The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dorymates, by Kirk Munroe This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Dorymates A Tale of the Fishing Banks Author: Kirk Munroe Release Date: April 7, 2020 [EBook #61770] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DORYMATES *** Produced by KD Weeks and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber’s Note: Footnotes have been collected at the end of the text, and are linked for ease of reference. Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. Any corrections are indicated using an underline highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the original text in a small popup. THE LITTLE FELLOW SMILED IN THE WEATHER-BEATEN FACE. [See page 15. I II DORYMATES A TALE OF THE FISHING BANKS By KIRK MUNROE AUTHOR OF “WAKULLA” “FLAMINGO FEATHER” “DERRICK STERLING” ETC. Illustrated NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1903 Copyright, 1889, by Harper & Brothers. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. A Waif of the Sea 11 II. On Board the “Curlew” 25 III. The Hauling of the Seine 37 IV. A Sudden Disaster 51 V. Saved by Electricity 64 VI. The Gale on George’s 78 VII. A Struggle for a Life 92 VIII. A False Friend, and an Open Enemy 105 IX. Kidnapped.--The Promise 119 X. Trawls and Whales 132 XI. Surrounded by Arctic Ice 145 XII. An Ice Cave and its Prisoners 159 XIII. Lost in the Fog 172 XIV. The Secret of the Golden Ball 186 XV. A Wonderful Meeting 200 XVI. Navigating the Brig 213 XVII. Overboard and Inboard 227 XVIII. News from Home 240 XIX. The Devil-fish of Flemish Cap 253 XX. On the Coast of Iceland 266 XXI. Tempted from Duty 279 XXII. The Steam-yacht “Saga” 292 XXIII. Ponies and Geysers 306 XXIV. A Dorymate’s Home 319 XXV. Startling Discoveries 332 XXVI. Proud of being a Yankee 345 5 6 ILLUSTRATIONS. THE LITTLE FELLOW SMILED IN THE WEATHER-BEATEN FACE Frontispiece. “I CAME TO YOU FROM THE SEA,” HE SAID, PATTING HER THIN CHEEKS Faces page 28 “SEEMS TO ME I WOULDN’T FEEL SO BAD ABOUT IT IF I WAS YOU” ” ” 44 “THAT GENTLEMAN THERE REFUSES TO RETURN A GOLD BALL AND CHAIN THAT I HANDED HIM FOR EXAMINATION” ” ” 52 IN ANOTHER MOMENT IT FLASHES FULL IN THE WHITE FACES OF BREEZE McCLOUD AND HIS COMPANIONS ” ” 68 “YOU’RE CRAZY, LAD! YOU CAN’T LIVE A MINUTE IN SUCH A SEA” ” ” 90 THERE WAS A LONG, FIRM HAND-CLASP BETWEEN THEM ” ” 98 “QUICK, NOW! LET’S GET HIM ABOARD THIS SCHOONER” ” ” 116 A LARGE WHALE ROSE TO THE SURFACE TO BLOW ” ” 140 IN A MINUTE MORE THEY HAD SNATCHED THE BUOY FROM THE ICE- RAFT ” ” 150 AND THE TWO ATHLETIC YOUNG FELLOWS DREW THE ALMOST HELPLESS FORM OF THEIR SHIPMATE SLOWLY BUT STEADILY TO WHERE THEY STOOD ” ” 166 “BLOW, SONNY, BLOW!” CRIED ONE OF THE MEN ” ” 174 NOT A HUMAN BEING WAS TO BE SEEN ON BOARD OF HER, NOR DID THEIR HAIL RECEIVE ANY ANSWER ” ” 198# “ME AN’ DE CAP’N, WE’S BEEN HABIN’ A MONS’ROUS HARD TIME” ” ” 204 “BLESS MY SOUL, IF IT ISN’T BREEZE McCLOUD!” ” ” 238 NIMBUS, RAISING HIM CLEAR OF THE DECK, HELD HIM AT ARM’S- LENGTH ABOVE HIS HEAD ” ” 242 MATEO, WITH A HOWL OF DISMAY, HAD DARTED FORWARD AND VANISHED IN THE FORECASTLE; WHILE NIMBUS, WITH A YELL OF AFFRIGHT, HAD ROLLED AFT ” ” 260 THE FIRST VIEW OF ICELAND ” ” 266 THE YACHT CAME DIRECTLY TOWARDS THEM ” ” 288 BREEZE’S WELCOME TO THE ”SAGA” ” ” 292 “YOU OUGHT TO HAVE WORN A DIVING SUIT, NIMBUS,” SAID BREEZE ” ” 310 7 8 THOSE ON BOARD THE GREAT STEAMER GAZED WITH ADMIRATION AT THE DAINTY YACHT ” ” 326 BREEZE STARED IN AMAZEMENT AT WOLFE’S MOTHER ” ” 332 BREEZE’S WELCOME HOME ” ” 350 Do you carry a dory, captain? Do you carry a dory on your deck? Manned by two bold fishermen, To save a life or board a wreck. Landsmen cry, “Man the life-boat!” captain, “Man the life-boat off our coast!” But, captain, man the dory, The fisherman’s glory, The Banker’s pride and boast. BY THE B. H. M. DORYMATES: A STORY OF THE FISHING BANKS. 9 11 CHAPTER I. A WAIF OF THE SEA. The fog had lifted, and a few stars were to be seen twinkling feebly; but the wind was very light, and what there was of it was dead ahead. There was a heavy swell rolling in from the eastward, but no sea running. The Gloucester fishing schooner Sea Robin was homeward bound from the Newfoundland Banks, and as she slowly climbed each glassy incline of black water, and then slid down into the windless hollow beyond, she seemed to be making no progress whatever on her course. Although the Sea Robin had been out for more than four months, and had seen vessel after vessel of the fleet leave the Banks before she did and sail for home with full fares, not half the salt in her pens was used up, and she was returning with the smallest catch of the season. In spite of the fact that provisions were running low on board the schooner, her captain, Almon McCloud, would not have given up and left the Banks yet, had not a recent gale swept away his dories, and caused the loss of his new four-hundred-fathom cable. Under these circumstances the crew of the schooner were very low-spirited, and there was none of the larking and fun among them that is usually to be noticed in a homeward-bound Banker. The men wondered as to the “Jonah” who had caused all their ill-luck. Finally they whispered among themselves that it must be the skipper. They now remembered that he had been unfortunate in more than one undertaking during the past year or two, and all were agreed that it would be wise not to sail with him again. This decision had been unanimously reached a few days before the one on which this story opens; and when, shortly before daybreak, there came a loud pounding on the cabin hatch, and a request that the captain should come on deck, one of the watch below turned restlessly in his bunk, and growled out, “I expect we are in for another bit of the skipper’s tough luck.” Reaching the deck, Captain McCloud found the two men on watch gazing earnestly at a dull red glow that lighted the distant horizon behind them. “Looks like there was suthin afire back there, skipper,” said the man at the wheel. The captain waited until the schooner rose on top of a swell, and then, after a long