the water and rising slowly to the yard-arm, while he made a tremendous
commotion with his tail in the water, and a sailor was just reaching out
with an axe. The sailor struck twice with the axe, but little Jacob
didn't see where. Then the shark dropped back into the ocean with a
great splash and out of sight.
"Well!" said the mate. "He's a good one! Took a good shark hook with him
and pretty near a fathom of new chain!"
And when little Jacob had got his breath back again, he ran down into
the cabin to write all about the shark in the log-book.
And that's all.
THE CHRISTMAS STORY
Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and
beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great
ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep
hill to that wharf and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go
down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.
And because ships had come there for a great many years and all the
sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the
ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the
sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.
The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's and they owned the
ships that sailed from it; and, after their ships had been sailing from
that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their
office to Boston. After that, their ships sailed from a wharf in Boston.
Once, in the long ago, the brig _Industry_ had sailed from Boston for
far countries, and she had been gone about three months. She was going
to Java, first, to get coffee and sugar and other things that they have
in Java; and then she was going to Manila and then back to India and
home again. It was almost Christmas time. Little Jacob and little Sol
were on board the _Industry_ on that voyage, and it seemed very strange
to them that it should be hot at Christmas time. But they were just
about at the equator, or a little bit south of it, and it is always hot
there; and besides, it is summer at Christmas time south of the equator.
So little Jacob and Sol had on their lightest and coolest clothes, and
they had straw hats on; but they didn't run about and play much, it was
so hot.
The two little boys were lying stretched out in the shadow of a great
sail, and they had their hands behind their heads, and they looked up at
the tall masts and the yards and the great white sails and once in a
while they saw a little hilly cloud, and they didn't say anything for a
long time. Finally little Jacob spoke to little Sol.
"What are you thinking about, Sol?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing, much," answered little Sol. "I was thinking it would be
fun to be sitting up on the very tip top of the mainmast and letting my
feet hang down and swinging back and forth with the mast. Maybe I could
see Java."
Little Jacob shivered to think of sitting on top of the mast. "My, Sol!"
he said. "You'd fall. There's nothing to hold on to."
"Oh, I'm not going to try it, Jake," said little Sol. "Father'd give it
to me, if I did. You know the time I fell overboard?"
Little Jacob nodded. "Well, then," said little Sol. "I guess a boy'd be
foolish to try that twice."
Little Jacob nodded again. "Did he thrash you, Sol?" he asked.
Little Sol smiled. "_Didn't_ he, though?" he said. "Ever get a
thrashing, Jake?"
Little Jacob hesitated. "Well," he said, slowly, "sometimes--with a
slipper."
"Huh!" said little Sol, with much scorn. "That's nothing. My father
don't use any slipper."
Little Jacob thought it was time to change the subject. "What makes you
think that you could see Java from up there?"
"I don't s'pose I could, really," answered little Sol. "But father said
that we ought to sight it within two days."
"To-morrow is Christmas," remarked little Jacob, thoughtfully. "I'd
rather like to be at home, on Christmas."
"Well, you can't," said little Sol. "You're thousands of miles from
home. I wonder what they'll have for dinner."
"We generally have lots of things for Christmas dinner," said little
Jacob, in a stifled little voice, "goose and apple sauce, and potatoes
and squash and----"
"I don't mean at home, Jake," said little Sol, gently. "I mean here. We
always have good things at home, too. But we haven't any goose or
anything else except salt junk and plum duff. I s'pose it'll be that."
But little Jacob didn't say anything because he couldn't speak. He
tilted his hat over his eyes and thought how nice it was at home at
Christmas time, and how sorry Lois, his mother, would be that he wasn't
there, and how sorry his little sister Lois would be. He didn't know
about his father, Captain Jacob, but he thought that perhaps he would be
sorry, too; and he knew that his grandfather, Captain Jonathan, would be
sorry. He was very fond of his grandfather because Captain Jonathan was
always nice and kind and gentle and he seemed to understand little boys.
And, at last, little Jacob jammed his hat on straight and got up and ran
down into the cabin to write his mother a letter. Captain Solomon would
leave the letter in Java for some ship to take home. When he had written
the letter he felt better.
When the two little boys came out on deck the next morning, they went
forward among the sailors; and they wished each man a Merry Christmas
and they gave each one some little thing that they had found. The
things were some things that Captain Solomon had brought to give away,
although he did not expect, when he brought them, to give them to the
sailors. And the men seemed very much pleased, and they wished little
Jacob and little Sol a Merry Christmas, too, and some of the men had
presents for the boys. These presents were usually something that the
men had whittled out of ivory or bone or ebony. And little Jacob and
little Sol hadn't expected that the men would give them any presents,
and they were delighted; and, by the time they had got through giving
the men presents their jacket pockets bulged out with all the things the
men had given them.
