2 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



[July 29, 1886. 



Addrms aU cotmmnicatims to tlif Foreist and Stream Puh. Co. 



AMONG THE KEYS. 



IT was a model ti-opical evening, that on wliich tlie 

 sharpie left her anchorage and glided smoothly np 

 the coast for the wharf at YelloAv Bluff, For the skipper 

 had planned to s]3end the niglit there with his friend, Jim 

 C. , leaving the f or'ard liands io cool his heels on boai'd 

 nnder a,n awiiing, formed hj stretching the dandy lug 

 over the after house. Had he lifted tlie anchor an hour 

 sooner the plan would have worked all right. As it was, 

 it proved a failure. At fb'sl. (he vessel slipped over the 

 glassy surface like grease, with just enough breezetohold 

 the sails steadily , but the tide turned and the breeze went 

 down with the sun. until tlu^ vessel, though still pointing 

 her course, made no headway whatever. Then the ski]D- 

 per sadly lowered jib and mainsail, made them snug for 

 the iiigiit. and lastly took r; kinging, lingering, wistful 

 look at the '30ft. setting ];)(-)le tliat lay lightly and inno- 

 cently along the port rail. But darkness was settling 

 down on the face o\: the Avaters, it was t wo long miles to 

 Yellow Bluif , the tide was running d<_iwn strongly, and 

 the sharpie is o3it. ox er all with Sjft. beam. Also the 

 day had been liot as a blister, let alone that every one 

 would be abed, antl his friend lived a mile out of lown. 

 Pie gave it up and nnsliipiiei- tlie dandy, rigged it as an 

 awning over the house, and subsided in silence and a 

 cloud of tobacco smoke, to tlie regret of the foi''ard hands, 

 who liked to sec tl\c skij.iiwu- work the settmg pole or 

 "hump Mmself" with liis slioulder under the bowsinlt, 

 when the sharpie came up all standing with her nose in 

 the mud. For it was in t'le shipping articles that the 

 strongest muscle should work the setting pole — the long- 

 est legs do the wading, and the for'ard hands was not the 

 man to go back on a solemn compact. Whence it hap- 

 ]ieTicd that he derived a deal of innocent pleasure dodging 

 under the sliadoAv of the mainsail and watching the skip- 

 per as he performed Iris part of the contract honestly, if 

 not cheerfully. 



What a quiet and peaceful night that was on board the 

 sharpie. Anchored a mile from the mainland and three 

 miles from the nearest key, she was beyond the reach of 

 mosquitoes, the air was cool and had the scent of the 

 ocean in it withal; the night was a dark, starlight affair, 

 the sort of night when you seem to see an unusual num- 

 ber of stars and lie on tl ie deck lazily trying to count them 

 under the im]iression that you are coaxing a nap, which 

 as a rule is a traditional liuudaug. Again, and for the 

 thousandth time ]:)erhaps. The voices of the night rose 

 on the still .air and came over the water, mellowed by 

 distance to a jangle of sweet sounds, to which the crew 

 listened with di'owsj^ satisfaction, albeit the voices were 

 strange to northern ears. But there was one clear, musi- 

 cal note that rose like a campaMero from time to time over 

 the soft confu-sion of sounds, and it seemed to Mm the note 

 had a familiar sound. ' 'I wonder does the bell-bird inhabit 

 these forests?" he asked, but the sMpper was in the land 

 of dreams, and presently, as the sounds came nearer and 

 mose distinct he had no need to ask. For he had recog- 

 nized in the clear ctangmg notes the ignis fatiiu.'i which, 

 when a barefoot boy, had drawn him, sorely against his 

 -vvdll, "through swamp and bog and cold morass" to round 

 up the f amily cow. 



With a sligh sense of disillusion a,nd disgust he filled his 

 pipe, spi-ead a blanket on deck and lay down to smoke 

 and cormt stars, only to waken after what seemed a short 

 catnap, and find tire unsmoked pipe ]-esting on his shirt 

 front and a rosy glow in the east. Morning had come and 

 night had been "fore-shortened beneath the cliin," even 

 as the previous one had been unconscionably drawn out. 

