 missing and had probably sailed on the Cygnet, 
 I thought that, in an unguarded moment, you 
 ' had been betrayed into committing an act of 
 disobedience ; but when I received your letter, 
 my son, it completely reassured me, and brought 
 such joy to my heart as none but a parent can 
 know. "^
 
 OH FEED RANSOM. 211 
 
 " You have been in fault, in not submitting 
 to my judgment, and have had your punishment 
 in the sorrow which you entailed upon yourself, 
 and which I accept as full amends for your 
 fault. 
 
 " If I knew exactly how you were situated, 
 and what were your feelings, 1 could speak 
 definitely. If I thought that you were radically 
 cured of the desire to pursue an adventurous 
 career, I should say, at once, Come home. Or, 
 if I knew that you were suffering hardship, 
 even if I thought you still imbued with the 
 nonsensical spirit that possessed you, I would 
 say, at once, Come home. But I do not know 
 how you are situated, or what your sentiments 
 are, and, therefore, I must trust to that honor 
 which I have said that I believed you to pos 
 sess, and say to you this : If you are not suffer 
 ing hardship, or if you can not conscientiously 
 state that you believe yourself to be cured of 
 your disposition towards adventure, do not re 
 turn at present, but remain, in order that reality 
 may blunt the keen edge of imagination. 
 
 "I enclose a letter to Captain Bowers, thank- 
 "ing him for his kindness in taking you on his 
 vessel, and requesting that if he does not desire " 
 to retain you longer, he will get you on board 
 of some vessel on the B-eef. As lads of your 
 age may not be given any thing except their
 
 212 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 board, I have told Captain Bowers that any 
 owners in Key West may draw upon me, and T 
 will be grateful to him if he will manage so 
 that, wherever you are, you shall receive ten 
 dollars a month. Good-bye, my son, and believu 
 me that you have never forfeited my confidence 
 or love. Your affectionate father, 
 
 DAVID RANSOM." 
 
 While reading these lines, they appeared to 
 lecome more and more blurred, as my eyes 
 became suffused with tears, and when I had 
 finished the last word, I could see nothing but 
 a blank sheet of paper. Then welled up in my 
 heart a thousand thoughts of mingled pleasure 
 and pain. Memory poured its floods upon 
 me, and, disembodied, I crossed my father's 
 threshold, once more listened to his and to my 
 dead mother's voice and counsel ; and then, at 
 last, came a soothing sense of relief, and high 
 above all my thoughts, sat enthroned the reso 
 lution that the future should prove me not 
 unworthy of their patient love. I had passed 
 through one of those crises which mould the 
 conduct of a life-time. I wiped away my tears, 
 calmly folded my letter, and, after waiting for 
 a few minutes, that all traces of agitation might 
 disappear, I went down into the cabin, handed 
 the captain the letter that had been enclosed
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 213 
 
 in mine, and, with my usual deportment, with 
 drew. 
 
 While in the cabin, I could not avoid seeing 
 George, who was examining me with boyish 
 freedom. Despite the feeling I had had towards 
 him, because I feared that his presence might 
 materially affect my situation, I could not now 
 help being prepossessed with the appearance of 
 the fellow. He had a strong likeness to his 
 father ; the same good-natured face, the same 
 florid complexion. I took him to be about a 
 year younger than I was, and I felt sure that 
 he was, mentally, rather younger than his actual 
 years. He had a towy head of short curly 
 hair, that looked like the skin of a yellow 
 poodle. He had blue, roguish-looking eyes, 
 which seemed to indicate that the owner had a 
 good deal of fun in his composition. All this 
 I saw at a glance, and left the cabin, saying to 
 myself, " He is n't such a bad-looking fellow 
 after all." But I thought to myself, an instant 
 afterwards, that it probably made no difference 
 to me ; for my father had himself suggested to 
 Captain Bowers the idea of my discharge, and, 
 under present circumstances, and as the captain 
 must feel that he had done his duty towards 
 me, he would very likely avail himself of the 
 opening that my father had afforded. 
 
 The captain called me, and I returned to the
 
 21-1 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 cabin. He sat at the table holding my father's 
 letter in his hand, and beside him was George, 
 leaning both elbows on the table, and having 
 an expression of great interest in his face. 
 
 " Sit down, Fred," said the captain. 
 
 At this unusual request, I sat down on the 
 nearest chair. Although I had always had a 
 berth in the cabin, my use of the cabin had 
 never extended beyond occupying it during the 
 evening and night. 
 
 " Your father's letter to me," said the cap 
 tain, addressing me, "apprises me of what is 
 very gratifying to me to learn that I have 
 not been harboring a scamp. I did what I 
 thought to be my duty in taking you aboard. 
 You yourself must know that your story was 
 very unlikely, but I gave you the benefit 
 of the doubt. I did all that I thought was 
 warranted by circumstances. Now, circum 
 stances have changed. I know you to be un 
 fortunate, instead of culpable, for your father 
 tells me that he has implicit faith in your word. 
 Of course, you can't any longer be a cabin-boy 
 aboard of this vessel (how sadly that made me 
 feel) ; you are free to go by the first opportu 
 nity (I did not want to go now), and I will 
 say in your praise, that I think, considering the 
 trying position in which, for a boy of your 
 bringing up, you have been placed, that you
 
 OR FEED KA.NSOM. 215 
 
 have shown remarkably good sense. Your 
 father tells me that he has given you permission 
 to come home, if you can honestly say that 
 you are suffering hardship, or that you are 
 completely cured of your craving for adven 
 ture." 
 
 " I cannot go then, captain, for I cannot hon 
 estly say either," I replied. "When must I 
 leave the vessel, captain ? 
 
 "You are not obliged to leave it at all," re 
 plied the captain. " You do not intend to go 
 home, then ?" 
 
 " No, sir, I cannot," I answered. 
 
 " Then I myself have an offer to make you," 
 said the captain. " George and I were talking 
 over it before you came down, but I did not 
 think it right to make it to you before, for fear 
 of influencing your decision about returning. 
 What would you say to remaining with me ?" 
 
 " I would not ask any thing better," ex 
 claimed I, wondering how I could stay aboard of 
 the Flying Cloud, as the captain had said that 
 I could no longer be his cabin-boy, and he knew, 
 as well as I did, that I was not fit to be one of 
 the crew. 
 
 "This is my offer," continued the captain. 
 " My son George, here, is to be with me all 
 winter on the Beef. When he comes, he is 
 obliged to lose schooling, in acquiring other
 
 216 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 knowledge. You are farther advanced in your 
 studies than he. How would you like to stay 
 with us and study with George and help him 
 along ? Would you consider your services paid 
 by your board ?" 
 
 I involuntarily started up from my seat, 
 half-extending my hand, and then withdrawing 
 it, with the feeling that I had taken a liberty. . 
 
 " Give me your hand, my boy," said the 
 captain, perceiving my embarrassment. " You 
 are no longer the cabin-boy, and you never 
 have been, as far as my feelings were con 
 cerned." 
 
 "Give us your hand," said George, jumping 
 up, and imitating his father's example. " Won's 
 we have jolly times!" 
 
 No wonder that I wrote almost nothing in my 
 journal that night.
 
 OE FEED EANSOM. 
 
 217 
 
 THE KATE RAMSEY RELIEVES THE FLYING 
 CLOUD ON THE STATION NORTH OF INDIAN 
 KEY-THE LATTER SAILS FOR CAPE FLORIDA- 
 FRED RANSOM AND GEORGE BOWERS LIS 
 TEN TO THE MEN SPINNING YARNS-BRADY 
 EXCELS ALL THE REST. 
 
 a change had come over my 
 prospects ! One day the cabin- 
 boy of a wrecker, and perhaps a 
 disowned child ; the next, the asso 
 ciate of my employer, the com 
 panion of his son, and a boy happy 
 in the knowledge that he was still 
 beloved at home. I felt that I could not be 
 sufficiently grateful to God for his mercies to 
 me, for having guided me to these kind 
 friends, and blessed me with such confiding love. 
 The Flying Cloud and the Kate Ramsey 
 belonged to the same owners. The latter had 
 orders to relieve us on the station, and we 
 were ordered to occupy a station off Capo 
 Florida. 
 
 19
 
 218 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 The Kate Ramsey brought us a supply of 
 various articles of which we were in need, and 
 also a very acceptable addition of tropical fruit. 
 There were two barrels and a couple of boxes, 
 containing cocoa-nuts, oranges, pineapples, 
 yams, bananas, limes, sappodillas, and mammees. 
 The last two I never fancied. They always 
 tasted to me like a mixture of strawberries and 
 turpentine. 
 
 On the morning after the arrival of the Kate . 
 Ramsey, the men were engaged for two or 
 three hours in transporting the stores from one 
 vessel to the other. Meanwhile, the captain 
 wrote to his owners and family in Key West; 
 and I availed myself of the chance to write a 
 long letter to my father, and add it to the 
 captain's mail, which was left on board of the 
 Kate Ramsey, That vessel, occupying our sta 
 tion, would soon be able to send the letters by 
 some vessel sailing from Indian Key. Bidding 
 a long farewell to our old anchorage, we set sail 
 up the Keef. 
 
 I found that George was very well acquainted 
 with the men, having frequently seen them when 
 the schooner was in Key West. On inquiry, I 
 ascertained that the reason I had not met him in 
 Key West, was that he had been absent, having 
 been at school at St. Augustine. George was a 
 very communicative fellow, and the men learned
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 219 
 
 of my promotion within an hour of its occur 
 rence, whereupon they congratulated me ,with 
 mock ceremony, but without the slightest appear 
 ance of envy. Since then, I have associated with 
 men of all ranks in life, but under homespun 
 or broadcloth, never knew better hearts than 
 those possessed by that little knot of rude 
 seamen . 
 
 The wind was ahead, and we did not make 
 more than thirty miles before night set in ; and 
 then the breeze gradually died away, and we 
 were forced to let go our anchor. The nights 
 are exquisitely lovely in Florida. On that 
 particular one the stars shone out brightly; 
 the gentlest zephyr played over waters that 
 broke in phosphorescent waves. Nature seemed 
 hushed in repose, and the low laugh and 
 murmuring voices of the men collected .on the 
 forward deck seemed to indicate that they felt 
 the quiet influence of the scene. 
 
 "Where do you sleep?" said George tome, 
 as he reclined near me on the quarter-deck, 
 where we had been enjoying a long boy-talk. 
 
 " Your father permitted me to occupy a berth 
 iA the cabin," I replied, " and I have always 
 slept there." 
 
 "Didn't you ever sleep on deck?" inquired 
 George. 
 
 " No," said I; "although I must say that on
 
 220 THE YOUNJ WRECKER, 
 
 some ni glits I felt like it. I was afraid thai 
 youi; father might think it out of the way." 
 
 " That was all very well then," said George, 
 " but now you need n't be afraid. I never sleep 
 below on a night like this, when the schooner 'a 
 at anchor. Wait a bit, and I '11 show you my 
 rig." 
 
 Saying this, he went down into the cabin, 
 and brought up a mosquito bar with long 
 strings fastened to the corners of the top, which 
 was formed of a stout piece of muslin. The 
 strings on one side, he made fast to the main- 
 boom; of the other two, he made one fast to 
 the shrouds, and the other to a boat-davit. 
 The net then hung evenly, with its lower edges 
 trailing on the surface of the quarter-deck, 
 which was a trunk-cabin. He brought up" his 
 bedding and placed it under the bar and tucked 
 the edges in all around, excepting one place to 
 crawl under, and then said : 
 
 " Is n't that bunkum ?" 
 
 "Splendid!" I replied. 
 
 " Well, if you like it," said he, " why can't 
 you fix yours on the other side of the boom?" 
 
 " Because," said I, laughing, " I have n't got 
 anj T to fix." 
 
 "Oh! that's the idea, is it?" replied George. 
 " Wait a while 1 There 's an old one of mine
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 221 
 
 aboard, full of holes, but you can mend them 
 to-morrow." 
 
 "We rummaged in a locker, and having found 
 the old net, it was rigged up on the other side 
 of the boom. 
 
 " You must look out for the moonlight," 
 said George, as he assisted me in putting up my 
 bar. 
 
 " Look out for the moonlight !" echoed I. 
 "Why should I look out for the moonlight?" 
 
 " "Why, do n't you know," said George, " that 
 if you sleep with the moonlight on your face, it 
 will draw it up so badly, that you would n't 
 know yourself "in the glass?" 
 
 " No !" said I, " you are joking, are you 
 not ?" 
 
 "Not a bit of it," he replied, "you ask fa 
 ther how one of his men, called Tom Barton, 
 caught it one night, when he came aboard 
 drunk, and lay all night on his back, with the 
 moon shining right in his face. Ask Brady, he 
 knew the man : I hear Brady's voice talking 
 there forward." 
 
 "Brady's word," said I, "would not go far 
 with me, for he tells the biggest yarns I ever 
 heard." 
 
 "Very well," said George, "then ask my 
 father to-morrow : he has turned in now. Tho 
 bars are fixed, what do you say to going forward 
 19*
 
 222 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 and hearing some of the men's yarns ? I do n't 
 feel like sleep yet." 
 
 " Nor I, either," I replied, " the night seems 
 too beautiful to sleep it all away." 
 
 We found the men sitting near the wind 
 lass. There was no rnoon yet, and the picture 
 lay in dark patches, except where the starlight, 
 shining here and there, lighted a face, a bit of 
 cordage, a block, or a spot of glossy rounding 
 spar. The men had evidently been telling a 
 succession of yarns, each one taking his turn 
 in producing the most marvellous story in his 
 budget. As George and I approached, the 
 voice of Bill Buggies ceased, and then said, 
 
 " Here 's the boys. Begging pardon, the 
 young captain, and the professor," he added, 
 with mock respect. " I was taking my turn at 
 spinning a yarn. "Would you like to hear 
 about an alligator that I once saw killed on the 
 Mississippi ?" 
 
 " Go ahead," said George, "that is just what 
 we came for." 
 
 " The alligator, you see," said Buggies, re 
 suming his story, " was as much as fifty yards 
 from the edge of the marsh, and we were six 
 men. Hows'ever, I believe if he 'd been able 
 to turn quick, which they can 't, being kind of 
 hampered by a bone on each side of their necks, 
 he 'd have killed one or two on us. Sometimes,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 223 
 
 ho M stop, and make a sliort fight, and then 
 off for the water again. It did n't seem as if 
 \ve could slop him, until three of the party 
 fetched a heavy timber of drift wood, and 
 pinted it up and dropped it on the critter's 
 head. That stunned him like, and you never 
 Bee such a rolling round and gasping and 
 making awful swipes with his tail. We had 
 to stand clear of the tail. We ran in with 
 a hatchet and an axe, and put in two or three 
 cuts on his neck. Then he was past getting 
 away, and we got in two or three more cuts 
 with the axe, and, at last, chopped his head 
 right square off. 
 
 " Now I 'm coming to the curous part of the 
 thing. We left the head and body, and went 
 down to our boat, and sot there as much as a 
 half hour, and was going off to the vessel with 
 the water-casks, when we thought we'd take 
 one look at the alligator. One of the men was 
 just going to feel of the head with the toe of 
 his boot, and, as luck would have it, I thought 
 how long snapping-turtles' heads lived after 
 they were cut off, and I says, ' Avast there, Jim, 
 jest try the blade of your hatchet.' He had n't 
 more'n touched the critter's head with the 
 blade of the hatchet, when, my sake ! its eyes 
 opened, and sparkled with fire like, and its 
 jaws shut on the hatchet-tlade, so that some
 
 224 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 of its teeth were ground to flour. Some one 
 says to Jim, ' You didn't give him a fair shot, 
 jest touching his nose.' So Jim put the hatchet 
 down again, and the alligator's jaws shut on it 
 so fast we could n't get it out, and had to take 
 hold of the hatchet-handle and carry the head 
 along to the boat, where we stowed it out of 
 the way of our shins, and rowed off to the 
 vessel. I 'd he afeard to say how long the head 
 lived afterwards. And that 's a true story, every 
 bit of it, for I see the thing myself, with my 
 own eyes." 
 
 " It 's your turn now, Brady," said Deal. 
 
 " I think ye must have an illigant sufficiency 
 for the night," replied Brady. 
 
 " No, we have n't," said Linden ; " honor 
 bright, now, Brady ! It was to be turn and 
 turn about." 
 
 " Well, byes," said Brady, " I Ve no objection 
 to spell yees a bit. But whinever I tell ye 
 any thing, ye 're always screwin' up yer eyes, 
 and distartin' yer fatures at a'most every ither 
 word I say, and botherin' me with yer ' is that 
 BO, Brady,' and ' till that to the maranes,' when 
 the thing 's not strange at all, at all. What 
 'ud ye be afiher doin' if I till yees a right 
 wontherful story? I guess I won't waste me 
 breath."
 
 OE FRED RANSOM. 225 
 
 " Oh, yes, Brady !" exclaimed the men, with 
 one accord. 
 
 "Yes, Brady," continued Haggles, "it's too 
 dark to see us, so there 's no danger of your 
 knowing it, if you come to any thing rather 
 tough; and we won't interrupt you." 
 
 " Yis," replied Brady,, " but whin I get 
 through, it '11 be, ' is that so, Brady,' and ' till 
 that to the maranes.' ' 
 
 " Not a bit of it," replied Euggles, " we won't 
 say a word. "Will we, shipmates? it's agreed, 
 is n't it?" 
 
 Every one agreeing to the terms, Brady com 
 menced. 
 
 " Spakin' of th' alligator, reminds me of some- 
 thin' I once saw in Ireland." 
 
 " On your uncle's estate ?" said Ruggles, 
 gravely. 
 
 " On me ooncle's eshtate, it was," replied 
 Brady. " It takes in the best pashture-land in 
 the county, but me ooncle has a patch o' bog, 
 about sax be three mile, jest for diggin' pato 
 for the farm tinants. I was spindin' me time 
 at the place, shootin' and the like o' that; and 
 the first night sich a roarin' come from the bog, 
 as made the ground trimble. I say;5 to me 
 ooncle in the mornin', what baste is that ye Ve 
 got in the bog? Last night the roarin' was 
 awful.
 
 226 THE YOUNO WRECKER, 
 
 " ' Did ye never hear one of thim ?' says me 
 ooncle, 'it's a kraken, and he 's ate 'most two 
 flock of sheep on me.* One of me shipherda 
 was here yisterday, and said he 'd fixed a con- 
 thraption that would ketch the baste beautiful, 
 and I 'nv going prisintly to see him drawed out 
 o' the bog. If ye 'd like to g' lang, jest say 
 the worrud.' 
 
 " Says I, I 'm wid ye, faith I 'd like to see tho 
 baste as could murther me rest !" 
 
 " ' An' me shape,' says me ooncle ' but here '3 
 the bye and the nags, let 's be aff.' 
 
 " Afther ridin' a mather of tin mile, we come 
 to the bog, and on the idge of it was some 
 tinants with ox-tames and carts, and in one of 
 thim a shape newly slaughtered, and a big coil 
 of cable wid a hook on the ind of it. The miiC 
 threaded the shape on the hook, and sint a bye 
 galloping over the bog to drop it in a big hole 
 quite convanient to where we was standin'. 
 
 " In less nor tin minutes, the cable com- 
 minced to wark, and the tinants clapped to it, 
 and made it fast to the pole of an ox-cart, and 
 goaded the oxen; but they couldn't stir a peg, 
 and out of the bog came a roarin' to make yer 
 hair stand on ind. 
 
 * The kraken was a fabulous sea-monster, reputed for a 
 long time tofrequent the coast of Norway.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 227 
 
 " ' Anither yoke of oxen, me byes/ says me 
 noncle, and the min hitched anither yoke, thir 
 teen foot girth, not an inch less ; an' the two 
 yoke hauled till their noses teched the ground, 
 and I see the head and fore legs of the kraken 
 coming out of the hole, and its roarin' was 
 frightful to hear, and it twisted its snout and 
 fore legs in the bog, so the oxen stopped short 
 to blow. 
 
 " The oxen was dead bate, and me ooncle 
 says, ' byes, clap on anither yoke, and we '11 
 fetch the spalpeen.' The tinants hitches therrx 
 on, and the noses of the three yokes goes down 
 to the ground with the strength of the haulin' 
 they done; and the roarin' made the bog quake 
 all around, and jest as the oxen was a'most 
 spint, the line slacks up, and sinds thim. a- 
 cprawlin.' 
 
 " ' Be the powers/ says me ooncle, ' we 've 
 drawed him.' 
 
 " ' No, we have n't, bad cess to him/ says one 
 of the tinants, ' we 've drawed the shape out 
 of him.' An' sure, an' when we 'd hauled the 
 shape up to the place where we was standin', 
 there was nothin' on the hook, barring itself 
 and a pace of an intrail." 
 
 Silence ensued, unbroken, except by sup 
 pressed laughter and a few prolonged whist 
 lings.
 
 228 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 "Well, Brady," said Buggies, at last, "I 
 thought Saint Patrick drove all the varmints 
 out of Ireland ; it seems to me he left a pretty 
 big one." 
 
 "Bedad!" said Brady, scratching the side of 
 his head, " there was one varmint the Sint 
 never got out of Ireland, and that's sin, and 
 it 's me belafe, byes, that the kraken was Sathan 
 himself." 
 
 At this, the suppressed laughter burst forth, 
 and the whistling found free vent. 
 
 "Be still, wid yer whistlin'!" said Brady, 
 " or ye '11 rise a storrum." 
 
 "The captain will, if we make so much noise/ 
 said Euggles. " Come along, boys, be quiet I 
 Let 's turn in." 
 
 The men arose, and began to disperse; 
 but every now and then they went off into fits 
 of laughter, interspersed with whistling so sig 
 nificant, that it was hardly worth while for 
 them to have made their agreement with 
 Brady. 
 
 George and I retired to the trunk-cabin. 
 With a delightful sense of perfect contentment, 
 not experienced for many a day, I chatted with 
 him under the boom, until we both fell into a 
 drowsy state that a few seconds converted into 
 deep slumber.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 
 
 229 
 
 THE ANCHORAGE AT CAPE FLORIDA-FRED 
 RANSOM AND GEORGE BOWERS-WHAT THEY 
 DID, AND WHAT THEY SAW, AFTER THEY 
 WERE PUT IN COMMAND OF A DINGY. 
 
 AELY in the afternoon of tlie 
 next day, we came to anchor off 
 Cape Florida. The Cape, as the 
 reader will remember from my de 
 scription of the Reef, is the southern 
 end of Key Biscayne, north of which 
 is Virginia Key, and north of that, 
 southernmost point of the Atlantic shore of 
 the main-land of Florida. 
 
 On the main-land, in a north-westerly direc 
 tion from Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, is 
 Miami River, a small stream that effects part 
 :f the drainage of the Everglades of Florida. 
 
 On the western side of the southern point 
 )f Key Biscayne, the water is bold up to the 
 rery beach, and affords a secure anchorage, from 
 20
 
 230 THE YOUNG WEECEER, 
 
 which the Keef and Key Biscayne Bay can both 
 be seen. 
 
 It was here that we let go our anchor, in this 
 snug little harbor, from which, looking towards 
 the eastward over the low point of Cape 
 Florida, we could see a portion of our cruising 
 ground, and, looking to the westward, com 
 mand a long stretch of the main-land. On 
 the point of Cape Florida was a tall light-house, 
 of the old-fashioned conical form. Except its 
 keeper, and a few soldiers in a military post at 
 the mouth of the Miami, not a soul inhabited 
 the region, save the Indians lurking in the 
 forest on the distant main-land. 
 
 On a calm morning, rowing gently along the 
 margin of the Keys or Eeef, gathering shells, 
 sponges, anemones ; then spreading sail to drop 
 the killick of our dingy on some fishing-ground, 
 where the fish never nibbled, but seized the 
 bait; then, spreading sail again to seek some 
 distant spot, where the marsh-hen, with quick 
 ly-throbbing note, sought cover, but found 
 no protection from our eager guns, these were 
 our sports, these the pleasures of which we 
 never seemed to tire. 
 
 One of the prettiest sights to be seen in the 
 inner bay was the fish-hawk mounting on high 
 and soaring in wide circles, until some tempting 
 prize made it close its wings arid descend like
 
 OR FRED RANSOM 231 
 
 the thunder-bolt. Then came the splash, tho 
 brief struggle, the fierce bird mounting on 
 sluggish wing, bearing in its deadly clutch tho 
 struggling fish, which gleamed and glittered like 
 polished silver. 
 
 Of all the birds that we saw, the most grace 
 ful in outline was the frigate bird, or man-of- 
 war hawk, as it is called on the B-eef. Its tail 
 is remarkably long and forked, and its wings, 
 capable of great extension, taper to the finest 
 points. The bird can be recognized by its shape, 
 almost at the greatest distance at which it can 
 be seen. It soars at a great height, and one 
 may watch in vain to detect the slightest 
 movement of the wings. It ascends and de 
 scends in graceful spiral flight, in which it 
 seems as if moved up and down on gentle cur 
 rents in the air. 
 