But one thing little Jacob didn't put in his pocket, for fear that he
would break it. That was a little model of the brig _Industry_, about
three inches long. The hull of the model was cut out of ebony, and the
masts and spars were little ebony sticks stuck in, and the sails were of
ivory, scraped thin, and the ropes were silk thread. And the sails were
bulging, as if the wind was filling them and making them stand out from
the yards. Altogether, it was a most beautiful model, and little Jacob
was so surprised and pleased that, for some time, he couldn't say
anything to the sailor who had given it to him.
"Is this for me?" he said, at last. "For _me_?"
[Illustration: "'YES, LITTLE LAD,' HE SAID. 'FOR YOU--IF YOU WANT IT.'"]
That sailor was an old man. The little crinkles came around his eyes as
he smiled down at little Jacob.
"Yes, little lad," he said. "For you--if you want it. And with a Merry
Christmas!"
"Oh," cried little Jacob, "if I want it! I think it is
the--most--beautiful--thing I ever saw. I can't thank you enough."
You should have seen the old sailor's face when little Jacob said that.
The crinkles were so deep that you could hardly have seen his eyes.
"To see your face now is thanks enough for me," he said.
"But--but," said little Jacob, "Sol hasn't got anything half so pretty
as this."
"Never you mind about Sol," said the old man, in a whisper that Sol
could hear perfectly well. "He'll be havin' a ship of his own, one o'
these days soon. What does he care about models?"
And he looked at Sol and winked. And Sol straightened his shoulders and
stopped looking disappointed. "That's what I will," said Sol.
And the boys stayed with the old sailor for a long time, and the sailor
pointed to something that was blue and dim on the water, far away.
"See that land?" he said. "That's Christmas Island on Christmas
mornin'."
[Illustration: CHRISTMAS ISLAND 1st VIEW, BEARING N BY E]
And the boys asked if they would go near the island, and he said that
they would go pretty near. And little Jacob said that he would get some
paper and draw the island when they came near it, and he would put it
in the log book. And so he did, and he made it look like the pictures
here. When little Jacob had it all written in the log-book about the
presents and about his little model of the _Industry_ and about
Christmas Island, it was time for dinner.
[Illustration: CHRISTMAS ISLAND, 2nd VIEW, BEARING SW]
When the little boys went in to dinner, they were both very much
surprised; for there, on the table, was a real goose, beautifully
browned over and smoking hot, and there was apple sauce to eat with it.
And there was squash and potato and cabbage and ham and almost as many
different things as little Jacob would have had if he had been at home.
And behind the goose stood Captain Solomon sharpening the carving knife,
and he was smiling.
Little Jacob didn't ask how he managed to have fresh goose, but he
evidently wanted to; so Captain Solomon told him that the cook had kept
it alive in the long boat all that long time, so as to be sure to have
goose for their Christmas dinner. The long boat was kept high up above
the men's heads, on a sort of framework, so that little Jacob had never
seen the goose; but the cook had had a great deal of trouble to keep the
boys from hearing it, and he had had to make it a secret with the
sailors and sometimes he had the sailors take it down into the
forecastle while little Jacob and little Sol were playing about. The
forecastle is the place where the sailors sleep, and the little boys
never went there. But little Sol rather suspected that there was
something that the cook was hiding from them, although he had never
found out what it was.
And, when they were through eating their goose, they had squash pie and
apple pie, two kinds, and potato pie; but they weren't quite like the
pies they would have had at home because the cook didn't have any butter
to make the crust with, and his lard wasn't very good because they had
been in the hot oceans for so long. And they had some very nice steamed
pudding with raisins in it, and there were lots of raisins.
When they were through eating their pudding and all the kinds of pies,
little Jacob was filled up about to his chin, and there was just room
enough left for an apple and some nuts and raisins. And they had the
apples and the nuts and raisins; all the kinds of nuts that they had at
home and another kind of nut that little Jacob had never seen before. He
didn't know whether to call it a nut or a raisin. It had a thin shell
and it was nearly as big as an English walnut, but inside the shell was
a raisin; and the raisin had a single stone inside it, a little bigger
than a cherry stone. Little Jacob and little Sol thought that these
raisinuts tasted very good indeed, and they didn't care whether they
were raisins or nuts. Little Sol invented the name, raisinuts.
