Various - Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XIII, Nov. 28, 1891

V >> Various >> Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XIII, Nov. 28, 1891

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Phil walked off, whistling, with the locket in his hand; and the last of
the many childish confidences that had taken place between Lelia and her
playfellow, preserver and hero was at an end.

CHAPTER XXX.

The Wreck of the OspreyY.

Thad, it was agreed, should remain a month longer with his Uncle Walter
at Cedar Keys before joining his parents, sister and cousin at Oakdale.
Mrs. Leigh's parting words to her brother was a tearful request that he
would take good care of her only son, and send him safely home to them
by the latter part of June, or the first of July, at the latest--a
request, of course, which Mr. Herdic solemnly promised to bear in mind;
for, however unfortunate he had been in his guardianship of girls, he
felt quite sure he could manage boys to his own satisfaction and that of
their mothers, and not only keep them out of mischief and danger, but
teach them at the same time something useful and proper for them to
know.

So, one fine morning, two days after bidding his sister and her family
good-by, Uncle Walter, with his handsome nephew, Thaddeus, and sturdy
little Phil, set sail for Key West and the sponging-grounds, it being
their purpose to take passage to the latter place on some one of the
numerous fishing-crafts that were constantly passing to and fro between
Key West and the scene of the hardy sponge-gatherers' daily toil.

The steamer Osprey was not a very fast sailer, but she was staunch and
trim, with fairly good cabin accommodations for a vessel of her size and
build.

Mr. Herdic and his nephew had state-rooms on deck, while Phil's was
below; but he rarely occupied it, for he did not much like such close,
hot, dark quarters, when there was plenty of fresh air, light and space
to turn around in above.

The morning of the second day out was unusually sultry, even for that
tropical latitude. There was not a breath of wind, nor a ripple on the
surface of the sea, but toward noon a breeze sprung up, which, before
dark, threatened to become a hurricane.

Rain squalls were frequent, and vivid flashes of lightning and deafening
peals of thunder added to the wild uproar of the elements, and sent
Thad, trembling with fear, to his state-room, which he wished for the
time being was below, and not so uncomfortably near the straining and
creaking mast.

But Phil really enjoyed it, and sat on the capstan, watching two
grizzled old sailors heave the lead with unmoved interest.

"By the deep nine," sang out the elder of the two seamen, as he reeled
in his line and took a weather-wise look over his shoulder.

"Just so," said Mr. Moore, the short, red-whiskered mate of the Osprey,
who stood by the skylight, with his lantern under his arm, carefully
directing the business of taking soundings. "We ought to make Largo
Light in an hour, if she keeps on at this rate."

"Aye, aye, sir! But it's a rough night for knowing just where we are, or
the rate of speed she's making," responded the sailor, as he went
forward, followed by his companion, both drenched to the skin, and their
gray beards and brown faces wet with the pelting rain.

The cargo of the Osprey was of a decidedly mixed character, consisting
mainly of cotton bales, coffee, "canned goods," small merchandise, and,
among the rest, a lot of cattle, a dozen or more horses and two mules,
which set up such a braying, bellowing and neighing, as the storm
increased in violence, and the ship began to roll heavily in the trough
of the sea, that the din raised was appalling, added to the wild
shrieking of the wind through the cordage and the rush and roar of the
towering waves.

Besides Mr. Herdic and the two boys, there was only one other passenger
on board the Osprey--a small, middle aged man, evidently of Spanish
descent, dark, clean-shaven, nervous, and not remarkable for either
sociability or good manners.

His name was Paul Casimer, his destination Havana, by the way of Key
West, and his wealth--if rumor was to be relied upon--considerable.

Officers, passengers and crew, all told, were just nineteen souls,
counting the colored cook and cabin boy, the former of whom was
especially liked by Phil, for he was a good-natured fellow, with the
thickest lips, the kinkiest wool, and the biggest white, rolling eyes
that Phil had yet come across in all his Florida wanderings.

The mate still stood by the skylight, with the lantern in his hand, when
Paul Casimer made his appearance on deck, wearing a long sea-coat that
reached to his heels, and with a slouch hat drawn low over his eyes and
violently pulled down at the back, to keep out the weather.

