164 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



OCTOBER. 



THERE comes a, month in the weary year— 

 A month of leisure and healthful rest; 

 When the ripe leaves fall and the air is clear: 

 October; the brown, the crisp, the blest. 



My life has little enough of bliss; 



I drag the days of the odd eleven, 

 Counting the time that shall lead to this— 



The month that opens the hunter's heaven. 



And oh ! for the morning crisp and white, 

 With the sweep of the hounds upon the track; 



The bark-roofed cabin, the camp lire's light. 

 The break of the deer and the rifle's crack. 



Do you call this trifling ? I tell you, friend, 



A life in the forest is past all praise, 

 Give me a dozen such months on end — 



You may take ray balance of years and days. 



For brick and mortar breed filth and crime, 



And a pulse of evil that throbs and beats; 

 And men grow withered before their prime 



With the curse paved in on the lanes and streets. 



And lungs are choked, and shoulders are bowed 



In the smothering reek of mill and mine; 

 And death stalks in on the struggling crowd. 



But he shuns the shadow of oak and pine. 



And of all to which the memory clings,' 

 There is naught so sweet as the,sunny spots 



Where our shanties stood by the crystal springs, 

 The vanished hounds, and the lucky shots. 



— TheAldinefor October. 



)ow Jf wn$ §ilh&. 



A YACHTING STORY. 



IE" my youthful days I should certainly have Jbeen classi- 

 fied as an amphibious biped. One half ,of my waking 

 hours during the summer season were spent in the salt water 

 Moreover, when not sporting in the element which was 

 mine by adoption, I was generally in "hot water." Boys 

 of a certain age usually are, and I was not an exception. I 

 played truant from school with utter indifference regarding 

 future punishment. I thought shoes were made for the 

 purpose of wading through mud puddles ; a new hat was 

 just the thing with which to scoop minnows out »of tbe 

 muddy pools left by the receding tide; whih- spick-span 

 new trousers were devoted to sliding down greased spars 

 and newly tarred rigging. The feelings of my "fond 

 parents, 1 ' can be better imagined than described. But if I 

 had little regard for my clothes, I had still less for my 

 neck. I went to the mast-head of every vessel that came 

 into the port; ran along yard arms like a squirrel; was fre- 

 quently capsized in unseaworthy craft ; and occasionally fell 

 over the end of a wharf. Surviving all these mishaps I 

 became, as I grew older, an expert swimmer and boat-sailer. 

 My taste for the sea did not desert me when in later years 

 I passed many weeks in "prairie schooners," or dwelt in 

 towns far inland; and when arrived at man's estate, I found 

 myself in the Provincial city of Halifax, fronting a magnifi- 

 cent harbor, with the broad blue ocean beyond, I hungered 

 once more after my old pastimes and longed for a seat in the 

 stern sheets of some swift little craft, that I might grasp 

 the straining tiller, and listen to the ripple made by the 

 sharp prow as it clears its way through the sparkling brine. 



I had several offers, more or less tempting, to become 

 part owner of some fleet yacht, but as I wanted to com- 

 mand my own craft, I did not accept them. Finally I 

 made a purchase — such a purchase, too! My friends all 

 declared that if ever I put to sea in the Jilt (significant 

 name) I would certainly have to be fished up from the bot- 

 tom of the harbor; a coroner's jury would sit upon me, and 

 the verdict would be, "Suicide by Drowning." But here I 

 differed with them, and I was right, as time has proved. 



