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THE MASTER AND THE REAPERS.
The master called to his reapers:
“Mate scythe and sickle keen,
And bring me the grain from the uplands,
And the grass from the meadows green;
And from off the mist-clad marshes. ,
Where the salt waves fret and foam,
Ye shall gather the rustling sedges
To furnish the harvest-home.”
Then the laborers cried: “O master,
We will bring thee the yellow grain
That waves on theVindy hillside,
And the tender grass from the plain;
But that which springs on the marshes
Is dry and harsh and thin,
Unlike the sweet field grasses,
So we will not gather it in.”
But the master said: “O foolish!
For many a weary day,
Through storm and drought, ye have labored
For the grain and the fragrant hay.
The generous earth is fruitful,
And breezes of summer blow 1
Where these, in tho sun and the dews of
heaven,
Have ripened soft and slow.
‘But out on the wide bleak marshland
Hath never a plow been set,
And with rapine and rage of hungry waves
The shivering soil is wet.
There flower the pale green sedges,
And the tides that ebb and flow,
And the biting breath of the sea-wind,
Are the only care they know. ,
“They have drunken of bitter waters,
Their food hath been sharp sea-sand,
And yet they have yielded a harvest
Unto the master’s baud.
So shall ye all, O reapers,
Honor them now the more, •
And garner in gladness, with songs of praise,
The grass from the desolate shore.”
—Zoe Dana Underhill, in Harper .
THE CAPTAIN'S PLOT.
A STORY OF THE SEA.
“God’s ways are full of mystery,”
and no one realizes the truth of the quota¬
tion more than the men who go down to
sea in ships. My fifteenth birthday
found me an orphan and a waif jn the
streets of New Orleans. I had runaway
from a farmer in Illinois to whom I
was bound, and by hook and crook had
reached the great town on the Father of
Waters. I had been living a precarious
life for a month when the proprietor of
an oyster house gave me a job. It was
part of my work to open the oysters con¬
sumed in the place, and this portion was
done in a little room just in rear of some
private stalls or compartments. The
stalls fronted the public room, of course,
and were intended for parties who de¬
sired privacy while eating a stew or
drinking all a glass of wine. 1 could hear
that was said in two of them, as the
partitions were only cloth; but I had
been in the place two weeks before any¬
either. thing of interest was while* dropped from
One evening I was at
-work two men entered one of the stalls,
devoured a stew, and drank some grog,
and, after lighting cigars, entered upon a
conversation which at once attracted my
attention.
“Well, have you got it all fixed?”
asked one.
stood,” “Everything ship-shape and under¬
replied the other.
“She is insured?”
i “Way up.”
“And no suspicions?”
“Not a one.” "
“We take machinery to Rio Janeiro?”
“Yes. That and other stuff.”
1 “And bring back sugar and coffee?”
“Yes, if we return.”
j “What do we get?”
“Three thousand apiece.”
“Well, I don’t like it, but I'm in with
you. She’s to go down off the Guinea
coast, eh?”
“Yes, down that way.”
hands “Spring a leak the and founder, and all
take to boats, 1 suppose?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Well, here’s success to it. The Al¬
batross is a good old craft, and I hate to
see her go, but one must look out for
himself.”
“Aye! mate, that’s Gospel truth.
That’s what you and me are going to do
now. It’ll come from the rich insurance
companies, and no one will be the
poorer.” “And trust Williams hand
we can to
over our divvy?”
“He’s square. He’s got to be square.”
I was a green couptry boy, but I
caught and on they to their talk. planning They the were loss sail¬
ors, were of a
ship to get the insurance. I rose up and
found a hole in the cloth through which
I could get a look at them. They talked
a bit more and then went out, and within
twelve hours one of the mysteries oc¬
curred. A boy who had formerly worked
for the restaurant, and who had fallen
sick, recovered sufficiently to displace
me, and I was cast adrift again with
only four bits in my purse. The next
day nut one, as I entered a tavern on the
levee in hopes to find something to do,
the proprietor gave me a cordial welcome,
with a dinner, and at last got around to
say:
“Now, my boy, I feel like a father to
you. I do indeed. You have had a
hard time, and you have been full o’
.
pluck. I’m interested in seeing you do
well, and have got a nice place for you.