 One day we had the great good-fortune to 
 find the shell of a paper-nautilus. This light, 
 graceful object, with its high curving prow, 
 really looks so much like what one might fancy 
 in a fairy gondola, that it is no wonder it was 
 fabled to rise from the ocean-bottom, spread 
 tiny sails, and waft across the bosom of tho 
 deep. But, alas ! the fable is gone, and we now 
 know that the nautilus crawls on the bottom 
 of the pea, with its shell on its back. The ar 
 gonaut is the true name of the paper-nautilus.
 
 232 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 It possesses an exceedingly white and fragile 
 shell. When inhabited by the animal, the sheL 
 is elastic. 
 
 The pearly-nautilus belongs to another order 
 of mollusks, and is the only remaining rep 
 resentative of several extinct species of animals. 
 The pearly-nautilus is the one of which Dr, 
 Holmes wrote the beautiful verses, commencing, 
 
 11 This is the ship of pearl which poets feir;n 
 
 Sails the unshadowed main 
 
 The venturous bark that flings 
 On the sweet summer winds its purpled wingi 
 In gulfs enchanted, where the siren sings 
 
 And coral reefs lie bare, 
 Where the cold sea-inaids rise to sun their streaming hair." 
 
 The Portuguese man-of-war sails in little 
 fleets about the waters of the Reef, and we 
 often passed through hundreds of them merrily 
 dancing over the waves. They are filmy little 
 boats, like pods of glossy violet silk; and on 
 one side they at pleasure raise or furl their 
 delicate lug-sails which speed them on their 
 way, while below, hang numerous filaments that 
 stream astern like tiny cables. It is often 
 supposed that the boat is the animal itself, and 
 these cables only so many appendages, to serve 
 as rudders to keep the sail braced against the 
 wind. The streaming cables do serve that pur 
 pose, but they form a whole community of
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 233 
 
 beings that use the little boat to tow them 
 through the sea. Thus, you observe, that if 
 any thing ia subordinate, where every thing is 
 mutually dependent, it is the boat, and not the 
 crew who float astern. 
 
 Sometimes we rowed our boat through a 
 little inlet, so narrow that the oar-tips scarcely 
 cleared the foliage on the banks, and, with a 
 few strokes, darted into the waters of a placid 
 lake studded with green islets. "We found many 
 Keys like this. From the outside, they seemed 
 a dense growth of trees extending from shore 
 to shore ; but they were really nothing but a 
 rim of land encircling waters which ebbed and 
 flowed through obscure inlets. These places 
 always had great charm for me. Coming 
 from the seaward side of a Key, where the 
 breeze drove on the restless, chafing sea, which 
 frets at every barrier, day and night, and 
 never ceases its hollow murmuring or thun 
 derous crash upon the shore, we could come 
 with one swift glide into waters unruffled by a 
 ripple; where there was not a sound, save 
 the scream of a wild bird; where the brilliant 
 flamingoes stood in gorgeous troops, and the 
 solitary heron watched moodily beside the 
 bank. 
 
 20*
 
 234 
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 THE TWO QUARTER-BOATS ARE SENT TO THE 
 MAIN-LANO TO PROCURE WATER AT THE 
 PUNCH BOWL.-A STORM-A SHIP IN SIGHT- 
 CAPTAIN BOWERS SAILS TO GIVE HIS ADVICE 
 AND RENDER ASSIST ANCE- THE SHIP GOES 
 ASHORE ON THE REEF. 
 
 DECEMBER ended, January came 
 and passed away, and February 
 was verging to its close. I had 
 again heard from home and written 
 in reply, and George and I con- 
 tinued our studies and sports, and 
 we were the best friends and hap 
 piest boys. 
 
 On the 20th of February, the schooner being 
 short of water, the captain ordered both quar 
 ter-boats to go to the main-land and procure a 
 supply. "We took all the water-casks, and set 
 off from the vessel, as soon as she came to 
 anchor after her morning cruise. No one but 
 the captain and Hannibal remained on board. 
 George steered one boat, and I took the helm
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 235 
 
 of the oilier. After rowing about seven mile.3, 
 we landed on the shore of the main-land, at a 
 place called the Punch-Bowl, not far south of 
 Miami River. This was the place from which 
 we were accustomed to procure water for the 
 schooner's casks and water-tank. It required 
 four boat -loads of casks to fill the tank, and 
 after it was filled, the casks were usually re 
 plenished. A full supply of water used to last 
 from three to four weeks, as, excepting for the 
 purpose of drinking, in which the men were 
 not restricted, a very small amount of fresh 
 water was allowed. 
 
 The Punch-Bowl is worthy of description. 
 On the straight and wooded shore of the main 
 land is a little bluff which has been described 
 as the remains of an ancient line of Keys which 
 were once an ancient line of Pv-eef. In the face 
 of this bluff, which is separated from the water 
 by a beach not exceeding two yards in width, 
 is an excavation like a little cave, and in this 
 excavation is a deep hole, called the Punch 
 Bowl. It is filled with pure water that filters 
 through the ground from the Everglades, which 
 lie a lew miles to the westward. It is an ex- 
 haustless spring, so close to the ocean that a 
 hi^h tide washes into its basin. 
 
 c? 
 
 We ran the bows of the boats close to tho 
 Punch -Bowl, and, taking the bungs out of the
 
 236 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 casks, stationed two men with buckets at the 
 spring. Each man dipped his bucket and passed 
 it along a file of men reaching to his boat. In 
 thid way, the buckets constantly going to and 
 fro, in the course of an hour the casks were 
 filled. 
 
 We started off immediately with our deeply- 
 laden boats, and put up sail to aid our progress, 
 as the casks so obstructed the thwarts that the 
 men could not pull all the oars. The boats 
 had for some time labored along through the 
 water, when the breeze began to freshen 
 and they became almost as unmanageable as 
 logs. I saw Ruggles and Linden glance seve 
 ral times at the sky, and at last Buggies said : 
 
 " It looks kind of squally." 
 
 "Worse than squally," replied Linden, "we're 
 going to have heavy weather." 
 
 " Think so ?" said Kuggles. 
 
 " I do," rejoined Linden. " Did you ever see 
 the clouds bank up that way without meaning 
 something? Look out for a storm, I say. I 
 wish we were aboard. If it comes on afore we 
 make the schooner, we '11 have to heave the 
 casks overboard, if we don't intend to lose 
 casks, boats, and ourselves too." 
 
 The day began to darken, and the wind to 
 come in blasts. There is certainly language in 
 a storm. Even before the wind commences to
 
 OR FUED RANSOM. 237 
 
 blow heavily, it has an angry tone, and tho 
 gentlest sounds seem to articulate in fierce 
 whispers. Perhaps it is because the seafaring 
 man knows many signs which mutually throw 
 light upon each other, that each has a signifi 
 cance, which, singly, it would not possess. 
 
 The boats began to plunge and to roll 
 almost gunwale under, until I began to fear 
 that they would fill; but we were now only 
 about a mile distant from the schooner, so I 
 hoped that we should be able to accomplish the 
 remaining distance in safety. I observed the 
 captain walking rapidly up and down the quar- 
 .ter-deck, by which action, as I knew him so 
 well, I perceived that he was uneasy. 
 
 At the distance of a few yards from our 
 boat, the other boat sailed and rowed along in 
 no better plight. Brady, after putting some- 
 seizings around a couple of casks, hallooed to us: 
 
 " I 'm thinkin' ach one of uz will soon bo 
 tendin' a buoy widout any pay." 
 
 " "We '11 weather it, Brady, never fear !" 
 shouted Buggies ; " but, boys, we '11 have to 
 douse our sail now ; the wind 's hauling so much 
 that we 're not standing within ten points of the 
 schooner." 
 
 Both boats took in sail, and, in each, the men 
 managed to get out an additional oar. Al 
 though the oars were not equivalent to the sails,
 
 238 THE YOUNG \7RE KER, * 
 
 yet, as the boats were now able to head directly 
 for tlie schooner, their actual progress was 
 about the same, although their speed through 
 the water was not so great. They wallowed 
 through the sea as if they had no buoyancy, and 
 every moment a wave broke over the gunwales, 
 so that in each boat a man had to bail con 
 stantly. What a relief it was when we reached 
 the schooner! There was no need of orders. 
 The men leaped aboard, lowered tackles, and 
 quickly hoisted the casks on board. The falls 
 were then hooked to the boats, and in a few 
 seconds they were triced up to the davits. 
 While the men were engaged in these opera 
 tions, the captain, George, Hannibal, and I, all 
 lent a hand, by rolling the casks on the skids 
 placed along the schooner's rail ; so that by the 
 time the men had hoisted the boats to the 
 davits, the deck was all clear. The captain, 
 who had been violently exerting himself, at last 
 stood up. He at once glanced seaward. Fol 
 lowing the direction of his eyes, I saw a large 
 ship, which, when approaching the schooner, 
 we had observed about a mile outside of the 
 Reef. 
 
 " Heave up the anchor !" shouted the captain, 
 " double reef the main-sail ; unlace the bonnet 
 of the jib! Here you, Paiggles, mko the 
 helm I"
 
 OR FRED RANSC M. 239 
 
 Although Rugglcs lived forward, lie was a 
 
 sort of sub-officer, and, in any emergency, he 
 
 was selected for the post of responsibility. In 
 
 the course of five minutes, the anchor was tripped, 
 
 the Flying Cloud 1 8 head paid off, and we wero 
 
 under way, with the falls of the windlass still 
 
 clicking, as the men hove away to get the anchor 
 
 to the cathead. For a few seconds, the captain 
 
 shook the schooner up in the wind, to clear the 
 
 anchor-flukes when they were awash under our 
 
 bow ; and then, as the men put a stopper on the 
 
 anchor, he kept her off again. Before they 
 
 could accomplish that, the schooner was heeled 
 
 over and rushing through the water. I had 
 
 never been under way in the Flying Cloud, in 
 
 a gale, when she was close-hauled. When we 
 
 sailed for the wreck south of Indian Key, we had 
 
 had a fair breeze. Now the vessel had a chance 
 
 of showing her sailing qualities, and well did 
 
 she maintain her reputation on the Reef. The 
 
 water swashed over her deck, but the gale was 
 
 so heavy that her lee scuppers were always 
 
 beneath the surface; yet while she thrilled in 
 
 every timber, she tore through the water, 
 
 gracefully riding the seas, laying her course 
 
 close in the wind's eye, and holding it in one 
 
 unswerving line. 
 
 There had been so much to attend to on tho 
 Flying Cloud, that we had all paid compara-
 
 2'10 THE YOUNG WEECZEE, 
 
 tively little attention to the ship ; but now that 
 every thing was snug on our decks, and the 
 vessel fairly under way, all hands stood at their 
 stations, and speculated upon the fate of the 
 ship on that lee shore. 
 
 George and I were standing near the captain, 
 who had remained near the wheel, and had not 
 spoken, except to give his orders to the crew, 
 when he said half-musingly, and half as if ad 
 dressing us, 
 
 " There 's scarcely a chance for her.". 
 
 " Is n't there ?" said George, glad to avail 
 himself of an opportunity to gratify his cu 
 riosity. "What are you going to do, father?" 
 
 " I 'm going to try to get out to her by one 
 of the channels across the Beef," said the cap 
 tain, " but nothing can save her unless the 
 wind shifts. It '11 be close sailing for the 
 schooner to get through the channel, with a 
 head wind, but I '11 try it. If we go on the 
 Reef, some one will have to wreck us. Ready, 
 about!" added the captain, in a stentorian 
 voice. 
 
 "Ready!" shouted the men at the jib-sheet. 
 
 "Helm's a-lee!" sang out the captain. 
 Ruggles put the helm hard a-lee, and the 
 schooner turned around like a top, with the 
 blocks rattling, and the sails flapping as if they 
 would split.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 241 
 
 "Draw away !" added the captain, almost in 
 tlie same breath, so rapidly did the schooner go 
 about. 
 
 Over we heeled on the other tack, and went 
 whizzing through the water, with the spray fly 
 ing all over the schooner. 
 
 Once more we went about, and steered a 
 little to windward of the entrance to the chan 
 nel across the Beef, so as to be certain of 
 fetching it, in case the wind should veer a little ; 
 but without that, we were almost certain to do 
 it, for the wind blew so hard that Buggies was 
 constantly obliged to ease the schooner by 
 running her up slightly into the wind, by which 
 process, with the tremendous way that she 
 had, we were always shooting up to windward. 
 
 " Keep her off," said the captain, as we 
 neared the channel, and the vessel, being now 
 brought with the wind full on her sails, careened 
 so much that I thought she would either cap- 
 Bi ze or carry away her main-mast. 
 
 "Steady, at that!" said the captain, to 
 Buggies. " Here, one of you men, lend him a 
 hand. It's pretty hard steering now, boys," 
 said the captain, addressing us. 
 
 "Linden and Deal!" sang out the captain 
 again, " stand by the peak-halliards ! " 
 
 The schooner entered the channel, and Wd 
 21
 
 242 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 could soe, by the roll of the waves, that the 
 water was very shoal. 
 
 "Now, men!" shouted the captain, looking 
 astern, to get a range that he knew on shore, 
 "stand by; a moment's time may lose the 
 schooner ! " 
 
 Every man was at his post, and we flashed 
 through the channel, while, combing up astern 
 of us, came a wave that proved the shallow- 
 ness of the water through which we were 
 passing. 
 
 " Ready, about !" roared the captain, as we 
 almost struck the edge of the channel; and 
 about the schooner went on her heel. In a few 
 seconds more we were in the Gulf. The cap 
 tain drew a long breath, as if infinitely relieved, 
 and said to us : 
 
 " I would n't want to try that again for any 
 thing you could offer me." 
 
 While we had been passing through the 
 narrow channel, our attention had been once 
 more distracted from the ship, but now that it 
 was again plain sailing, every gaze was riveted 
 upon her. She was a large ship and evidently 
 a good sailer, but she was tasked to her utmost. 
 She had not apparently gained much to wind 
 ward since we first sighted her. She was 
 sailing under close canvas, with double-reefed 
 topsails. The captain kopt his glass constantly
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 243 
 
 directed towards her, but we could see her dis 
 tinctly with the naked eye. 
 
 All at once her topsails split, part of them 
 blew out of the bolt-ropes, the ship's head paid 
 off towards the Beef, and her crew let the jib 
 go by the run. 
 
 " Lower away the peak !" shouted the captain 
 to Linden, " lower, lower away ! Mind your 
 helm," said he to Ruggles, " and run the 
 schooner up into the wind, if I sing out ! We '11 
 catch that squall presently. That ship 's as 
 good as lost," said he, addressing us boys, as 
 he saw the sailors climbing aloft and trying to 
 bend a new storm-sail, while the ship swept 
 rapidly to leeward. " There 's no time to bend 
 a sail, before she '11 be on the Eeef. They see 
 it now, for the captain 's trying to get up the 
 jib and a piece of the spanker; there they go, 
 torn to ribbons ! It 's all up ! Ease the schoon 
 er," said he quickly to Ruggles, " here comes a 
 snorter." 
 
 The blast struck us, and made every thing 
 hum ; but Ruggles had put the helm hard a-lee, 
 and that, with our lowered peak, saved us from 
 destruction. 
 
 The ship came drifting down towards us". 
 We went about again, and as we came up with 
 lier, we backed our jib and laid tho schooner
 
 2-14 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 to, so that she drifted to leeward side by side 
 with the ship. 
 
 " Where am I ?" shouted the captain of tho 
 ship through his speaking trumpet. 
 
 " Abreast of Cape Florida," Captain Bowers 
 replied through his trumpet. 
 
 " What 's best to be done ?" said the captain 
 of the ship. 
 
 "Let go both anchors," replied Captain 
 Bowers, " and give them all the scope of chain 
 you Ve got. You 're almost on the Beef." 
 
 We heard the trumpet on the ship speak in a 
 lower tone, and then one anchor after the other 
 was let go, and the cables ran rapidly out of 
 the hawse-holes ; but it was some time before 
 the men could manage to give them a turn 
 around the windlass, and then one of them 
 parted, and the ship commenced dragging slowly 
 to leeward. 
 
 Meanwhile, we had been lying to and slowly 
 drifting towards the Reef, but, seeing the ship 
 dragging, Captain Bowers ordered the men to 
 ease away the jib and lower the main-sail. 
 The Flying Cloud went off before the wind, 
 under her jib and in a few minutes darted 
 through the channel across the Eeef. When 
 she came into the Reef-channel, we hoisted a 
 piece of the main-sail by the throat-halliards, 
 and ran along the inside edge of the Reef, until
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 245 
 
 we were opposite to the place where the great 
 ship was slowly drifting down upon the outside 
 of it, just where there was one of those spots 
 of sand found at rare intervals on its crest. 
 
 In a moment, oui ?ails were let go by the 
 run, and we came to anchor. "Without any 
 delay, the men furled the jib and the main-sail, 
 and, as the last gaskets were being made fast, 
 we saw the ship strike.
 
 24.fi THE YOUNG WHECKF/R, 
 
 RESCUE OF TME SHIP'S CREW-ALL. ABOARO 
 THE FLYING CUOUD-THE STORM CONTINUED 
 -THE FLYING CLOUD LYING AT HER ANCHORS 
 AND RIDING OUT THE GALE. 
 
 HE ship struck on her bilge, 
 fell over on her beam-ends, and 
 the sea dashed over her in a mass of 
 foam. In this position she rolled 
 heavily from side to side, and, with 
 one surge heavier than the rest, two 
 masts went by the board. 
 " We must save her crew, my men !" ex- 
 clAimed Captain Bowers. " Who volunteers to 
 man a boat?" 
 
 All the men eagerly rushed forward, and tho 
 captain said : 
 
 "You, Ruggles, Linden, Deal, and two 
 others. Lower away the starboard boat!" 
 
 More quickly than it is told, the men lowered 
 the boat and unhooked the falls. The captain
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 217 
 
 ordered a coil of rope to be thrown into her, 
 and then leaped aboard with his speaking 
 trumpet in his hand. The oars fell into the 
 rowlocks, and the boat went plunging through 
 the heavy sea. 
 
 The captain steered for the little spot of sand, 
 on the outside of which the breakers were 
 dashing in long lines, like gigantic cavalry 
 charging from the sea. Fortunate, indeed, was 
 it for the crew of the ship, that she had drifted 
 on the Beef at a point just to windward of that 
 Band island. Using the telescope, I saw the 
 captain land on the leeward side of it, run to 
 the windward side, then stop and put the 
 trumpet to his lips. At the distance at which 
 we lay in the schooner, I could not distinguish 
 what he said, but a movement instantly took 
 place among the forms that clung about tho 
 ship's deck. In a few minutes, I could perceive 
 a couple of men making a line fast to the ship's 
 stern, and then, after a pause, a sailor, holding 
 the line, dropped into the water. There I lost 
 sight of him in the engulfing waves, and in 
 tently watched the boat's crew on the beach. 
 Suddenly they*rushed forward, and I saw them 
 drag a dark object from the edge of the break 
 ers. They supported it. It stood erect and 
 walked. The sailor was saved ! 
 
 " Hurrah !" exclaimed I to Georcre, who stood
 
 248 THE YOUNG WHECZEB, 
 
 beside me, and to whom I described every move 
 ment that I saw. " One saved ; hurrah !" 
 
 " What are they doing now ?" said George 
 to me, " can you make out ? They 're at the 
 boat." 
 
 "No/' I replied, looking through the tele 
 scope. " I can see them as plainly as I can see 
 you, but I can 't make out. They seem to be 
 bending the line from the ship to the middle 
 of the boat. Yes, that 's it ; now they are 
 rolling the boat over and over, and the line is 
 getting taut. I see what it is now ! They are 
 rigging up something on the ship. It 's a sling 
 of heavy stuff, with a line made fast to it. 
 Now the captain is saying something through 
 his trumpet. Now I can see a sailor getting 
 into the sling. There he comes, do n't you see ? 
 sliding down, working his way hand over 
 hand, while the slack line pays out behind him. 
 There he is, just at the edge of the breakers, 
 and the line swags so much that they '11 carry 
 him away. No they won't ! Our men have 
 given the boat another turn over on the beach. 
 He has cleared the breakers ! Hurrah ! One 
 more saved!" 
 
 Here George and I engaged in capering about 
 deck, shaking hands with each other and shout- 
 in ar to Hannibal.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 
 
 " Look again, Fred," said George to me, " or 
 let me have the glass." 
 
 " I 've got it on them again," said I. " The 
 captain is bending his line to the sling. Now 
 he is speaking the ship again. There goes the 
 sling back to the ship. There 's another 
 man getting into it. Our men on shore are 
 pulling him down as fast as they can go. 
 They 've got him safe ashore. I see him getting 
 out. There goes the sling back again. Now 
 there 's another man getting into it. Here he 
 comes, hurrah ! that 's quick work. There goes 
 the sling back again. They'll all be saved, 
 George, won't they? Won't they be saved, 
 Hannibal?" hallooed I to the cook, who was 
 standing near and participating in our excite 
 ment. 
 
 " Lor' bress urn, and watch over um, Massa 
 Fred ! I believe you 'se right," said Hannibal, 
 " But I wish dey was all ashore, for ebery 
 one make dis chile feel as if dat would be de 
 lass." 
 
 But down came another and another and 
 another ; and we watched them through their 
 perilous journey, and, at every escape, capered 
 and lugged each other around, bestowed some 
 hearty slaps upon Hannibal's broad shoulders, 
 and then quieted down and renewed our ob 
 servation of what was happening on shore.
 
 250 THE YOUNG 
 
 At last, there was a pause, and the scattered 
 pigmies on the beach collected in a group ; and 
 I could distinguish the men engaged in un 
 bending the line on the boat and righting hci 
 again. Then some of them seized her by the 
 gunwale, and ran her down to the leeward side 
 of the beach, and a number crowded in and 
 shoved off, leaving the rest on the island. 
 
 In five minutes, the captain was along-side, 
 and a portion of the ship's crew jumped upon 
 our deck. 
 
 "Shove her off," said the captain ; "there's 
 not a moment to be lost, the water 's commen 
 cing to rise on the beach." 
 
 The boat shot away again, and George and I 
 addressed ourselves to the wants of the ship 
 wrecked men. They had saved nothing : it was 
 hardly worth while to ask the question, -for we 
 had seen all. Wet, exhausted, and miserable 
 'they were. We sent them below, and Han 
 nibal instantly supplied them with hot coffee, 
 which he had prepared in articipation of its 
 being needed. The three men on board 
 opened their kits, and made the new-comers 
 welcome to every thing in their possession. 
 The Norwegian's clothes, now, for the first- 
 time, came into play; for not one of the men 
 had ever been willing to wear the clothes of the 
 poor fellow.
 
 OB FRED RAITSOM. 251 
 
 By the time that the captain returned with 
 the second and last boat-load, including the 
 captain and mates of the ship, who had preferred 
 to remain on the beach, the first set of men 
 were tolerably comfortable. Captain Bowers 
 took the captain and first officer into the cabin, 
 to fit them out with his wardrobe, while the 
 crew of the boat provided the last-comers from 
 their kits. 
 
 We had both anchors out, and it was as much 
 as they could do to hold ; but we gave them all 
 the scope of cable that we had, and lay plunging 
 up and down, and buffeted about as if we had 
 been in the open sea. 
 
 The ship rolled so heavily, that every minute 
 I expected to see her go to pieces. Her third 
 mast soon snapped; and there she lay, a great 
 dark hulk that was every now and then ob 
 scured by a dense whirling cloud of foam. 
 
 The ship's crew, fourteen men in all, were 
 saved. They consisted of the captain, the first 
 and second mates, and eleven men. George and 
 I gave up our berths to the captain and tho 
 first mate, and the other . mate stayed forward 
 with the crew, as is quite usual on board of 
 ships. As it was storming so violently, all 
 hands, except a watch, had to stay below. It 
 
 as quite crowded forward; but, in the cabin, 
 the onlv difference in comfort was that George
 
 252 THE YOUNG WEECKEK, 
 
 and I shared, in common, the extra Dcrth of 
 the cabin, which, by spreading a couple of boat- 
 sails in it, \ve managed to make quite comfort 
 able. 
 
 The captain of the wrecked ship was in very 
 low spirits, as may well be imagined, for be 
 had no hopes of saving her cargo, and Captain 
 Bowers was not able to offer him any consola 
 tion on that point. "We spent the evening very 
 drearily. The schooner lurched violently from 
 aide to side, and every now and then, in the 
 intervals of frantic pitching, the captain of the 
 ship would ask some question, to which Captain 
 Bowers would respond, and then, after an at 
 tempt to keep up a conversation, silence would 
 settle down upon the occupants of the cabin, 
 and their energies would be confined to steady 
 ing themselves in their seats or berths. 
 ' If one has never spent a night aboard vessel 
 in a storm, either in a roadstead or in the 
 open sea, he can have little conception of what 
 a dismal scene the interior of the vessel on such 
 occasions presents. In the best time that can be 
 properly termed a storm, on deck there are the 
 creaking spars and shrilly-whistling cordage 
 and masts playing wildly to and fro over the 
 laboring hull that every instant experiences a 
 heavy shock and besprinkling from stem to stern. 
 In the cabin, things are in disorder; clothes
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 253 
 
 thrown hastily aside ; broken glass ; the faint 
 light of the lamp clinking in its gimbals ; disor 
 der, discomfort, everywhere. But in severe 
 storms, the very nature of things is reversed. 
 Then the ship groans as if in agony ; the shocks 
 fall like those from a battering-ram; the cordage 
 shrieks and howls as if demons filled the air; the 
 tall masts bend like wands. There is darkness, 
 with fitful gleams of light, whence coming or 
 whither gone, impossible to tell. Sailors run 
 quickly over the decks, or clamber aloft; and all 
 that interposes between the ship and destruction, 
 are those dark flitting forms, that binnacle-lamp 
 faintly glowing and shedding its light on the 
 compass and on a calm, observant face. 
 