look at the light, gave the order to put her about and run for it. There was some grumbling among the crew at this, for they were tired and sick of the trip. They wanted to get home and have it over with, and this running back over the course they had just come seemed to promise a long and vexatious delay. However, lucky or unlucky, their skipper had proved himself to be the captain of his vessel in every sense of the word more times than one, and they dared not question his action loudly enough for him to hear them. For nearly an hour longer the light glowed steadily, then it expanded into a sudden wonderful brightness, and the next instant had disappeared entirely. Three hours later, just as the sun was rising in all its sea-born glory, the Sea Robin sailed slowly through a mass of charred timbers and other floating remains of what evidently had been a large vessel. There were no boats to be seen, nor was anything discovered by which her name or character could be identified. For some time the schooner cruised back and forth through the wreckage in a fruitless search for survivors of the catastrophe. As they were about to give it up, and Captain McCloud had begun to issue the order to head her away again on her course towards home, he all at once held up his hand to command silence, and listened. It was certainly the cry of an infant that came clear and loud across the water. The crew looked at each other in amazement, not unmixed with fear. There was no boat to be seen, no sign of life; and yet there it came again, louder and more distinct than before; the vigorous cry of a healthy baby who has just waked up and is hungry. The wind had died out entirely, the water was oily in its unruffled smoothness, and only the long swell remained. Once more the cry was heard, and now it seemed so close at hand that several of the men trembled and turned pale. There was still nothing to be seen, save on the crest of the swell above them an apparently empty cask maintaining an upright position in the water, and showing a third of its length above it. “That’s the life-boat!” shouted Captain McCloud. “There’s where the music comes from, men. Oh for the use of a dory for just five minutes!” Having no boat, they could only watch the cask as it came slowly nearer and nearer, and several of the men prepared to jump overboard and swim for it in case it should drift past them. At last, when it was about thirty feet away, the skipper, making a skilful cast, settled the bight of a light line over the strange craft. Then he carefully drew it towards the schooner, over the low rail of which a couple of the crew were hanging, waiting with out-stretched arms to grasp it. A minute later the cask stood on the schooner’s deck, and Captain McCloud was lifting tenderly from it a sturdy, well- grown baby boy, apparently about two years old. The little fellow smiled in the weather-beaten face, and stretched out his arms eagerly as the rough fisherman bent down towards him. At the same instant there came a fluttering of sails overhead, with a rattling of blocks, and one of the crew sang out as he sprang to the wheel, “Here’s a breeze! and it’s fair for home!” “The baby’s brought it!” shouted another. “Hurrah for the baby!” The shout was eagerly taken up by the crew; three hearty cheers were given for the baby, and three more for the breeze he had brought with him. Then, springing to sheets and halyards with more enthusiasm than they had shown before on the whole cruise, the active fellows quickly had the Sea Robin under a cloud of light canvas, and humming merrily along towards Gloucester. They now found time to look at their baby, who, held in the skipper’s arms while he gave the necessary orders for working the schooner, contentedly sucked his thumb and gazed calmly about with the air of being perfectly at home. He was a beautiful child, with great blue eyes and yellow hair that curled in tiny ringlets all over his head. He was plainly dressed; but all that he wore was made of the finest material. Altogether he was so dainty a little specimen of humanity that 12 13 14 15 16 he seemed like a pink and white rose-bud amid the rough men who surrounded him. He gazed at them for a minute or two with a smile, as though he would say that he was most happy to make their acquaintance, and was not in the least embarrassed by their stares. Then he turned to the skipper, and began to cry in exactly the tone with which he had announced his presence in the floating cask. “Hello!” exclaimed the skipper, who, though married, had no children of his own, and had never held a baby before in his life, “what’s up now? Here, ‘doctor,’ you’ve had some experience in this line, I believe; cast your weather eye over this way and tell us the meaning of the squall.” The cook, or “doctor,” as he is almost always called on board the fishing schooners, and, in fact, on most vessels, was a short, thick-set Portuguese, almost as dark as an Indian, but the very picture of good-nature. He now stepped up behind the skipper so as to have a good view of the baby, whose face, which rested on the skipper’s shoulder, was turned away from the crew, who stood looking at him in a helplessly bewildered way. At the “doctor’s” sudden appearance the baby stopped crying, began again to suck his thumb, and, with great, wide- open eyes, stared solemnly at the grinning figure to whom it was thus introduced. “Him hongry, skip,” announced the “doctor.” “Me fix him, pret quicka, bimeby, right off. Got one lit tin cow lef. You fetcha him down.” The “doctor,” who was named Mateo, declared afterwards that the moment he looked into the baby’s face the little one had winked at him, as much as to say, “You know what I want, old chap, now go ahead and get it.” By his “lit tin cow” he meant a can of condensed milk, and, as the only man on board who knew how to feed a baby, he had suddenly become the most important person among all the crew. Obeying his order, the skipper, with the new arrival in his arms, followed him down into the fore hold. The rest of the crew also attempted to crowd down into