 N. B. — When in outing you can lie down on a hard deck 

 at fom- bells in the first watch, forget all your cares in 

 about two minutes and open your eyes after a fifteen 

 minutes nap to find it broad daylight, mai'k that nights' 

 rest with a white star. You have been doubling on the 

 pale horse. 



Ya wiling, stretching and twisting to get his muscles 

 in working order, the for'ard hands got on to an even keel, 

 folded his blanket, resolved himself into the character of 

 cook and tackled the sand-box. The sun was sliining 

 broadly over orange groves, live oaks and pines when he 

 wakened and worrnd'up the skipper for the day with a 

 cup of hot, black coffee; and the latter after a dazed, 

 sleepy look to windward, to leewai'd and aloft, seemed to 

 get his bearings; and, in less time than it takes to tell it, 

 had the sails hoisted, the anchor up, and the sharpie glid- 

 ing over the glassy bay like a waith. In little more than 

 half an hour she turned gracefully to look at her anchor 

 within a furlong of the wharf at Y^ellow Bluff. Then the 

 canoes were hauled alongside and the entne shijj's com- 

 pany went a.shore to see what might be seen and learn 

 what might be learned in the drowsy little coast town. 



Here ! the skipper, who was acquainted with the Bluff 

 people, introduced the cook to Mr. Futrell, the one mer- 

 chant of the place, and then went off to seek his friend, Jim 

 C. Mr. F. proved to be a desirable and useful acquain- 

 ance. He had only been a resident of the place for four 

 or five years, but had succeeded in making a delightful 

 home, and liad an orange grove of some 600 trees, 350 of 

 which were large, bearing trees, the balance being from 

 fom- to six years from the setting, and many of them begin- 

 niirg to f itiit. Until within a few years a man with ready 

 money could easily find in Florida an old run-down estate 

 with from 100 to 300 bearing orange trees, which could be 

 bought cheap for cash of the impecunious and debt- 

 oppressed owner: and Mr. F. had been fortunate to buy 

 a decayed farm and grove for $800, which is now worth 

 as many thousands. But this jjicludes a large outlay for 

 fencing, cultivation and fertilizers. Tlie fact that the 

 cook had been an enthusiastic fruit culturist and was 

 something of an expert on gi-apes and strawberries, made 

 the visit with Mr. F. an interesting one, and it was long 

 after noon when the former crept into the Rushton and 

 paddled ofi' to the sharpie. 



It was later still when the sldpper came do^vn to the 

 beach, gingerly holding at a safe distance from his legs a 

 prize which he had ca^.Vaired. The prize was a soft- 

 shelled turtle, which is very common on the coast; and 

 for speed, wickedness and biting qualities he makes the 

 most vicious snapper seem mild. He has two strong, 

 sharp chisels at the end of his upper jaw, wliich shut 

 down over the lower, and he can nip slivers of hai-d wood 

 from ash oars or ]x>at gunwales as though they were 



cheese rind. His shell flares out handsomely from his 

 midship aft, and is soft and pliable like harness leather: 

 when cooked the creature is edible, and he has an excel- 

 lent reputation for soup. And this was why the skipper 

 had captm-ed liim, and, culTting a hole m l^ie soft sliell, 

 strung him on an old cotton handkerchief and toted him 

 more them a. mile at arm's length. He was lively and 

 handsonie — if a turtle can be handsome, and, like Mrs. 

 Gummidge's lobsters, was actuated by an intense desire 

 to "pinch the world in general." When anchored in the 

 stem of the canoe for a tri]) to the sharpie, he broke the 

 peace by nipping splinters from the light elm ribs, and it 

 was found necessary to nip2:)er him to the water breaker, 

 tail up, and give him the nobbley stick to bite. When 

 passed on board he made vindictive snaps at the skipper's 

 long legs; took a piece out of the sharpie's rail, and, as 

 the cook trailed bun ignominiously aft, tail foremost, he 

 relieved his feelings by nipping chunks out of the setting 

 pole. The disgusted cook tumbled him down the com- 

 panionway and remarked to the skipper that the impend- 

 ing supper would hinge on the safe stowage of that soft- 

 shelled, sprawling, biting demon. 