"A rough night, Mr. Moore," he said, rather crabbedly. "What are our
soundings?"

"Nine fathoms," answered the mate, with no very evident desire to be
communicative.

"And little enough it is, too!" grumbled Mr. Casimer. "We will be on the
reefs the first you know, if you keep her going at this rate--twelve or
fourteen knots an hour, and the wind tight after us."

Mr. Moore made no reply, and when he had made two or three turns of the
deck, with every appearance of having very little confidence in either
his legs or his stomach, Mr. Casimer sullenly retired, and Phil and the
mate were again alone.

"Our friend, Don Casimer, seems to have a rather ugly twist in his
temper to-night," laughed the mate, as soon as the object of his remarks
had disappeared. "If a shark were to dine off him, it would not much
matter, for he's the sort of a fellow that hates himself and everybody
else. He's in the Cuba trade, and thinks-- Eh, by George, boy, look out,
or you'll be overboard! That was a thumper, and no mistake!"

The tremendous wave that struck the ship, and jerked the word of caution
from the mate's lips, threw Phil violently against the nettings,
deluging the deck and sending a shower of blinding salt spray as high as
the smoke-stack.

Phil righted with the ship--that is, he scrambled to his feet and shook
the brine from his eyes, as soon as the gallant little steamer got her
propeller again in the water, and had settled herself for another
shock.

"I should say it was a thumper!" gasped Phil. "It seemed to walk on
board and grab at everything within its reach. It's got my hat, and
would have got me, if I had not clung for dear life to the nettings."

"It's a way these heavy cross-seas have of introducing themselves,
lashed by such a wind as is blowing now," said Mr. Moore. "I think you
must have been cut out for a sailor, you take so kindly to the rough
side of a sailor's life."

"Oh, I don't know!" replied Phil, diffidently. "I like the sea. I
haven't seen much of it, but what I have seen has been pretty rough--an
experience that I'd not like to live over again."

He thought of Lelia, and the time they were adrift together in the
little pleasure-boat; of their awful landing in the cold, gray dawn of
the early morning, on that strange, lonely coast; of their subsequent
wanderings, hungry and weary in the swamp--but this was so different!

He was on board a stout steamer, commanded by good, capable officers,
and really had no fear as to the vessel's safety, though it was blowing
a hurricane, and the locality a particularly dangerous one.

While these reflections were passing through Phil's mind, Captain
Barrett, a coast-skipper of the old-time sort, approached them, his
rubber storm-suit glistening in the weird light of the lantern he
carried, his weather-beaten face wearing an anxious expression, and his
brows closely knit in a searching look leeward.

"It's so confounded dark, and the mist and drizzle so thick, one can't
see the ship's bows; but we ought to make Largo Light soon, if I am not
far out in my reckoning. But you can't tell, in these chop seas, where
you are. The wind drives you ahead and the current pulls you back, and
the first thing you know you're on the rocks, and the deuce and all to
pay," remarked the captain, his sharp, gray eyes still searching the
rainy darkness. "I estimate our speed at fourteen knots--what say you,
Mr. Moore?"

"Not so much. Twelve knots, I think a fair calculation."

"Then we must be not far from Devil's Rock," said the captain,
thoughtfully. "According to my reckoning, we should have passed it an
hour ago; and the Devil's Rock it will prove, indeed, if we are so
unlucky as to strike it such a night as this."

Phil, who was near enough to hear every word of the above conversation,
began to feel a little alarmed, in spite of himself.

It was past midnight, the waves rolling mountains high and the ship
laboring heavily. He wondered if Mr. Herdic knew how hard it was
blowing, and, if he did, how it was possible for him to lie calmly in
his berth and listen, undisturbed, to the tumult raging on every hand
around him.

"A light!" shouted the lookout, from the maintop.

"Where away?" cried the captain.

"Broad on our weather-beam."

"Right you are!" was the quick response, just as there loomed through
the darkness a lurid red light, like the eye of some huge sea-monster,
that had reared its head above the boiling waves for a momentary view of
the wild scene.