the narrow space to witness the novel sight of a baby at breakfast, but old Mateo quickly ordered them on deck, saying that the little stranger was big enough to occupy all the room there was to spare. Then he bustled around in a hurry. He got out and opened the one remaining can of milk, and mixed a small portion of its contents with some warm water in a cup. The baby watched his every movement in silence, but with such a wise look that both the men felt he knew exactly what was going on. Now came the anxious moment--would he take the milk? Had he learned how to drink? The anxiety was quickly ended. He had learned to drink, and quickly emptied the proffered cup of every drop of its contents with an eagerness that showed how hungry he was. A ship biscuit, broken into small bits and soaked until soft in another cup of the warm milk, proved equally acceptable. When the members of the crew heard that the baby not only took kindly to the tin cow’s milk, but had eaten hard-tack, they were highly delighted. They declared that he was a natural born sailor, and would make a fisherman yet. After his breakfast the baby was laid in the skipper’s own bunk in the cabin, where, warmly covered, and rocked by the motion of the schooner, he quickly fell asleep. On deck the men conversed in low tones for fear of disturbing him. Their sole topic was the child’s miraculous preservation and rescue, first from the burning vessel and then from the sea. The cask in which he had floated to them was carefully examined and pronounced to be of foreign make. It had evidently been prepared hastily to serve the novel purpose of a life-boat, but the preparation had been made with skill. In the bottom was a quantity of scrap-iron, that had served as ballast and caused it to float on end instead of on its side. On top of this were, tightly wedged, two large empty tin cans, square, and having screw tops; while above these was a pillow, in which the baby, wrapped in a thick woollen shawl, had been laid. There was nothing else. Here was the baby, and here the cask in which he had been saved; there, far behind them, was the charred wreckage, and on the sky the night before had shone the red glow from the burning vessel. Where she was from, and where bound, whether or not others besides this helpless babe had been spared her awful fate, what was her name and what her nationality, were among the countless mysteries of the ocean that might never be cleared up. There was little satisfaction to be gained by the discussion of these things; but the baby was a reality, and a novelty such as none of them had ever before seen on board a fishing schooner. Of him they talked incessantly during the three days’ homeward run. What they should call him perplexed them sadly for a time. The names suggested and rejected would have added several pages to a city directory. Finally this most important question was decided by the skipper, who said, “He brought a fair breeze with him that’s held by us ever since, and is giving us one of the quickest runs home ever made from the Banks. He’s as bright and cheery and refreshing as a breeze himself, and I propose that we call him ‘Breeze.’ It’s a name that might belong to almost any nationality, and yet give offence to none. As to a second name, for want of a better, and if he don’t discover the one he’s rightly entitled to, why, I’ll give him mine. What’s more, I’ll adopt him if his own folks don’t turn up; that is, if my old woman is agreeable, and I ain’t much afraid but what she will be.” So the little waif of the sea became, and was known from that day forth as, Breeze McCloud--a name that was destined to become connected with as many exciting adventures and hair-breadth escapes as any ever signed to the shipping papers of a Gloucester fishing schooner. The breeze that hurried the Sea Robin along was none too fair nor too strong; for the supply of milk furnished by the “doctor’s” tin cow was completely exhausted before they reached home. If they had not got in just as they did, the baby would have suffered from hunger, and the whole crew would have suffered with him. As it was, they passed Thatcher’s Island while he was drinking the last of the milk. Before he was again hungry, with everything set and drawing, and decorated with every flag and bit of bunting that could be found on board, the saucy Sea Robin had rounded Eastern Point and was sailing merrily up Gloucester harbor. A crowd of people had assembled on the wharf to witness her arrival, and learn the cause of her decorations. As she neared it one of them called out, “What is it, skipper? You’ve got your flags up as if you thought you was High-line[A] of the fleet; but the old Robin don’t look to be very deep. What have you got?” 17 18 19 20 21 “We do claim to be High-line,” shouted back the skipper. “And here’s what we’ve got to prove it.” With this he held the baby high above his head so that all might see it, and added, “If any Grand Banker has brought in a better fare than that this season, I want to see it; that’s all.” So Breeze McCloud entered Gloucester harbor, and never had any stranger been received with greater enthusiasm. The news of his arrival spread like wildfire, and it seemed as though half the population of the city had crowded down to the wharf to see him before Captain McCloud could get ready to leave the schooner. Then, with the baby in his arms, he stepped into the long seine-boat that, pulled by half a dozen lusty fellows, was waiting to take him across the harbor to the foot of the hill upon which his modest cottage was perched. After many days of anxiety--for the Sea Robin was long overdue--the captain’s wife, who had watched his schooner sail up the harbor with flags flying, now awaited him in a fever of impatience. She had waited at home because she could not bear to meet him before strangers, so she had heard nothing of what he was bringing her. When at last she saw him coming up the hill, accompanied by an ever-increasing throng of men, women, and children, she was greatly perplexed to know what to make of the sight, and hurried