Show I 1 THE LITTLE UHRO seito A TRUE OP OF THE SEA BOARD from froin Peter petern ignIs magazine I 1 the november evening was waa I 1 clos closing ing in in blustering and cold with every a appearance p of a d stormy storm when three i men stood ax on the beach neaTO apo may mal hatching a pilot boat that lay at anchor jn the offing her dark I 1 and graceful hull hall the slender masts with their jauntily air and indeed her whole general appearance would have forcibly recalled eg to a landsman th the thoro thoroughbred thorough 91 bred s teed e id 1 ls As c she he rose to meet heet i the huge waves t that t came along alon g the small masts swaying backwards slowly describing t a carve against the boaden beaden dolored red sky then he hesitatingly fr for an pitched sud de denly ay forward h headlong madlone ead lone as it if to precipitate th themselves e ins e I 1 i into t the dip deep 8 simultaneously i the enormous billow tame came boiling past the r udder rudder to break a few moments after in thunder on the shore while the craft rose dripping dri like a waterfowl water fowl after a dive her her I 1 hull hall glistening in iii the tivi twilight liot away baek P to her very main chain 1 I 1 she s 64 a beauty laid aia one ane of ahe spectators dang quang it alier theres es P not ot a gal comes b here ire all s summer he 1101 headder added enthusiastically t 7 got the shape of that thae arl ar craft 2 I 1 llis ili companions laughed I 1 aarone and one ol 01 them 61 aard after ahause a pause 11 I 1 ale billy seems to have a hard aard time bailing out ov the baves him so the lad alluded to was in a small cockier shell baat attao haLby a rope to the stern of the sc schooner hooDer at bery pitch of the lat bot ter the skiff swung about now flodin flo floating ein loos loosely now harrying after the large craft I 1 ayi y ra lili 5 A h sR W eakeT I 1 i mat lie hei I 1 le go to larn his era craft t andlee andl he so sooner 0 ne r tt tue ia bet ter fori hes nothing t to depend 11 on but i f U e ither either for his mammy or himself but that he suddenly oried cried as the pilot boat shot ahead of the skiff which mediately Jim taped turned broadside the waves whew if the painter fainter aint brok brokel el e the boy will be drow drowned tied 1 i I 1 to the rope had indeed parted I 1 arted instantly I 1 all three as if b bj y ane one ipa 1 rushed I 1 d into to the water only awaking to the im p i ity ty of reaching tako jd when the spent bi eakers breakers jeamo pame wa ball if 0 their waists i they looked at each other in in dismay I 1 hes gogno got no oa oar n not ot awe even a sail bail if ke he I 1 could defir ut ua we might tell him to get eat her head to the wind u said the principle speaker atsa chance if he thinks of it but in in this wind vio he would not hear bear the angol gabriel bigiel W theford The tord us hos gone I 1 As ho he spoke a mighty i roller came advancing c n g from ro the a 0 offing no 0 ering higher i 1 er and higher iss as t approach approached id the bo boy stift still issee it seemed iner d to ta the spectators as ag if t the 0 moun mountain taid of wa waters would never cease accumulating when it rached the ahe little skiff it fc hung suspended aus for a moment and then rushed downa downward i like A a troop of wolves on its I 1 I 1 p prey r cy I 1 iut while the lookers on holding bolding their I 1 breaths in horror tle the lad with quick aag sagacity a had wrenched a bit of board from the lining of the skiff and hurriedly snatched up his coat and fastened the garment to it ft with this jury iury mast ho he bad managed at the last moment to bring the skiffs head to I 1 the wind so th ehst t at it the very instant the spectators expected to see his bis boat hurld build upwards towards them they beheld it 11 mou a the gallantly storm h e wave as a bird mounts alie c i speaker well done and I 1 carried bily anu way I 1 the ex excitement cic ci r C ernnt I 1 he give voice voice tt to hearty cheer in in which the others ined i 0 the jus jia 18 a bo dorn ru ballor 1 said one of the others when the first burst of boy nad had pas ped fed it would be a mortal shame to let such euch a brave little fellow die even if his poor old mother look to him for her living we mast launch a surfboat surf boat board the craft and be after him ile he cant live jongen long in that rig I 1 the plan of the speaker had suggested itself simultaneously to the others but some was wis necessarily employed d in get tinga abbat into the waterland wat erand during the interval the skiff had pearly nearly disappeared in the birin ass and distarce distance the la lad es etting his liftee crait craft before the wind as his atily cnance or permanent par manent safety hes done his best but its taking taking him right on to the shoals and in half an hour hear nothing can save him said the man who steered as he stood up and looked for the lad pull away with a will bo boys ys or we wi will 1 I be too late all ua ila hes waving his 0 ij li live ve ue he sees us QS and says ho he is hearty yet hes a trump and no mistake pull away here we are look dalike ja like p in a moment more the little crew cre were on the deck and as soon as possible the anchor was hove the sail set and the schooner put ut before the wind wina te the anxiety of all had become become insupportable by y this time for the delay had been considerable notwithstanding every effort at haste and in the interval the skiff had vanished whether she had only ais disappeared appeared in the fluom of the seaboard or whether she had been capsized capiz iz edno no one could tell for all had been too much occupied coupled to notice the tha exact moment ent I 1 when hen she Ahe passed fr f rom I 1 0 m sight but the fears or exceeded the hopes it was tare therefore for with a tio iro relief chii thata the theoria theor crew iw fajt hat the pilot boat to be in in motion and dad as the waters whizzed past their sp spirits brits rae the ver very y sch schooner seemed to sharel share in i m the general anxiety no greyhound loosed