My brother, who is the best man in the
world, is a sea captain, and he wants a
good boy to sail with him.”
. “But I was never on a ship,” I pro¬
tested.
“Of course not, but that makes no
difference. You will have a nice little
room to yourself, live like a,prince, and
as f° r work, all you will have to do will
be to hand the Captain his spyglass
when a sll, 'P comes in sight.”
I had no desire to go to sea. Indeed,
I had a dread of it; but in half an hour
he had won me over, and that afternoon
I was sent off to the ship in company
with several sailors. In two hours after
coming her aboard she and started down the
river on trip, ft was only then
that I got my eyes opened. There was
such a hubbub aboard that I had not
paid particular attention to officers or
men, but all of a sudden I discovered
that the captain and mate were the very
two men I had seen and overheard in
the oyster booth. Then I a9ked the
name of the ship, and learned that it was
the Albatross. I was greatly troubled,
or would have been if left to myself.
We were hardly in tow of the tug before
the first mate, whose name was McCoy,
came upon me with a rope’s end and a
terrible curse, and exclaimed:
“Now, then, stir your stumps or I’ll
break every bone in your body. Did
you come aboard to play young gentle¬
man?”
That was the beginning. I had been
shipped, not as a cabin boy, for there
was dog, no place for one, but as a ship’s
a boy who must come and go at every¬
body’s call, and wiio could be kicked
and cuffed by everybody. According
to the novelist, I should have found a
stanch friend in the fo’castle, a Jack
Bolt or Ben Brace, who would take me
under his wing and offer to fight the
whole ship iD my behalf, but nothing of
the kind happened. Most of the crew
were Dagoes, and no one showed me the
slightest pity. When we had been out
four days I began to feel very anxious
about the safety of the ship. The plan
was, as I overheard it, to take to the
boats, and it suddenly occurred to me
that they would refuse to take me with
them. I suppose I got this idea from
the men telling me that I was no good,
and that I ought to be flung overboard,
and other expressions intended to upset
me. You can judge how green I was
by what followed. I was in McCoy’s
watch, and on tho night of the fourth
day, as he seemed to soften up a bit
when giving me an order, I made bold
to say:
Mr. McCoy, when you get ready to
have the ship go down, you won’t leave
me to drown, will you?”
“W—what?” he gasped, as he stag¬
gered back like one shot.
In ten minutes he had it all out of me,
and he stood before me pale-faced and
trembling. When he had made sure
that I had not said anything to any of
the crew, he took me aft and locked me
up in a stateroom designed for the super¬
cargo. Next morning I was taken to
the cabin and questioned by the Cap¬
tain and mate and returned to my prison.
They were not harsh with me* but on
the contrary, promised that I should go
in the Captain’s own boat, and that I
need not work any more. I was made
cabin boy, and was warned, that if I
dropped 1 should be one flung single word to any person
to the sharks at once.
They could trust me. Simple Simon
that I was, I cared only to save myself
when the hour came. I could not real¬
ize that the scuttling of a ship was any¬
thing more than a sharp trick. For all
I knew, it was practised every day in
the year.
One day when we had been out about
two weeks, as near as I can remember, I
was for something sent to help wanted the second mate look
from the lazarette.
His name was Elderson, and he was the
only one aboard who had a friendly look.
He had spoken to me kindly two or
three time3, and I felt that he was a
friend. We were scarcely alone when
he took from his pocket a box of sulphur
matches, a fishline and several hooks,
and a large pocket knife. He handed
them to me and said:
“Ben, take these and stow them away
in your pocket, and on your life say
nothing to any one 1 Be sure to keep
them about you.”