down to the little front gate, where she waited for an explanation. “Why! whose child can the man have picked up?” she said to herself, as her husband drew near enough for her to see what it was he held in his arms. “The old Robin’s High-line this season, Dolly,” cried Captain McCloud as he reached the gate, “and I’ve brought you my share of the catch.” “You don’t mean that baby, Almon!” exclaimed the bewildered woman. “Yes, I do mean this very blessed baby! He’s a waif of the sea, without father, mother, or home, that anybody knows of; and if you say the word, we’ll give him all three.” With this he held the baby towards her. She hesitated a moment, but the baby did not. With a happy little crow he at once stretched out his arms to her, and said, “Mamma!” It was enough. All the mother-love within her responded to this cry, and the next moment the little one was hugged tightly to her bosom. Turning to those who had accompanied him, Captain McCloud said, “That settles it, neighbors! I hadn’t much doubt of it before; now I know I am acting rightly; and here, before you all, I solemnly adopt this baby boy, Breeze McCloud, as my son, and promise, with God’s help, to be a father to him in deed as well as in name.” On board the Sea Robin none of the rough nurses, not even the baby-wise Mateo, had dared undress the little one so strangely given into their charge, for fear they would not be able to dress him again. Thus, when he was delivered to Mrs. McCloud, it was evident that, next to food, his greatest needs were a bath and some clean clothes. These last his adopted mother borrowed from a neighbor who had children of all ages and sizes. When the baby was undressed it was discovered that a slender gold chain was clasped about his neck. Attached to it was a golden ball covered with a tracery of unique and elaborate engraving. It was apparently hollow; but nobody was able to open it, nor could they discover any joint on its surface, so skilful was the workmanship that had created it. Finally, declaring that it was merely an ornament and not meant to be opened, Mrs. McCloud put it carefully away in a sandal- wood box, among her own little hoard of treasures. In that box the golden ball lay for years, almost unnoticed, but ever guarding jealously the secret that some day should exert such a wonderful influence over the fortunes of the baby from whose neck it had been taken. 22 23 24 CHAPTER II. ON BOARD THE “CURLEW.” Fifteen years seems a long time, and yet when they are happy years how quickly they pass! They had been happy to Breeze McCloud; happy and busy years. No boy in Gloucester had a pleasanter home or more loving parents than he, though he was but an adopted son. He rarely thought of this, though, for Captain McCloud had, from the very first, been a true father, and the captain’s wife a loving mother to him. No other children had come to them since they had taken him into their hearts and home, and he was their pride and delight. He had grown to be a tall, handsome fellow, interested in his studies, and a bright scholar, but always impatient for the time to come when he should go out into the world and win from it his own livelihood. Whenever Captain McCloud was at home the boy was his constant companion, and from him Breeze eagerly learned the rudiments of a sailor’s art. He delighted in being called his father’s “dorymate,” and was very proud of being able to swim, and to row and sail his own dory, before he was twelve years old. Being so much in his father’s company, and listening to the conversations between him and other men, gave Breeze many ideas beyond the comprehension of most boys of his age. He sometimes wore a grave and thoughtful air, and often said wise things that sounded oddly enough in one so young. The boy’s curly head was a familiar sight on board most of the fishing schooners that were constantly coming into or going out of the port. Here he was perfectly happy while listening to some tale of adventure on the Banks or more distant fishing grounds, perhaps told by its hero on the breezy deck or in the snug cabin of the very craft on which it had all happened. At last the time had come for him to set forth in quest of similar adventures, and to do his share towards maintaining the home that had been such a safe and pleasant one to him. There was sorrow in it now, and there might soon be want. The Sea Robin had been gone six months, and no word had been received from her since the day she sailed out beyond Eastern Point, and vanished in the red glory of the rising sun. Only in the hearts of his wife and adopted son did the faintest hope remain that the Robin’s captain was still alive. To all others he was as dead, and a new breadwinner was needed in his place. “I must go now, mother,” said Breeze. “I’m large and strong for my age, and if they’ll take me I am sure I can do a man’s work and earn a man’s wages.” “Oh, Breeze, my dear boy! my comfort! Is there not something else you can do? A clerkship would pay just as well, and there would be none of the horrible danger.” “Don’t, mother! don’t urge it! It makes me heart-sick to think of a desk, or of being shut up all day in a store. I should never be good for anything, you know I wouldn’t, mother dear, trying to do work that I had no heart in.” “But, Breeze--” “But, mother! Please don’t think any more about a clerkship. Give me your consent and your blessing, and let me follow father’s calling and gain a living from the sea, as he has done. I came to you from the sea, you know,” he continued, with a winning smile, and patting her thin cheeks. “It was kind to me then, and it always will be, I am sure.” After many talks of this kind Breeze carried his point. Then, one evening in March, there was no prouder boy in town than he, when he was able to announce to his mother that he had shipped for a mackerelling trip to the southward, on the schooner Curlew. The vessel was already taking in her ice and stores, and would haul out into the stream the next morning, ready to start. Breeze was to go over to town the first thing after breakfast, and