 We experienced not all of this on that dark 
 tempestuous night ; but we were on a lee shore, 
 plunging into the seas, with every timber crack 
 ing and straining, as the vessel surged at tffe 
 cables and brought up with a jerk hard enough 
 to disengage our grasp of the supports which we 
 were all forced to seek in every posture. Then, 
 every thing would rattle, and then would come 
 a horrid shock : then a roll on one side, then a 
 shivering in every timber, the ring of metal, 
 the crash of glass, the sough of the wind, in 
 termingled with the shrieks and howls of the 
 .demons in the cordage. And in the cabin sat 
 two forlorn men, whoso ship lay beating, scarce 
 22
 
 254 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 five hundred yards away, on the roaring, piti 
 less Reef. 
 
 There was no sleep that night for any one, 
 either forward or aft. The watch was on the 
 alert, and every few minutes Captain Bowers 
 was on deck, and the poor captain of the ship 
 followed him and strained his eyes in the gloom 
 to try to obtain one glimpse of his ill-starred 
 craft. 
 
 Towards morning the gale began to abate, 
 and long before dawn every soul was on deck 
 and anxiously waiting to discover what the 
 first light would reveal as to the condition of 
 the ship. 
 
 At last day dawned, and showed us the state 
 of affairs. The storm had so raised the level 
 of the water along the coast, that what with 
 the increased depth and the violence of the 
 tteives, the ship had been canted around on her 
 bilge, until she lay athwart the Eeef, with her 
 bow pointing seaward. In this position, she 
 presented a comparatively small surface to the 
 action of the waves, which, before, had struck 
 her fairly on her beam. Now, they struck her 
 bow, raised it slightly, and dropped it as they 
 sped onward; and then she swayed heavily from 
 Bide to side, until the next great billow came 
 rolling in, raised her, and dropped her as it
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 255 
 
 rushed by her sides, and roared away over the 
 Beef. 
 
 By twelve o'clock, the storm was decidedly 
 abating, but the same sea still swept in from 
 the ocean, which was a grand sight. As far as 
 we could see, it rolled in maddened turbu 
 lence. There was a war of the waters. Groups 
 of white-capped waves rushed frantically at 
 each other, and then all went down together 
 in the struggle; and in a moment their dark 
 forms and white angry crests appeared, arose, 
 and dashed together again desperately, in' un 
 yielding and tumultuous strife. 
 
 No wreckers hove in sight. It was impos 
 sible for them to leave their anchorages. But 
 we did not concern ourselves about them. 
 Even if our thoughts had not been absorbed 
 with pity for the unfortunate situation of the 
 rescued sailors, we would have been easy in, 
 mind in regard to the disposition of the wreck, 
 for the captain of the ship had authorized Cap 
 tain Bowers to take charge of whatever tha 
 elements might spare. 
 
 Once more night closed upon the scene, with 
 the wind gradually lulling, but the seas still 
 maintaining their ascendancy, and, on account 
 of the diminution of the wind, as distinguish 
 able in the darkness, to the ear, as they had 
 been by day to the sight. All night long the
 
 256 TEE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 wind gradually lulled, until, by morning, it wa? 
 almost calm. But all night long, the seas rolled 
 on in a chorus of blending, hoarse, and mena 
 cing roar. 

 
 OR FRED RANSOM 
 
 257 
 
 OZHLA-IFTIEIR, 
 
 THE WRECK DRIVEN HIGHER ON THE REEF- 
 WRECKERS HEAVE IN SIGHT-TWO ARE RE 
 TAINED BY CAPTAIN BOWERS-THEY TAKE 
 A LOAD FROM THE SHIP AND SAIL FOR 
 KEY WEST BRADY'S QUARREL ON SHORE 
 WITH THE " BIG INGIN," AND HOW IT ENDED. 
 
 'ORNING- arrived at last, and 
 showed us the ship in a higher 
 position on the Reef than the one 
 which she had occupied during the 
 previous day. The storm had gra 
 dually subsided, until the wind had 
 become a gentle breeze, and no 
 thing remained but the effects of the gale, in 
 the still agitated sea and the stranded ship. 
 
 Then, towards the north and south, appeared 
 the distant and approaching sails of the wreck 
 ers, which, before long, arrived, came to, and 
 boarded us to know what was to be done. Oar 
 captain had his plans matured, but the sea was 
 Btill too boisterous to put them into execution. 
 22*
 
 258 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 . 
 
 The services of two of the wreckers, that were 
 of greater tonnage than the others, were se 
 cured, and the rest made sail again for their 
 stations. 
 
 In the afternoon, the two quarter-boats and 
 the dingy went ashore, carrying all hands except 
 a crew left on board of the schooner. George 
 and I went in one of the boats, which were 
 provided with axes, and switchel in a keg for 
 the men, and with water in a monkey* for the 
 officers. Parts of the crews of the two other 
 wreckers, equipped in the same manner, went 
 ashore in their own boats. 
 
 We landed on one of the Keys, not far to 
 the southward of Key Biscayne, and found, on 
 its southern point, a place on which there was 
 a good sandy soil, covered with a sparse and 
 stunted growth of bushes. The men, who num 
 bered about thirty, went to work with their 
 axes and hatchets, and by nightfall they had 
 managed to 'cut down the growth and heap it 
 around the edge of the clearing. When this 
 was done, the crews pulled off in their boats to 
 their respective vessels. 
 
 Throughout the whole day and night of the 
 22d, the same gentle breeze prevailed, so that, 
 by the following morning, the sea was quite 
 
 * The monkey is a jug of porous earthenware.
 
 Oil FRED RANSOM. 
 
 placid. In two or three hours after daylight, it 
 was almost calm on the Keef, but still remained 
 deeper there than usual, owing to the violence 
 of the gale which had been blowing towards 
 the coast. 
 
 Captain Bowers and the captains of the two 
 wreckers had concerted measures in advance ; 
 BO that, the moment the sea became tranquil, 
 the vessels, which had been lying with loosened 
 sails and anchors apeak, got under way and 
 steered for the ship. The Flying Cloud arrived 
 first, and the water was so tranquil that Captain 
 Bowers was enabled to make her fast along-side 
 of the ship, merely getting his fenders out to 
 avoid chafing the schooner's bulwarks. During 
 the latter part of the blow, the ship had been 
 forced further on the Beef, and had settled 
 in a hollow, in which, by working, she had 
 gradually embedded. With the increased depth 
 of. water on the Reef, she had then righted 
 so much that she now lay almost on an even 
 keel. 
 
 Our crew soon forced a convenient entrance 
 into the hull of the ship, by going to work 
 with their axes in a place on the side where 
 she had been so violently pounded that the 
 planking was broken and beaten into a fibrous 
 pulp. The other wreckers followed our exam 
 ple; and, soon, almost every man belonging to
 
 SCO THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 
 the three vessels was engaged in unloading the 
 ship. The cargo was from Boston, and consisted 
 of common furniture for one or two of the port? 
 in the Gulf. Soon the decks, holds, and cabins 
 of the three schooners were crammed with cabi 
 net-ware. All three then cast off from the ship, 
 and Captain Bowers ordered the two, which he 
 had employed, to sail immediately for Key West, 
 and return as soon as they could unload their 
 cargoes. The Flying Cloud sailed in close to 
 the Key where we had made the clearing, and 
 the whole afternoon was consumed in transfer 
 ring her cargo to the beach, and in spreading 
 sails over it to protect it from the weather. 
 At sundown Kuggles was left ashore with an 
 armed party, consisting of Linden, Deal, Brady, 
 and a couple of the crew from the ship. The 
 captain took this precaution on account of hav 
 ing observed an Indian canoe paddling from the 
 main-land, in the direction of the Key. AVe 
 left the men a little coffee, salt pork, and hard 
 tack, with which to prepare their breakfast for 
 the next morning. 
 
 In the morning, at daylight, all hands aboard 
 of the schooner had their coffee, and without 
 visiting the party on shore, proceeded at once to 
 the wreck, and recommenced to unload her. By 
 twelve o'clock, we had our cargo completed, and 
 Bailed for the beach, to which, as on the day be-
 
 OE FEED RANSOM. 261 
 
 fore, we transferred every thing. From curiosity 
 to know what was going on there, George and 
 I, accompanied by Jack, went ashore with the 
 captain in the first boat that left the schooner. 
 As we neared the shore, we saw three or four 
 Indians standing near our men, and, on landing, 
 distinguished by the tone of Brady's voice that 
 he was angry. As George and I approached 
 the group, I caught sight of Brady shaking his 
 fist under an Indian's nose, and heard him ex 
 claim : 
 
 " Ye dud ! ye dud ! I see the graise around 
 yer chaps now, ye botherin' old parrot-toes. Go 
 'lang wid ye; do ye think I come to Ameriky to 
 be cook to an Ingin, bedad?" Here Brady 
 flourished his fist within an inch of the Indian's 
 nose. 
 
 " What 's all this row about ?" said the cap 
 tain, brushing past the outskirts of the group, 
 and elbowing his way up to Brady and hia 
 opponent, just as the latter was making a low 
 guttural response, of which I could understand 
 nothing. " What 's the matter, I say ? Speak, 
 Brady !" 
 
 " Spake, is it ? an' sure, an' it 's little spakin' 
 I fale like doin' this minute, yer honor, the 
 captain. I want ye to see him git fair play wid 
 fist or shillelah ; ?.nd if he won't fight, wid yer
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 honor's permission, 1 11 give him a taste of ma 
 fut." 
 
 " But the matter, the matter ?" said the cap 
 tain, impatiently. 
 
 " Ah ! it 's the mather, the mather, you 'd be 
 afther knowin' ? Well, there 's enough the 
 mather ! 1 11 till ye ivery worrud. This blessed 
 minute, the min had all done their dinner, and 
 was gone to worruk ayont, and I was frying me 
 bit porruk ; and, thinks I, the fire 's not hot 
 enough, I want some of thim dry brush-wood I 
 see over there, and I goes to get it. And as I 
 was a-coming back, I see this coppery thafe wid 
 his chakes stuck out, and chawing very speedy, 
 an' not a bit of me porruk in the pan. I says 
 to him, 'ye 're a thafe;' and I put me fist till 
 his nose, and I says again, 'ye 're a thafe;' and 
 the chewin' he kep' up was awful to behold, and 
 all to wunst he give a swaller, and stared at me 
 as if he was a-chokin'. 'Ye 're a thafe,' says I 
 again, for the thirrud time ; 'won't ye be afther 
 answerin' me? Ye stole me porruk.' And he 
 says to me : 
 
 " ' Ingin no stale. Big Ingin, great chief 
 Mickewakestamekakekyme.' 
 
 " Chafe, indade, ye spalpeen, says I, ye staled 
 me porruk, and do n't I see the graise rinnin' 
 down yer chaps? Go lang, wid yer chafe. 
 And, yer honor, the min came rinnin' around
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 263 
 
 nz, and I was jest going to lay the heft of an 
 Irishman's vingince on him, when yer honor 
 came up." 
 
 While listening to this recital, and looking at 
 the excited and pugnacious Brady, contrasted 
 with the stolid Indian, who despite his denial, 
 was glistening around the mouth from the ef 
 fects of his hasty repast, the captain was 
 neized with several convulsive twitches of coun 
 tenance; and as Brady concluded with an at 
 tempt at the name of the chief, and his own 
 reply upon its dignified announcement by the 
 owner, the captain burst out laughing, and went 
 into such convulsions of merriment, that he 
 Lad to cast himself on the ground. The con 
 tagion spread to the whole party, who roared 
 in concert with the captain, until the puzzled 
 Brady broke forth into a succession of broad 
 grins, alternated by eclipses of serious ex 
 pression ; and even the greasy mouth of the 
 much-injured Indian, who, despite his tell 
 tale appearance, had maintained an air of 
 dignified composure, melted into something like 
 a smile. 
 
 At last the captain arose, almost exhausted, 
 and after having taken Brady aside, rejoined 
 the group, and addressing the Indian, said : 
 
 " Friend, he muph sorry. He no see buzzard 
 takee."
 
 264 THE YOUNG WEECKEE, 
 
 " Yah, yah," replied the Indian. " Buzzard 
 much plenty here, much takee pork." 
 
 " And, by the way," said the captain, Indian 
 man want eatee, here plenty." 
 
 "Yah, yah, yah," replied the Indian, "chief 
 tankee much." 
 
 The Indian was evidently pleased at this 
 intimation of the captain, and he, with the 
 three companions who had accompanied him to 
 the Key, walked quietly away to the place 
 where they had left their canoe. 
 
 The captain then turned to Brady, and 
 said: 
 
 " Now, Brady, I 'm not surprised that you 
 were provoked, but you and all the men do 
 you all hear ? must keep on the right side of 
 these fellows, or they '11 give us trouble. I 
 do n't want you to let them steal the furniture, 
 sails, or any thing valuable ; but do n't have 
 any difficulty with them for the matter of a piece 
 of pork. Let them have what they want to 
 eat, and I '11 furnish you with a larger allow 
 ance. All you have to do is to keep a bright 
 lookout for the property on shore." Saying 
 this, the captain returned to the boat with 
 us, and pulled off for the vessel. Jack sat in 
 the stern-sheets, and kept up the growling and 
 suppressed bark with which he had le?n 
 affected ever since he caught sight of tho
 
 OH FRED RANSOM. 200 
 
 Indians, around whose calves he had walked 
 and snuffed until he almost disconcerted the 
 chief of the greasy chin and unpronounceable 
 name. 
 
 23
 
 266 THE YOUNG WRECKES, 
 
 THE WATER SUBSIDES ALONG THE REEF-THE 
 FLYING CLOUD CONTINUES THE WRECKING- 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE BRADY DESCRIBES THE 
 APPEARANCE OF THE IRISH INDIANS-THE RE 
 TURN OF THE TWO WRECKERS-ALL THE 
 WRECKERS WEIGH ANCHOR FRED RANSOM 
 MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE FAMILY 
 OF CAPTAIN BOWERS. 
 
 Y the following morning, the water 
 along the coast had subsided to its 
 usual level, and the depth on the 
 Eeef had so decreased that the 
 Flying Cloud was no longer able 
 to approach the side of the ship. 
 This was of little consequence, for 
 the principal part of the furniture that had 
 escaped damage sufficiently to render it worth 
 removal had been saved in the four cargoes 
 which had been taken from the ship. The two 
 quarter-boats were now employed in trans 
 porting all that remained undamaged, and even 
 the little dingy did her share in the work.
 
 OK FRED RANSOM. 207 
 
 The water was now sufficiently low to enable 
 us to get at the kits of the sailors, and they 
 were immediately removed to the schooner, 
 whose rigging was soon dressed with garments 
 hung out to dry. The clothes of the captain of 
 the ship, and of his chief mate, had been saved 
 upon the first occasion upon which the three 
 schooners had lain along-side of the wreck. 
 The level of the cabin being much higher than 
 that of the forecastle, they were out of reach of 
 the water after the waves ceased to break over 
 the ship. 
 
 By night-time, we had collected quite a 
 number of other things that were worth saving, 
 and had stowed them aboard of the schooner. 
 On the following morning, the Flying Cloud 
 sailed as near to the Reef as she could approach 
 without danger of grounding, and the boats 
 went to and from the wreck, until almost 
 every thing above water, and portable, had been 
 removed. 
 
 The next day, the 26th, as the weather after 
 the storm was becoming quite hot again, and 
 the addition of the ship's crew to the small 
 accommodations forward rendered the place so 
 close as to be almost intolerable, some men 
 were sent on shore and rigged up awnings mads 
 of spare sails that had belonged to the ship. 
 Under the protection of these, a portion of tho
 
 THE YOUNG CHECKER, 
 
 ship's crew spent that night, in company with 
 the party on guard. While the men were en 
 gaged on shore, with the party of Buggies, in 
 constructing these makeshifts for tents, Captain 
 Bowers got the Flying Cloud under way, and 
 ran through the channel which crossed tho 
 Beef. On reaching the Gulf edge of the Reef, 
 he laid up along it, until opposite to the wreck, 
 and let go his anchor in about seventeen fa 
 thoms of water. He then lowered the remain 
 ing quarter-boat (the party on shore had been 
 allowed to retain one), and sent it aboard the ship 
 to get the chain-cable. Meanwhile, we passed 
 out of one of the schooner's hawse-holes the end 
 of the cable of the anchor that was hanging at 
 her bow. In a short time, the men who had 
 been despatched to the ship had made a line 
 fast to the end of her cable, and lowered it into 
 the stern-sheets of the boat. They then hauled 
 into the boat a little of the slack, and with 
 much difficulty rowed to the schooner; for, 
 although the cable was quite slack, for tho 
 reason that the ship had changed position after 
 having struck on the Beef, yet, be it remem 
 bered that any chain-cable is a very heavy 
 thing, and that of a ship particularly massive. 
 With some trouble, we managed to pass tho 
 end of the cable through the hawse-hole from 
 which we had removed our c' ble. The men then
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 2C9 
 
 ho ;e away at the windlass. As our own chain 
 cane home through one hawse-hole, a large gang 
 of men hauled in the ship's cable through the 
 other; and just as our anchor broke ground, 
 the ship's cable was passed around the bitts, 
 and the men continuing to heave at the wind 
 lass, we at once swung at the ship's anchor. 
 As it was lying outside of the place for which 
 the schooner had headed, in weighing her own 
 anchor, her stern fell off, and she headed to 
 wards the Gulf. We took in over a hundred 
 fathoms of chain before we got the ship's anchor 
 apeak. For the ship to have dragged ashore 
 with over a hundred fathoms of scope out shows 
 what must have been the violence of the gale in 
 which she was wrecked. 
 
 When we got the anchor to the cathead, we 
 found that it was too heavy to be carried there, 
 for it put the schooner entirely out of trim ; so 
 we hoisted it aboard, and placed it about amid 
 ships, just forward of the main hatchway. 
 
 There was little hope of getting the other 
 anchor. It had been cast in about twenty 
 fathoms of water. When the chain had parted, 
 it was at a point so far from the Reef, that it 
 would have been difficult to find the end of the 
 cable, unless upon such an occasion as one al 
 ready described, when the water was so limpid 
 that it resembled molten glass. The short piece 
 23*
 
 270 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 of cable, which still hung through the hawse- 
 hole in the ship's bow, was secured by our quar 
 ter-boat; and we then ran down the edge of 
 the Beef, sailed through the channel across it, 
 and came to anchor in the Eeef- Channel. 
 
 Here, after every thing was made snug, we 
 again lowered our quarter-boat, and sent the 
 rest of the ship's crew ashore, with directions 
 to remain there with their shipmates, and to 
 relieve Kuggles and the schooner's men who were 
 stationed there. They were told to keep one 
 of the quarter-boats, but were cautioned to haul 
 it up on the beach, beyond the reach of the 
 sea. In the course of half an hour, Kuggles 
 and the rest of the party, detailed for the first 
 guard on shore, came aboard. Very glad they 
 were to be relieved from their duty. Brady, in 
 great glee, climbed up the side of the schooner. 
 When he got on deck, I asked him how he liked 
 it ashore. 
 
 "Musha! musha!". said he, working his 
 shoulders around inside of his shirt, " the nms- 
 katees and sand-flies is enough to ate a man up 
 be night." 
 
 " And the Indians by day," said I, jokingly. 
 
 "It was the porruk he ate,'' retorted Brady. 
 "Bad luck till him!" 
 
 " la Ireland/ Eaid I, " you are not bothered
 
 OE FRED RANSOM. 271 
 
 with Indians. You 've got the advantage of us 
 there." 
 
 " "We 're not," answered Brady, " that 's thrue 
 for ye, Misther Fred; but if ye mane to say 
 there 's no Ingins there, ye 're meestakin'. In 
 Ireland they're dacent drissed and behaved 
 that 's the difference." 
 
 " Do they look at all like the Indians here," 
 said I, choking down premonitory symptoms of 
 a laugh. 
 
 " Wid graisy clothes on, and leather poorses 
 on their fate? Indade they don't! I wunst 
 see a tribe of thim, and ivery mither's son of 
 'em a chafe, and had a complate shoot of black, 
 wid a satin waistcoat to match." 
 
 This picture of a tribe of Indians was too 
 much for me. I burst out laughing, much to 
 the affected surprise of Brady, who kept 
 saying, 
 
 " An' what 's so quare about their drissing 
 that way ? It 's jew to the riches of the coun- 
 thry." ' 
 
 "But, Brady," suggested I, thinking that I 
 could nonplus him once, "how could each 
 man be chief?" 
 
 " Och ! how should I know the arringements 
 they has ?" replied the immovable Brady. " In 
 Ameriky aint ivery win of uz a sovereign ?" 
 
 With . this unanswerable argument, Brady
 
 272 THE YO JNG WRECK3R, 
 
 joined the gang of men, who, by this time, had 
 hooked the falls to the boat, aud were engaged 
 in hoisting her to the davits. 
 
 On the morning of the 27th, the boat from 
 the schooner, and th.it from the shore, again 
 visited the wreck to get the few things which 
 still remained above the level of the water in 
 the hold. About ten o'clock, they had collected 
 a number of small articles, and put them aboard 
 of the Flying Cloud. The Flying Cloud then 
 got under way, and sailed across to the Key; 
 and there she commenced to take in a cargo. 
 About two o'clock in the afternoon, the two 
 wreckers, which had been despatched to Key 
 West, hove in sight, and by four o'clock they 
 came to anchor near us. Then, for the rest of 
 the afternoon, the place presented a lively scene, 
 as the men Busily loaded the boats, and rowed 
 them to and fro between the schooners and the 
 shore. 
 
 Early on the 28th, the loading was resumed, 
 and, by evening, every thing had been removed 
 from the beach to the schooners. That is, every 
 thing except some small articles which our 
 Indian friends had chosen to pilfer. As they 
 were of very small value, both Captain Bowers 
 and the captain of the ship judged it expedient 
 to wink at the theft, rather than, for the sake of 
 obtaining their restitution, run the risk of a
 
 OR FRED RANSOLI. 273 
 
 disturbance which might make enemies of the 
 neighboring Indians, and perhaps result ill a 
 collision between them and the wreckers. 
 
 On the following morning, the three schooners 
 got under way about the same time, and ran 
 down the Reef. The Flying Cloud was the 
 last to get under way, but she soon overhauled 
 and passed her consorts. 
 
 We did not anchor at night. Having a fair 
 wind, we kept on our course down the Eeef- 
 Channel, and early the next morning, after a 
 pleasant voyage, came in sight of Key West. 
 Here, the three schooners hauled along-sido 
 of the wharves in front of the warehouses be 
 longing to our owners, and the unloading and 
 stowing of the goods commenced. 
 
 The captain and George took me up to their 
 house, where I was introduced to the family, 
 which consisted of Mrs. Bowers, a son, and a 
 daughter. George and I continued to sleep 
 aboard of the schooner, but when we were not 
 obliged by duty to remain aboard, we went up 
 to the house; where Mrs. Bowers always greeted 
 me so kindly, and appeared to take so lively an 
 interest in me, that I knew there was no danger 
 of wearing out my welcome.
 
 274 THE YOUtfG WRECKER, 
 
 THE SALVAGE SETTLED BY THE ADMIRALTY 
 COURT IN KEY WEST-THE FLYING CLOUD 
 SAILS FROM KEY WEST-SHE COMES TO 
 ANCHOR OFF INDIAN KEY-THE CAPTAIN, 
 GEORGE, AND FRED, GO ASHORE AND SPEND 
 THE EVENING WITH THE FAMILY OF DOCTOR 
 CLUZEL. 
 