The skipper dived below and for ten minutes there was 

 a sound of scuffling, the rattle of loose ballast, and some 

 energetic remarks. Then he came on deck and announced 

 "AU snug for'ard. I've walled him in safely. You go 

 ahead with the supper and I'll run the sharpie out a 

 couple of miles to a good anchorage." So the trusting- 

 cook went below, started a fire in the sand-box and was 

 intent on shciiig bacon, when a hideous clatter among the 

 tinware brought him to liis feet just in time to clear his 

 counter from a snap like a bear trap. The demon had 

 brolceu jail, and only for fouling the tail of the frying-pan 

 with the bight of his handkerchief it would have gone 

 hard witli the balloon part of the cook's ti'ousers. The 

 cook reported at once. 



"Cap'n, I don't want to mutiny nor destroy the ship's 

 stores; but if you don't take care of that turtle I'll pitch 

 liim ovei-board." The skipper grinned diabolically. He 

 seemed to think it funny; the cook didn't. Nevertheless 

 he resigned the helm to the latter, went below, and there 

 was a sound of revelry as the sprawling, biting rascal was 

 dragged forward to the eyes and nij)pered to a hand-,spike 

 with a bit of seizing stuff. He came aft no more, but 

 days afterward put in a very creditable appearance in the 

 character of soup— the only'^creditable thing he ever did. 



There was a wholesaU breeze, and the big mamsail of 

 the sharpie heeled her over, rail imder, as she stood off 

 from the land on the starboard tack, with a taut bowHne; 

 but only for a sliort half horn-, when she came to anchor 

 some three miles from the nearest key and half as far 

 from the mainland. 



Even the skipper, a man not much given to flattery, 

 admitted the supper to be a success. It was not an elab- 

 orate affair, nor was there much variety. But the bacon 

 was sweet and crisp, the sliced hominy browned to a turn, 

 while the frying-pan full of fat, juicy beach birds was 

 something to remember, and the tea was the sort that 

 takes you by the throat and moistens the roots of the 

 hair. 



The sun went behind the gnarled oaks of Hog Island a s the 

 cook finished clearing up the supper dishes, and tlic skip- 

 per stretched the dandy over the mam boom for an aim- 

 ing. And again the old monotone of cruising inside the 

 keys; monotonous, but not unpleasant. The calm, quiet 

 bay; the murmurous music of night voices from mainland 

 and key; the deep blue of tlie midnight sky and the pro- 

 fusion of stars on moonless night, or the bright, placid 

 nights when there is moonUght; the intense heat of mid- 

 day, broken and cooled by occasional showers; the rush 

 and splash of countless fish at low tide, as they seek their 

 prey or flee from their enemies; the calm, warm sunrises 

 and sunsets— all these become regularly recurring events, 

 and gTOw a trifle monotonous, but not wearisome. 



The trial cruise of the sharpie covered the week and 

 demonstrated several points that, to the lubberly cook, 

 seemed worthy of consideration, in the first place the 

 vessel was in no wise fitted for a cruise. She was Asdthout 

 ceiling, seats, or lockers below, and her deck leaked like 

 a seine. Her large mainsail had no reef in it, nor any 

 lazy jacks, and when a sudden flaw caught her audit was 

 necessary to let go peak and throat halUartLs to keep her 

 from turtling, why the sail was sure to blow overboard; 

 and as it took a full minute for the cook to get in line as 

 "for'ard hands,' why the new white sail got wet and the 

 skijaper would snarl. 



July is notably the month of thunder showers on the 

 Gulf coast. I think there was not an hour dm-ing the 

 week in which the muttering of thunder might not be 

 heard, and there Avas nearly always one or more local 

 showers in ]3lain. well-defined view. Usually these looked 

 dangerous, but in nine cases out of ten were rather tamo 

 affairs, and they were very limited in extent. They 

 would make up in the most unlooked for places at a few 

 minutes notice, and come sweeping and swirling down on 

 the sharpie, black, thunderous and threatening, in a man- 

 ner to startle a landsman; but it was only to scare. There 

 would be a puff' of wind for a couple of minutes, a smart 

 dash of rain, incessant thunder and hghtning for perhaps 

 five minutes, and the squall would sweep by and off to 

 the northward, the muttering thunder growing more and 

 more distant, while very hkely a fresh sliowcr would be 

 rapidly coming down from the wind ward. And yet the 

 vessel Avas nine-tent lis of the time ki. bright, pleasant 

 weather; and in spite of the frequent showers there was 

 much complaint on the coast of drouth. 