buy the oil-skin suit, rubber boots, and woollen cap that, besides the canvas bag of heavy clothing he would take from home, would form his outfit. These he would send aboard the schooner. Then he would come home again and say good-by if there was time--but perhaps there would not be, and so they had better make the most of this evening. They did make the most of it, and until after ten o’clock, Breeze and his mother sat hand in hand, and talked, she sadly and tearfully, he bravely and hopefully. The next morning, just before he left, his mother called him into her room, saying, “I have one more thing to give you, Breeze. It is something that should be the most precious thing in the world to you, and I want you to wear it always.” With this she took from the sandalwood box, that had kept it safely all these years, the slender chain and golden ball that had hung around his baby neck when she first held him in her arms. Breeze was inclined to laugh at the idea of wearing a gold chain and a locket around his neck; but his mother was so in earnest in her desire that he should, that he promised to do as she wished. “I CAME TO YOU FROM THE SEA,” HE SAID, PATTING HER THIN CHEEKS. “It was, doubtless, your own mother first placed it there, and I have a strong feeling that it will, somehow or other, have much to do with your future safety and happiness,” she said. “See, I have made a little pocket in the breast of each of your flannel shirts to hold it,” she added, as she clasped the chain about his neck and kissed him. “Own mother, or not own mother, no boy ever had a better, or sweeter, or dearer, or more loving mother than you have been to me,” cried Breeze, throwing his arms about her neck, “and I would not exchange you for any other in the world, not even if she was a queen.” 25 26 27 28 29 Now that the time to go had really come, the boy found it a very hard thing to part from his home. After he had kissed his mother good-by, and started down the hill, with his canvas bag on his shoulder, he dared not look back, though he knew she was standing in front of the little cottage watching him. He had barely time in town to make his few purchases before the Curlew should sail; for wind and tide were both favorable, and her skipper was impatient to take advantage of them and get started. His hurry was owing to the fact that several other schooners were getting ready for trips to the same waters. He was anxious to be the first on the ground, and, if possible, carry the first fresh mackerel of the season into New York. Although everybody has seen and eaten mackerel either fresh or salted, and though they are caught in immense numbers off the Atlantic coast of the United States every year, there is but little really known about them. Where they come from and where they go to are still unsolved mysteries. Every spring, between the middle of March and the middle of April, they appear in great shoals in the waters just north of Cape Hatteras. At this time they are very thin, and hardly fit for food; but on the coast feeding-grounds they rapidly improve, until in the early summer, when they have worked their way northward to New England waters, they are in prime condition. They generally run as far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, from which, in the fall, they suddenly disappear, to be seen no more until the following spring. All through the summer, but especially at the very first of the season, those that are caught near a port are packed in ice and carried in to the market fresh. The greater part of the year’s catch is, however, salted in barrels on board the schooners, and afterwards repacked on shore, in kits or boxes, marked according to the size and quality of the fish they contain, Nos. 1, 2, 3, or 4, and sent all over the world. The cruise on which Breeze McCloud was about to start was to be made in search of the very first mackerel of the season, and the Curlew’s destination was therefore the waters off the Delaware coast, or between there and Cape Hatteras. By ten o’clock everything was in readiness for the start. The skipper had come on board, and all hands were hard at work, making sail or breaking out and getting up the heavy anchor. Then it was “up jib and away.” As the lively craft slipped swiftly down the harbor, Breeze found time for one long last look at his home. At the cottage door he could just make out a waving handkerchief, that told him he was being watched and remembered. Once outside, all hands were kept busy for a couple of hours, setting light sails, coiling lines, stowing odds and ends, and making everything snug. The course they were heading would carry them just clear of Cape Cod; and before a spanking breeze, under a press of canvas, the Curlew tore along as though sailing an ocean race that she was bound to win. Almost any fishing vessel but a mackereller going out at this stormy season would have left both top-masts and her jib-boom at home, being content with the safest of working sails. To the early mackerel catcher, however, every minute gained may mean many extra dollars in pocket; so his craft sails in racing trim, and carries her canvas to the extreme of recklessness. Like all fishing schooners, the Curlew had a forecastle, in which several of the crew slept, and in which were also the cook-stove and mess-table. Back of it was the pantry and store-room, in which were ten fresh-water tanks. Still farther aft was the hold, divided into pens by partitions of rough boards. These were now filled with cakes of ice, but later would be used for fish. Abaft the hold was the cabin, in which the skipper and five of the crew found sleeping accommodations. It was neatly finished in ash, and running along three sides of it was a broad transom that served as a seat or lounging-place. The only furniture was a small coal-stove, securely fastened in the middle of the floor. On the walls hung a clock, a barometer, and a thermometer. A few charts were stowed overhead in a rack, and, flung around in the bunks or on the transom, were a number of paper-covered novels. The business