 T will not interest you to know 
 the particulars of our stay in 
 Key West, so I shall not dwell upon 
 them. At first, our time was taken 
 up in unloading the schooner, and iu 
 storing the goods in the warehouses 
 in which the first cargoes had been 
 placed. Then came the decision of 
 the Court in regard to the amount of salvage 
 due, and until that matter was decided, the 
 attendance of Captain Bowers was necessary. 
 The underwriters were in Court to attend to 
 the interests of the Insurance Companies, for 
 the ship had been partially insured. The cap 
 tain, officers, and crew of the ship, were also
 
 OR FRED RA.NSOM. 5}?5 
 
 detained for some time to give their testimony. 
 Finally, tlie cargo was sold, the amount of sal 
 vage was awarded, and the whole business 
 closed. Each of the men was paid his share of 
 the money received for salvage, and upon Cap 
 tain Bowers' representation to our owners that I 
 had performed duty in steering the boats, and in 
 doing whatever else had lain in my power towards 
 saving the cargo, they were so generous as to 
 make me a present of a hundred dollars. This 
 sum I asked that they would allow to remain on 
 deposit with them, so that I might draw upon 
 it in amounts that my necessities might demand. 
 The request was granted, and I found myself 
 the happy possessor of a bank-account made 
 up of a sum won by my own exertions. This 
 money, added to what remained undrawn of the 
 monthly stipend allowed by my father, amounted 
 to nearly one hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 As soon as every thing was settled, and just 
 before our departure from Key "West, I wrote 
 a long letter to my father, in which I described 
 the events that have been narrated in the last 
 few chapters. I mentioned the money which I 
 had earned, and told him that he need no longer 
 furnish me with an allowance. Captain Bowers, 
 observing me about to seal my letter, said that 
 he would like to add a postscript. I handed 
 my letter to him, and he scribbled a line or
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER 
 
 two. In the next letter that I received from 
 my father, he said : "I am rejoiced to learn 
 from the postscript which the captain added to 
 your last letter, that he thinks well of you." 
 It was not until many years afterwards, that, 
 among my father's papers, I chanced to see the 
 postscript. The captain had written, " Have 
 no fears for your boy. You will be satisfied with 
 him." 
 
 While I was in Key West, feeling that I was 
 now quite rich, I purchased an irresistible 
 basket, made of milk-white shells. The frame 
 work was constructed of delicate silver wire. 
 The shells were threaded on the body of the 
 basket, so as to form imitations of roses and 
 other flowers; while, on the handle, the most 
 minute of minute shells were used to represent 
 delicate clustering tendrils. Some of these 
 baskets, which are made in the Bahamas, are 
 formed of shells of a uniform color. Others 
 are made of shells of colors so intermingled as 
 to present a most variegated appearance. The 
 handsomest baskets that I ever saw, were those 
 which were either roseate or white; and, of 
 these, the white are the handsomer, owing to 
 the extreme delicacy and pearly lustre of the 
 shells. 
 
 After making a few repairs, and taking in a 
 supply of provisions and water, we set sail from
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 277 
 
 Key "West, early on* the morning of the 26th 
 of March. Late in the afternoon, we let go 
 our anchor off Indian Key ; the same Key near 
 which we had anchored on my first voyage up 
 the Reef, and just north of which we for 
 some time afterwards occupied a wrecking 
 station. 
 
 On the former occasion, when we anchored 
 off Indian Key, the captain, it will be recol 
 lected, went ashore, but I did not accompany 
 him, and had no opportunity of seeing the 
 place, except what I could distinguish from the 
 deck of the Flying Cloud. This time, as soon 
 as every thing was made snug, the captain 
 ordered the men to lower one of the boats, and 
 took George and me ashore with him. We 
 learned with pleasure that we were going to 
 spend the evening with a family named Cluzel, 
 with whom the captain and George were ac 
 quainted. The family was composed of Dr. 
 Cluzel, his wife, and three children, two of 
 whom were young girls, and the other was a 
 boy younger than George. 
 
 The doctor was an extremely well-educated 
 man, being, in addition to his general attain 
 ments, a naturalist of no small learning and 
 repute. His residence on the Florida Keys 
 afforded him an opportunity of pursuing his 
 favorite study, and he indulged in it with all
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER 
 
 the ardor which actuates those who have once 
 contracted a love for that science. He had a 
 fine collection of works on Natural History and 
 kindred topics, as well as a very fair library of 
 general reading. In fact, his house on Indian 
 Key was an intellectual oasis. To a man fond 
 of any other branch of study, the isolation of 
 such a residence would have been intolerable; 
 but with his family, his books, his papers, and 
 the world of knowledge that the Eeef laid at his 
 feet, the doctor craved no addition to his society, 
 excepting the transient visit of a friend. As for 
 his wife and children, they did not feel the 
 loneliness of their situation ; for the latter had 
 never known any thing else, and the world of 
 the former, as may be truly said in praise of 
 most women, was in the affections. 
 
 We rowed, I might almost say, up to the 
 doctor's very door. His house was built on 
 the shore of the Key; so near that one end was 
 supported by piles, which formed a secure foun 
 dation for the structure, and inclosed a sort of 
 flooded cellar, into which the tide washed 
 through the interstices. This wharf-like cellar 
 was used by the family as a bath-room. Below 
 the contiguous wharf was a large turtle-crawl, 
 from which the family could always draw a 
 supply of turtle, fresh from this little fenccd-in 
 bit of ocean.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 279 
 
 On landing, die captain and George walked 
 with me a short distance beyond the beach, for 
 the purpose of allowing me to get some idea of 
 the character of the settlement ; but fearful lest 
 the doctor's family might happen to perceive us 
 from the windows of the house, and suppose, 
 from our straying past, that we were not eager 
 to see them, we returned to the house and 
 knocked at the door. I had, however, seen 
 enough of the . settlement to ascertain that it 
 was very small, that the houses were of an 
 humble character, and chiefly tenanted by fish 
 ermen and their families. 
 
 On being admitted, we were very kindly 
 received by the doctor and his wife, who de 
 voted themselves to the entertainment of the 
 captain, while George and I were committed to 
 the care of the two young ladi s and their 
 brother. It was soon dusk, and tea was served. 
 After tea, Captain Bowers and the doctor and 
 Mrs. Cluzel continued to -converse, and we 
 younger folks played checkers and backgam 
 mon. Wearying of these, and being at the 
 same time attracted by some of the words 
 which reached us from the other group, we left 
 our games, and collected around the elder 
 people. The doctor was discoursing about some 
 of the many strange things which he had ob 
 served during his residence on the Reef; and,
 
 280 THE YOUNG WEECKEE, 
 
 in the course of the evening, he disclosed a store 
 of knowledge so varied and abundant, that he 
 had no more attentive and charmed listeners 
 than the younger members of the party. It 
 was eleven o'clock before we bade the family 
 good-night, and, accompanied by the doctor, 
 walked down to the beach, and hailed the 
 schooner to send the boat ashore.
 
 OR FEED EANSOM, 
 
 281 
 
 OIHIJLIPTIEIR, 
 
 THE FLYING' CLOUD SAILS FROM INDIAN KEY- 
 SHE ARRIVES AT HER OLD ANCHORAGE-THE 
 CAPTAIN VISITS THE WRECK-THE CREW SET 
 TO WORK. TO SAVE THE IRON ABOUT IT. 
 
 D daylight we were again under 
 way. Whenever we anchored at 
 night, we always weighed anchor 
 at the first faint streaks of light in 
 the eastern horizon. The wind was 
 ahead, and the schooner was obliged 
 to beat all day. Towards night, the 
 wind freshened and shifted, enabling us to lay 
 nearer to our course. Before morning, it hauled 
 again, so that we were obliged to recommence 
 tacking. The captain therefore cast anchor for 
 tnree or four hours, and, just before day, got 
 under way again. Late in the afternoon of the 
 second day of our departure from Indian Key, 
 we came to at our old anchorage and station off 
 Key Biscayne. 
 
 There, on the Keef, a few miles away, lay
 
 282 THE YOUNG WBEOJIEB, 
 
 the hull of the wreck. I could hardly refrain 
 from apostrophizing the thing as something 
 from which life had departed. More to the 
 ship, than to any thing made by man, does it 
 seem as if he had imparted a ray of his intel 
 ligence. The ship is so beautiful in its symme 
 try; its career is so adventurous and checkered; 
 it so promptly and unerringly obeys the slight 
 est impulse from the will of its master, that it 
 seems more life-like than a mere mass of 
 timber, iron, and cordage. And when fate 
 decrees that it shall lie stranded on the shore, 
 it seems like some huge departed leviathan 
 that cumbers the spot with its colossal skel 
 eton. 
 
 On the following day, we made our usuai 
 cruise up and down the Reef; and after we came 
 to anchor, the captain took one of the boats, 
 and went on a visit of inspection to the ship. 
 George and I accompanied him, and were very 
 glad to revisit the scene of our first wrecking 
 exploit. Since we had been at the place, the 
 sea had made sad havoc with the timbers of the 
 great structure, which, for many a year, had 
 sailed from continent to continent, and defied 
 the elements. The merciless waves had 
 vengefully battered in the sides, and rent and 
 scarred the bottom, by grinding it against the 
 sharp-pointed coral. Masses of bulwarks that
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 283 
 
 had once been timber and plank, so securely 
 jointed and battened, that nature itself could 
 scarcely have wedded them more closely, hung at 
 the ship's sides, and swayed helplessly to and fro. 
 The rudder was gone; the figure-head, tho 
 crew's beau ideal of female loveliness, was 
 washed away. Nothing was left of all the 
 beauty with which, on that fatal afternoon, the 
 graceful object had careered to its tomb upon 
 the Reef. 
 
 And we, insatiate mortals, were not to be sat 
 isfied until we had secured the last vestige. Mo 
 ney was again to produce something else ; perhaps 
 help to produce something identical ; to go, per 
 haps, through the same ordeal, and to encounter, 
 perhaps, the same fate. What of that? Should 
 we object to imitate a law of the universe 
 the economy of Nature ? Nothing is absolutely 
 lost. " Imperious Caesar dead, and turned to 
 clay, might stop a hole to keep the wind away." 
 
 The captain said to us, as we rowed slowly 
 around the wreck : 
 
 " Well, boys, there 's a good deal of stuff 
 about her yet, that 's worth saving. We '11 
 commence to-morrow. I reckon, too, we '11 be 
 able to get the other cable, by grappling for it." 
 
 The result of the captain's inspection of the 
 wreck was that instead of coming to anchor 
 after our next morning's cruise, we ran out
 
 284 THE YOUNC WKECKER, 
 
 through the channel across the Keef. The 
 captain sent one boat's crew aboard the ship, 
 for the purpose of detaching all the planking 
 that was loose, while, with another boat's crew, 
 he commenced grappling for the cable which 
 we had not saved. We had so good an idea of 
 the direction from which the ship drifted on 
 the Reef, from our knowledge of the direction 
 of the wind at the time, that although the 
 water was not clear, and we were obliged to 
 rely entirely upon the grappling-irons, we man 
 aged, in the course of several hours' persis 
 tent dragging, to get hold of the cable. As 
 upon the previous occasion, the end of one of 
 our cables was removed from its hawse-hole, 
 and we hove the ship's anchor to the cathead, 
 hoisted it aboard, a,nd stowed it just abaft the 
 foremast. 
 
 Meanwhile, the boat's crew at the ship had, 
 by using axes, managed to detach great pieces 
 of the bulwarks, which they lowered into fa 
 vorable positions for drifting ashore. These 
 would not have been cat away and set afloat, 
 had not the wind been blowing towards shore. 
 On the following morning, the boats visited 
 the beaches along the Keys, made lines fast 
 to these rafts of timber and plank, and took 
 them in tow to the Key where the clearing had 
 been made. Then, with the aid of purchases
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 285 
 
 rigged to trees, they were hauled ashore and 
 fired. When they were reduced to ashes, the 
 iron with which they had been fastened was 
 carefully collected and deposited in rough lock 
 ers on board of the schooner. "We found the 
 ship's masts, and a good many stray bits of 
 cordage which would serve as old junk. All 
 these things were carefully preserved, for every 
 thing of the sort is valuable. 
 
 By sending axemen to complete the work 
 which the sea from time to time partially exe 
 cuted for us, we made so thorough work with 
 the wreck, that, in the course of a few weeks, 
 nothing of it was left but the great mouldering 
 ribs, in which the worms were making extensive 
 ravages.
 
 286 THE YOUNG WRECKER. 
 
 GEORGE BOWERS AND FRED RANSOM MAKE A 
 VOYAGE-THE OAK FORESTS ON THE ST. 
 JOHN'S RIVER THE CAPTAIN'S INVITATION TO 
 THE BOYS ON THEIR RETURN F I S H I N G AT 
 NIGHT, WITHOUT HOOKS OR BA1T-THE SPORT, 
 AND HOW IT WAS ENJOYED. 
 
 OWAKDS the middle of April, a 
 sloop stopped at our station. Her 
 captain was acquainted with Captain 
 Bowers, and came aboard of the 
 Flying Cloud to say, that as his 
 vessel was short-handed, and he had 
 to go up the coast to St. John's 
 Eiver, he would be obliged if the Flying Cloud 
 could let him have a man for a few days. This 
 request Captain Bowers could not grant, but he 
 offered the captain to let George and me go, if 
 we were willing, as we, he was pleased to say, 
 were supernumeraries. The captain of the 
 sloop accepted the offer, and we boys, always 
 ready to welcome any novelty, went aboard
 
 OR FRET> EANSOil. 287 
 
 of his vessel. We were gone just nineteen 
 days. 
 
 The course of the St. John's is peculiar. A 
 few miles from its mouth, it takes a sudden 
 turn to the southward, and runs parallel with 
 the coast. The shores are densely wooded, and, 
 in the broad parts of the river, the scenery is 
 very agreeable. 
 
 We saw great forests of oak covered with 
 Spanish-moss. In their dense shades, the moss 
 hung in flowing masses that looked like long 
 gray giant-beards. When the rays of the sun 
 struck aslant through them, they were pene 
 trated and suffused with light so rich, yet so 
 soft, that they seemed dripping from a bath 
 of silvery-gold. Nothing can be imagined more 
 funereal, more weird, than one of these dense 
 forests, at sunset ; when the darkness of night 
 has settled on the ground, and stolen around the 
 huge trunks of the oaks ; while above, in gentle 
 gradations of light, the long, waving, gauzy 
 drapery grows brighter and brighter, until, on 
 the topmost branches and twigs, it shines re- 
 splendently. 
 
 After procuring the lumber for which the 
 sloop had entered the river, we set sail for the 
 mouth, put to sea, and, in three days from that 
 time, George and I were once more on board of 
 the Flying Cloud. We were rejoiced to get
 
 288 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 back to the schooner. Life on the E,eef had 
 more charm in a day, than our voyage of over 
 half a month had afforded. As we had shipped 
 to supply the place of one man on the voyage 
 to St. John's River, we were paid what one 
 man would have received for wages, and divided 
 the sum between us. 
 
 Although the month of April was nearly 
 spent, there was not a marked change in the 
 climate on the Keef. As for the appearance of 
 the country, the verdure is the same throughout 
 the whole year, and summer is perennial. Un 
 der our mosquito bars on the quarter-deck, 
 George and I luxuriated in the coolness of the 
 nights. In all my experience, I recollect no 
 couch so delightful as that quarter-deck. In 
 clear weather, the water was so tranquil that 
 we could just feel the undulation of the schooner, 
 as she dipped her bow into the glassy waves. 
 Looking upward, we beheld the pure firmament 
 bespangled with brilliant stars ; and the gentle 
 breeze fanned us, and sang a lullaby that min 
 gled pleasantly with the dull roar of the break 
 ers on the far-off Eeef. What more could two 
 boys of our age desire, than all that we pos 
 sessed ? We had studies to give zest to recrea 
 tion, and recreation and repose surrounded by 
 romance. 
 
 A few nights after our return, the captain,
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 289 
 
 who did not often indulge in sporting, said to 
 us boys that he would show us a kind of fishing 
 that we had never seen. We jumped at the 
 offer, not only because there was novelty at 
 tending it, but because the captain was to Je 
 of the party. George eagerly exclaimed : 
 
 " What day is to be, father ?" 
 
 "It is not to be any day," replied the captain, 
 "it is to be at night, to-night, if you like. 
 What do you say to to-night? What do you 
 say, Fred ?" 
 
 " We are ready," we both answered. 
 
 " What bait shall we prepare ?" inquired I. 
 
 " No bait at all," replied the captain. 
 
 " No bait !" exclaimed George. " Fishing 
 by night, and with no bait! well, that is 
 strange fishing !" 
 
 " Perhaps it is because it is at night," said I, 
 laughing, " that we do n't need any bait, be 
 cause the fish could n't see it if it was on the 
 hook." 
 
 " How is it, father ?" asked George, jocosely, 
 "do the fish get caught by running afoul of 
 the hooks in the dark ?" 
 
 " We sha* n't need hooks !" replied the cap 
 tain, making his eyes as big as saucers, sta 
 ring from one of us to the other, and enjoying 
 our puzzled expression. 
 25
 
 290 THE YOUXG WRECKER, 
 
 " We give it up, father," said George, " now 
 don't tease us any longer." 
 
 " You will see," said the captain, mysteri 
 ously. "Tell the men to lower one of the 
 boats." 
 
 Captain Bowers ordered some very myste 
 rious looking apparatus to be stowed in the bow 
 of the boat, and in five minutes we were 
 pulling for the shore. The captain steered 
 along the Keys, towards the southward. We 
 rowed close to the line of mangroves, just 
 within the verge of their shadows, cast by the 
 faint starlight. After having passed three or 
 four Keys, the boat headed for the entrance to 
 one of the inlets. Keeping towards the Key 
 on the port hand, the captain suddenly shot 
 the boat into an obscure inlet which led into a 
 lake comprising nearly the whole of the Key, 
 and which George and I imagined to be our 
 possession by the right of original discovery. 
 
 " Do you know this place ?" said George to 
 his father. " I thought no one but Fred and I 
 knew it." 
 
 " Boys are very apt to think similarly about 
 many things," replied the captain, drily. 
 
 The oars were unshipped, and the men, grapp- 
 ing the overhanging boughs and twigs, dragged 
 the boat through the inlet, until she shot out 
 upon the placid bosom of the lake, whose shores
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 291 
 
 the starlight faintly revealed in dreamy out 
 line. 
 
 " That '11 do, my men ;" said the captain, 
 " now fire up." 
 
 On each side of the boat, the men hooked a 
 couple of iron things, like little grates, into 
 which receptacles they put pine knots and 
 tarry pieces of rope. They then struck a light, 
 and ignited the stuff. The -flames sprang up, 
 and in a minute we had a couple of bright 
 bonfires, crackling and smoking and dropping 
 their embers with a seething noise into the 
 water. In, and immediately around, the boat, 
 the scene was brilliant in the extreme ; but, be 
 yond, a circular wall of impenetrable darkness 
 shut in the view. 
 
 " Here are your hooks," said the captain, 
 handing George and me a pair of short spears 
 with several barbs on them. " What are you 
 looking up in the air for ? Look at the 
 bottom." 
 
 Hereupon, George and I, who had been gazing 
 around, charmed at the brilliant spectacle, cast 
 our eyes towards the water. Imagine our sur 
 prise, when we found that we could see the 
 bottom as clearly as at noonday; and that, 
 over it, darting about in all directions, were fish 
 of every description. We were so delighted 
 at this sight, that we began to shout and 
 strike wildly into the water. The captain
 
 292 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 commanded silence, and stationing a man 
 astern, with a long pole, the boat was urged 
 gently through the water, and we were cau 
 tioned to make allowance for the refraction, 
 when we were about to strike at a fish. The 
 grates were constantly replenished with pine 
 knots, tarry rope, and oakum; and we went 
 blazing along, harpooning, and struggling with 
 our prizes, some of which were so huge that 
 they were as much as we could master. Just 
 as we had made the circuit of the lake, a great 
 barracuda, terrified at the fiery dragon of a 
 boat, which was sweeping resistlessly along, 
 leaped into its maw. As we had secured 
 plenty of fish, and it was neither the cap 
 tain's wish, nor ours, to indulge in wanton 
 destruction, we desisted from our sport, and 
 laid aside our spears. A few handfuls of water, 
 thrown into the grates, soon quenched the fire. 
 The grates were then unhooked, emptied, and 
 stowed away in the boat, and the men rowed 
 until we arrived at the inner mouth of the little 
 inlet, through which, as before, we hauled 
 the boat. We came out upon the ruffled 
 waters of the Beef-Channel, and within hearing 
 of the sound of the distant surge. There was 
 no merrier laughter along the coast, than that 
 with which George and I, on our return, 
 counted our spoils, and talked over cur exploits 
 in spearing.
 
 203 
 
 HOW TO FIND A TURTLE'S NEST-HABITS OF 
 THE TURTLE-TURNING TURTLES. 
 
 was on the night of the 7th of 
 May, that we speared fish by 
 fire-light. George and I were so fas 
 cinated with it, that, only two or three 
 nights afterwards, we begged the 
 captain to indulge us with a renewal 
 of the sport. It was by far the best 
 in which we had engaged. We fancied it, not 
 solely on account of the novelty of using short 
 trident-like spears, instead of fish-hooks, but 
 because the accompaniments were so charming. 
 The ruddy glare of the fire; the glowing 
 stretch of water; the dark shadows cf the 
 woods ; the sight of the fish as they dari over 
 the bottom, all these circumstances combine 
 to render the scene in the highest degree pic 
 turesque. 
 
 Our first excursion was our last, for the 
 captain could not be prevailed upon to go again, 
 25*
 
 294 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 iOr 
 
 and lie would not let us take the boat at night. 
 "We had ample amends, however, in some new 
 enterprises which I must describe. 
 
 One morning, about the middle of the month, 
 George and I did not go with the schooner on 
 her morning cruise, but rowed off, ashore, to 
 have a day's fishing and gunning. The tide 
 was rising, and had almost reached high- water 
 mark. We were rowing along one of the 
 beaches, when George said to me : 
 
 "Fred, do you see that mark on the sand, 
 between the edge of the beach-grass, and where 
 the water is now? Do you know what that 
 is?" 
 
 " No," said I, " what is it ?" 
 
 " Guess," he answered. 
 
 "A piece of brushwood, or perhaps drift- 
 timber, that has scraped down the beach at the 
 last ebb." 
 
 " No it is n't," said he ; " it 's the track of a 
 turtle. There 's a turtle's nest near there." 
 
 " A turtle's nest," shouted I, pulling on one 
 oar, so as to bring the boat's head on the beach. 
 " I 'm bound to have it." 
 
 "We jumped on shore, and George whittled a 
 straight stick, so as to make it more slender, 
 and adding a sharp point to it, he went opposite 
 to the place where the mark appeared on the 
 beach, and walked about, carefully examining
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 295 
 
 the sand above high-water-mark. At last, he 
 said: 
 
 "Here it is. Now come here before I dis 
 turb the sand, and I '11 show you how to find a 
 turtle's nest. The Conchs taught me ; and what 
 they do n't know about fishing, turtling, and 
 egging, is n't worth knowing. You must know 
 that turtles choose a moonlight night and high- 
 water to come upon the beach to lay their eggs. 
 IIow they can tell it 's a moonlight night, I can 
 understand, but how they know it 's high-water 
 is a peg beyond me. It takes them only a few 
 minutes to lay their eggs, and then, down they 
 souse into the water. But as they come up at 
 the top of high-water, the tide falls a little be 
 fore they can get away, so they leave their tracks 
 on the beach below high-water-mark. The 
 next tide washes them all away, but we came 
 across this place before the tide had risen again. 
 The tracks are one sign. The other is this. 
 Do you see a kind of crescent, cut into the 
 loose sand among this beach-grass, above high- 
 water-mark? That's the place the turtle 
 touches with the hind end of its shell, as it turns 
 to go back to the water, after it has covered 
 its eggs, and smoothed the sand over them. If 
 we had been ten minutes later, the tide would 
 have washed away the tracks on the beach ; and 
 if there had been any wind, this loose sand
 
 296 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 would have shifted so that there would n't have 
 been any sign at all here." 
 
 " I think that you had better set about find 
 ing the nest," said I,. " It would be a joke, if, 
 after all your directions for finding turtles' eggs, 
 you could n't find any." 
 
 "You never mind," replied George, good- 
 humoredly, " I have to take your instruction 
 every day, and it 's my turn now. You do n't 
 know every thing. I 'm just as sure that 
 there 's a turtle's nest where that crescent in 
 the sand is well, now look !" 
 
 Hereupon, he commenced to punch the sand 
 with the sharp stick, and every now and then 
 examined the point of it. After jobbing it down 
 several times to the depth of about a foot, he 
 held the point towards me, and said, trium 
 phantly, 
 
 " What do you call that?" 
 
 " It looks exceedingly like egg," said I. 
 
 " That 's just what it is," he replied, going 
 down on his hands and knees, and commencing 
 to dig a hole in the sand. 
 
 I followed his example ; and when we had dug 
 to the depth of a little over a foot, we came to 
 the eggs. 
 
 " Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty," cried I, in 
 amazement. " Why, here is another layer un-
 
 OK FRED RANSOM. 297 
 
 derneath ; sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety. "Why, 
 there are over a hundred !" 
 
 We found a hundred and seventy ; and then 
 George ran hastily along the beach to see if ho 
 could find any more turtle-tracks before the 
 tide rose to high-water-mark. He found a 
 place about two hundred yards off, and after 
 the usual jobbing with the stick, we discovered 
 the nest, and took a hundred and forty-one 
 eggs. Three hundred and eleven eggs in two 
 nests! We found a secure place in which we 
 buried them slightly under the sand, to secure 
 them against birds, and then went off on our 
 projected expedition. In the evening, we 
 stopped at the place, and carried the eggs 
 aboard of the schooner. 
 
