"Captains Courageous": A Story of the Grand Banks

k bulk of the cook balanced behind the tiny galley over the glare of the stove, and the pots and pans in the pierced wooden board before it jarred and rack

above, like a volley of buckshot. Followed the woolly sound of the cable in the hawse-hole; and a grunt and squea

e no chores - an' that's a blessin'. Good night, all." He passed like a big snake from the table to his bunk, and began to smoke. Tom Pla

his feet up on the table, and smiled tender and indolent smiles at the smoke. Dan lay at length in his bunk, wrestling with a gaudy, gilt-stopped accordion, whose tunes went up and down with the pitching of the 'We're Here'. The cook, his shoul

d into his bunk again, as the softest and safest place, while Dan struck up,

is for?" Harvey

row to trawl. Perhaps to-night. Perhaps t

k a week ago, but it doesn't

ys. If I was you, when I come to Gloucester I wo

ve

. She is very good to fishermen all the time. That

Roman Cath

, then? Eh, wha-at? I always give candles - two, three more when I

by the glare of a match as he sucked at his pipe. "It stands to reason the sea's th

n was dhrunk, his chin waggin' on the tiller, an' I sez to myself, 'If iver I stick my boat-huk into T-wharf again, I'll show the saints fwhat manner o' craft they saved me out av.' Now, I'm here, as ye can well see, an' the model of the dhirty ould Kathleen, that took m

rish?" said Tom Platt,

ut if I di

to Calem museum now. Mighty pretty model, too, but I guess Eno

ishermen love, where the talk runs in shouting circles and no one pr

'd back. Reef in the mainsail, and haul

g Jack j

s blowy

in to blow, pipe a

look at Tom Platt, holding

e cod with hi

n-chains to hea

windy wea

ing for something. Dan crou

lounder that swi

uckle-head! Mind

ed arm. There was war between the man and the boy ever since Dan had discovered

my music, git out your fiddle. I ain't goin' to lie here all day an' listen to you an'

nuel's eye glistened, and from somewhere behind the pawl-post he drew ou

ack, beaming through the smok

the hatch opened, and Disko,

e, Disko. Fwhat's

o the lockers with the push

akfasts down. Ye'll lead, av c

baout two old songs I know,

g of winds and the creaking of masts. With his eyes fixed on the beams above, Disko began this an

k packet - crack

York, an' the Dre

r fliers - Swallowt

t's the packet tha

ught she lies in

tug-boat to t

ff soundings you

oru

pool packet - L

he's howlin' crost the

all shallow and th

tle fishes that

oru

pool packet - Lo

tough McGinn, who would pilot the vessel in." Then they called on Harvey, who felt very flattered, to contribute to the entertainment; but all that he could remember were some pieces of "Skipper Ireson's Ride" that he had been taught at the camp-school in the Adirondacks. It se

you," said Dan. "The

d Harvey, surprised

r he's to blame. I have no special call to right any Marblehead man, but 'tweren't no fa

h time," put in Long

' Ireson with 'em. Folks to Marblehead was mad at him not runnin' the risk, and becaze nex' day, when the sea was ca'am (they never stopped to think o' that), some of the Active's folks was took off by a Truro man. They come into Marblehead with their own tale to tell, sayin' how Ireson had shamed his town, an' so forth an' so on, an' Ireson's men they was scared, seein' public feelin' agin' 'em, an' they went back on Ireson, an' swore he was respons'ble for the hull act. 'Tweren't the women neither that tarred and feathered him - Marblehead women don't act that way -'twas a passel o' men an' boys, an' they carted him araound town in an old dory till the bottom fell aout, and Ireson he told '

ks; but, as Dan said promptly, a boy could only learn what he was taught a

about "Nina, innocente!" ending with a full-handed sweep that brought the song up with a jerk. Then Disko ob

s over and me

Bedford we sho

Bedford we sho

that never see w

very softly for a whi

r, my true-love

ar, we're goi

r, I left you

ck a loaf o' b

into a tune that was like something very bad but sure to happen whatever you did. After a little he sang, in an unknown tongue, his big chin down on the fiddle-tail, his white eyeballs glaring in the lam

me the blue creevles," said

ass going to Norway." His English was not thick, bu

e that unwholesim noise. 'Tis like some of th

between," said Dan; and the accordion st

ty Sundays sence l

een hunde

en hunder

der toppi

'Queereau

nail the trip, Dan? That's Jonah sure, 'l

s you sing the very las' verse. You

said Harvey. "W

o her," said Tom Platt. "There's all sorts o' Jonahs. Jim Bourke was one till he was drowned on Georges. I'd never ship with Jim Bourke, not if I was starvin'. Th

g what Tom Platt had said about candles and mod

, yes; inboard, things can happen," said Disko. "D

after we catched him," Dan cut

hed suddenly - a queer, thin laugh.