of fishing is conducted upon the system of shares. That is, half the value of the catch, after outfitting expenses have been deducted, goes to the owners of the vessel, and half to the crew. Although the skipper and cook are not required to take part in the actual business of fishing, each of them receives a full share. The skipper gets, in addition, four per cent. of the value of the catch, and the cook has regular wages. The living on board a fishing schooner is generally superior to that on almost any other craft. It consists of fresh meat, whenever it can be obtained, fresh fish, vegetables, dried fruit, soft bread, cakes and pies, eggs, condensed milk, and always tea and coffee, hot, strong, and in abundance. The Curlew was manned by a picked crew of twelve men, including the skipper and cook. They were young, strong, and active, and, except Breeze, all were skilful fishermen. He had been considered very fortunate in obtaining a berth at a time of year when there are so many good men anxious to ship. That he had done so was largely owing to the friendship existing between the skipper, Captain Ezra Coffin, and his adopted father. When he had consented to ship the boy for this trip, the skipper said, “It’s a hard life, Breeze, and one full of chances. Every man aboard may have a hundred dollars to his credit before the week is out, and then again we may cruise for a month and not make enough to pay for our ice. You are only a boy, but you will have to do a man’s work, and hard work at that. There are perils of all kinds waiting on every minute of the night and day, and they’ll come when you least expect them. I’d rather a boy of mine would saw wood for a living on land than to try and make it by fishing. Besides all this, as you are a green hand, I can only offer you half a share for this trip. Still, if you are bound to come, I’m glad to have you, both for your own sake and for that of my old dorymate, Almon McCloud. So bring along your dunnage, lad, and may good-luck come with you!” Breeze had answered, “I know it won’t be all plain sailing, sir, and that I’ve got a lot to learn before I can be called an A 1 hand. Still, hard and dangerous as you say the business is, I’d rather try and make a living at it than at anything else I know of, and I am much obliged to you for giving me a chance.” Soon after leaving port, the skipper called all hands aft to draw for bunks and to “thumb the hat.” The bunks had numbers chalked on them, and now the skipper held in his hand as many small sticks as there were men in the crew. Each stick had notches cut in it corresponding to the numbers of the bunks, and one by one the crew stepped up and drew them 30 31 32 33 34 from the skipper’s hand. Thus the sleeping quarters were distributed with perfect fairness, and there was no chance for grumbling. Breeze was lucky enough to draw one of the wide bunks in the cabin, and at once hastened to stow his possessions in it. When all the berths had been thus distributed, the crew again gathered aft, and each man placed a thumb on the rim of an old straw hat that had been laid on top of the cabin. The skipper turned his back to them, one of the men named a number, and, without looking to see whose it was, the skipper touched one of the thumbs. Then he counted around until the number mentioned was reached. The man at whose thumb he stopped was to stand first watch and trick at the wheel, the next man on his right the second, and so on. There would be two men on watch in bad weather, but one is generally considered sufficient when it is fine. With the parting injunction to “mind, now, and remember who you are to call,” the skipper went below. As eight bells, or twelve o’clock, was struck, the man who had first watch took the wheel, gave a glance at the compass, another at the sails, and the regular routine of duty was begun. Now dinner was announced, and after the skipper was seated, the half of the crew that reached the mess-table and secured seats were entitled to eat at “first table” during the trip. The others had to be content to eat at “second table.” Breeze was not posted as to this, and consequently was among those who got left when the rush took place. Afterwards, this seemingly trifling circumstance proved to be of the most vital importance to him, as we shall see. The cruise thus fairly begun was continued without incident until the Curlew reached the fishing grounds off the Virginia capes. Then, under easy sail, she stood off and on, with a man constantly at the mast-head, scanning the surface of the water in the hope of seeing mackerel. The great seine-boat was got overboard, and with the seine in it, was towed behind the schooner, ready for instant use. At length, after four tedious days of this work, the impatient crew were brought tumbling on deck in a hurry one fine morning by the welcome cry of “There they school; half a mile away, off the weather bow!” 35 36 CHAPTER III. THE HAULING OF THE SEINE. In less than five minutes after the first cry announcing the appearance of the eagerly expected fish, the great thirty-foot, double-ended seine-boat, rowed by eight men, had left the schooner and started in the direction of the school. In its stern, with his hand on the long steering oar, stood the seine-master, directing the course of the boat and keeping a sharp lookout ahead. Pulling after them as fast as he could was Breeze McCloud, in the single dory that the Curlew carried. The schooner, left in charge of the skipper and cook, was thrown up into the wind, and was held as nearly stationary as possible until it could be seen where she would be wanted. “Come, stretch yourselves, lads! stretch yourselves! Let’s see who’ll break the first oar! Those other fellows are just humping themselves. It’s Yankee against Yankee this time, and you’ve got a tough lot to beat,” shouted the seine-master. He would, of course, have been very sorry to have an oar broken, but he had such confidence that the men could do no more than bend the tough ash blades, no matter how hard they tugged, that he was perfectly willing they should