from the leash could have sprung forward more eagerly or swiftly the night had now agut shut in the winds sigh sighed edmo mournfully urn fully up up 1 in the sky a wild sound wont fl flu eftink utting overhead now hiding now revealing reveal mg a few faint stars and the sea was as ik where tia white caps flashed up for an dinst instant abit ominous of a corn com ing tempest I 1 for along a long time the rush of the hull AS s it glided through the waters awis w is the only sound JH very eye meantime scanning the narrow but tumultuous prospects in the vain hope of discerning somewhere the skiff and its occupant As the schooner I 1 left the shore out of sight h her er this scrutiny became sharp but alas to no I 1 I 1 I 1 purpose I 1 i 1 s dont you see anything yeta cried the master at last hailing th the e principal lookout at the helm surely hea bes in ija sight somewhere theres no sign of him sir air were close on the shoals now and must toon soon go about can we have passed him bim cant say dont think I 1 we have laconically replied t the he I 1 man it is dark enough but I 1 have looked sharp sir 1 at this moment a dull roar was heard close ahead and a long liwo line of 0 nam foam iid suddenly whitened the gloom in that direction proclaiming that the schooner was perilously near the shoal 1 1 ready about lab shouted the master and in man sprang to 0 o his bis station haul in let go belay round so cheer beer idyll and as he finished his light craft craft danced away aay to the other track faey fe leaving a vi ilij the breakers at a safe distance astern look lively now einmo we wa dont donit leave eave him cried the master as the shoal r rapidly ROM I 1 1 y faded in the darkness behind boht n d you ton dont do 1 t see ee his skiff bottom upwards any of you J 7 I 1 I 1 the pilot boat was no longer gladi gliding ing noiselessly like a greyhound grey hound eo courting cou but leaning over te ta the die wind she struggled against the head bead sia sea like a warhorse war horse charging up hill when the bow struck the opposing posing waves the spray often flew crackling to the very cross trees apparently while sim simultaneously a quiver rap ran throng the hull from stem to stern and the masts creaked audibly far out to tb leeward lee ward bellied the larboard lar board shroud while those to windward were so til tight o bt that a landsman wo would ala have ea expected acted to I 1 see them snap nothing yet these thas were the words with which the helmsman broke ano another ther 1 long silence I 1 nothing 60 sir I 1 I 1 he cant certainly be inside us jis weye either misa missed e d him or else he ha went to the bottom before we reached the shoal but hark that As he spoke what seemed a faint cry came out of the gloom ahead was it a 9 childs voice or was it only a modulation adulation of the gah ga le W I 1 they liste listened ived not daring to IQ breathe nothing reached their ears eara but the sound of the wind in their rigging digging and the dash of the water thumping the bow and with a long drawn sigh fhe master was a preparing pa ing to break the silence and propose tat taking g towards the shoal it again gain but t suddenly close at I 1 hand hiba there rose a cheering voice out of the davk darkness netis s I 1 hill hilb there hillo dont run a feller down ts the master electrically its Is the boy binis himself lf I 1 it is where aher are you my hearty L I 1 J vi P ie rag a plear cje r over ai all i the d 1 uproar h r of the h e wi winds nd and waves like 4 p trumpet I 1 call i of succor in the crisis of battle I 1 I 1 here 1 I vm am I 1 stoutly itly re replied p lathe the little hero his skiff dime dancing irIg up suddenly ont oat of the gloom I 1 1 clu luff cluff ff a little or be over mb me I 1 all rushed rashed to the side sid 0 jao sob schooner boner I 1 except capt the ll 11 iwho called up all his skill to s I 1 1 I the T as lie after fter abw said without bl hitting it I 1 4 1 an interval or thrilling fin g su suspense succeeded the tha pilot boat deviated ted a little from her direct course aj 1 up towar towards qs the wind like a ady toa da dince d ince I 1 c and then than fall falling off again dashed forward on her br old course like the same sam gay kay beauty coquetting a partner but during that second the intrepid loaf watching hi his s 6 had the ba bob 6 stays aija and clam clambered bere dripping on deck 1 pst just as the he I 1 s schooner boner fo I 1 I 1 I 1 0 off ile he was surrounded at quee once and borne shouting in aft where the xi master laster handing the helm to another caught hi him in in in his arms as if he had been his osyp child be as great a man as decatur if you live my lid lad he cried decatur was in his masters opinion the gre greatest maest person that ever lived but now come below he cou continued 1 figued you are as wet as as a muskrat musk rat dang it you think I 1 soared scared then sir 3 said th the boy proudly his eyes brightening and his bis lift I 1 tt e figure expanding perceptibly tell mother sozont so wont inu you sirl that I 1 will said saia the master slapping him on the shoulder you did exactly what wis s s ri right I and nd kept your spirits bravely if you h 1 t my ky boy bod been food for the sharks maybe by this time I 1 should have been myself billy if I 1 had JF j ja I 1 par YI Y place I looked a up by the dim light 0 of f ig the ailin A lamp U ob I 1 know you but I 1 was glad I 1 tell tel lyou you he added quickly his eleb glistening lahe hen I 1 saw the schooner come riding the seas towards me and I 1 thought id see mother again at this recollection his fortitude gave way and he burst into a flood of te ars but they I 1 were tears sacred to a mothers moth erli memory and the did him honor I 1 I 1 this is no fancy sketch the newspapers per of last november recorded the self possession and courage of the little hero of our story exactly as we have told it only i in n more I 1 ge general beims do we te err in in saying with some journals journ alg thia that the world will yet hear more of this brave boy |