 On the following morning, when the schooner 
 was under way, George and I were on deck 
 talking over our good luck of the preceding 
 day. The captain, hearing part of our conver 
 sation, joined us, and inquired how we would 
 like to turn a turtle on the beach. " For then," 
 continued he, " you will have the eggs, and tho 
 hen too." 
 
 It was agreed that we would go ashore 
 that night, and .turn turtle. The season being 
 that when the turtles commence to lay, the 
 captain was certain that we would capture at 
 least one. He told me many interesting things
 
 298 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 about turtles. It seems that, numerous as 
 the eggs were in tne nests which we found, 
 they form only a portion of those laid by 
 a turtle in the course of a season. The 
 green-turtle lays three sets of eggs, tw<~> in 
 May, and one in June. The sum-total of eggs 
 is about two hundred and fifty. The hawksbill- 
 turtle lays two sets of eggs, one in July, and 
 one in August. The whole number of eggs 
 laid is about three hundred. The loggerhead- 
 turtle lays in May and June, three sets of eggs, 
 which amount to about five hundred. The 
 trunk-turtle lays three sets of eggs, which 
 amount to about three hundred and fifty. 
 
 The habits of the turtles, in laying, are very 
 different. The loggerhead and trunk turtles, 
 being the largest and fiercest species, are not 
 nearly so shy as the green and hawksbill turtles. 
 The last two resort to the most unfrequented 
 places, although the green-turtle penetrates the 
 indentations on the coast. The hawksbill-turtle 
 lays only on the wildest Keys, far distant from 
 the main-land. 
 
 About nine o'clock that night, one of the 
 quarter-boats was lowered, and the captain, 
 George, and I, pulled by five oarsmen, rowed 
 towards shore. The moon was full, and shone 
 with that silvery lustre which sheds a beauti 
 fying influence upon the most commonplace
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 299 
 
 objects, and invests the really beautiful with a 
 charm so mysterious and solemn, that the 
 observer feels as if in a scene of enchantment. 
 
 Our keel soon grated on a beach which 
 stretched away for two miles, with its wh.te 
 coral sand reflecting the soft light which bathed 
 it throughout the whole of its graceful sweep. 
 We leaped ashore, and hauled the boat above 
 high- water-mark, until it was almost hidden 
 among the beach-grass and low brushwood. 
 
 "Now," said Captain Bowers to the men, 
 "scatter along the beach, about the same dis 
 tance apart, just above high-water-mark; lie 
 low, and don't make any noise. You Conchs 
 understand the business better than I do, but 
 you, Brady, if you 've got any yarns to tell, 
 keep them till you get aboard." 
 
 The five men walked off along the beach, 
 and, occasionally, we could see one of them 
 leave the partyand disappear in the shadows 
 of the brushwood above high- water-mark. At 
 last, in the far distance, was discernible a single 
 figure wending its way along the bright beach ; 
 then it vanished, and the scene lay silent and 
 deserted in the silvery sheen of the moonlight. 
 
 The tide crept slowly up the beach, and 
 commenced, with a gently plashing sound, to 
 lave the jagged points of coral which cropped 
 out of the srnd just below high- water-mark.
 
 300 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 " You must be very quiet, boys," whispered 
 tlie captain, as we all crouched behind the high 
 tufts of beach-grass. " If a turtle conies up 
 near us, it will be off at the slightest noise.' 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir," we whispered in reply, as 
 we kept a strict watch on the beach. 
 
 " There is one," said the captain. 
 
 " Where ? where ?" we eagerly whispered. 
 
 " On the beach, about a quarter of a mile off," 
 replied the captain; "near that dark-looking 
 thing like a drift-log. Do n't you see it move ? 
 there it shows." 
 
 We saw it, then, as the moonlight shone 
 on its wet shell. In a few seconds it was out of 
 sight. 
 
 " Now let me caution you again, boys," re 
 iterated the captain. " Not a word above your 
 breath." 
 
 The captain adjusted his night-glass, and 
 commenced to examine the surface of the 
 water. 
 
 " Pshaw !" said he at last, closing the slides 
 of the telescope, and shutting it up. " We 're 
 not in luck to-night." 
 
 He had hardly uttered the words, before a 
 prolonged, loud, and startling hiss, came from 
 the water; and, as we crouched still lower, and 
 looked between the tufts of beach-grass, we saw
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 301 
 
 the head of a turtle appearing above tlie surface 
 of the sea. 
 
 "Hist!" said the captain; "lie as close as 
 you can." 
 
 We obeyed his injunction, and, at the same 
 time, kept our eyes directed towards the turtle, 
 fearing that it might not land near us. But it 
 swam rapidly towards shore, and dragged its 
 unwieldy body out of the water. Its wet shell 
 gleamed in the radiance of the moon-beams, like 
 a silver shield. The monster stretched its neck 
 out of its shell, to the full extent, and crawled 
 sluggishly up on the beach-grass, just on the 
 other side of the boat. The captain kept his 
 forefinger to his lips, by way of enjoining 
 silence, and we scarcely breathed. At last, the 
 turtle made so much noise, that the captain 
 cautiously arose and peered over the edge 
 of the boat. Having apparently satisfied 
 himself that we would be secure from obser 
 vation, he touched us, and motioned to us to 
 look over the boat. Praising our eyes just 
 above the level of the boat's gunwale, we saw 
 the turtle hard at work, scooping a hole with 
 its hind flippers. As soon as it had collected a 
 heap of sand, a violent flirt of the flippers 
 scattered it in every direction. When the 
 hole was about a foot and a half deep, the 
 animal commenced to deposit its eggs. The 
 26
 
 302 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 operation of digging being finished, and that of 
 laying commenced, the captain ducked his head 
 behind the boat, and saying, " Now 's our 
 chance," ran quickly around it. "We followed 
 at his heels, seized the turtle, and, by our 
 united exertions, turned it on its back. 
 
 " I do n't think that the men can beat this," 
 said the captain. " It is one of the biggest 
 that I ever saw. If we had n't caught it when 
 it was laying, I 'm not sure that we 'would have 
 been able to turn it. When turtles are laying, 
 which does not take more than ten minutes, 
 they do not seem to be able to stop ; but they 
 are powerful things, and when they 're making 
 for the water, it's something of a job to turn 
 them." 
 
 "Hollo! Hollo-o! Hollo-o-o-o-o !" shouted 
 the captain, walking out on the beach, of which 
 the rising tide had left but a narrow strip. 
 
 One after another, five dark objects emerged 
 from the shadows, and commenced to move 
 slowly towards us. By the time that the last 
 man arrived, the first-comers, with our assist 
 ance, had hampered the turtle's flippers with a 
 piece of marline. We lifted the turtle into the 
 boat, and rowed to the place where one had been 
 turned by a couple of the men. Its captor had 
 accommodated it with a pillow of c'oral rock, 
 a plan which is sometimes adopted to prevent
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 303 
 
 the animal from reversing its position. On a 
 favorable slope, it sometimes uses its powerful 
 neck to so great advantage as a lever, that it has 
 been known to regain its liberty. 
 
 We hampered the second turtle in the samo 
 manner in which we had secured the first one, 
 and lifted it into the boat. It was not more 
 than two thirds of the size of the other. The 
 aggregate weight of the two was probably about 
 three hundred and fifty pounds. 
 
 " Well, Brady," said the captain to that in 
 dividual, who was pulling the stroke-oar as 
 we rowed off towards the schooner, " do n't 
 mind me, you must be nearly dead from having 
 had to hold your tongue for two hours. What 
 about the turtles in Ireland ?" 
 
 "Well," said Brady, "there's this about 
 toortle toorning in Ireland; it's pleasanter sport 
 there nor here, for the muskatees." 
 
 " You own up, then," said the captain, " that 
 you can 't beat America in turtles, and you 
 have n't got any mosquitoes ?" 
 
 "Troth, no!" replied Brady; "the bigness 
 of the toortles there would astonish ye, captain, 
 and" added he, with a sly glance at the cap 
 tain " the muskatees too; but they 're amazin' 
 kind-hearted be the side of the Floridy galli- 
 nippers." 
 
 The turtles were so heavy, that a tackle was
 
 304 THE YOUNG WBECZER, 
 
 used to hoist them aboard of the schooner. 
 The next day, one was despatched, and, with 
 the eggs, served as our principal food for three 
 or four days. The other turtle was put in a 
 shady place, and brine was occasionally poured 
 over its head and body. By pursuing this 
 treatment, a turtle can be kept alive for a long 
 time, without food, and yet preserve its health 
 ful condition.
 
 OE FRED RANSOM, 
 
 305 
 
 THE M1AMI-THE EVERGLADES-THE DEER-HUNT 
 -THE SJESTA-THE FIGHT WITH PANTHERS- 
 INDIANS PROWLING IN THE FOREST. 
 
 URING the remainder of May, 
 and in June and July, the captain 
 occasionally indulged us in a tur- 
 tling expedition by moonlight, and 
 we captured specimens of all the 
 various kinds of turtle. As he al 
 ways accompanied us, and seemed 
 to share in the excitement of the sport, our 
 pleasure was very much enhanced. 
 
 Daily we got the Flying Cloud under way, 
 and sighted the Reef for miles on each side oi" 
 our station, but nothing rewarded our vigilance. 
 This daily duty at last became exceedingly mo 
 notonous, and had we not had recourse to expe 
 ditions for the purpose of procuring turtles, fish, 
 eggs, and birds, we would have experienced en 
 nui, despite the admirable collection of books 
 2G*
 
 306 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 which I have mentioned that the captain pos 
 sessed. Independently of the spirit of adventure 
 which prompted us to make these expeditions, 
 they were absolutely necessary, in order to ob 
 tain food of a kind that would ward off scurvy, 
 which infallibly attacks those who are for a 
 long time exclusively confined to a diet of salt 
 provisions, with a disproportionate amount of 
 vegetable food. 
 
 All things, however, must end, and George 
 and I, eager turtlers though we were, tired of 
 the moonlight excursions to the beaches, and 
 craved some novelty. The stay of George was 
 drawing to a close, and the intercourse of th 
 occupants of the cabin commenced to be tinged 
 with a shade of gloominess, brought about 
 by the anticipation of his approaching depar 
 ture. 
 
 How little we all know even of the Future 
 which is almost the Present! George's going 
 was not nearer than mine. Our departure took 
 place soon and simultaneously, by a train of 
 startling events, transpiring with so great sud 
 denness, that they left us in a maze in which it 
 was difficult to collect our thoughts. 
 
 At daylight, on the 5th of August, owing to 
 the approaching departure of George, and in 
 fulfilment of a promise which had long be 
 fore been made to him, to the effect that
 
 OR FLED RANSOM. 307 
 
 V. / 
 
 before lie went, he should have a deer-hunt, 
 Captain Bowers committed the vessel to the 
 charge of Ruggles. Giving him instructions ill 
 regard to the day's cruise, and taking George 
 and me and Brady in the dingy, the captain set 
 sail for the main-land. We were provided with 
 two good fowling-pieces, two fine rifles, and 
 an ample supply of ammunition. We did not 
 neglect to take fishing-tackle, including the 
 grains, although none of us were capable of 
 using them skilfully. 
 
 About eight o'clock in the morning, we landed 
 at the mouth of Miami River. On the left 
 bank, near the mouth, was the little military 
 post, garrisoned by a few men. Here the vege 
 tation was not dense, and a beautiful grove of 
 lime trees surrounded the quarters of the sol 
 diers.* Proceeding up the Miami, for a few 
 miles, we at length arrived at the place where 
 it leaves the Everglades. This was a spot which 
 I had long desired to see, and one which, at 
 that time, had seldom been trodden by the foot 
 of the white man. 
 
 George and I climbed the roof of a solitary 
 mill which was built at the head of the stream, 
 
 * This post was established in 1837, reestablished in 
 1850, and afterwards deserted. During the late Eebellion, 
 the spot was the resort of nunbers of white refugees from 
 the southern parts of Florida.
 
 308 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 on the verge of the Everglades; and when we 
 had mounted to its ridge, wt> commanded a view 
 for many miles. 
 
 We had penetrated the Miami to its source, 
 about three miles from its mouth. This, there 
 fore, at that point, is the width of the encircling 
 rirn of land which bounds the Everglades, or, as 
 it were, the wooded shore of a vast sea of swamp, 
 covered with long, waving, yellowish grass, and 
 dotted with a perfect archipelago of wooded 
 hummocks. Some of the hummocks were quite 
 diminutive. Others seemed at least half a mile 
 in length. I now realized how difficult it was 
 to prosecute the Florida War, then being waged 
 in portions of these Everglades, where the In 
 dians could lurk in almost impenetrable fast 
 nesses, and when approached by a superior 
 force, seek safety in flight. In fact, the Flo 
 rida War, from the difficult nature of the 
 country, had been a bloody game of Hide and 
 Seek. 
 
 The Spanish Indians, who had been long 
 peaceful, had, for some months, been engaged 
 in committing depredations on the settlements 
 of the whites, and on shipwrecked sailors : so 
 that the practice of providing the wrecking 
 vessels with arms had ceased to be a mere form. 
 No apprehension, however, of immediate danger
 
 OH FRED HANSOM. 309 
 
 :a our vicinity, appeared to exist in the mind 
 of any one with whom we had intercourse. 
 
 After George and I had remained perched 
 up on the mill for half an hour, the captain 
 hailed us to say that the morning was swiftly 
 passing away, and that, if we intended to hunt 
 befoi'o noon, we must immediately descend. 
 
 During the heat of the day, deer generally 
 lie down in the place where they have been 
 grazing. In the open spaces of forests like 
 those of Florida, the undergrowth affords con 
 cealment, and the animals remain quiet until 
 the coolness of the afternoon invites them to 
 renew their browsing upon the herbage. The 
 kind of hunt upon which we were proceeding, 
 is called a still-hunt. This consists in advanc 
 ing quietly through the forest, in search of the 
 feeding deer, and whenever they graze, tho 
 huntsman is enabled to advance unperceived; 
 but when they raise their heads, he stands 
 stock-still, when, although they no doubt often 
 perceive him, they do not recognize him as a 
 living object. 
 
 Being without hounds, we could not hunt in 
 any other manner, for, notwithstanding the 
 presence of Jack, and Brady's authority on the 
 subject of Newfoundlands as hunting-dogs, tho 
 captain, if he had ever heard of that sage 
 opinion, preferred to attempt a still-hunt. This
 
 310 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 requires nothing hut a cautious approach and a 
 steady hand, and is practised by the solitary, 
 keen-eyed rifleman, as successfully as if he were 
 a king with a court at his heels. 
 
 We entered the boat and rowed across the 
 Miami, and when we reached the other shore, 
 the captain took a rifle, and gave us boys the 
 two double-barreled fowling-pieces, each of which 
 he loaded with sixteen buckshot. Filling our 
 pockets with luncheon, and a supply of bullets, 
 buckshot, and percussion-caps, and slinging our 
 powder-flasks over our shoulders, we left Brady 
 in charge of the boat, and plunged into tho 
 recesses of the forest. 
 
 The morning had slipped away in a most 
 strange manner. Our various delays, princi 
 pally caused by rowing up the Miami, viewing 
 the Everglades, and increased by all sorts of 
 little distractions, among others by examining 
 curious objects to which the captain called our 
 attention, had consumed the time from eight 
 o'clock, when we landed at the mouth of tho 
 river, until past noon ; and before we had pene 
 trated two miles into the forest, the captain, on 
 consulting his watch, found that it was verging 
 on one o'clock. Not a sign of a deer had we 
 seen. The heat was very oppressive, and our 
 eagerness began to languish. At last, tho 
 captain, perceiving that George commenced to
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 311 
 
 lag, suddenly threw himself on the ground, ex 
 claiming : 
 
 "Come, boys, we may as well take lunch. 
 We '11 not find any deer now, unless we stumble 
 over them." 
 
 We sat down, and spread our stores on the 
 ground. They consisted of a few ship-biscuit, 
 some sliced tongue and ham, and a canteen cf 
 F.witchel, quite warm, but as it was, it sufficed 
 to slake our intense thirst. 
 
 Not a leaf stirred. The air seemed clogged 
 with heat. Not a sound was heard, save to 
 use a paradox that mysterious voice of silence, 
 eeeming infinitely distant, yet all-pervading, 
 an inarticulate murmur that fills all space, like 
 blended voices speaking in some distant sphere, 
 and faintly borne within the confines of the 
 earth. Who has not heard it? And if any 
 have not, go where there is silence, and listen, 
 and you will hear its voice. The hot air,- the 
 motionless leaves, the deep shade, the repast, 
 the fatigues of the day, affected us all with a 
 languor to which we offered no opposition, but 
 disposing our heads on our coats, rolled up so 
 as to serve as pillows, we were all soon in the 
 enjoyment of a profound siesta. 
 
 The captain was the first to awake, and on 
 looking at his watch, found that it was past four 
 o'clock.
 
 312 THE YOTING WEECKEE, 
 
 " Come, boys," said he, " up with you. Now 
 is the time to find deer, if there are any in the 
 neighborhood." 
 
 At this summon;?, George and I, with some 
 slight effort, threw off a disposition towards 
 sluggishness, and shouldered our guns; while 
 Jack, who had been indulging in a nap, and 
 like us at first, seemed little disposed to make 
 exertion, joined us, and, by his actions, mani 
 fested his understanding that the hunt was 
 about to be resumed. Before we had gone a 
 hundred paces, the effects of our sleep wore 
 off. Revived by the cool breeze, we stepped 
 along gaily, peering in every direction to descry 
 the game. 
 
 We had walked about half a mile, when we 
 arrived at the opening to a beautiful glade. 
 The tall trees shut in the spot so effectually, 
 that only here and there the sunlight struck 
 through the leafy covering, and sent a long 
 narrow beam athwart the ground, or flecked 
 the low bushes with a few spots of golden 
 light. As the captain preceded us through 
 the opening which served as as ante-cham 
 ber to this saloon of the forest, he sudden 
 ly halted, and motioned to us to be cautious. 
 Proceeding with a stealthy pace, in obedience 
 to the motion of his hand, we came in view of 
 three or four deer grazing at the extremity of
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 313 
 
 the glade. At that moment, two of them had 
 raised their heads, and were evidently in the 
 act of chewing the mouthf^ls of grass which 
 they had last cropped. We all stood like 
 statues, until the animals again lowered their 
 heads, when we separated slightly, and cau 
 tiously advanced, taking great care to avoid 
 treading upon branches that might crackle 
 under foot. Slowly we drew nearer, each step 
 well calculated, each gun well poised, so that 
 if the deer took alarm, we could fire as they 
 fled. 
 
 At last, we came within about a hundred 
 yards of them, and then our precautions re 
 doubled. The captain's rifle would have been 
 effective at that distance ; but George and I, 
 inexperienced sportsmen, who could not rely 
 upon a single bullet, had therefore been provided 
 with fowling-pieces, which are not sure at a 
 range exceeding fifty yards. The captain was 
 to reserve his fire, and make use of it in case 
 ours proved ineffectual. 
 
 More slowly, and more slowly still, we ad 
 vanced, until I judged that we were within the 
 prescribed distance. 
 
 I heard the sharp click of George's lock, as 
 he cocked his piece. With a sidelong glance 
 at him, as he was in the act of levelling his 
 gun, I slowly aimed mine at the foreshoulder 
 
 27
 
 314 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 of a stag wliicli had just raised his head from 
 the spot on which he was feeding, under the 
 overhanging boughs of an enormous tree. But 
 the moment that the sights of my gun 
 showed clearly denned against his red hide, and 
 I was about to pull trigger, I restrained my 
 hand, for I saw a great animal pounce upon 
 him from the tree. At this astounding sight, 
 George also withheld his fire, and we both 
 dropped the muzzles of our guns. 
 
 " A panther !" shouted the captain. " Be 
 steady, now, boys." 
 
 The deer stood, for a moment, in startled 
 attitudes, and then plunged madly towards 
 the thicket. They vanished like a flash. 
 Meanwhile, a tremendous commotion was visible 
 among the grass and low bushes in the place 
 where the panther and stag had fallen to the 
 ground together. 
 
 " Cock both barrels, boys," said the captain. 
 " Here, George, give me your gun, and take 
 my rifle. This is going to be close quarters, 
 and may need a cool hand. Advance steadily, 
 with your guns ready to fire at an instant's 
 notice. Keep cool!" 
 
 We advanced steadily, but with rapidity, 
 towards the place, and came in full view of the 
 scene, which was rather different from our an 
 ticipation. Instead of the single panther and
 
 OH. FEED RANSOM. 315 
 
 stag which we expected to find, and found, 
 just as we reached the place, another panther 
 was in the act of emerging from the thicket.* 
 
 As our heads appeared above the surrounding 
 bushes, the male panther, or cougar, which had 
 sprung upon the stag, and was then greedily 
 engaged with his muzzle buried in the animal's 
 flank, heard a signal of alarm from his ad 
 vancing mate, desisted from his work,' glanced 
 up, and, with a quick bound, diminished his 
 distance from us by several yards. f 
 
 " Steady, boys," muttered the captain, and, 
 levelling his gun, he fired. The panther reared 
 and pawed the air, and George and I, taking 
 advantage of the opportunity, fired at his chest 
 and foreshoulders. He rolled over and over, 
 and tore up the ground and bushes in his death 
 agony. 
 
 The captain, seeing that there was no danger 
 to be apprehended from one antagonist, glanced 
 towards the other animal, which had been ad 
 vancing with ferocious aspect to the aid of her 
 
 * It is common for the male and female panthers, when 
 paired, and raising cubs in their lair, to hunt in couples. 
 
 f The animal known in the United States as the panther, 
 vulgarly painter, has been incorrectly named, for the rea 
 son that it is a different animal, and does not at all resemble 
 the real Panther, from which it derives its designation. It 
 is the Felis Concolor, or Cougar, the same animal as the 
 Puma of South America.
 
 316 THE YOUNG WEECKER, 
 
 mate. Her agile form and snarling jaus Lad 
 changed at the sight of her companion's fate; 
 and far from seeking to avenge it, she had 
 turned tail, and was slinking away with a rapid 
 lope, when the captain again fired, and her 
 raised hind paw and limping gait showed that 
 she had been lamed by the shot. Jack sprang 
 after her, and I fired simultaneously. She in 
 stantly rolled over on her back, then arose ; and 
 as if my shot had given her increased vitality, 
 instead of depriving her of it, she bounded for 
 the thicket. Just as she neared the edge of it, 
 she fell, rolled over once or twice ; and then, as 
 if endowed with renewed strength, rushed at 
 the trunk of a large tree and climbed it rapidly. 
 As one fore paw grasped the lowest limb of the 
 tree, her hold suddenly relaxed, and she fell 
 heavily to the ground. Thinking that she 
 might rend Jack, in her expiring rage, wo 
 shouted to restrain him from approaching her. 
 We were too late. The brave fellow rushed at 
 her, and fastened his fangs in her neck. Then 
 as suddenly loosing his hold, he uttered a joyful 
 bark, and looked towards us as we came running 
 up. The panther was dead. 
 
 We remained masters of the field, and stood 
 leaning on our guns, and striving to regain 
 our breath, exhausted by the excitement and the 
 chase.
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 317 
 
 As we returned towards the place where 
 the male panther lay, we boys kept np an 
 animated discourse, recounting to each other 
 what we had all seen. We found that the 
 neck of the stag had been broken by the 
 force of the panther's spring. Even without 
 that, the animal would have had no chance to 
 escape the clutches of its powerful enemy, for 
 the wounds on the delicate hide exhibited fearful 
 laceration effected by the panther's claws. 
 
 The panther was riddled with balls. The 
 captain had fired between his eyes, and the load 
 of buckshot had completely blinded the beast, 
 and caused the rearing which enabled George 
 and me to discharge our pieces at his chest. 
 
 The captain drew his hunting-knife, and 
 commenced to dismember the stag. He took 
 one haunch of venison and laid it aside, and 
 placed another in security, by tying it to the 
 bough of a tree. After that, he went to work, 
 with our assistance, and skinned the male 
 panther. This was quite a long operation, and 
 by the time that we finished, cleaned the skin, 
 rolled it up in a bundle, with the hair outward, 
 and provided a branch on which to carry tho 
 haunch of venison, the sun was getting quite 
 low. 
 
 " Come, boys," at last, said the captain, wiping 
 his gory hands in the long grass ; " we must bo 
 27*
 
 313 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 packing. We 've got a mile and a half to walk, 
 and a long sail or row before us. To-morrow 
 we '11 get the skin of the other panther." 
 
 George and I slung the haunch of venison 
 on the middle of the branch which had been 
 provided, and he shouldered one end of it, and 
 I took the other. The captain carried the pan 
 ther's skin, and we trudged off through the 
 woods, in the direction, of the boat. We felt 
 pretty well fagged with our day's exertion. 
 Now and then, the captain took a turn at 
 one end of the pole, and, in that way, we 
 divided the labor among us; except that the 
 captain continued to carry the skin, which, in, 
 its undressed state, was quite a heavy bundle. 
 