try. By the “other fellows” he meant the crew of another fishing schooner, which daylight of that morning had disclosed not far from them, and which had evidently discovered mackerel about the same time they had. They, too, were out in their seine-boat, and doubtless looked forward with as great confidence as did the men from the Curlew to taking the first fare of the season into New York. “Easy, lads, easy now!” ordered the seine-master, in a tone of suppressed excitement; “here’s our school.” Now he tossed overboard a small keg, or buoy, to which was attached one end of the upper, or cork line of the great net. Near this Breeze was to wait in his dory. Then, bending to their oars, the boat’s crew began to pull, with lusty strokes, in a great circle around the school of fish that was rippling the water close beside them. Swimming in a dense body close to the surface, often throwing themselves clear of the water, with their steely blue sides flashing in the morning light, the mackerel were darting madly hither and thither. At one instant the whole school, moved by some mysterious impulse, would make a simultaneous dash in one direction, and the next it would as suddenly rush back again. In the cool dim depths beneath them, dog-fish, sharks, and other hungry sea pirates were breakfasting off the newly arrived strangers, and devouring them by the score. In the air above them circled and swooped great fishing hawks, anxious to make a meal off of fresh mackerel. Now to these enemies was added man, the most cruel and greatly to be dreaded of all. No wonder the poor fish were frightened and undecided as to the direction of their flight from so many imminent dangers. Meantime the great net, a quarter of a mile long, had been skilfully drawn completely around them. Breeze, in his dory, obeying previously given instructions, carried the buoy that had first been thrown overboard to the seine-boat, in which the other end of the cork-line was still held and made fast. The circle was now perfect, and the fish were surrounded by a wall of fine but stout twine. Their only chance of escape lay at the bottom of the net, and in another minute this opening would also be closed against them. While the upper edge of the seine was floated by means of numerous large corks attached to the rope that ran along its entire length, its lower edge was sunk and held straight down by an equal number of leaden rings. Through these ran a second stout line, known as the “purse rope,” an end of which remained in the boat. By pulling on this all the leaden rings could be drawn close together, and as the net was now in the form of a circle, its lower edge would form a purse in which there would be no opening for escape. Hauling on this rope and “pursing” the seine is the hardest part of the entire job, and takes the united efforts of the seine- boat’s crew. It is also a most exciting operation, for if it is successfully accomplished the fish are caught and an ample reward for all the previous toil is almost certain. If, on the other hand, the fish take alarm at the last moment and dart downward through the still open bottom of the net, all the hard work goes for nothing and must be done over again, perhaps many times before a successful haul is made. Such was the case in this instance. Success was almost within reach of the Curlew’s crew, when suddenly the entire school of fish, upon which they were building such high hopes, dropped out of sight like so many leaden plummets, and were gone. They had evidently decided that there were more chances for life among the sharks and dog-fish than within the power of their human enemies, and had wisely seized their last chance of escape from them. It was a bitter disappointment, and it was made the keener by the sight of certain movements on board the rival schooner that indicated a successful pursing of their seine and a heavy catch of fish. Slowly, and with much grumbling over their hard luck, the Curlew’s men gathered in their net and empty seine. They piled it up carefully, rings forward and corks aft, in the after-part of their boat, ready for the next time. Then they listlessly pulled towards their schooner, which was lying near by, and on board which breakfast awaited them. The Curlew sailed close to the other schooner in order to learn her luck, and witness the lively scene about her. The stranger’s seine had enclosed an enormous school of fish, which was estimated at nearly, if not quite, five hundred barrels. One end of it had been got on board the schooner, and the dipping out of the fish was about to begin. They were greatly frightened, and rushed from side to side with such violence that many of them were crushed to death. All at once they sank, and their weight was so great as to draw one gunwale of the heavy seine-boat under the water, although eight men were perched on the opposite side to counterbalance it. When a crew find a greater quantity of fish on their hands than they can take care of, as was the case now, it is customary, if there is another vessel within hail, to give her the surplus rather than to throw it away. Having often done this himself, Captain Coffin did not hesitate, as the two schooners drew close together, to hail the other skipper and ask if he had any fish to give away. “No, I haven’t,” was the surly answer. “If you want fish go and catch ’em.” “All right,” answered Captain Coffin, somewhat provoked, but still good-naturedly; “we’re the lads can just do that, and 37 38 39 40 41 42 we’ll beat you into New York yet.” “Looks like it now, doesn’t it?” shouted the other, scornfully. “If you do, though, it won’t be because I helped you. I’d rather lose every fish I’ve got alongside here than to give you one of them.” These words were hardly out of his mouth when the captured fish darted violently towards the bottom of the net, and the seine-boat was nearly capsized, as has been related. Its crew hurriedly scrambled to the upper side. Suddenly the boat righted, so quickly that the whole eight men were flung overboard, and found themselves floundering in the cold water. The