"When I bought the Jilt she had been hauled up for a 

 year or two, from the simple fact that when her late owner 

 took a larger craft to fly the Commodore's pennant of the 

 Royal Halifax Yacht Club, there was no one who dared to 

 sail her. The Jilt was a craft of note, too, and had carried 

 off more than one prize in the annual regattas. She was 

 built at Bermuda, of the native cedar, and rigged and mod- 

 elled after a style peculiar to that place. Her keel was four- 

 teen feet in length, but she had an overhanging stern, and 

 measured perhaps sixteen feet over all. The bow was 

 bluff, but the lines of the stern were very fine, and she drew 

 considerably more water aft than forward. The Bermudi- 

 ans say they model their boats from the duck. The mast 

 was stepped well forward, and raked aft at quite a sharp 

 angle. It was a stick some twenty feet or more in length, 

 small, but of tough springy wood, and well oiled. In a 

 stiff breeze it would bend like a bow, having neither shroud 

 or stay. At right angles with the cut-water a long bowsprit 

 was thrust out, carrying a ballooc jib, like an English cut- 

 ter's. The main-boom extended some four feet over /die 

 stern, and just swung clear of the deck. Instead of hoops 

 or rings, the mainsail was laced to the mast with a small 

 hard cord, and when well hoisted it literally "set like a 

 board." I should mention also that both jib and mainsail 

 hoisted to within a few inches of the mast-head, from 

 which a small red pennant floated in the breeze. The Jilt 

 was decked over with the exception of a small space amid- 

 ship, oval-shaped, and barely large enough to contain two 

 people, and the greater portion of the hold was taken up 

 by a ballast locker, securely fastened to the timbers, and 

 filled with pig iron. Besides this ballast two bars of lead, 

 weighing some four hundred pounds, were set into the keel. 

 When in sailing trim the deck was barely six inches above 

 the water, and very often the waves splashed over and into 



the hold, making it necessary sometimes to lay to and bail 

 out. But on great occasions, such as a sailing match, half 

 the cock-pit was covered by a hatch. A piece of canvas, 

 passed over the steersman's head, and buttoned around the 

 combings, was then fastened securely around his waist, and 

 no water could find ingress. But the risk was great, as a 

 matter of course. 



No one who has not seen a boat of this kind would credit 

 their ability to carry sail, their speed and weatherly quali- 

 ties. Their great point is working to windward. I believe 

 they will lay nearer to the wind than any other craft that 

 floats. 



Of course I found my purchase in a somewhat dilapidated 

 condition, and having her towed across the harbor to a 

 marine railway of which I had charge, a,nd hauling her 

 high and dry, I undertook to repair, rig and paint her my- 

 self. In the course of two weeks I had her in apple-pie 

 order, and to me she was a very pretty sight indeed as she 

 rode at her mooring. Up to the water line she was painted 

 white, and over the paint was laid a coat or two of varnish, 

 making it as smooth and glossy as the oiled plumage of a 

 duck. From the water-line to the deck the paint was a 

 beautiful Chinese vermillion, through which ran a gilt rib- 

 bon. The deck was a light slate color, and the combings 

 were of richly veined cedar, polished and varnished. The 

 mast, well scraped and oiled, was as liard and smooth as 

 ivory, while the sails were of snowy whiteness. Take her 

 all in all the Jilt was a very sightly craft, albeit by the books 

 of the R. H. Y. C... she measured but three-fourths of a ton, 

 and the tall slender spar was somewhat out of proportion 

 to the low hull which supported it. Many a pleasant cruise, 

 however, had I in the Jilt, and I still live to tell the tale of 

 "how I was jilted." To do this I must re-open old heart 

 wounds, but for the sake of the "dear reader" I will try to 

 grin and bear it. 



I had not resided in Halifax many months before I was 

 "spoony" on Edith Budd. It is, no doubt, a necessity 

 with some natures to be in a constant state of "spoonyness," 

 and I suppose this to be the case with regard to myself. I 

 certainly had all the symptoms of the disease, for so, I 

 suppose, we must term "an affection of the heart." I did 

 not, it is true, lose my appetite, and turn pale, bilious and 

 interesting like some people. I believe I consumed as 

 much underdone roa-^t beef and bitter beer as any one to 

 the manner born. But I haunted Edith persistently; not 

 in a ghostly manner, ho '/ever, although I used to ad:lress 

 the young lady (mentally) in the beautiful words— "Whither 

 thou goest, I will go." And go I did; sometimes to the 

 utter neglect of my duties. But then I had formidable 

 rivals to contend with. Halifax was both a military and a 

 naval station, and I was constantly in trepidation lest 

 some enterprising fellow of the R. N. might prove too many 

 guns for me. I was not then a very timid youth, but so 

 far as brass -was concerned the "subs" of either service 

 could have given me long odds. Moreover, I had, or fan 

 cied I had — it amounts to the same thing — a rival in Her 

 Majesty's 999th regiment of foot, and another on board H. 