 When we arrived at the boat, we found 
 Brady, shouldering his rifle, and pacing the 
 bank in a martial manner, while his countenance 
 betrayed the greatest alarm. 
 
 " Be yees all safe," said he, anxiously scanning 
 the party. *' Be the powers, but I thought yees 
 was all murthered and scalped." 
 
 " Pooh ! Brady," replied the captain ; " what 
 is the matter with you ? I hope you did n'b 
 get any thing to drink from the post ?" 
 
 "Indade no!" answered Brady; bad luck to 
 the military regulations, that has no regard for 
 the wakenesses of human nature. It 's sober I 
 am; but I 've been a' most out of me mind with
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 319 
 
 thinking yces was kilt and massacred iniirely 
 by the Ingins. Yees hadn't more 'n weiit, the 
 mornin', when I heerd a nize in the lushes, 
 and rins on tap o' the bank, and sees two 
 Ingins, one of thim, the chafe, he calls himself, 
 that stole me porruk, yer honor remimbers." 
 
 " Aye, aye !" said the captain, " what then ?" 
 
 " I looks at thim, and they looks at me, and 
 the porruk thafe comes up to me, and says : 
 
 " ' What you do here ? more men in wood ?' 
 and I says to him, ' Mind yer business, or 
 I'll wallop the pair of yees;' and wid that I 
 gets me rifle and says to him, ' be aff wid yees, 
 or I '11 shoot yees widovit benefit of clargy. I 
 do n't like the looks of yees, says I, ' nor yer 
 manners ayther,' I says. And whin I said that, 
 the spalpeen muttered some gibberage to the 
 other one, and they goes off into the brambles." 
 
 " I 'm afraid you 've been hasty, Brady," 
 said the captain. " Once before I cautioned you 
 to be civil to this very fellow." 
 
 "Well, yer honor, the captain, I tried to 
 obey yer orthers, but the sight of thim var 
 mints snaking around when yer honor and the 
 byes was away in the wuds, a'most took away 
 me power of spache." 
 
 " I 'm thinking," rejoined the captain, " that 
 your power of speech will be an endless trouble
 
 320 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 to you 4 Brady. It can 't be helped now. Get 
 aboard the boat; the sun has almost set." 
 
 " And whin I heerd the shots that was fired 
 so quick," resumed Brady, at the same time 
 obeying the captain's orders, " I made sure that 
 yees were all murthered, and yer scalps shaved 
 off as clane as a whustle." 
 
 " I pardon your indiscretion, Brady," replied 
 the captain, " in gratitude for the interest that 
 you have shown for our safety. Pull away, my 
 man, and as soon as we get out of the river, 
 we '11 loosen the sail, for I see that the breeze is 
 fair." So saying, the captain took the other 
 pair of sculls, and rowed lustily. When we 
 reached the mouth of the river, we set our 
 sail, and, with a free wind, sped away over the 
 bay, in the direction of the Keys. It was ten 
 o'clock before we reached the Flying Cloud, 
 and George and I had fallen asleep, several times, 
 in the boat. When she came along-side of 
 the schooner, we awoke in so drowsy a state, 
 that we had scarcely energy to clamber up the 
 Bide, stumble into the cabin, and throw our 
 selves into our berths, so entirely were we over 
 come with the fatigue and exciting adventures 
 of the day.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 
 
 OIEIA.IF'X'IEIR, 
 
 THE RETURN TO THE FOREST-THE- SURPRISE 
 BY INDIANS-THE CAPTURE OF r5EORGE-THE 
 PURSUIT-THE RESCUE. 
 
 HE captain's complaisance, in mak 
 ing and performing the promise 
 to indulge George in a deer- hunt, 
 entailed, as is often the case, a further 
 sacrifice of inclination. The captain 
 had passed the age at which such 
 expeditions have the power to charm, 
 and if he had any pleasure in them, it was princi 
 pally in contributing to that of his son. It must 
 be granted, however, that the exciting character 
 of the sport in which we had actually engaged, 
 had so far exceeded his anticipation, that he did 
 seem to share our enthusiasm. The measure of 
 our satisfaction was complete, except that the 
 coming night had prevented our securing one 
 trophy of the chase the skin of the femalo 
 panther. 
 
 The captain, it will be recollected, had re 
 conciled us to leaving the forest, as the light
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKETJ, 
 
 was waning, by saying that, on the following 
 day, we could procure the other skin, a promise 
 from which he was not likely to be released by 
 our indifference. Thus it happened, as I hinted 
 just now, that the captain, having been once 
 gracious, was from being " in for a penny, in for 
 a pound." 
 
 In the morning, George and I were among 
 the first who were astir on the schooner, and 
 the captain had hardly opened his eyes, be 
 fore we brought him to a realizing sense of his 
 indiscreet promise of the preceding day. "With 
 a hearty yawn, and a slight hesitation, he jumped 
 out of his berth, saying, 
 
 "Well, boys, a promise is a promise. Be 
 sides, to please you, I would have seen the 
 sport out. It will be something to talk over, 
 and I know that you 'd never cease to regret 
 that skin. There will be one for each of you 
 to show as the spoils of the chase." 
 
 The captain's orders to Euggles were com 
 municated in a few words. Then, telling Brady, 
 who ecemed to think that he was to make one 
 of the party, that his services were not re 
 quired, as the wind would probably remain in 
 the same quarter, and it would be fair both 
 ways, the captain ordered the dingy to be 
 lowered. Hannibal stowed some provisions in 
 the stern-locker of the din try, and when Georrro 
 
 v_* J * O
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 323 
 
 and I, accompanied by Jack, got into her, after 
 handing our arms and ammunition to the cap 
 tain, who had taken his place, Hannibal passed 
 aboard a biggin full of steaming coffee. The 
 boat's painter was cast off, and with sheet un- 
 b railed, we skimmed away towards the main 
 land, wnile the schooner, which had been lying 
 with sails set and anchor apeak, got under way 
 and stood towards the southward. 
 
 Day had not quite dawned. The breeze was 
 of hat faint and fitful character, which fre 
 quently heralds the coming sun; and, with it, 
 freshens, until the ruffled water sparkles in the 
 renewing light of day. Thorough wreckers as 
 we were, as soon as our little sail was well set, 
 and the articles in the boat stowed away in tho 
 most convenient places, we addressed ourselves 
 to the hot coffee. Then, without the usual in 
 termission to which we were subjected aboard 
 of the schooner, we partook of breakfast, con 
 sisting of the cold viands which Hannibal had 
 deposited in the locker. 
 
 We soon passed the slender line of Keys, and 
 the breeze freshening as the sun showed iila 
 red disc above the horizon, we began to glide 
 rapidly through the water. 
 
 " I did not bring Brady with me," observed 
 the captain, after we had got clear of the vessel, 
 " because, after previous experience, especially
 
 324 THE YOUNG WKECKER, 
 
 yesterday's, I don't judge it safe to have him 
 with us, when there is any possibility of meeting 
 Indians. I don 't positively think there is danger 
 from them, or else I would consider myself ab 
 solved from the promise I made to you boys; 
 but the Spanish Indians are becoming restive, 
 and any provocation might result in some act 
 of revenge. My feeling of security, among 
 those inhabiting these parts, comes from an 
 acquaintance of years with some of their lead 
 ing men. I have always been cautious in my 
 dealings with them. But a quick-tempered 
 fellow, like Brady, might mar every thing. I'm 
 very sorry that I took him yesterday. To ba 
 on the safe side, I brought no one to-day." 
 
 During the sail to the mouth of the Miami, 
 the captain entertained us with "some anecdotes 
 relating to the war with the Seminoles, in which 
 eome of his friends had at various times par 
 ticipated. His accounts of the atrocities com 
 mitted by the Indians, unlike those of some 
 novelists, did not afford an agreeable picture 
 of the character of the "noble children of the 
 forest." The captain was in the midst of one 
 of these narratives, when we entei^d the mouth 
 of the Miami. On the left bank, the stars and 
 stripes floated over the quarters at the little 
 military post. At the sight, I experienced the 
 emotion that thrills the breast, whenever, in a
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 325 
 
 foreign land, or in one 's own, in some sequestered 
 spot, the banner of one's country displays its 
 folds, shedding a mystic influence on the soul. 
 
 The captain's story continued as we progressed 
 up the river. We soon took in sail, and re 
 sorted to rowing; for the river was so com 
 pletely shut in by trees, as to render the breeze 
 uncertain. Besides, in some of the reaches, we 
 could not lay our course. "We had proceeded 
 about a mile up the river, when the captain ab 
 ruptly ceased his recital, and commenced scru 
 tinizing the bushes on the right bank, near 
 to which we were rowing. 
 
 " Ease your port oars, boys," said he ; " more 
 jet. Pull the boat's head into shore." 
 
 Obeying his directions, we pulled the bow of 
 the boat in towards the bushes, backed water, 
 and then held water, so as to keep her in the 
 eame position. 
 
 " I thought so," said the captain, looking into 
 the bushes; "it is an Indian canoe." 
 
 George and I stood up to look at it, and then, 
 by the captain's order, backed water, pulled the 
 boat around, and continued on our course. 
 
 We asked the captain to continue his story; 
 but he declined, saying that he would finish it 
 at another opportunity. He seemed plunged in 
 a musing mood. When we had gone about a 
 mile and a half up the stream, he told us to pull 
 28
 
 326 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 the boat in towards shore, and land, as ho 
 judged that we must be about opposite to the 
 place where we had shot the panthers. We 
 were much further down the stream than the 
 place from which -we had started on the hunt ; 
 but our course, after striking into the forest, 
 had been nearly parallel with the stream. We 
 had returned by the same way, and the place at 
 which we had had the adventure, was at no 
 great distance from the river. 
 
 The captain sprang out of the boat, with one 
 of the fowling-pieces, and told George to ac 
 company him. I expected to go, and was there 
 fore surprised when the captain added, "you 
 Fred, stay with the boat." Then after a pause, 
 he resumed : " I '11 be frank with you. I do n't 
 know why, it 's very ridiculous, perhaps ; but I 
 fed what is called a presentiment. Pshaw ! 
 Mind the boat, Fred; keep a sharp lookout." 
 
 And then quickly turning on his heel, 
 as if ashamed of his extreme caution, he 
 walked rapidly away, accompanied by George, 
 who relieved him of his fowling-piece. Jack 
 followed them, frisking around through the 
 undergrowth, crushing it with his burly strength, 
 and uttering short barks, indicative of delight. 
 
 They had scarcely gone, when the sense of 
 loneliness, and the captain's last words induced 
 me to pick up the riile, and examine ic, to try
 
 "WITH A WHOOP, HE DASHED DOWN THE BANK."
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 327 
 
 whether it was loaded and capped. I found 
 that it was ready for use ; and after raising the 
 hammer once or twice, and letting it, down on 
 (LQ cap, so as to press the cap firmly on the 
 nipple, I amused myself by sighting the piece 
 at various objects on the opposite shore of tho 
 stream, and in the woods on the bank to which 
 the boat was fastened. 
 
 Ten minutes elapsed, when I heard the quick 
 barking of a dog, followed by the report of a 
 distant rifle. Then silence for a short interval 
 ensued, and from the distance came borne to 
 my ear,. a long and dismal howl. I was stand 
 ing in the stern-sheets of the boat, still grasping 
 the rifle with which I had been firing imaginary 
 shots. As I heard these sounds, my hands 
 clutched the rifle with a nervous grip; my 
 blood curdled ; my hair seemed to stand on 
 end; and my ears strained to catch another 
 sound. At that moment I heard a crackling 
 and crushing noise in the bushes, then a rush, 
 and before me, on top of the bank, stood a 
 stalwart Indian, brandishing his tomahawk. 
 With a whoop, he dashed down the bank. A 
 moment lost, and his tomahawk would havo 
 been buried in my brain. With a coolness 
 born of desperation, I raised my rifle, and sent 
 its bullet straight into his breast. With one
 
 S28 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 low moan, and without a strugg/e, ho fell dead 
 at the bottom of the bank. 
 
 I dropped the butt of my rifle, and leaned on 
 it for support. The moment of action over, the 
 terror of the situation, the unspeakable horror 
 that hung over the fate of my companions, un 
 nerved me. "With a little respite, I regained 
 my self-possession. Keflecting that I might 
 have more assailants than one, and that the 
 most exposed place which I could occupy was 
 the boat, I seized the fowling-piece, rifle, and 
 ammunition, and clambering up the bank, took 
 shelter behind a tree, and' commenced to reload 
 the rifle. If, thought I, the captain or George, 
 or both, escape, I will have the boat ready. If 
 they have been massacred, and the Indians 
 approach, I can see them coming. I can jump 
 into the boat, row across the stream, take refuge 
 in the woods, and try to make my way to the 
 post at the mouth. My hope of the safety of 
 the captain and George was indeed faint, when 
 I recollected that the report I had heard was 
 that of a rifle, and the captain had taken one of 
 the fowling-pieces. 
 
 I had scarcely had time to think and do what 
 I have just described, when I heard a sound, 
 and looking through the trees, I saw a flitting 
 appearance, such as a man at a distance pre 
 sents, as he runs through the uncertain light
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 329 
 
 amidst the trunks of trees in a dense forest. 
 My gaze concentrated on the shifting object. 
 Instantaneous resolve and execution must follow 
 the discovery of whether the approaching form 
 was friend or foe. All at once, a little opening 
 in the trees emitted a white flash, and I knew 
 that the captain had escaped. Before leaving 
 the boat, he had disencumbered himself of his 
 coat, and I knew that no Indian wore any gar 
 ment so white as a shirt. A minute later, the 
 captain broke his way through the bushes, and 
 stood at my side. His face was deathly pale, 
 scratched and bloody, and his clothes were 
 nearly torn from his body, in his desperate 
 progress through the bushes. 
 
 "Not a, word!" said he to me, glancing at 
 the dead Indian, picking up the guns, and 
 hurrying into the boat, which we shoved off. 
 and commenced to pull down stream. " Listen, 
 and be cool. I see you can be by what you 
 have done. George is captured. He was in 
 advance, carrying my gun. Two Indians leaped 
 out of the bushes, seized, and bound him. Pull 
 Fred ! For God 's sake, pull ! my son, my 
 son! Listen again. There is work to be done. 
 They seized him, I say. I was unarmed, and a 
 hundred yards distant. I could do nothing. 
 Jack rushed to his rescue. I saw the knife of 
 one Indian flash, as he plunged it into the faith- 
 
 28*
 
 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 ful beast. The other Indian fired at me as 1 
 escaped in this direction. You know the rest. 
 We are armed. You are a boy, but equal to a 
 man's part. The canoe in the bushes must 
 belong to the Indians. They started in that 
 direction. 
 
 "Captain," said I resolutely, "you can de 
 pend on me." 
 
 " I believe you," muttered the captain through 
 his clenched teeth. " When the time comes, be 
 prompt, for every thing depends on that." 
 
 We entered a reach in the river, above the 
 place where we had seen the concealed canoe. 
 The captain backed water with his oars, un 
 shipped them, and made me a sign to do the 
 same with mine. He then unshipped the rud 
 der, and taking one of the oars, commenced to 
 scull the boat noiselessly along the very edge of 
 the trees that overhung the bank. The ex 
 pression of the captain's face was frightful. It 
 was as rigid as if hewn in marble, and well-nigh 
 as white ; and his gaze had an intensity that 
 was terrible to behold. Such a blended ex 
 pression of woe and dread and fierce determina 
 tion, it would seem impossible for the human 
 countenance to express. 
 
 At last, after we had rowed some distance, a 
 penetrating whisper came from his lips. 
 
 " This is the place," said he. " One hope re-
 
 OR FEED HANSOM. 331 
 
 mains. WQ have distanced them. If we ap 
 proach nearer to the canoe, we shall be discovered, 
 and they will take to the woods." 
 
 He sculled the boat in towards shore, on the 
 up-river side of a projecting tree, whose lowest 
 branches, almost dipping into the water, afforded 
 concealment. 
 
 Again the thrilling whisper pierced my ear ; 
 (every thing now seemed like a horrid dream.) 
 
 " Fred," said the whisper, " they cannot be 
 for off. Ship a pair of sculls. They will shovo 
 the canoe into the stream. The rifle; is it 
 carefully loaded? the ball rammed home? 
 
 " I am sure of it," I replied. 
 
 " The rifle, again whispered the captain, is tho 
 gun. Buckshot scatters, and might kill George. 
 The moment they are clear of the bank, I shall 
 fire. No matter what happens, pull out into the 
 stream, and give chase. I will take the other 
 pair of sculls. But until I fire, lie still in the 
 bottom of the boat. George's life may hang on 
 the movement of your hand. God grant steadi 
 ness to mine!" 
 
 After this neither of us spoke. I placed a 
 pair of sculls gently in the rowlocks, glanced 
 around, and coiled myself up in the bottom of 
 the boat. I restrained even the heaving of my 
 chest, so that when the critical moment arrived, 
 I illicit communicate no more motion to tlio
 
 332 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 boat, than if I had been a corpse. The suspense 
 became dreadful. I strained to catch a sound. 
 The ticking of my watch was distinctly audible, 
 and I commenced to count the minutes. Three, 
 four, five, passed. Six, seven I thought I 
 heard a faint, distant sound, like muffled voices. 
 It must be, I thought. Again, but muffled still, 
 I heard something like the accents of the human 
 voice. A distant splash. The captain moved. 
 A report ! 
 
 " Up Fred," I heard him cry. 
 
 But I was up and in my seat and straining 
 at the oars. The captain seized his, and pulled 
 furiously. The water boiled around the bow of 
 the little skiff. 
 
 I looked over my shoulder, and a glance 
 showed the situation. The captain's shot had 
 taken effect. The body of one of the Indians 
 hung lifelessly over the side of the canoe, put 
 ting it entirely out of trim. The other Indian 
 was attempting to right the canoe, by shifting 
 the body of his companion. George, apparently 
 pinioned, was seated about amidships. 
 
 I again glanced over my shoulder. The In 
 dian had not succeeded in budging his companion 
 from the position into which he had fallen, and 
 had relinquished the attempt. He was paddling 
 with all his might. 
 
 Another glance showed me that we were gain-
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 333 
 
 ing rapidly on the canoe. The effort of the In 
 dian to make speed was entirely frustrated by 
 the canoe's position in the water, and he dared 
 not stop paddling, lest we should lessen our dis 
 tance from him. 
 
 When I looked again, I saw the canoe heading 
 towards shore. 
 
 " Give way," shouted the captain, who had 
 observed the same thing; "he may land and drag 
 the boy off into the woods." 
 
 The elastic oars bent as we plied them with 
 all the strength with which we were endowed. 
 A single misstroke, and all might have been 
 lost. The canoe came within ten yards of shore. 
 Its bow touched the bank. The Indian leaped 
 from it, and pulled it towards him, as if he was 
 about to take hold of George, and lift him out 
 of it. At that moment, the captain, dropping 
 his oars, seized a fowling-piece, and levelled it 
 at the Indian, who hesitated, then turning, 
 sprang up the bank and fled. The captain who, 
 for fear of wounding George, had not intended 
 to fire, except as a forlorn hope, discharged his 
 gun at the Indian, as his form was disappearing 
 amongst the bushes. 
 
 In a few moments, we were along-side of the 
 canoe. I jumped out, gun in hand, and ran up 
 the bank, to guard against a surprise ; while tho 
 captain cut the thongs by which George's wrists
 
 334 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 had been so tightly bound that they were lace 
 rated. I soon discovered, by the -marks in the 
 bushes, that the Indian had made good his 
 escape. The one left in the canoe was mortally 
 wounded, and almost expiring. 
 
 On scanning him closely, I recognized him as 
 the Indian who had represented himse^ to be 
 a chief, and with whom Brady had had the diffi 
 culty on the Key on which some of the goods 
 from the wreck had baen landed. 
 
 When I descended from the bank, and ascer 
 tained this, I mentioned it to the captain. He 
 scarcely seemed to hear what I said. After re 
 leasing George, whom he tenderly embraced, he 
 had fervently lifted up his eyes, and then seating 
 himself in the boat, he had buried his face in his 
 hands, and remained in that posture. 
 
 At x length, he raised his head, and said to us : 
 "I was overcome. I hope that I am duly grate 
 ful for the favor which has been vouchsafed to 
 me. George come here, and let me kiss you 
 again, my child." 
 
 " There is much to be done yet," resumed the 
 captain, suddenly starting to his feet. "The 
 commandant of the post must be notified. And 
 boys, let us not forget our faithful friend, even 
 if he is a dog."
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 
 
 335 
 
 THE CAPTAIN GIVES THE ALARM-THE COMMAND 
 ANT'S SUSP 1C IONS-H IS REQUEST TO THE CAP 
 TAINTHE INDIA M"'S CONFESSIO N J A C K. ' S 
 DEATH AND BURIAI 
 
 HE captain arose, and approaching 
 the canoe, and bending low over the 
 Indian, listened to ascertain whether 
 he still breathed. Satisfied of the fact, 
 he ^ e ^ t ne Indian's pulse, and then 
 raising the almost lifeless body, placed 
 jt in an easy position. Unbending our 
 painter, he fastened one end to the bow of the 
 canos, and the other to the stern of the dingy. 
 Then telling us to get aboard of our boat, he and 
 I put out the sculls, while George took the tiller. 
 The captain told George to steer for the post at 
 the mouth of the river, and we started with the 
 canoe in tow. George was extremely quiet. He 
 had passed through a scene of wild excitement. 
 The roughness of his savage captors, the alter 
 nations of hope and fear, the pudden joy of de-
 
 336 TJTE YOUNG WEECKEE, 
 
 liverance, had followed with transition so rapid, 
 that they had left him subdued and speechless. 
 
 We soon reached the post, and the captain 
 briefly explained to the commandant all that 
 had happened. 
 
 The commandant, after glancing at the wounded 
 Indian, said to the captain : 
 
 "I need not tell you, Captain Bowers, that 
 trouble is brewing. This Indian's dress, paint, 
 and weapons, indicate that he was on the war 
 path." 
 
 " I knew it, when I saw the Indian who was 
 shot by this boy," replied Captain Bowers, in 
 dicating me with a gesture. 
 
 " This preparation is not for the attack of the 
 post," said the commandant, " but for that of 
 some unprotected settlement, probably Indian 
 Key. These Indians were probably on their 
 way to join their comrades. There will be 
 no danger in acceding to your request. I will 
 send a squad of men with you, and when you 
 have recovered your noble dog, you must in 
 stantly return to your vessel. You have a duty 
 to perform. You must immediately get under 
 way, sail for Indian Key, and warn the settle 
 ment of its danger." 
 
 The captain assented without a moment's 
 hesitation. The Indian was removed to the 
 quarters of the soldiers. We left *our boat, and
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 337 
 
 getting into the boat belonging to the post, a 
 squad of four soldiers escorted us up the river. 
 George was left at the post to await our return. 
 
 We lauded at the same point from which the 
 captain and George had started, and two soldiers 
 staid near the boat, to guard it, and bury the 
 dead Indian. The other two set out with us 
 towards the place where the Indians had lain in 
 ambush. 
 
 The mystery of their presence in that place 
 was very easily solved. The previous day, they 
 must have come across the dead panthers, and 
 concluded that we would return to the place to 
 procure the skin of the female one. They there 
 awaited our coming, after having detached one 
 of the party to capture the boat and cut off our 
 retreat. 
 
 "We proceeded cautiously through the woods, 
 for fear that we might be waylaid by some 
 lurking Indian, and our advance was neces 
 sarily slow. In a quarter of an hour, we ar 
 rived at the place. There, in a pool of his 
 own blood, lay poor Jack. The ca[ta : n gently 
 pressed his hand on the region of the animal's 
 heart, and felt a slight fluttering pulsation. 
 The soldiers, with the aid of their knives, cut 
 some boughs, and constructed a litter, on which 
 Jack was carefully deposited, and borne along to 
 wards the river. When we reached the shore, 
 
 29
 
 338 THE YOUNG CHECKER, 
 
 the captain took off his coat, placed it in the 
 bottom of the boat, and Jack was laid upon 
 it. The captain then proceeded to staunch 
 the blood, which was still ebbing from Jack's 
 wound. 
 
 By the time that he had accomplished this, and 
 adjusted a bandage made of our handkerchiefs 
 knotted together, the corpse of the Indian had 
 been buried in a shallow grave. We then 
 started down the river, and again landed at 
 the post. 
 
 The commandant was on the shore, awaiting 
 our arrival, and at once said to the captain : 
 
 " It is as I thought. The Indian died a few 
 minutes ago; but, before expiring, he answered 
 a question of mine. Indian Key is on the eve 
 of being attacked. You must hasten to get 
 your vessel under way." 
 
 We immediately transferred Jack to our own 
 boat, and bidding the commandant farewell, set 
 sail across Key Biscayne Bay. 
 