"That must be Largo Light," said the mate, somewhat doubtfully.

"Yes," replied the captain, with a look of great relief. "Now we know
where we are, though it's not often I am so far out in my reckoning.
Tell Mr. Rolf to keep her close to the wind, and I'll go forward and
take a look at the chart."

So saying, Captain Barrett went away to his cabin to consult his charts,
while the mate hurried to give his instructions to the man at the wheel.

An hour passed--an hour of darkness, storm and gloom.

Phil was beginning to feel very chilly in his wet clothes and started to
go below, when the ship suddenly seemed to rise in the middle and then
pitch forward again, with a dull, grating sound, the meaning of which he
knew only too well.

"Breakers!" shouted the voice of the mate, from somewhere near the
companion-way. "We are on the reef!"

As he spoke the red light went out, as if swallowed up by the angry sea,
and then they knew the nature of the false beacon that had lured them on
to destruction.

Phil was making his way as fast as he could to Mr. Herdic's state-room,
when that gentleman himself appeared on deck, with Thad, half-dressed
and in a terrible state of excitement, following him.

"What is it?" cried Uncle Walter. "What has happened?"

"The ship has struck! The infernal wreckers, with their misleading false
lights, have brought us on the rocks," replied Captain Barrett, who
stood near, perfectly calm in the midst of the indescribable confusion
and the wild howlings of the storm. "Lower the life-boats, Mr. Moore,
and God be our trust, for it's every man for himself now; but steady!
Life is life, and he who saves his must be brave, cool and
stout-hearted. The rockets, boatswain. It may seem a vain hope, but help
may be nearer than we think."

Two boats were lowered, but who got into them, or what became of them,
Phil did not know. In far less time than it takes to relate it, he had
pulled off his coat, vest and boots, put on a life-preserver and stood
heroically awaiting his fate, whatever it might be.

He was pretty badly scared--there is no denying that--and he felt a
little weak in the knees; but when the struggle came, and the battle
waged was for life, he felt quite certain of making as brave a fight as
anybody.

"Good-by, Mr. Herdic!" he said, extending his hand. "It's a chance if we
live to see each other again."

"Good-by!" replied Mr. Herdic, in a choked voice; "and God be with and
care for you, my dear boy."

Thad's deathly pale lips tried to form some intelligible sound, but
failed, and, with a kind of dumb entreaty, he put his arms around Phil's
neck, and dropped his head despairingly on the other's shoulder.

"Lelia did better than this," thought Phil, but he was too generous to
say so, and when Thad sobbed out, "Will you stay by me, Phil?" he
answered, quickly, "Yes, I will, upon my honor!"

In that moment of supreme peril, Thad seemed to prefer the help and
protection of his brave young enemy to that of his uncle--strong man and
good swimmer as was the latter.

The boom of a minute gun rang out above the roar of the tempest, and a
second after a rocket went whizzing into the inky blackness, to burst
into a shower of blue fire and fall hissing into the sea.

Another and another followed in quick succession; then came a mighty
crash. The mast went by the board, carrying with it four sailors who had
sought safety in the rigging.

The vessel broached to, lying broadside on the reef, the waves making a
complete breach over her, and leaving her at the merciless sea. Thad
uttered an unearthly shriek, and clung to Phil, who, in turn, clung to
the iron grating of the companion-way. The cook had secured a mattress,
the cabin-boy a door, and Mr. Herdic--but Mr. Herdic was gone; so, too,
was Don Casimer, the captain, and Mr. Rolf.

The doomed steamer broke in two amidships, and all her upper works
floated off, with such of her crew and passengers as had not already
been engulfed in the pitiless flood.

The harsh rending asunder of strongly-riveted iron-plates, the surge and
jar and strain of breaking timbers, was the last sound Phil was
conscious of before he found himself thrown bodily into the sea, with
Thad held in such a way in his arms as to keep the poor boy from
grasping his neck, in his frantic struggles to keep his head above the
waves.