situation was startling as well as comical, though the explanation of what had happened was very simple. The frightened fish, in their downward rush, had torn a great hole in the net, which was an old one, and through it they had instantly darted to depths of safety. The seine, being thus relieved of its burden, no longer pulled the boat down, and it at once yielded to the weight of the men on its upper gunwale. Under ordinary circumstances this mishap would have excited the sympathy of those on board the Curlew. Now, on account of the uncivil reply of the rival skipper to their captain, they were inclined to rejoice at what had happened, and they roared with laughter at the rueful faces of the dripping men as they scrambled back into their boat. To Breeze the whole affair presented itself in such a comical aspect that he laughed louder and longer than any of the others, though in a perfectly good-humored way, and without a trace of an unkind feeling towards those who had been so unfortunate. His mirth was, however, deemed peculiarly irritating by one of the rival crew, a young man with an ugly face that bore unmistakable traces of dissipation. He shook his fist at Breeze and called out, “Never you mind, young feller, I’ll not forget you! And maybe I’ll find a chance to make you laugh out of the other side of your mouth some day.” This speech sobered Breeze at once, though at first he looked around in a bewildered way, thinking it could not possibly be meant for him. When he realized that it was he shouted back, “Seems to me I wouldn’t feel so bad about it if I was you. I wasn’t laughing at you, anyway. I was laughing to think how surprised those mackerel must have been when you went diving down after them, trying to catch ’em in your hands.” This raised another shout of laughter from the Curlew men, but the young man towards whom it was directed only shook his fist again at Breeze, and turned away without a word, going below to find some dry clothes. Breeze saw that he had unwittingly made for himself an enemy in this stranger, and for a time the knowledge caused him real distress. He was a warm-hearted boy, preferring friendships to enmities, and would at any time sacrifice his own pleasure or comfort to win the former and overcome the latter. At the same time, he was not sorry that he had asserted his own independence and answered back as he had. The incident soon passed from his mind, however, in the rush of more stirring events, and it was some time before he was again reminded of it. Captain Coffin was much puzzled to account for the surliness of the rival skipper until the Curlew passed astern of the other schooner, so that her name, Roxy B., and her hailing port could be read. Then it flashed across him that this was the Rockhaven craft that was thought to be so fast, but which he had beaten in a fair race on a run into Boston the summer before. “SEEMS TO ME I WOULDN’T FEEL SO BAD ABOUT IT IF I WAS YOU.” To bear ill-will for such a cause certainly showed a small and mean mind, and Captain Coffin said he was very glad the other had refused to let him have any fish, for he should hate to be under obligations to such a man. The Curlew had not gone more than a mile from the Roxy B. when the fish of which she was in search began to rise to the surface on all sides of her. The seine-boat was quickly sent out, while Breeze, in his dory, followed it as before. This time a school was successfully surrounded, and the net was pursed without a mishap. A flag hoisted on an oar in the boat was the signal to the schooner that they had made a large haul and needed her assistance. She was soon brought alongside of the pursed seine with its burden of glittering fish, and from it a long-handled scoop-net, worked with a tackle, was dipping them, a half-barrelful at a time, and transferring them to her deck. The catch was about one hundred and fifty barrels of mackerel that were of a prime quality as to size, but so thin that they would have been unfit to split and salt. The afternoon was drawing to a close before they were all got on board and the seine was properly stowed in its boat; but there was no rest for the tired crew yet a while. Sail was made on the schooner, and she was headed for Sandy Hook, nearly three hundred miles away. Then all hands, except the cook and the man at the wheel, turned to and began “gibbing” and packing the fish. Mackerel are so delicate that they die almost as soon as they touch a deck, and will quickly spoil if not cared for at once. So there was no time to lose, and the whole catch must be “gibbed,” or cleaned, and packed in ice before sleep could be thought of. In “gibbing” a mackerel the gills are plucked out, and with them come the entrails. This operation was performed with marvellous rapidity by the skilled workers of the crew, the refuse matter was tossed into square wooden boxes known as “gib-tubs,” and the cleaned fish were thrown into bushel baskets. Down in the hold the blocks of ice were removed from a pen, and reduced to small bits by heavy sharp-pointed “slicers.” A layer of this broken ice was shovelled over the bottom of the empty pen, and above it was spread a basket of fish. Then came another layer of ice, then more fish, and so on until the pen was full, when another was emptied and filled in the same manner. It was long after midnight before the crew of the Curlew knocked off work, with the last of their fish safely packed away; but, tired as they were, they were also highly elated by their success, and by the prospect of being the first mackereller of the season into New York. 43 44 45 46 47 The next day, spent in running up the coast with a brisk westerly breeze, was one of the happiest that can come to the in-shore fisherman. Everybody was in the best of humor, from the knowledge that they had, stowed beneath their hatches, a fair-sized catch of the very earliest mackerel of the season. They knew these would bring an extra price, and pay each of them at least twice as much as they would make under more ordinary circumstances. There was little to do except...