 As soon as the boat was fairly under way, the 
 captain renewed his attentions to Jack, who 
 showed increasing signs of life. At last, he 
 opened his eyes, moaned slightly, and then 
 raising his head, licked the captain's hand. 
 After awhile, he was seized with frequent and 
 intense twitching of the limbs, and moaned 
 more frequently, as if suffering acute pain. Oh,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 339 
 
 how George and I watched him and cried 
 over him ! for we loved the dog. The cap 
 tain, with one hand on the tiller, reached out 
 the other, and constantly patted the head of 
 his faithful friend. Once more, Jack raised 
 his head, licked the captain's hand, and turned 
 his head to lick George's and mine, as we placed 
 them near his mouth, to gratify the affectionate 
 yearning of his nature. He closed his eyes, as 
 If satisfied, and then quivered all over. His 
 limbs twitched and struck out spasmodically, 
 and he uttered a sharp bark, ending with a 
 howl. He became rigid; his eyes opened and 
 glazed; his lower jaw dropped; and his tongue 
 protruded. 
 
 " Boys," said the captain, mildly, " he is 
 dead." 
 
 I look back through the vista of many years, 
 and see in that stiffening form, what men 
 call a dog, but I, one of the dearest friends 
 I ever had ! 
 
 We landed on the first large Key that we 
 reached, and lifting Jack out of the boat, laid 
 him on the shore. The captain dispatched me 
 to the vessel to fetch two of the crew with 
 spades. As I set sail, I saw him and George 
 lift the body of Jack, and carry it towards the 
 high ground on the Key. Before an hour had
 
 310 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 passed, I had returned with the men and the 
 implements for which the captain had sent me. 
 
 In a densely wooded spot, far removed from 
 the beach, we dug a little grave. The captain 
 folded his coat more closely around the dog, and 
 buttoned it over his chest. We laid him care 
 fully in the grave, and took one look at him. 
 The captain made a mark on a neighboring tree, 
 and we turned sadly away, and walked towards 
 the beach. 
 
 "When we reached the boat, the captain, turn 
 ing to us boys, who could not restrain our tears, 
 said: 
 
 " He was worthy of our love, proving his by 
 yielding up his life in our defence." 
 
 We were soon under way, bound for Indian 
 Key.
 
 OE FEED RANSOM. 
 
 THE FLYING cuouo SAILS FOR INDIAN KEY- 
 
 THE MESSAGE FROM CAPTAIN BOWERS TO 
 DR. CLUZEL-NO ATTACK EXPECTED THAT 
 NIGHT-THE SURPRISE-THE M ASSACRE-THE 
 MURDER OF THE DOCTOR THE ESCAPE OF 
 HIS FAMILY AND OF FRED RANSOM. 
 
 ' T was three o'clock in the after 
 noon. The schooner had a fair, 
 but moderate breeze. The captain 
 set every rag of canvas on her, and 
 we glided slowly along the line of 
 Keys. Our mission was fraught 
 with life and death. Would we be 
 in time to give warning? Why not? The 
 Indians, if they purposed an attack, would make 
 it at night ; and as we passed a wrecker, to 
 wards the southward, she made no signal, as 
 ehe would assuredly have done, had she pos 
 sessed any tidings. But then, on the other 
 hand, the attack might have taken place during 
 the preceding night, and the wrecker might not 
 have sighted any vessel towards the southward. 
 
 29*
 
 342 TEE YOUNG WS2CE.ER, 
 
 True, the attack miglit have been made during 
 the preceding night. I felt as if the fickle 
 wind and sluggish waves clogged the uails and 
 once-swift keel. 
 
 The captain, standing near the helm, had 
 apparently been pursuing the same train of 
 thought, for he turned towards me, and said : 
 
 " The Indians may have attacked the Key 
 last night. If not, we shall be in time, even 
 with this breeze, for they will not attack before 
 the dead of night. I knew that, or I would not 
 have spent even an hour in burying Jack." 
 
 " Oh, captain !" exclaimed I, "I am so glad 
 to hear you say that ! I feared that we should 
 be too late." 
 
 " So we may be," replied the captain ; " but 
 not if the attack has n't already taken place. 
 Go down into the cabin, and sit with George. 
 Perhaps you had better try to take some rest, 
 to recover after the fatigue of the clay. You 
 may be needed in a few hours. George is too 
 much overcome to be of any use in an emer 
 gency. I shall be obliged to depend upon you 
 alone." 
 
 I found George as I had left him. He lay 
 in his berth, with his eyes open ; perfectly calm, 
 but unable to compose himself to sleep. I sat 
 down beside him, took his hand, and talked to 
 him. Beinoc thus diverted from the thought*
 
 OB FRED RANSOM. 343 
 
 which had engrossed him, the fatigue -which he 
 had undergone, exercised uncontrolled influence, 
 and he soon fell fast asleep. Then I slipped off 
 my coat, and threw myself into my own berth, 
 knowing that the next few hours might tax my 
 utmost energies, and determined to brace my 
 nerves by the refreshment of slumber. Blessed, 
 indeed, as Sancho Panza says, be the man who 
 invented sleep ! 
 
 When I awakened, I was in darkness, and I 
 felt a cool breeze rushing through the cabin. I 
 called to George, in a low voice, but receiving 
 no answer, got out of my berth, put on my coat, 
 and ran up the companion-way. 
 
 The captain was seated near the helm. Ap 
 parently, he had not relinquished his post. 
 The breeze had increased. It was quite fresh, 
 and the schooner was scudding along, with her 
 Bails bellied out, and lee-scuppers almost under 
 water. 
 
 "I hope that you have had a good rest," 
 observed the captain. " It is ten o'clock. Wo 
 shall reach the Key in an hour's time. I '11 
 leave you in charge of the deck. Call me the 
 moment we come in sight of the Key." 
 
 The captain left me, and, a few minutes 
 afterwards, on putting my head down the com 
 panion-way, I knew, by the loud snoring, that 
 he had not been long in obtaining the plumber
 
 344 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 which the seafaring man, tutored by experience 
 of surprises, dangers, and fatigues, seldom woos 
 in vain. 
 
 In a little over an hour, a distant light ap 
 prised me that we were approaching our desti 
 nation. After confirming myself in this opinion, 
 by appealing to the helmsman, I awoke the 
 captain. He instantly came on deck. We 
 were soon abreast of Indian Key. 
 
 " We are in time, Fred," said the captain, as 
 the schooner rounded to and let go her anchor. 
 " Ashore, all appears too orderly for any thing 
 to have happened. There is no noise, and the 
 lights in the windows of the houses near the 
 water show as usual. I have got some service 
 for you to perform. My duty keeps me here. 
 Take a man or two, and row ashore. Go to 
 Doctor Cluzel's house, and give him the intelli 
 gence. In case he should consider the schooner 
 a safer refuge than his house, let him come off 
 with his family." 
 
 "Certainly, sir," I replied; "but I don't need 
 any one. I can pull ashore without any help; 
 and, as the boat is small, and the doctor may 
 accept your offer, I had better dispense with 
 even one of the crew. There is a pretty stiff 
 breeze rising, but I can manage the boat." 
 
 The dingy was lowered, I jumped into her, 
 put out my sculls, and rowed for the Key.
 
 OK FEED HANSOM. 345 
 
 * 
 
 On landing, I ran hastily to the doctor's house, 
 and up the steps leading to the piazza, and 
 pounded at the front-door for some minutes 
 before I could make myself heard. At length, 
 the doctor put his head out of the window, and 
 asked who was there. I announced my name, 
 and said, in a low tone, that I had something 
 of importance to communicate. The doctor 
 withdrew his head, and soon opened the front 
 door. 
 
 In a very few words, I told him the news, 
 and gave him the captain's invitation. The 
 doctor looked grave, but after a short silence, 
 said: 
 
 "I must confess, that the suspicions of the 
 commandant of the post, and of Captain Bowers, 
 are not unwarranted. Of course, I do n't doubt, 
 after what you have told me, that the Indians 
 contemplate some outrage ; but I do doubt that 
 they intend to attack this settlement. No signs 
 of them have been seen about here. It is many 
 miles from this place to the main-land. The 
 residents here, being wreckers and fishermen, 
 are daily in the habit of visiting the neighboring 
 Keys; and if any Indians had been lurking 
 there, they would have been discovered. At 
 any rate, no attack will be made to-night. 
 Look over the water in this direction, and in
 
 346 THE YOUNG WKECKER, 
 
 that. Every thing is as silent as the grave. 
 Hold ! let us go into the cupola. Thence we 
 can command a view in every direction." 
 
 Saying this, the doctor left the piazza, on 
 which we had been standing, and led the 
 way into the house, and upstairs to the 
 cupola. 
 
 Nothing could be more peaceful than the 
 scene which presented itself from the cupola. 
 The waters surrounding us lay calmly shimmer 
 ing in the light of the setting moon. The shores 
 of the ^ adjacent Keys showed quite distinctly, 
 and the only sounds that we heard were those of 
 the gentle waves splashing against the piles of the 
 neighboring jetty, and the sighing of the in 
 creasing breeze, as it struck the crannies in 
 the roof, and the open casement of the 
 cupola. 
 
 " It is past twelve o'clock," said the doctor, 
 examining his watch. " Surely, if danger is 
 brewing, it will not overtake us to-night. I 
 like to act with caution ; at the same time, I 
 wish to avo^d giving a needless alarm to the 
 settlement. I cannot think that there is danger 
 to-night; and, by daylight, the people will be 
 less alarmed at the news. However, I will 
 be on the safe side, and communicate it to 
 the two most reliable men here, obtain 

 
 GE FRED HANSOM. 347 
 
 their opinion, and let them use their own judg 
 ment/'* 
 
 We descended the stairs, and Doctor Cluzel, 
 after donning his coat, left me standing on the 
 lower piazza, while he went on the errand which 
 he had mentioned. After an absence of half an 
 hour, he returned, and stated that he had seen 
 both of the persons to whom he had alluded. 
 They agreed with him in thinking that the late 
 ness of the hour indicated, .that if an attack 
 had been in contemplation, it would be post 
 poned until another night. The doctor and 
 they had concluded to divulge the news on the 
 following morning, and preparations could then 
 be made for repelling an attempt upon the set 
 tlement. 
 
 " It is within five minutes of one o'clock," 
 said the doctor, again consulting his watch. 
 "Every thing is perfectly quiet, and likely, 
 in my opinion, to continue so. You must not 
 think of returning to the vessel. Your late 
 fatigue must have nearly exhausted you. Come 
 into the sitting-room. I have a shake-down 
 there, always ready for the use of a friend." 
 
 I was worn out, and seeing no reason which 
 should urge a return to the vessel, I gladly 
 
 * The warning received by the settlement, as introduced 
 in the story, is historically untrue. The attack by the 
 Indians was a surprise.
 
 348 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 accepted the doctor's offer. He soon left me, 
 and retired to his own chamber, continuing 
 carefully to guard against making any noise 
 which might disturb the family, and, by the 
 unwonted circumstance, arouse their appre 
 hensions. 
 
 "When I was left alone, I partially undressed, 
 and threw myself on the couch. For a long 
 time, I lay with my eyes fixed, with an ab 
 stracted gaze, on the face of an old clock which 
 stood in the corner of the room. The scenes 
 of the last few hours vividly presented them 
 selves to my imagination. But the curtain of 
 sleep fell not before my hot and weary eyes, and 
 the drama closed with my present situation, 
 only to be again repeated. How long I had 
 lain thus absorbed, I knew not, until my gaze, 
 which had rested on the face of the clock, 
 without my being conscious of the object upon 
 which it centred, resuming its function, showed 
 me the hands indicating two o'clock in the 
 morning. I sprang up, and was in the act of 
 divesting myself of my remaining clothes, when 
 a horrid yell smote my ears. Almost simulta 
 neously, came a volley of bullets, and the sound 
 of crashing glass showed me that the musketry 
 had been levelled at the upper windows of tha 
 house. 
 
 At that yell, heard by me for the second timo,
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 
 
 but now vociferated by many discordant voices, 
 I needed not the accompanying discharge of 
 bullets to tell me that the Indians were upon us. 
 
 Fatal error, reflected I, that lapped us in 
 fancied security! But there was no time for 
 reflection. I seized my lamp, and hurried with 
 it to the corner of the room, where I set it down, 
 and screened it with a chair and a cloth hastily 
 snatched from a table. 
 
 Voices and footsteps sounded upstairs. I had 
 hardly time to clothe myself decently, when 
 the doctor, Mrs. Cluzel, and their three children, 
 poured into the room. 
 
 The doctor was cool and collected ; but Mrs. 
 Cluzel was speechless with alarm, and her son 
 James, in maddened terror, clung to her night 
 dress. The doctor hurried us all to a trap-door 
 leading to the cellar, already described as being 
 used for a bathing-room. The doctor raised the 
 trap-door, but Mrs. Cluzel hesitated to descend. 
 Her daughters threw their arms about her, and 
 besought her to seek refuge there. But the 
 thought of leaving the doctor seemed to be more 
 than she could bear. In the midst of this dis 
 tressing scene, came the crashing blows of axes, 
 as the Indians commenced to force their way 
 into tho opposite dwelling. At the sound, Mrs. 
 Cluzel's agony of terror so prevailed, that she 
 hurried with us all into the dark opening, down 
 
 SO
 
 350 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 the narrow stairs, and into the water of the 
 bathing-room. As we descended, the doctor 
 ran hastily towards the interior of the house. 
 We passed through the bathing-room, and made 
 our way to an oblong place which communicated 
 with it. This place was separated from the 
 wharf by posts driven into the marl. We had 
 hardly concealed ourselves there, when we dis 
 tinctly heard the doctor's voice speaking to the 
 Indians from the upper piazza. He addressed 
 them in Spanish, telling them that he was a 
 physician. When he said that, they gave a 
 shout, and, from the sound of their -voices, we 
 judged that they were retiring, having resolved 
 on abstaining from further molestation of the- 
 house. As the murmur of voices gradually be 
 came more and more vague, as the Indians re 
 tired, we heard the doctor's footsteps near the 
 trap-door, which we had left open in our hasty 
 descent. 
 
 "We are safe," whispered he, putting his head 
 through the trap-door. " The Indians have gone. 
 I told them that I was a medicine-man, and 
 they respect that title. Hemaiu where you are 
 for a while longer." 
 
 Saying this, Doctor Cluzel closed the trap 
 door, and, judging by the sound, I think that he 
 must have dragged over it a heavy chest which 
 I had observed in the room.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 
 
 Who can depict, save one who has been a wit-" 
 ness of such a scene, the slow torture of the 
 minutes and hours that ensued ! With clothes 
 saturated with water, and bedraggled with mud; 
 worn out with suspense; half-crazed with horror; 
 what must have been the feelings of that poor 
 mother, with her children clinging around her ? 
 From a distance, now and then came the noiso 
 of resounding blows, as the Indians broke into 
 house after house, dismantling it, and heighten 
 ing their demoniac instincts by swilling the 
 spirituous liquors which they found upon the 
 premises. Sometimes, the crashing sound of 
 axes, and the murmur of voices seemed to bo 
 approaching, and we felt sure that the savages, 
 maddened with drink, were returning, to imbruo 
 in our blood, hands reeking with that of many 
 already ruthlessly slaughtered. The hoarse, 
 drunken shouts, came borne in fitful blasts from 
 a distance, or startled us by their proximity, as 
 they were bellowed by a swiftly passing throng 
 of infuriate wretches. And utter darkness shut 
 in our retreat, and what we could not hear, the 
 imagination divined with a vividness that reality 
 could scarcely exceed. 
 
 I could not ascertain the time of night, or 
 rather morning, for my watch, being immersed 
 in the water, had stopped. Otherwise, I might 
 have discovered the time by feeling the hands.
 
 352 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 After hours, seemingly years, of weary watch 
 ing, we thought that we perceived, through the 
 chinks between the piles, the gray light of morn 
 ing stealing through the air. \Ve cautiously 
 whispered the news to each other, and, for the 
 first time, hope seemed to revive in every breast. 
 
 Scarcely had this feeling commenced to re 
 sume its sway, when our hearts sank within us, 
 for again, and close to the house, we heard the 
 yell of the Indians. Then came a terrific bat 
 tering at the front-door, and at that renewed 
 sound, I gave up all for lost. Scarcely a minute 
 had elapsed, when by the noise of hurrying feet 
 above, we knew that the Indians had forced an 
 entrance. The sound of footsteps rushing up 
 the stairs, showed that the Indians were search 
 ing for the family. Again, the battering on a 
 distant door apprised us that the doctor had 
 retreated to the cupola the place to which he had 
 taken me but a few hours before, to show me the 
 peaceful scene that lay spread out for miles be 
 yond ! Foiled in their first attempt to enter the 
 cupola, the yells of the savages became frightful, 
 and the inmost recesses of our retreat seemed to 
 vibrate with the horrid clamor. Then came a 
 crash of planks, and one general yell, louder 
 than all the rest, revealed the fearful truth. The 
 Indians had broken down the door. A few wild 
 yells and trampling sounds ensued, and the noise
 
 OR FEED RA.NSOM. So3 
 
 of numerous and rapidly approaching footsteps 
 rumbled down the staircase. It was clear. The 
 doctor had been murdered in cold blood. I 
 heard a groan at my side, and a lifeless form fell 
 on my breast. I encircled it in my arms, and 
 kept it from dropping into the water. Mrs. 
 Cluzel's long agony had overcome her, and she 
 had fainted. I cautiously whispered the fact to 
 the girh, who approached and aided me in sup 
 porting their mother above the surface of the 
 water. We threw some of the fluid in her face, 
 chafed her hands and wrists, and in a few min 
 utes she was sufficiently restored to consciousness 
 to enable her to raise her head. Then, the 
 horror of our situation seemed so suddenly to 
 burst upon her, that, judging by the convulsive 
 rising of her shoulders and inflation of her 
 chest, that she was about to give vent to a 
 scream, I clapped my hand over her mouth, 
 saying, "for Heaven's sake, madam! We are 
 lost, if you raise your voice." 
 
 " It was involuntary," replied she, with a 
 groan. "I bore accumulating horrors, but the 
 memory of all, in one second, distracted me. 
 The doctor" %" 
 
 I thought that she was about to faint again, 
 but the girls supported her, pleading with her 
 to be calm. And then came a scene ! what a 
 strange mourning scene! The mother, daugh-
 
 354 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 ters, and son, interlaced in each other's arms, 
 shivering arid benumbed, mourned and wept 
 together, for they knew that above lay the body 
 of the husband and father. 
 
 They seemed to be stupefied by the danger 
 and grief that encompassed them. I was, as I 
 should have been, the one who best preserved 
 his senses. The last blow had overwhelmed 
 them so completely, that the mere instinct of 
 self-preservation, alone seemed to control them. 
 The noises above now appeared to fall all un 
 heeded on their ears. The sound of heavy 
 objects, dragged along the floor, indicated that 
 the pillage of the house had begun ; and I knew 
 by the frequent crashing of glass, that the 
 Indians were engaged in wantonly destroying 
 what they could not carry away. Hope that 
 they would speedily depart, then took possession 
 of me; for I said to myself, "after they have 
 pillaged or destroyed all the valuables upon 
 which they can lay their hands, what can detain 
 them? They have gratified their love of drink, 
 with bestial intoxication, and glutted their thirst 
 for blood, by the murder of many besides tho 
 doctor." 
 
 Discovery, at times, seemed imminent; for 
 
 some of the Indians were immediately overhead, 
 
 and once an Indian lifted the plank by which 
 
 the turtle-crawl could be entered, and peered 
 
 30*
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 355 
 
 down into the darkness. Had there been much 
 light, no doubt our presence in the oblong pas 
 sage, which lay between the bathing-room and 
 the turtle-crawl, would have been discovered. I 
 shuddered when I saw the plank replaced, and 
 realized how narrowly we had escaped. 
 
 I then felt as if our last trial of fortitude had 
 passed. But I was mistaken. Another was in 
 store for us. Hardly had the sun risen, when, 
 by the light which penetrated our retreat, I 
 perceived wreathing lines of smoke coming from 
 the floor above. The house was on fire. Soon 
 the smoke descended in volumes so stifling, that 
 we were obliged to keep our faces close to the 
 water, to avoid being suffocated. The roar of 
 the flames grew louder and louder. All hope 
 vanished. The alternatives seemed to be death 
 by suffocation, or by the hands of the Indians. 
 The house soon fell into the cellar, and even 
 now, when I recall the ensuing scene, it seems 
 impossible that human nature could withstand 
 what we endured. We could not see each other. 
 The planking which covered the long, narrow 
 space, in which we were ensconced, took fire, and 
 we were constantly obliged to dash water upon 
 it. At the same time, we were obliged to cover 
 our heads with rnarl, and throw water over 
 them, to diminish the intense heat, and disperse 
 the smoke, so that we could breathe. Jurnea
 
 356 THE YOUNG WBEC31ER, 
 
 could endure no more. He began to scream. 
 His mother forcibly held him, and gagged him 
 with her hand ; while one of his sisters held his 
 arms. But, frantic with terror, he broke from 
 them, and displacing one of the palmetto posts, 
 which separated our place of concealment from 
 the turtle-crawl, made his escape. 
 
 We now thought our fate sealed, and des 
 perately awaited the arrival of the Indians. 
 Blank despair settled upon us. I confess that 
 I had not a ray of hope that we would not be 
 discovered and murdered. We waited for some 
 time, in dreadful suspense, but heard no noise. 
 Mrs. Cluzel, feeling that we could not exist 
 much longer there, approached the line of pal 
 metto posts, and, with her hands, dug up the 
 marl at the bottom of some of them, until she 
 removed it sufficiently to withdraw them. We 
 all passed out under the adjoining wharf, on 
 which was some blazing cord-wood, dropping its 
 cinders into the water below. As we emerged 
 from the wharf, we perceived James standing on 
 the shore, gazing distractedly in every direction. 
 Near the wharf beyond, we espied a large launch, 
 to which we waded, beckoning to James to follow 
 us. We dragged the boat into deep water, 
 jumped into it, and commenced poling and row 
 ing with all our might, to get clear of the Key. 
 Fortunately, James knew how to manr.ge a boat,
 
 OR FRED EANSCM. 357 
 
 and we made good speed. We once ran aground, 
 but soon succeeded in getting the launch afloat. 
 Some of the Indians happening to discover us, 
 as we got clear of the shore, ran down to the 
 water's edge, yelling with rage. But we were be- 
 ytfnd rifle-shot before they could recover from, 
 their surprise. We then saw a boat from tho 
 Flying Cloud pulling to our assistance. 
 
 We were saved. The presence of the launch 
 seemed providential. Laden with goods stowed 
 in it by the Indians, in a brief interval of their 
 absence, it changed from the means of pillage 
 to the instrument of our safety. 
 
 It was afternoon when we got aboard of the 
 schooner. A few residents of the Key had 
 already reached her. Others, who had secreted 
 themselves in various places on the Key, were 
 discovered when the Indians had retired. Mrs. 
 Cluzel and her children were led into the cabin, 
 and the captain begged' them to take anything 
 with which they could cover themselves. They 
 had nothing on but their night-clothes. 
 
 After the Indians had left, some scattered 
 dresses were found, and they were distributed 
 among the sufferers. The situation of Mrs. 
 Cluzel and her children was deplorable in the 
 extreme. Bereft of the head of their family, 
 destitute of clothing ; devoured by restless fear 
 of a renewed attack by the Indians ; they needed,
 
 358 THE YOUNS 
 
 and, I must say, received our fullest sympathy 
 and aid. All that the captain could do, he did, 
 to alleviate their sufferings, physical and mental. 
 On the night of the second day after their arrival 
 on the schooner, tlj.ey heard the report of two 
 rifles, which was understood to be a signal 
 agreed upon in case the Indians attacked Tea- 
 Table Key. So unnerved were they by tli3 
 ordeal through which they had passed, that, 
 although a storm was raging, the idea of the 
 proximity of the Indians put them in so great 
 a paroxysm of terror, that they implored the 
 captain to let them have a boat to leave the 
 vessel. The captain, in a kind but firm manner, 
 refused to accede to their request. If he had 
 done so, they would inevitably have perished in 
 the storm. 
 
 Towards evening, there arrived a United 
 States schooner, commanded by an officer of the 
 Navy. He at once surrendered his state-room 
 to the Cluzel family, and, the next day but one, 
 sailed for Cape Florida, to await the passing of 
 a steamer in which the family could reach St. 
 Augustine. 
 
 Some of those who had taken refuge on the 
 Flying Cloud, as well as those who, by hiding 
 themselves on shore, had escaped the massacre, 
 returned to their dwellings. 
 
 I learned, afterwards, that the Cluzels were
 
 OR FRED JIA.1TSOU. 359 
 
 safely put aboard of the steamer. On trans 
 ferring the party to the naval vessel, on the 
 evening preceding her departure, the command 
 ing officer requested Captain Bowers to sail for 
 Key West, to carry the news of the massacre. 
 \Ve got under way at once, and stood down the 
 coast.
 