"Don't do that again, do

e our mascot, and didn't they stri

. "I know that, but the c

said Dan, hotly. "Where are ye hin

ne day he will be y

, placidly. "He wun'

pointing to Harvey. "Ma

ow soon?" said D

hall see it. Master and

'ye work that out

d, where I

from all the

his head, and went on peeling the potatoes, a

Now, I mistrust Uncle Salters fer the Jonerest Jonah in the Fleet regardin' his own special luck. Dunno ef it's spreadin' same's smallpox. He ought to be o

ay," said Disko. "Carrie Pitman an'

hed his luck," said Dan

still; but they changed without rest or mercy, and flung up the schooner to crown one peak of a thousand gray hills, while the wind hooted through her rigging as she zigzagged down the slopes. Far away a sea would burst into a sheet of foam, and the others would follow suit as at a signa

r jest naow over yonder," said Uncl

oc'sle gangway as the solid bows hatcheted into the troughs. "Sea's oilin' over dret

med Harvey with envy), hitched himself around the reeling cross-trees, and let his e

O! Dead to the no'th'ard, corain' do

e that made patches of olive-green water. Then a stump-foremast lifted, ducked, and disappeared, to be follow

ed Dan. "No, 'tain

"Salters, your blame luck holds

. It's Unc

nowise tell

ned Tom Platt. "Oh, Salters, Salter

aid poor Salters, as

running before the wind - yawing frightfully - her staysail let down to act as a sort of extra foresail,-"scandalized," they call it,- and her foreboom guyed out over the side. Her bowsprit cocked up like an old-fashioned frigate's; her

men, an' the judgments o' Providence layin' fer him an' n

aid Long Jack. "That's n

d. "Looks 's if he cal'lated to run us under. Ain'

," said the sailor slowly. "Ef she's spewed her

und with a clatter and raffle, an

ned. "He'd resk every stick he hez to carry bad news. Says we're in fer a shift o' wind. He's in fer worse. Abishal! Abi-sha

vin' gale - a livin' gale. Yab! Cast up fer your last trip, all yo

said Tom Platt. "Wish he

a dance at the Bay of Bulls and a dead man in the foc'sle. Harvey sh

fer her draught," said Long Jack. "I won

ake me ashore there. They're a mighty tough crowd - an' Abishal's the toughest. You saw his boat? Well, she's nigh seventy year old, they say; the last o' the old Marblehead heel-tappers. They don't make them quarterdecks any more. Abishal don't use Marbl

me alongside special to cuss us. I'd give my wage an' share to see him at the gangway o' the old

t wass his own death made him speak so! He iss fey - fey, I tell you! Look!" She sailed into a patch of watery sunshine three or four m

sko, jumping aft. "Drunk or sober, we've got to

to except in matters of life and death, and the little 'We're Here' complained like a human. They ran down to where Abishal's craft had vanished; found two or three trawl-tubs, a gin-bottle, and a stove-in dory, but nothing more. "Let 'em go," said Disko, though n

We'd ha' been obliged to help

that myself,"

rolling his eyes. "He haas

with an indescribable gesture, while Penn sat down on the house and sobbed at the sheer horror and pity of it all. Harvey could not realize that he had seen death on the open wate

" was all he said to Harvey. "You think on th

decks,- Penn and Uncle Salters were very zealous t

lters. "The wind hain't backed ner riz ner nothin'. H

the cook said: "The luck iss in two pieces. You will find it so when you look. I kno

d unpinning linen on a wash-line. It is a lengthy business and rather dangerous, for the long, sagging line may twitch a boat under in a flash. But when they heard, "And naow

ry was saved from destruction. "One half was jest punkins. Tom Platt wanted to haul her an' ha' done wid ut; but I said, "I'll back the doctor that

ically up and down the length of the trawl, the boat's nose surging under the wet line of hooks, stripping the sea-cucumbers t

oatin' around so near. Abishal won't sink fer a week. H

ng grampuses. It lasted till nine o'clock, and Disko was thrice

ound the knives after the men had turned in. "There's somethin'

ing a blade's edge. "Come to thi

. Shaking her head, she would say: "Well, I'm sorry I can't stay any longer with you. I'm going North," and would sidle off, halting suddenly with a dramatic rattle of her rigging. "As I was just going to observe," she would begin, as gravely as a drunken man addressing a lamp-post.

iece. She's Patrick H

, and gesticulated with her ji

give me liberty-

rtesying with a flourish of pride impressive enough

"Why, it's just as if

a batter of spray. "Fends 'em off an' fends 'em off, an' 'Don't ye come anigh me,' she sez. Look at her - jest look

a toothp

e made the models fer three or four of 'em. Dad's sot agin 'em on account o' their pitchin' an' joltin', but there's heaps o' money in 'em. Dad can find fish, but he ain't no ways pr

they co

e's gold-leaf an' everything you kin think of." Then to himsel