Phil was stunned, breathless, half-strangled, bruised and beaten by he
did not know what; everything, it seemed to him--dead and drowning
bodies of men and cattle, boxes, furniture, spars, cotton-bales, pieces
of the wreck of every conceivable kind and shape, trunks and sea-chests.

A portion of the saloon cabin floated within his reach; Phil clutched
it, but the succeeding wave tore it from his grasp, and he went down,
down, down to an awful depth.

The roaring in his ears was maddening; his brain felt as if it were on
fire. How long did it take one to drown? Was there no end to the agony?
But Phil came up again, and so did a Florida steer right under him,
kicking, bellowing and plunging in its convulsive death-throes, like
some dying leviathan of the deep.

Phil did not get out of its way, for he could not; but, just as the
animal was rolling upon him, a great wave lifted him high on its
foam-white crest and hurled him against a cotton-bale.

He caught hold of it with the desperate strength of one fighting for
life, and held on with might and main. His companion, if not dead, was
utterly unconscious, for when Phil called to him he did not answer, and
lay a limp, lifeless weight on his shoulder.

The gale appeared to be subsiding, for the cotton bale became more
steady, and the rain had ceased to fall some time before.

The clouds broke away at last, and in the speck of blue peeped out a
star. Yet the swells were terrific, and carried them onward with fearful
velocity--where, only the All-seeing knew--and when the dawn appeared in
the east, exhausted, chilled to the heart, bruised and nearly naked,
Phil and his insensible companion were flung ashore like two poor
fragments of stranded sea-weed. He had just strength enough left to
crawl up out of reach of the breakers, and that was all.

His grip on Thad's arm had not relaxed for a single second since the
time he seized it at the moment of the ship's final going to pieces. His
fingers seemed to have stiffened around it, and it was only by a sharp
effort that he was able to force them away.

"Well, dead or alive," he murmured, "I stuck by him, as I said, upon my
word and honor, I would! Thad! you can't speak? Then over you go!"

And Thad might have been a barrel by the way Phil rolled him about and
shook him up.

"Thad!"

This time, Phil got an answer--if a groan can be called such--and it
encouraged him mightily.

"You are coming to?"

Another groan.

"You feel better?"

"Yes," with ghastly faintness.

"Any bones broken?"

"No-o; I can't tell. Where are we?"

The very question Lelia had asked him on a like terrible occasion.

"That's more than I know."

It was now broad daylight.

Phil looked around him, and his countenance fell. They were on a barren
rock in the Gulf Stream.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

* * * * *

PUZZLEDOM.

*No. 613.*

Original contributions solicited from _all_. Puzzles containing obsolete
words will be received. Write contributions on one side of the paper,
and apart from all communications. Address "Puzzle Editor," GOLDEN DAYS,
Philadelphia, Pa.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK'S PUZZLES

No. 1. Knee-pen-the (Nepenthe).

No. 2.

V
A F
V A N I L L A
F I N E E R
L E G E R
L E E W A Y
A R R A Y E R
Y E
R

No. 3. This--'tis.

No. 4.

L I T H A N T H R A X
T R A C E R I E S
I R O N I S T
P R I E S
N A R
S

No. 5. Water-melon.

No. 6.

C H A R I V A R I
H E B E T A T E
A B I L E N E
R E L U M E
I T E M S
V A N E
A T E
R E
I

No. 7. Isinglass.

No. 8.

P
O O
A S L R L S A
R I I I I R
T G O G T
I I N N I I
C N S E S N C
T T
E

No. 9. Alco-ran.

No. 10.

R A B
R E F E R
R U M O R E D
R E M O R A T E S
A F O R E T I M E
B E R A T T L E S
R E T I L E S
D E M E S
S E S

No. 11. Con-cent-rate.

No. 12.

M
G A L
S A L I S
S A L I N E S
G A L I N G A L E
M A L I N G E R I N G
L I N G E R I N G
S E A R I N G
S L I N G
E N G
G

NEW PUZZLES.

No. 1. CLASSICAL CHARADE.
(_By sound_.)

"One more last glorious day for him,"
Says the king of the blessed gods.
And he looked with love on the warrior grim,
While the world shakes as he nods.