 360 
 
 ifuUiNG 
 
 FRED RANSOM'S REFLECTIONS- A SHIP ON 
 FIRE-THE RESCUE OF THE CREW-MUTUAL 
 RECOGNITION. 
 
 HE sun had set, but twilight still 
 lingered, as we spread sail and 
 glided swiftly along the shadowy line 
 of Keys. The storm which had raged 
 nearly without intermission, since the 
 fatal night of the 6th of August, 
 had subsided, and a double calm en 
 sued, after the strife of the elements, and the 
 more fearful violence of man. We had rea 
 son to look back with satisfaction at the part 
 which we had acted in the events of the last 
 few hours ; yet to the retrospection, belonged so 
 much that was painful, that I rejoiced in a 
 change of scene which might disturb the memo 
 ry of the late pillage and ruthless massacre. I 
 had had enough adventure to satisfy the craving 
 of the most romantic youth. As a consequence,
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. SGI 
 
 I experienced a longing to return home ; and it 
 was with a joyful feeling that the thought 
 flashed across me, that it was in my present 
 frame of mind, and in no other, that I could 
 honorably do so. By dint of pondering, came 
 the idea of leaving the vessel when she arrived 
 at Key West. Then, for the first time, I re 
 alized the strength of the tie which bound me 
 to the captain and his son. On that account, I 
 felt reluctant to go. Yet my father had said, 
 that when I could state that I was cured of my 
 spirit for adventure, I might return home. I 
 was sure that I could say so now. I asked 
 myself whether I ought not to return when I' 
 could say this with truth. I had no right to 
 give my father the pain of a prolonged and 
 indefinite separation. The accomplishment of 
 my desire, and his injunction, were reconcilable, 
 and all that opposed them was the anticipated 
 pang of separation from my wrecker friends. I 
 resolved to leave the vessel at Key West. 
 
 Ever since the morning after the massacre, 
 my thoughts had taken this turn ; but my final 
 determination was not made until the evening 
 upon which we weighed anchor. About nine 
 o'clock, I was alone, reclining on the trunk- 
 cabin, gazing at the stars, and listening to the 
 purling sound of the low waves sweeping past 
 the schooner. The calm influence of night and 
 31
 
 362 THE YOUXG WRECKER, 
 
 solitude inspired a thoughtful mood, and I 
 resolved to encourage it until I had reached a 
 solution of the question which had engaged my 
 mind. 
 
 As I ceased communing with myself, my 
 spirits rose. Doubt had vanished. My desire 
 and my duty were in accord. I felt supremely 
 happy. I sprang to my feet, and walked to 
 wards the cabin, with the intention of telling 
 my friends of my determination ; but, on second 
 thoughts, I concluded to defer telling the news 
 until we reached Key West, for I felt sure 
 that it would grieve them both to know that we 
 must part. 
 
 Passing the companion-way, I heard "a mur 
 mur of conversation. One of the survivors of 
 the massacre was recounting to the captain some 
 of the details of his escape with his family. 
 The children, with their mothers, were retiring 
 to rest, as I judged from the glow of a light 
 behind a blanket which had been hung across 
 the cabin, in order to afford privacy to the fe 
 male passengers. 
 
 Brady was at the helm. I sat down near 
 him, under the lee of the bulwarks. The lo 
 quacious fellow instantly took the opportunity 
 to ask me some questions about the killing of 
 the " chafe," and about the events of the night
 
 OR FRED RANSOlf. 363 
 
 of tlie 6th of August, although he knew that, the 
 captain allowed no conversation at the helm. 
 
 " I will not talk to you, Brady," said I. " It 
 is against orders." 
 
 " Did you hear that," said Brady, quickly. 
 
 " I tell you, Brady," returned I, " that I will 
 not talk to you. If you go on, I '11 be obliged 
 to report you." 
 
 " It 's a gun, I mane," said Brady. " I heerd 
 a gun." 
 
 " Nonsense," said I, thinking that his imagi 
 nation was running upon the Indians. " We are 
 miles away from Indian Key." 
 
 " It 's a cannon, I mane," said Brady. 
 " There ! Do you hear that ?" 
 
 "No, I did not," said I, rising. "And, more 
 over, I think that the cannon is in your imagi 
 nation. But perhaps I could n't hear so well 
 where I was, as you can by the helm." 
 
 A short time elapsed, and I was on the poinl 
 -of resuming my seat, when I heard the reporl 
 of a distant cannon. 
 
 "Do n't you hear that?" exclaimed Brady, 
 
 " You 're right," said I. " Captain !" shouted 
 I, calling down the companion-way. " Please 
 come on deck. I hear signal-guns." 
 
 The captain sprang up the steps, followed bj 
 one of the passengers, and stood beside us. 
 
 The sound of the guns came at regular ano
 
 864 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 frequent intervals, as fast as a single piece of 
 ordnance can be loaded and fired. 
 
 " I should judge by the sound," said the 
 captain, " that the vessel must be well off shore, 
 fifteen miles at least." 
 
 Two or three of the male passengers now 
 joined the party, and one of them, who was a 
 sea-captain, agreed with Captain Bowers in his 
 estimate* of the distance from our vessel to the 
 vessel in distress. 
 
 " It seems to me," he added " that she must 
 bear about south south-east from where we 
 are." 
 
 Captain Bowers assented. 
 
 "She is to the southward, certainly," re 
 marked one of the passengers; "for do n't you 
 observe that the reports have become much 
 louder ?" 
 
 " She bears about south south-east," said 
 Captain Bowers, in a confident tone. " I shall 
 keep the schooner on her present course, for 
 .awhile; and then try to cross the Keef, through 
 a channel I know. In four or five miles we '11 
 be abreast of her." 
 
 When we had sailed about that distance, the 
 correctness of the view expressed, as to the 
 vessel's first bearing from our position, was con 
 firmed, for the sound of the reports came from 
 the eastward.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 365 
 
 " All bane's stand by to haul in the fore and 
 main sheets," ^shouted the captain. "Here, you 
 three men, come aft. Luff her up, Brady. 
 Haul away uow. Give a pull at the main-peak 
 halliards, men. Trim the jib-sheet. Steady at 
 that, Brady." 
 
 The schooner was now close-hauled, and run 
 ning directly towards the Reef. Before long 
 we passed through the channel, and the reports 
 of the cannon became more and more distinct. 
 
 Suddenly, near the horizon, a bright light 
 glowed, encompassing a large ship with a mo 
 mentary halo. 
 
 " She 's on fire !" shouted every one on deck. 
 The noise brought up all the crew who were 
 below, as well as those occupants of the cabin 
 who had not retired to rest, and our forward 
 deck was filled with eager gazers. 
 
 The glow quickly reappeared, and as suddenly 
 vanished. Again it commenced, shone fiicker- 
 ingly, and died away into utter darkness. 
 
 With a quick leap, the light arose once more, 
 increasing in intensity, until the ship became a 
 great bonfire, lighting up the horizon with a 
 dazzling glare. 
 
 The darting blaze, amid her masts, devoured 
 
 her sails, as powder is consumed in the quick 
 
 breath of its explosion. The sails gone, the 
 
 blazing hull then lighted the masts, which soon 
 
 31*
 
 3C6 THE YOUNG V/KECKER, 
 
 showed like pillars of fire, until, charred to the 
 core, just before they fell, quick streaks of light 
 coursed up and down them, like the darting of 
 electric sparks. The whole of the forward part 
 of the ship, even to the mizzen-mast, was in 
 flames. It was very evident from the character 
 of the conflagration, that the ship had been for 
 a long time afire in her hold; the hatches 
 had been battened down to exclude the air, 
 and smother the flames, which, although pent 
 up, imperceptibly gained the mastery, and sud 
 denly bursting their bonds, had wrapped tho 
 ship in a tornado of flame. 
 
 The deck of the Flying Cloud was a scene 
 of bustle and preparation. The boats were 
 prepared, so that we could lower them at a 
 moment's notice. The two quarter-boats, with 
 close stowing, could hold a dozen persons besides 
 the oarsmen. The dingy we had lost at Indian 
 Key. We had nothing upon which to depend, 
 except the quarter-boats. 
 
 "I've got just two crews of four men each, 
 for the boats," said Captain Bowers to the sea- 
 captain. You take command of one of the 
 boats, and Fred Eansom will take charge of the 
 other. I '11 run as close as I dare. Hannibal 
 and I can manage the vessel, with the aid of 
 one or two of the passengers. . Take your sta-
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 367 
 
 tions by the boats', men," shouted the captain. 
 " Hannibal, take the helm." 
 
 The men ran up the companion-ladders, and 
 reached the quarter-deck. One of them got 
 into each boat, to unhook the falls as soon as 
 she was lowered, and the others stood by the 
 davits. 
 
 The light of the fire was now so vivid, that 
 on our decks, the face of every one shone 
 brightly in the glare. "We were ploughing ra 
 pidly through the sea, and objects on the ship 
 became at every moment more distinguishable. 
 She drifted, an unmanageable mass, with the 
 flames sweeping from her stem almost to her 
 Stern. Near the stern, we could see dark clus 
 ters, which we recognized as human beings, 
 trying to escape, on the verge of the taffrail, the 
 blast of the fiery furnace. 
 
 The excited shout and rush to the forward- 
 deck, with which all on the deck of the schooner 
 had involuntary greeted the discovery that the 
 mysterious vessel in distress was a ship on fire, 
 had at once given place to brief command, dis 
 ciplined and prompt obedience. In a minute 
 afterwards, we were standing motionless at our 
 posts. The passengers who had retired, com 
 menced to emerge from the cabin, their scanty 
 dress and excited gestures betokening that the 
 sudden noise had, owing to the scenes through
 
 8G8 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 which they had lately passed, produced in them 
 an alarm little short of a panic. 
 
 "We were nearing the ship so rapidly, that we 
 could sometimes see a figure separate itself from 
 one of the little knots of human beings, run 
 quickly to and fro, and then again become 
 merged in the dark mass that hung, like 
 swarming bees, close to the taffrail. 
 
 The captain luffed the schooner slightly, so 
 as to run to windward of the ship. As we held 
 on our new course, and the ship drifted slowly 
 to leeward, from our new point of view the 
 figures in the groups on the ship's poop began 
 to appear detached. Just after we had changed 
 our course, we thought that the ship's passen 
 gers must for the first time have seen our 
 vessel; for a fluctuating movement was per 
 ceptible amongst them, and then a shrill sound, 
 like a cry of distress, was faintly borne to our 
 ears. 
 
 "We were soon within hearing of the agonizing 
 cries of the ship's passengers. The progress of 
 the flames was depriving them of the little space 
 in which they had huddled, cowering on the 
 deck to escape the scorching heat. Objects of 
 various sorts were being hastily thrown over 
 board, and human forms were seen leaping into 
 the water. Some rushed wildly to and fro,
 
 OK FRED RANSOM. SCO 
 
 wringing their hands, stopping abruptly, and 
 then precipitating themselves into the sea. 
 
 " Oh, if we could only have arrived a few 
 minutes earlier!" exclaimed I to the sea-cap 
 tain, who was standing at his post on the other 
 side of the deck. " I am afraid that thev will 
 all be lost," 
 
 " Never fear," he replied, " the ship must 
 have been afire for a long time, and those things 
 that were thrown overboard, before any one 
 leaped, were prepared for that purpose. The 
 sea is pretty smooth. We may pick most of the 
 people up." 
 
 We were now so near that the crackling and 
 roar of the flames were distinctly audible. 
 Only two figures were visible on the ship's poop. 
 They showed like silhouettes* against the back 
 ground of flame. 
 
 The two female figures (for they were in fe 
 male costume) showed so distinctly, that I could 
 recognize by their respective height and size, 
 that one was a woman, and the other a young 
 and slender girl. They stood poised on the 
 taffrail, clasped each other in a momentary em 
 brace, and then, hand in hand, sprang into the 
 sea. 
 
 * A silhouette is a^Jjlack figure, in which nothing is ro- 
 co^nizable except the outline.
 
 370 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 I heard the captain's voice shout, "Down witb 
 your helm, Hannibal !" 
 
 The schooner shot up into the wind's eye, 
 and slowly lost her way,, and as soon as the 
 captain dared, he said, "Lower away the boats." 
 
 To lower the boats, unhook the falls, shove 
 off from the schooner, point and let fall the 
 oars, and pull in the direction of the place 
 where most of the ship's passengers had leaped 
 into the sea, required but a few seconds. A few 
 more, brought us to the place where, clinging 
 to spars, boxes, barrels, and other articles, so 
 numerous that it was evident that they had 
 been prepared, we found some drowning 
 wretches tossing amid the waves. We dragged 
 them into the boats, working with desperate 
 eagerness, so as to avail ourselves of tho 
 bright light of the burning ship, which was 
 rapidly drifting away to leeward. Sometimes, 
 when we had almost given over further search, 
 a faint cry led us to the rescue of some one yet 
 struggling in the water. All at once, I thought 
 of the two female figures that I had seen pre 
 cipitate themselves from the ship. Neither was 
 in my boat. After taking aboard seven people, 
 I had been for five minutes vainly pulling 
 around in every direction. I bethought me of 
 pulling towards the other boat, to see if they 
 were there. They were not. There was not a
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 371 
 
 woman nor a girl in either boat. I recollected 
 that they had remained last on the ship. If 
 they were to be found, they were nearer to the 
 ship I steered along the fiery track of the 
 ship drifting to leeward. I soon heard a shrill 
 cry. Then a louder one came. The light 
 from the burning ship showed a dark ob 
 ject on the crest of a wave. I steered in that 
 direction. I distinguished cries for help. We 
 reached the place, found and dragged into the 
 boat two female figures. One was that of a 
 woman of mature age, the other that of a mere 
 slip of a girl. They were clinging to a spar, 
 and were almost exhausted by their efforts to 
 retain their hold. They must be the persons 
 of whom I was in search, thought I. 
 
 I saw the other boat approaching mine, and 
 heard the hail of the sea-captain who was in 
 charge of her. I rowed to meet him, and as we 
 neared each other, he hallooed : 
 
 " I have the captain of the ship aboard my 
 boat. He wants to make a count, to see who 
 are missing." 
 
 The boats ranged up along-side of each other, 
 and the captain of the ship, as soon as he came 
 near, recognizing some of the people in my 
 boat, asked the names of others whom, at the 
 first glance, he could not distinguish. "Are 
 Mrs. and Miss Brenton aboard?" said he.
 
 372 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 " There are a woman and a girl in the 
 bottom of the boat," said I. "I don't know 
 their names. They are too much exhausted to 
 speak." 
 
 "Then," said the captain of the ship, "all 
 that can be saved, are saved. One man, when 
 the fire was first discovered, became panic- 
 stricken, jumped overboard, and was drowned." 
 
 We steered for the schooner, and aided the 
 passengers to reach the deck. I jumped out 
 of my boat, and taking Miss Brenton by the 
 hands, lifted her up to the deck, while one of 
 the men assisted her mother. 
 
 Miss Brenton was so exhausted that she tot 
 tered. To keep her from falling, I was obliged 
 to encircle her waist with my arm. As I 
 turned, in the act, to address some words of 
 encouragement to her, I for the first time ob 
 tained a full view of her face. I was seized with 
 astonishment so great, that I nearly let her fall 
 to the deck. 
 
 " Julia !" exclaimed I. 
 
 She glanced at me with a startled look, and 
 murmured, " Fred !" 
 
 " Fred Ransom !" echoed Mrs. Brenton. 
 
 "This is no time for explanations," said I, 
 addressing them. " You are both exhausted. 
 You had better go down, at once, into the 
 cabin."
 
 OB FRED RANSOM. 373 
 
 Saying this, I escorted Julia and her mother 
 to the companion-way, where they were received 
 by two of the lady-passengers. 
 
 Some of the ship's crew were accommodated 
 forward. Some remained on deck. The cap 
 tain of the ship, his three officers, and two 
 of the male passengers, finding how crowded 
 the cabin was, declined to accept a place there. 
 Captain Bowers gave them a change of clothes, 
 and some light bedding, which they spread on 
 deck. 
 
 The captain did not attempt to return through 
 the channel across the Beef. When, an hour 
 before, he had passed through it, the urgency of 
 the case admitted of no debate. 
 
 We were forced to keep on a course along the 
 outside edge of the Roof, breasting the current 
 of the Gulf Stream. 
 
 The ship burned, until, owing to our increas 
 ing distance and the waste of material for 
 combustion, she showed like a great live-coal 
 upon the surface of the sea. When day dawned, 
 she was out of sight. 
 
 "At that time we were still far from Key 
 West. During the latter part of the night, 
 the wind had been extremely fickle, and as 
 the schooner had had to contend with the cur 
 rent of the Gulf Stream, she had not made 
 much way.
 
 874 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 It was late in the morning, before Mrs. 
 Brenton and Julia were able to come on deck, 
 owing to the fact that their clothes were in 
 process of drying. The other lady-passengers 
 were not able to replenish their wardrobe, for 
 they themselves were destitute even of a change. 
 
 I anxiously looked for the Brentons, and was 
 gratified when, about ten o'clock,, they emerged 
 from the cabin. They were both pale and 
 weak, and Mrs. Brenton leaned on her daughter 
 for support. 
 
 " Take my arm, Mrs. Brenton," said I, ad 
 vancing. " The fresh air on deck will revive 
 you." 
 
 " It is like a dream," said Mrs. Brenton, half 
 soliloquizing, and half addressing me. " It was 
 only a fortnight ago," added she, in a weak 
 voice, "that I saw your father, and we were 
 talking of the prospect of your return. Julia 
 and I were on our way to join my husband in 
 Valparaiso. What will become of us ! I was 
 hot able to save even the money which I had 
 in my trunk. For the sake of your father's 
 friendship for my husband, you must stay with 
 us, Fred." 
 
 " I will, indeed," I replied. " And I would 
 have done so under any circumstances. I shall 
 not appear to have so much merit now, when I 
 confess that, before I met you, I intended to
 
 OR FEED HANSOM. 375 
 
 return home when tins vessel reached Key "West. 
 It seems providential that she, of all the wreck 
 ers, should have been so fortunate as to save you. 
 The captain and his family are strong friends of 
 mine. I have a little sum of money saved up in 
 Key West, and the moment that we arrive there ? 
 you will be provided with what is necessary, and 
 my remaining funds will be sufficient to pay our 
 passage to New York." 
 
 " I have, indeed, reason to be grateful," re 
 plied Mrs. Brenton. 
 
 Julia timidly smiled her thanks. 
 
 For half an hour, they walked the deck, and 
 then, being fatigued, returned to the cabin. I 
 seized the opportunity to communicate to the 
 captain my intention of departure, assigning 
 the reasons which I have already given the 
 reader, adding the additional one, of the ne 
 cessity of my becoming the protector of the 
 Brentons, who were friends of our family. 
 
 A shade passed over the captain's face. 
 George said that I could net go; that the 
 Brentons could take passage from Key West 
 for New York, just as well without me as with 
 me. 
 
 But the captain checked his son, and turning 
 to me, said : 
 
 " I approve of your intention, Fred. The
 
 376 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 reason that you first gave me was sufficient. 
 Never forget your wrecker friends, my boy." 
 
 " Never !" said I, walking away to conceal 
 my emotion. And I never shall forget them.
 
 OB, FEED EANSOM. 377 
 
 OIKLAJPTIEiR, 
 
 ARRIVAL AT KEY WEST-FRED RANSOM AND 
 PARTY SAIL FOR NEW YORK.-THE VOYAGiE 
 HOME-THE OLD BACHELOR'S ADIEU. 
 
 UT little remains to be told. My 
 story draws to its close. 
 
 When the Flying Cloud reached 
 her wharf in Key West, the news 
 of the massacre quickly spread 
 through the town. During the 
 whole day after our arrival, the 
 citizens poured down to the schooner, to learn 
 the particulars of the catastrophe. 
 
 The doors of the hospitable residents of the Key 
 flew open to welcome the distressed people whom 
 we had brought with us. Mrs. Bowers received 
 Mrs. and Miss Brenton in her house, and her 
 sympathy and aid soon restored the two agitated 
 Sufferers to comfort and equanimity. 
 
 I may as well mention here, what I after 
 wards learned in relati- n to the doings of the 
 
 32*
 
 S ( 8 THE YOUNG WRECKER, 
 
 Indians near our wrecking station off Capo 
 Florida. The mill on the Miami was burned 
 to the ground. The keeper of the light-house 
 at Cape Florida was attacked by the Indians, 
 and driven into the tower. He took refuge in 
 the lantern, from which position he made so 
 stubborn a defence, that the Indians desisted from 
 their attempt to dislodge him, and after setting 
 fire to the staircase, retreated. The keeper, 
 unable to descend, remained for hours on top 
 of the tower, whence he was finally rescued by 
 an armed party of whites. 
 
 An opportunity to reach New York soon pre 
 sented itself, in the arrival of a ship which put 
 into Key "West for repairs, after having been sub 
 jected to stress of weather in the Gulf of 
 Mexico. 
 
 I drew all the money remaining to my credit 
 on the books of the owners of the Flying Cloud. 
 It amounted to a considerable sum ; for in ad 
 dition to what was due for salvage, my monthly 
 allowance had always been remitted by my 
 father, although, after the award to me of a 
 share in the salvage, I had released him from 
 his promise to make me an allowance. 
 
 The time of parting came at last. It was with 
 a heavy heart, although I was going home, th$t 
 I bade the captain, George, and the men, good 
 bye. The captain's whole family came down to
 
 OR FRED RANSOM. 379 
 
 the wharf to see us off in the boat which carried 
 us to the ship. I promised the captain and 
 George that I would often write to them, and 
 assured them of how gladly, at some future time, 
 I would seize an opportunity to visit them in 
 our old haunts. I went through the final shak 
 ing of hands, jumped into the boat, and waved 
 my handkerchief from the ship, as long as my 
 friends were within sight. 
 
 Soon we were on the broad ocean. Nearly 
 one year before, I had left home, an unwilling 
 voyager, sailing away into that unknown, mys 
 terious world, which I had longed to see, and 
 which, when the opportunity offered, was by 
 circumstances divested of all the charms with 
 which to my fancy it had been endowed. 
 Through what strange vicissitudes of fortune 
 had I not passed ! Not a cloud now obscured 
 the serenity of my mind. The breeze all day 
 seemed to whisper the word, Home. The crests 
 of the swiftly-gliding waves seemed to peer ab 
 me over the bulwarks, and murmur, Home. 
 
 Mrs. Brenton was terribly prostrated by sea 
 sickness. Julia, after a slight attack, recovered, 
 and was not again affected by it during the 
 voyage. 
 
 ' At night, we two used to pace the deck, arm 
 in arm, conversing in tones subdued by the 
 influence of tho mighty deep. One moonlight
 
 380 THE YOUNG WRECKEH, 
 
 night, just before we reached New York, we 
 were thus pacing up and down the deck. The 
 slight figure of my companion moved gracefully 
 at my side. I was so enthralled by the loveli 
 ness of the scene, and the artless discourse of 
 Julia, that I felt as if I could wish that the spell 
 might endure forever. 
 
 " Julia," said I suddenly. " I must give you 
 some memento by which you can recall my con 
 nection with the strange adventure through 
 which you have just passed." 
 
 " I can never forget your connection with it," 
 she replied, "for you saved our lives. I need 
 no token." 
 
 " Yes !" rejoined I; "but I wish to make you 
 a present of something which I have, that will 
 be safer in your possession, and more appro 
 priate too, than in mine. Wait and you shall 
 see it." 
 
 I went to the cabin, and brought back the box 
 containing my shell-basket. Carefully lifting 
 out the basket, I deposited it on a seat, that it 
 might be seen to the best advantage. The 
 moon-beams shone brightly on the clusters of 
 pearly flowers, and on the delicate trembling 
 tendrils. 
 
 " Is it not beautiful ! " said we both at once, 
 stooping, at the same time, to examine it more 
 closely.
 
 OR FEED RANSOM. 381 
 
 Julia's curls grazed my cheek. As she raised 
 her head, blushingly conscious of the accident, 
 I said : 
 
 " All that I ask in return is the least lit for 
 a locket." 
 
 Young reader, you think that this was the 
 beginning of a lo've affair, the sequel to which, 
 after some years, was that Julia and I were 
 married. 
 
 Ah! you forget that I said I was an old 
 bachelor. I am. Therefore I did not marry 
 Julia, although I did save her from drowning. 
 We parted. You and I must also part. 
 
 As I write these words, which I know are some of 
 a very few yet to be written, I feel a sadness steal 
 over me. The gas-light in my room seems to grow 
 dim, and, as I glance around, I feel as if I were 
 about to be more solitary than I have been of late. 
 
 Over the arm of yonder sofa, hangs the skin of 
 the male panther (we never got the other one), 
 and, on the mantle-piece, are a few branching 
 corals, that serve for decoration, and to recall 
 the past. For your amusement, and mine, I 
 have written the story that I promised, but as 
 yours commences, my own must cease. For a 
 brief space, I have been a boy, but as I lay down 
 my pen, I am again a lonely old bachelor. 
 
 THE END.
 
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