 M. sloop of war "Stingaree." Many a pleasant dinner at 

 mess or in the ward-room was spoiled for me by the pres- 

 ence of one or both of my rivals. The sailor, I thought, 

 had rather the weather gauge of the land lubber, but I hoped 

 I was to windward of them both, though you may be sure 

 I kept a sharp lookout for squalls. 



All went on smoothly until one ever memorable day. 

 There was to be a picnic on McNab's island at the harbor's 

 mouth, some four miles away, and Edith and my sailor 

 rival were to be of the party. We were to embark at 

 Pryor's wharf, at the lower end of the town in the schooner 

 yacht Fairy, and you may be sure I determined to be punc- 

 tual. On coming into town that morning, however, I 

 found it was absolutely necessary for me to go to the rail- 

 way, on the opposite side of the harbor, and give direc- 

 tions concerning some work to be done by the divers. "Just 

 my luck," I muttered, as I made my way hurriedly to the 

 ferry. When I had completed my business I saw that it 

 wanted but a few minutes of the appointed time for sailing, 

 while it would take at least, half an hour to get to Pryor's 

 wharf via the ferry. So I was pulled off to the Jilt, which 

 lay dancing at her moorings, got underweigh heartily, and 

 started for the Halifax shore. The wind was blowing 

 directly up the harbor, making it a dead beat to windward 

 to reach my point of destination. Moreover, it was blow- 

 ing half a gale, and I had need of all my skill to handle the 

 Jilt with her fair weather canvas. But Leander swam the 

 Hellespont, and I would risk my life as willingly, thought 

 I, in the attempt to reach the side of the one I loved. Kneel- 

 ing down, with one hand holding the main-sheet and the 

 other the tiller, I kept a sharp lookout to windward for the 

 squalls which now and then swept down on me and threat- 

 end to bury my little craft uuder the foam-crested waves. 

 At times she was almost submerged, and once a bigger 

 wave than usual sent several buckets of water over the comb- 

 ings, drenching me from head to foot and carrying my hat 

 away to leeward. I shook myself like a spaniel, brushed 

 back the drenched locks which had blown into my eyes 

 and easing off the main-sheet a trifle to right the boat was 

 soon speeding on my way again. My attention was so much 

 occupied that I had failed to notice whether the yacht had 

 left the wharf, but presently, directly ahead, under jib 

 and main-sail, appeared the Fairy. She was so near that I 

 could distinctly see all on board — could see my rival, com- 

 fortably seated beside Edith, and fancied I could see her 

 smiles and hear her merry voice. It was but a moment's 

 glimpse I had, for just then came a squall, and when I had 

 safely weathered it the Fairy was on the farther shore. I 

 was certain they had seen me, and had hoped they would 



heave to and take me in tow. It was evident they had no 

 such intention. I immediately resolved to follow on, and 

 to make the island in the Jilt, if possible. It was a mad 

 resolve, for I had had comparatively smooth sailing to 

 what was in store for me. I was then half a mile distant 

 from, and partially sheltered by a small garrisoned and 

 fortified island, lying nearly in mid-harbor. Between the 

 island and the further shore the waves rolled directlv in 

 from the ocean, and even in the more sheltered portion of 

 the harbor the waters were in violent commotion. Yet I 

 kept on. By luffing once or twice I managed to get in my 

 jib and double-reef the mainsail, and by the time this was 

 accomplished I was clear of the island and beginning to feel 

 the full force of wind and sea. It was perilous sailing. 

 As my little craft sank into the trough of the waves, their 

 crests of foam rose far above my head, while the wind no 

 longer filled my modest bit of canvas. Then, borne upward 

 by the heaving waters, the sail would fill with a shock that 

 threatened to part the sheet or snap the boom in two. Still 

 the Jilt was kept on her course, though staggering and 

 reeling like a very drunken creature indeed. Every mo- 

 ment, as I got nearer micl-channel, the waves seemed to 

 grow larger and the wind to increase in violence. I was 

 not in any fear of death, though I had not so much as an 

 oar on board to float upon, and the Jilt, with a few more 

 buckets of water in her hold, would have sunk like a plum - 

 met. I doubt if I was ever conscious of the fact that for 

 some time I had been in imminent peril. I had a good 

 deal of confidence in my boat, whose weatherly qualities I 

 had before severely tested, and more in my own skill and 

 seamanship. But one thing I soon saw very plainly. That 

 with such a wind and sea I might tack until I was gray 

 (provided the boat floated) and yet never reach my point of 

 destination. But it was almost as dangerous to put back as 

 to go on. With no head-sail, and with such a sea running, 

 it was useless to think of going about. There was nothing 

 to be done but to wear ship. Even that was very risky. 