And well the hero fought that day
Around the god-built wall--
Fought as a tigress fights at bay,
Roused by her young whelps' call.

His brazen mail on his broad breast rang,
As before the host he came;
When there, through the foeman's _first all_ sprang
Like a lurid tongue of flame.

But no mortal hands could have saved the town,
Or averted the fatal hour:
And from glory's fair ambrosial crown
Death _last_ that brightest flower.

_Iowa City, Iowa._ Irish Foreman.

No. 2. INVERTED PYRAMID.

_Across:_ 1. Tending to recede from the centre. 2. Hernias of the thigh.
3. A little volume (_Rare_). 4. A kind of woolen cloth. 5. Musical
syllable. 6. A letter.

_Down_: 1. A letter. 2. A type measure. 3. A snare. 4. An old woman. 5.
A species of silk fabric. 6. One who deals in ice. 7. A genus of
quadrupeds. 8. Mexican trees. 9. To become. 10. A Roman weight. 11. A
letter.

_Newark, N.J._ Joe Hootey.

No. 3. RIDDLE.

When I was young, my parent old
I bore within my circling arms;
When I grew fat
I wore no hat.
But being old and pale and thin,
I wear a dainty, golden brim.

_Madison, Wis._ C. Ash.

No. 4. DIAMOND.

1. A letter. 2. A rod used by masons. 3. To hinder. 4. Patched (_Obs._)
5. Those who accomplish. 6. Nuptial. 7. Benzoinated (_Dunglison._)
8. To cut deeper. 9. To suffer. 10. Bad. 11. A letter.

_Washington, D.C._ Eugene.

No. 5. APHERESIS.

Sweetheart, good-by!
How quickly to _two_ loving hearts
The _ones_ seem to fly;
Though all unseen, time fast departs,
And, sweetheart, I
Must kiss thee once before I go,
And say good-by!

Sweetheart, good-by!
Oh, love, thy cheeks with tears are wet,
You sadly sigh
That I--I may thee soon forget;
Love, I reply
By kissing such foolish doubts away,
And then good-by!

Sweetheart, good-by!
One last look at thy fair, sweet face--
Nay, do not cry--
One lingering kiss, one sweet embrace.
Then, sweetheart, I
Must part with thee for one long day--
Sweetheart, good-by!

_Washington, D.C._ Guidon.

No. 6. PENTAGON.

1. A letter. 2. A boy. 3. Put in tune. 4. Certain candlesticks.
5. Yellow dyeing matters. 6. Mocking. 7. One made a citizen. 8. Parts.
9. Faculty by which external objects are perceived.

_Cincinnati, Ohio._ Green Wood.

No. 7. CHARADE.

(_By sound_.)

"I've cut my _one_! I've cut my _one_!"
Cried Mrs. Murphy's eldest son:
He nursed the _one_ and hopped about--
His mother from the house ran out;
"Oh, _two_ the blissid saint presarve!"
The frightened widow cried;
"My darlin' b'y how did ye carve
Your _last_ so deep and wide?"
"Oh, mother dear! I came out here
To hoe the _totals_ without fear;
But fortune frowns against your son--
His hoeing for this day is done."

_Mexico, Mo._ Wanderoo.

No. 8. HALF SQUARE.

1. Makes lawful. 2. Active principles of elaterium. 3. Followers of
Galen. 4. Repeats. 5. States of holding the best and third best cards
(_Whist_). 6. Certain minerals. 7. Costs. 8. Certain insects. 9. A river
of Mongolia. 10. A plural affix. 11. A letter.

_Jefferson, O._ Majolica.

No. 9. ENIGMA.

I'm first in the alehouse and third at the dram,
In midst of the breakfast, dividing the ham;
I'm first in the army, second in battle,
Unknown to the child, I'm found in his rattle;
I'm found in all waters, but never in wells;
I'm mixed up with witchcraft, but never in spells;
On lassies and ladies I wait all their lives,
But quit them the moment they call themselves wives;
Though strange contradictions in tales may be carried,
Where virtue prevails, I am found with the married;
With the grave and the gay I number my days,
I mix in their prayers and join in their praise;
I'm never in liquor--but once in the year,
Then with statesmen and gamblers and rakes I appear;
I'm not in this world, I'm not in the next,
But in the old saying, "between and betwixt;"
I mount with the atmosphere, taking the lead;
I visit the grave and am found with the dead;
I'm ancient as Noah, was first in the ark;
Unseen in the light, yet, I shine in the dark;
I shall last with the earth, with nature and man,
I was sketched with the draft and was found in the plan;
When nature and earth from existence are driven,
The angels will guard me eternal in heaven.