He turned from me as if he did not
want to be questioned, and I pocketed
the articles without a word. I was in a
state of wonder, hewever, and nothing
was made plain until the next day. At
10 o’clock in the forenoon the ship was
hove to about a mile from a small island,
a boat ordered lowered, and then all
hands were called aft. When they had
assembled the Chaptain said:
“Men, I discovered two days ago that
this boy was a leper. He has got it bad,
and is to be pitied. My duty in the
case is plain. He must be marooned.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” chorused the crew.
“I shall fit him out and set him ashore
here,” he continued, “and you are my
witnesses that it is a step necessary for
the safety of all.”
There was a ready assent, and before I
fully in understood what was going on I
was the boat with McCoy and being
pulled when toward the island by two sailors.
Even I knew that I was to be left
I did not raise an objection. I supposed
the island to be inhabited, perhaps there
the was a city there, and I was not sorry for
could change. wade ashore, We ran in so close that I
and the mate handed
me several bundles which the men sup¬
posed viences. contained food, clothing and con
As soon as I had everything
out of the boat the three gave me a curt
good-by, watched and I sat down on the sand and
them return. The boat was
hoisted up, the Albatross made sail, and
I was marooned upon an uninhabited
island. This fact was not fully realized
until toward night, and I was so simple
that it was several hours before I had
figured I in it out why I had been set ashore.
the was ship, possession and of the plot to scuttle
I must be got rid of. The
captain his had called me a leper to justify
action with the crew, and it was
planned that I should not live long
ashore. When I came to undo the bun¬
dles I fouud them, to be composed of
empty bottles, oakum and bit3 of can¬
vass. There was not a particle of food
—not an article of clothing—nothing
but rubbish. It was then I realized the
kindness of the second mate. He must
have overheard them plotting to maroon
me, and he went as far as it was safe for
him to go.
When, at about noon, I rose up and
understood my position, I felt that the
first thing to do was to explore my island.
I am writing of the year 1852. At that
time many of the islands in the Carib¬
bean Sea had not been charted or
named. I was, as I afterward ascer¬
tained, on a key or isle to the north of
Trinidad, and up to twelve years ago it
was down on the charts as “Little Coco. ”
It was about three miles long by one
and a half wide, and fairly wooded.
There were various birds, troops of
monkeys, and numerous snakes, but no
wild animals to put one in fear. I had
been landed in the little bay on the wes¬
tern side of the island. I found a spring
of water a quarter of a mile inland, with
plenty of wild fruit all around me, and
on the first night of my stay I slept on
the open beach. It was three days be¬
fore I fully realized my position and saw
that I must depend entirely upon myself.
When I walked clear around the island
and across it, and I decided that my best
location • was near where I had
come ashore. Had I gone to the east end
of the island and raised asignal I should
have been taken off in a week, as there
was a channel between that and the next
island north much used, but this I had
no means of knowing. When I found
myself the sole inhabitant, I made up my
mind that escape was impossible, and
that I was to live out my years right
there. The Captain had called me a
leper. I had never heard the name before.
He had sent me ashore because I en¬
I dangered suspected the that safety of the crow. While
this was a subterfuge, I
was not quite satisfied about it. If I
was something to be shunned and afraid
of, why off should I desire to escape? If
taken I had no home to go to, no
friends to welcome me. I was lonesome
and somewhat afraid here, but was,
nevertheless, situation. enjoying the novelty of the
I built me a rude shelter, wandered
over the island, fished, set snares and
captured parrots and monkeys, and
after the first week was quite content.
I had been on the island three weeks be¬
fore the second mystery oecurred. A
peninsula island or neck on the western end of
the was composed of sand, and
bare of tree or bush. It was about 300
feet long. There had been a heavy blow
from the south, with a big sea rolling
in, and after this had lasted two days
there was an unusually low tide. I
thespit, caught sight of a timber heaved up on
and went out to inspect it, and
while surveying the banks which the
tide had uncovered I caught sight of
some queer little boxes half buried in
the sand. I dug one out, to find it so
heavy that I could hardly drag it away.