These frequent squalls are not always so harmless. 

 Nine of them may be of a mild, rather pleasant type, 

 "but," as Byron says of his countrywomen— 



"TJie tenth one may he a tornado; 

 For there's no telMng wliat they -.vill or may do." 



The tenth one struck the shai-pie on the afternoon of the 

 last day of the cruise, and when she was witliin a mile of 

 the river's mouth on licr Avay home. The run up the 

 coast had been made in tine weather with a five-knot 

 breeze, and the skipper thought to reach moorings at the 

 Anclote bridge before dark, when the for'ard hands 

 noticed a dark, swhling mass of blue and dark green cloud 

 dead ahead and sweeping down rapidly on the Uttle vessel. 

 There seemed to be plenty of wind with it, and it was all 

 the while lightened and streaked by incessant flashes of 

 lightning, while the thunder was a constant quantity. 



The for'ard hands got uneasy. "Cap," he remarked, 

 "there's a hard locjking squall coming down on us.' 



"Let 'em come," said the skipper serenely. 



A minute more and the dark, s\virling mass was witlun 



a huiidi-ed rods of the vessel. The for'ai'd hands said 

 agam, "Cap'n, that fellow is bound to get here." 



"All right, we got here fii-st," said the captain, who 

 enjoyed seemg the crew a little scared; but the fim was 

 aU knocked out of him the next minute, as the squall 

 stiTick like a runaway locomotive, knocking the shai-pie 

 down to her coamings and giving aU hands enough to do 

 to hold on by the eyehds. Tins distm-bed the skipper's 

 equanimity to a marked extent. He dropped the helm 

 scrambled frantically forward, let go jib and maui hal- 

 liards, and the sails came down by'the run. Meantime 

 the for'ard hands, who never loses' his presence of mind 

 dumped himself down at the foot of the mainmast, took 

 a death gi-ip on the boom, and hung on in the most 

 resolute manner. 



"There goes mainsail overboard. Catch 'em by the 

 leach, you — no-sailor -man," yelled the sldpper. 



"Catch your gi-anny by the leach, I flunk I see myself," 

 muttered the for'ard hands, as he tightened his grip on 

 the boom. 



But the squall passed as quickly as it came, and went 

 off to the southward, reeling, whirling, flashmg and 

 thundering itself out of sight, while the sharpie righted 

 herself and nodded gracefully to the light breeze^ that 

 followed the firief storm. 



She \\ as g(jt back jnto the main cliannel and headed for 

 the wharf at Ajiclote, the for'ard hands at the helm, 

 while the skii)])er ga^ c the care and trimmed the sails to ' 

 meet the constantly changing course. 



It is only two miles from the outer pier head to tlie 

 wliai'l'; and to know every turn of the tortuous comse a 

 man. must bt? very familiar with the river and bay; also, he 

 must know at a glance the significance of red sign boards, 

 black crosses, and trii:)ods with ii leaning ban-el on top. 

 A red board marks a shallou' jioint on the starboard baJik 

 of the channel; a black cross ditto on the port bank. The 

 barrel should lean t(nvard the main channel, but it some- 

 times leans aU wTOiig. A white tripod is a mark only 

 understood by the men of the coast smwey, who placed 

 these signals for pm-poses of their own. Single stakes 

 mark oyster-bars, channels used by the fishermen, or any- 

 thing else that the natives choose. On the whole, it may 

 be said that the wilderness of signs and signals tliat dot 

 the flats from Cedar Keys to Sarasota are a muddle that 

 no fellow can understand; a-nd old coasters are continually 

 getting aground tln-ough taking the wi-(ing side of a 

 tripod. Whei-efore the for'ard hands took credit to him- 

 self as he steered the sharpie alongside the wharf, haviiig 

 only knocked down one black cross and run over one red 

 signal, that stood in the way. 