 In a sea way the Jilt settled down aft, owing to her fine 

 lines, and one good sized wave catching her before she 

 could get underweigh would certainly swamp her. How- 

 ever, I resolved to try it. Watching my opportunity, I put 

 the helm up, and the Jilt wore slowly and sluggishly round. 

 Just as the boom was about to jibe a large wave struck the 

 tiny craft and tossed her skyward on its foaming crest, 

 where for a second or two (minutes they seemed to me) she 

 rode unsteadily, laying at an angle to the force of the wave, 

 as if about to topple over into the trough of the sea. For 

 a moment a dizzy feeling overcame me, and I lost sight of 

 everything. But I soon recovered my lost nerve and my 

 good little craft went wallowing and plunging through the 

 waves, keeping me continually drenched with spray. I 

 made for the island, as affording the nearest shelter; but as 

 I approached it found I should have to haul again on the 

 wind to weather a far reaching point, or bar, now white 

 with row upon row of fierce breakers. I made this discc verv 

 rather late, and found to my dismay, when again close 

 hauled, that I was making but little progress. The angry 

 waves proved too formidable for my little craft to contend 

 against. They seemed at times ^to lift her up bodily and 

 bear her down to leewai d. But my only chance was to 

 hold on. I was not more than a yard or two from the outer 

 reef, and thought myself out of all danger, when a wave 

 swept down on my boat and carried her broadside on into 

 the breakers. Soon there was a shock, and a grating, 

 crunching sound, which told me the days of the Jilt were 

 ended. Without a moment's delay I plunged overboard 

 and made my way, not without difficulty, through the surf 

 to the shore. By this time a number of officers and men 

 of the 999th, who were stationed on the island, had collect- 

 ed on the beach, and among the former was a particular 

 friend of mine, (since dead, poor fellow.) He at once took 

 me to his quarters, when I speedily divested myself of my 

 wet clothing, which was taken away to be dried ; and ar- 

 rayed in a suit of "mufti » from my friend's wardrobe, with 

 a stiff glass of brandy and water at my elbow, flanked by a 

 box of fragrant Havanas, I thought it was not so bad being 

 wrecked after all. Of the dissipation which followed the 

 disaster it is not necessary to speak. There were but three 

 or four at the mess-table, but the fun waxed fast and furi- 

 ous, and it was well into the small hours when I donned 

 my own garments, and was rowed across to the town. 



The Jilt, as I learned a day or two later, was hauled 

 ashore by an enterprising soldier, and might be repaired; 

 but I made no claim for her, abandoning her willingly to 

 the wrecker. I had another jilt to deal with. 



Two or three days after my mishap a ball was given on 

 board the Flagship Terrible, and I stepped upon her deck ' 

 just before the ship-band struck up the opening quadrille. 

 Naturally my first act was to look about me for the fair 

 face and graceful figure of Edith. At last I discovered 

 her, leaning upon the arm of my sailor rival. She averted 

 her head, I thought, as my eyes rested upon her; but I 

 gazed so persistently that I finally received a somewhat 

 cold and distant bow, and a few seconds later I was at her 

 side. Of course she was engaged for the first dance, and it 

 was with evident reluctance that she handed me her ball- 

 card. Perhaps I should have gone away, leaving her 

 wholly to my rival, and devoting myself to some other fair 

 one. But I felt piqued and indignant, especially when I 

 thought of my involuntary bath and the loss of my boat. 

 And she did not ask me why I was absent from the picnic, 

 nor even hint at my mishap, which was known to all the 

 town. 



I was standing upon the poop-deek, looking down upon 

 the dancers, for wdiom the main deck had been - cleared, 

 following with eyes that would droop mournfully in «pit« 