They were of wood, hooped with iron,
and ten or twelve inches long by eight
or ten inches high. I had little curiosity
as to the contents, aud the idea that
they contained treasure never crossed
my mind. I got out four before the tide
turned, and there were several more in
sight. After I had them all together
above high water, I began to wonder
whether they contained nails or bullets,
and set about breaking one open. When
rows upon rows of silver coins greeted
my eyes I came near losing what little
sense I had. Two others contained silver,
the fourth one gold. It was English
money, every piece of it, and as I had
never seen any before I was at a loss to
estimate the value.
Before the discovery of that money 1
wanted nothing but a pair of shoes, and
the sight of a sail would not have affected
me. Now I was wild to get at the other
boxes, and my eyes were constantly
.-earching the sea for sight of relief. I
dragged the boxes to my house, and most
of each day for the next week was spent
on the neck in hopes of getting at more
treasure. The water continued high,
however, and I got nothing more. On
the eighth day after I got the treasure,
and about thirty days after my landing,
the third mystery was revealed. At
about 9 o’clock in the moaning, while the
tide was setting in strong, I observed a
ship’s boat drifting in from the south¬
east. It was not ten minutes afterlsaw
her before she was cast on the beach, and
as she rolled over two bodies were flung
out. To my amazement and horror I
recognized them as the bodies of the
Captain it and mate of the Albatross,
though by features. was more by the clothing than
their It was plain at a glanc e
that they had died of exposure and
want. There was neither food nor drink
in the boat, and the bodies were little
better than skeletons. It was the Cap¬
tain’s gig, and it seemed that these two
got away atone. They must have drifted
here and there for days, for there wa
neither sail nor oar.
I was scooping out a grave for the
bodies when a turtle sloop rounded the
island and was in the cove before I saw
her. She had a crew of three men and a
boy, and they had come for a stay of a
week or two, it being the season when
the turtles came ashore to lay their eggs.
They were not from the mainland, but
from a larger island to the north, and
were native West Indians. The Captain
spoke him full English explanation, fairly well, and I gave
a even to the find¬
knocked ing of the treasure. They could have
me on the head and safely
taken all, but they did not do it. The
Captain looked over my money, and said
I had about $23,000, and it was agreed
that, in repayment for a passage to
Porto Kieo 1 was to surrender all rights
to the turtle ship’s catchers, boat. In four days those
poor none of whom had *
ever had $50 at once, took $50,000 out of
the sands. 'There were more boxes left,
or it was so believed, but they required
other outfit to secure them. I was n*6
only landed in Porto Rico, as agreed,but
told how to take care of my money,
most of which was exchanged for paper,
and my passage on a sailing vessel bound
for New Orleans was secured.
I did not go near the owners of the
Albatross. She had been reported lost,
with all on board, and to this day not
one of the crew has been heard of. I
could have gone to the authorities with
my story, but who would have believed
it? Those who had plotted against me
had been overcome, and I had sprung
from poverty to wealth at a bound. And
so I repeat: “Cod’s ways are full of
mystery.”— New York Sun.
Owners of Perfect Feet.
A firm of shoemakers in the Hay
market, London, have hit upon a novel
plan of advertising. They put up a con¬
spicuous and shoes sign, ready announcing: “Best boots
selected at of money the following prices, made
on lasts gen¬
tlemen, perfect feet only having been
chosen for such models.” Following this
is a list of names of the lucky possessors
of ber “perfect such feet,” and among the num¬
notables as the Duke of Rox
burghe, the Marquis of Hamilton, Earl
Cadogan, Prince Dolgoroki, and others.
The scheme, which has irresistable at¬
tractions for the snobs, offers the cus¬
tomer the chance of being chosen as a
“stock model,” and thus having his
name enrolled on the list of distinguished
owners of perfect feet.-— Vhicaqo New.