As the wind had fallen off and the tide was running- 

 out strong, the vessel was moored to the wharf to wait 

 for the flood, and the for'ard hands donned the cook's 

 apron once more, made a pot of ninety-six ^ler cent, green 

 tea and got a final supper in the scorc hed and blacliened 

 sandbox. After supper the skipper suggested that the 

 cook get into the Rushton, paddle up to the Springs for 

 mail and then go on to camp. "I'll work the sharpie up 

 when the tide turns," he said. 



"It's going to be dark as Erebus," hinted the cook. 

 "Never you mind,'' said the skipjjer, "I can work her 

 up to her berth the darkest night you ever saw. Pll get 

 there." 



The obedient cook got into the iitllo canoe, went for the 

 mail, got it and bei-thed the Rushton below the Anclote 

 bridge just as it was getting dusk. Everything at the 

 ranch was just as it had been left one week before, notli- 

 ing taken nor molested, although Kendall's wi;^ll is a noted 

 stopping place for the thirsty, irrespective of race or pre- 

 vious condition. The cook put the ranch in order and 

 late in the evening made a fire in the stove, which he 

 kept up for two mortal hours with the mercury at 88, 

 that the skipper, who hkes a httle posseting and coddling 

 on the heel of a hard pull, might have his favorite "in- 

 fusion" of sti-ong tea. 



But 10 o'clock came, then 11 and no amval. At half 

 past 11 the cook let the fire die out and turned in. 



About midnight there came a loud liail from the land- 

 mg, and the cook hastily liglited a lantern, answered the 

 hail, and went dovm to the fan.ling. barefooted, for the 

 skipper is a man. wlio doesn't like to wait for any one to 

 fool with shoes while he is holdmg aBo-ft. sharpie against 

 the tide with a setting-pole, and his \\i)])ev works in a 

 psychological snarl. The vessel was quickly m'jored, and 

 the crew Avearily plodded up to the ranch, each with a 

 heavv load of duffle. The skipper dumped his load on 

 the porch, poked his head into the kitchen, and exclaimed 

 in pretended astonishment: "No tea? Well, I did hope I 

 might have a cup of hot tea, after such a trip." 



"I'll make some in fifteen minutes," said the cook, 

 good-naturedly. 



"Oh, no, no; you needn't mind now." And he got out 

 the molasses, made a pot of "switchell," munched a 

 handfnl of dry crackers, and rolled into his bunk. The 

 cook also turned in. quoting softly to himself, 

 * * * "and that tongue of his * * * 

 Alas! it cried, 'give me some drink, Titinliis,' 

 As a sick girl." 



The trial ci-uise of the sharpie was done. To the muid 

 of the cook it was demonstrated that the Uttle sliip was 

 about the con-ect thing in huU and rig for cruising on the 

 Gulf coast. Ti-ue, she was in a crude, unfinished state, 

 and her mainsail set badly, ha\dng about eight inches of 

 loose leach at the best. i3ut she worked under her jib 

 and dandy lug like a top; or under mainsail alone she 

 was handy as a catboat. And although she was a trifle 

 tender with all her canvas spread, she was spredy and 

 fairly stiff imder reduced sail. Her mainsad wmld be 

 rigged to work something like a storm trysad by a deep 

 reef and a button from thi-oat to leach, by which the peak 

 could be dropped in a blow, giving her some steadying 

 canvas amidships and also something under which to run 

 in a ''ale or heave-to bv. She was ooft. over all, 26tt. on 

 watG?-line and S^ft. beam, drawing, with crew and stores 

 on board, 16 in. ^ Ha^'ing a clean run below from stem to 

 stern, with an ample after-house, she was roomy and 

 comfortable for a partv of say four persons and their duf- 

 fle. One week s work by a capable man would have fitted 

 her for a winter cruise;' but it was not to be. Tlie long, 

 hot days went bv, tlie davs lengtliened to weeks, and still 

 she lay at her moorings', just as she came off her trial 



Later in the season she changed hands, and her new 

 owners took her down to the Springs and moored her in 

 a bayou, where she stfll swung to her lines on the aotii ot 

 the following April, never having been out of the iTver 

 since the previous July. JRequ iescat in pace. IN essmttK- 