[Illustration]
At last they were through dinner, and the little boys got up, very
slowly, for they were filled as full as they could hold. And they
walked slowly to the cabin steps and up the steps and out on deck. It
was rather squally and, just as little Jacob went out of the cabin door,
a great gust of wind came and took his straw hat and carried it sailing
away over the ocean. You can't stop a ship to get a straw hat, and
little Jacob watched it go sailing away on the gust of wind and settle
into the ocean; but he was sorry, for it was the only straw hat he had,
and it was too hot to wear his white beaver hat. But he thought that he
wouldn't wear any hat until they got to Java and then he would get
another straw.
When little Jacob had watched his hat out of sight, he went into the
cabin again to write some more on his letter to his mother.
And that's all.
THE SOUNDING STORY
Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and
beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great
ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep
hill to that wharf and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go
down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.
And because ships had come there for a great many years and all the
sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the
ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the
sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.
The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's and they owned the
ships that sailed from it; and, after their ships had been sailing from
that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their
office to Boston. After that, their ships sailed from a wharf in Boston.
Once, in the long ago, the brig _Industry_ had sailed from Boston for
far countries and little Jacob and little Sol had gone in her. And she
had got to Java and anchored near the place where they got water and
they had sent some sailors ashore in boats to fill the water casks. And
they had got the water and come back; and the boats and the water casks
had been hoisted on board, and they had hoisted the anchor and sailed
away, through the straits, for Anger. You might not be able to find that
place on a map of Java, but that is what Captain Solomon says in his
log-book, so it must be right.
They got to Anger the next morning, and Captain Solomon went ashore in
his boat, with sailors to row it; for he wanted to send some letters and
he wanted to find out what he would have to pay for sugar and for
coffee. He had the letters in a bag. There were three that sailors had
written; that doesn't seem many letters for a whole crew of sailors to
write after they have been at sea for three months, but sailors aren't
much at writing letters, anyway. And there were about half a dozen that
Captain Solomon had written, and some from the mates; and there was one
that little Sol had scrawled to his mother, and there was the great
thick letter that little Jacob had written to his mother. Captain
Solomon couldn't take little Sol and little Jacob ashore with him
because he thought he would be too busy to look after them. The
_Industry_ didn't even anchor, but she sailed back and forth, in front
of the town, waiting for Captain Solomon's boat to come back.
At last Captain Solomon had heard all the news and had sent his letters
and had found out the price of sugar and of coffee and had learned what
ships were at Batavia. Batavia is a city in Java, not far from Anger,
and Captain Solomon was going there on his way back. And he had got
some fresh vegetables and some turtle and some fresh fowl of a Chinaman,
and all his errands were done. So he came back to the ship and got on
board and the boat was hoisted up and more sail was set; and the
_Industry_ sailed on her way through Sunda strait. Captain Solomon
called it Sunday strait. A strait is a rather narrow passage from one
sea to another. Sunda strait leads from the Indian Ocean to Java Sea;
and, after that, there were some more straits leading to the China Sea.
Late in the afternoon the wind got lighter; and as there was a strong
current setting towards the southwest, through the straits, they
couldn't sail as fast as the current carried them. So the _Industry_ was
carried back to Anger; but she started again very early in the morning,
when there was more wind and when the tide was different.
When little Jacob and little Sol came on deck they saw three ships,
going the other way. They wondered what they were, and they asked the
mate. And the mate smiled and said that two of the ships were Dutch and
he supposed that they were going to Batavia. And he thought that the
other ship was American and he hoped that it would take the letters they
had left at Anger. Little Jacob hoped that it would; but little Sol
didn't seem to care. And, all of that day, they watched for more ships,
and they saw land, now and then, far off on the horizon. It was very
hot, for they were almost at the equator; so that even little Sol was
contented to keep still. And, towards night, they saw one of the
sailors getting the lead line ready.
The lead is just a big lump of lead, like a sinker that is used on a
fishing line, and it is tied to the end of a long line that has the
fathoms marked on it in much the same way that the log line has the
knots marked; but the marks on the lead line are really six feet apart.
And the lead itself has the lower end just a little bit hollowed. The
sailor who was getting it ready first made sure that the line was all
clear, without any knots or kinks in it. And, when he had seen that the
line was all right, he took up the lead and smeared some grease on the
bottom of it. The sailor was the old man who had given little Jacob the
model of the brig.
Little Jacob was surprised. "What is that?" he asked. "Is it grease?"
The sailor was amused. "It's grease," he said, "sure enough."
"And what is it for?" asked little Jacob again. "I hope you don't mind
telling me."
"No, lad," said the sailor. "Be sure I'll tell you. It's to bring up
some of the bottom so's the cap'n can tell where we are."