------ A Lady Reader.

No. 10. NEWARK ICOSAHEDRON.

1. To rest. 2. Small pieces of artillery (_Rare_). 3. Fixed deeply.
4. The girdle of a Jewish priest. 5. A constellation of the zodiac.
6. A long cloak extending from head to feet, worn by women. 7. To
counterfeit. 8. A genus of lamellibranchiate bivalves. 9. A state of
quiet or tranquility. 10. To throw back. 11. A sixpence. 12. Restrains.
13. A cave.

_Stone, Ala._ R.E. Porter.

No. 11. CHARADE.

Nothing purer than the _first_ was ever seen,
Or more lovely, colder, brighter, e'er I ween;
If you make a _second_ of me, surely then
With practice you might hit a dozen men;
Lo! _total_, with its leaves of darkest green,
In some gardens, in summer, may be seen.

_Washington, D.C._ Waldemar.

-> Answers will appear in our next issue; solvers in six weeks.

SOLVERS.

Puzzles in *Puzzledom No. DCVII* were correctly solved by Stocles,
Helio, Carl, O.B.J., J. O'King, Rosalind, Charles Goodwin, Khaftan,
Legs, Joe-de-Joe, Marcellus, Hercules, Spider, Romulus, Dovey, Theo
Logy and Fred. E. Rick, Night, Windsor Boy, Claude Hopper, Janet, Goldey
and Pen Ledcil, Stanna, Addie Shun, Osceola, Flora Nightingale, Katie
O'Neill, Willie Wimple, Pantagrapher, Weesie, Lowell, May Le Hosmer and
Magnolia, Horace, Carrie Wilmer, Green Wood, Mary McK., John Watson,
Mary Roland, Rose Bourne, B. Gonia, Theresa, Brom Bones, Brig,
Herbie C., Cartoon, Dorio, Little Nell, R.E. Flect, Mary Pollard,
M.E.T., Joe King, Conpay, Eben E. Wood, Parus, Olive, V.I. Olin,
Irish Foreman, L'Allegro, Jejune, Tam O'Shanter and Beta.

Complete List.--Stocles.

QUEER WRINKLES.

--The progress of the fall season is measured by the golden-rod.

--Said an absent-minded school-teacher:
"I hear a quiet noise in the right-hand corner of the room. I know very
well who the guilty party is, but I will not mention his name. It is
Tommy Jones."

--You can hail a street car, but you will be arrested if you stone one.

--Mr. Gummey: "Why do you call your dog 'Hen?' Is it an abbreviation of
Henry?"
Mr. Glanders: "No; I call him 'Hen' because he is a setter."

--The counterfeiter is satisfied if he can spend money as fast as he can
make it.

--Baby choked in his sleep, one day,
Only a harmless choke, 'twould seem.
But Marjorie settled it in her way--
I 'spect," she said, "he swallowed a dream."

--No fiddler ever gets tired of his own music.

--Benny: "Papa, I was playing with the sickle this morning, and I fell
down and cut a finger."
Papa: "Did you cry?"
Benny: "Nope, but Willie did."
Papa: "What did Willie cry for?"
Benny: "It was Willie's finger I cut."

--One peculiarity of the skin on an animal is, that the fur side is the
near side to you.

--Mr. Staggers: "What a gross man McJunkin is!"
Mr. Sumway: "Yes, but you ought to see his brother. He is a grocer."

--It is the easiest thing in the world to borrow trouble and return a
visit.

--"Now," said the professor, "I want you to illustrate the difference
between music and noise."
"Your own singing and somebody's else," replied the pupil, confidently.

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