Little Jacob didn't understand. "I don't see," he said, "how Captain
Solomon can tell where we are, that way."
The sailor laughed. "Well, no," he said. "I s'pose you don't. Well, it's
this way. The bottom of the sea is different in different places. In
some parts it's mud and in other parts it's gray sand and in others
it's black sand and in others yet it's yellow sand, and so on. In the
deep oceans it's different yet, but no lead will reach it. And every
good sailor man, such as Cap'n Solomon is, should know the bottom he'll
find on the course he sails. And when I heave this lead, it tells him
how much water he's got under him and the kind of bottom, for the lead
brings up a little of the mud or the sand that sticks to the grease.
That's how it is."
Little Jacob thought that he understood. "And will you heave the lead
now?" he asked.
"I heave the lead when I'm ordered to," said the old man. "But I'm
thinking the cap'n won't want it hove till after dark. There's no
lights, hereabouts, you see. Lighthouses," he added, seeing that little
Jacob didn't know what he meant.
"Oh," said little Jacob. And he went off to find Captain Solomon and to
ask him if he might stay up that night, until they hove the lead.
Heaving the lead is called sounding. And Captain Solomon laughed and
said that he guessed so.
So little Jacob didn't go to bed so early as he generally did, but he
stayed up to see them heave the lead. And, about nine o'clock, Captain
Solomon called little Jacob and little Sol and told them that they had
better be ready, for he was just going to begin taking soundings. So the
two boys went to look for the sailor with the lead line.
They found him standing by the rail just where the ship was widest, and
by his side was a lantern, lighted. The mate had another lantern, and
the light from those two lanterns was the only light that they could
see. And, just as the boys came up, the sailor began to swing the lead
to and fro.
[Illustration]
He swung it farther and farther, each time, like a pendulum to a clock.
And, when it was swinging pretty far, he let the line go, so that the
heavy lead went ahead of the ship and fell into the water. As soon as he
heard it strike the water, the sailor grabbed for the line quickly, and
he caught it, but he let it slip through his hand. And he felt the lead
strike the bottom. By the time the lead had struck the bottom, the ship
had almost caught up to the place where it had gone into the water, so
that the line was straight up and down.
The sailor began to pull it in, feeling, with his fingers, for the wet
part. When he had come to that, he held it in the light of the lantern
for a moment.
"Ten fathom," he called. Then he pulled the lead up.
The mate took it and looked at the part that had been greased. "Mud," he
said; and he wiped it off on his finger and showed it to Captain
Solomon.
"All right," said Captain Solomon, when he had looked at the mud.
"Better keep the lead going for a while."
So the sailor wiped the bottom of the lead clean, and smeared it with
grease again. Little Jacob watched him swing it and heave it and pull it
in. He wondered whether it was hard or easy to do what the sailor did;
whether he could do it when he grew up. The great lead would be too much
for a little boy, he knew. But it looked easy.
"Ten and a half," called the sailor, "and mud. I could tell by the feel
of it."
"Yes, mud," said the mate, looking at the bottom of the lead.
The lead was kept going, every half hour or so, all night. And, towards
sunrise, they got twenty fathoms, and the lead brought up grains of
black sand and grains of yellow sand, and they put away the lead line.
But little Jacob didn't know about that, for he was sound asleep in his
bunk.
And that's all.
THE TEAK-WOOD STORY
Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and
beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great
ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep
hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go
down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.
And because ships had come there for a great many years and all the
sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the
ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the
sidewalks were much worn.
Captain Jonathan and Captain Jacob owned the wharf and all the ships
that sailed from it. The brig _Industry_ was one of the ships that used
to sail from that wharf, and after Captain Jonathan and Captain Jacob
moved to Boston she sailed from a wharf in Boston. And she had sailed
from the wharf in Boston on a voyage to the far country, and little
Jacob and little Sol had gone in her. And she had sailed through the
great ocean and past the country where the monkeys lived and through
another ocean to India, and she had anchored in a wide river. And many
little boats came off to her from a city that there was on the shore of
the river, and they began to take out of the _Industry_ all the things
she had brought to that country.
Little Jacob and little Sol were as quiet as little boys could be
expected to be, for they knew that Captain Solomon was very busy at
first. But, at last, the things were all out of the _Industry_; and
Captain Solomon had to go ashore to buy things for the ship to take home
again. So he had the sailors let down a boat, and he looked around for
the boys. And they were so close behind him that he didn't see them
until little Sol touched him.
"Hello, boys!" cried Captain Solomon. "Want to go ashore with me?"
"Yes, sir," called out little Jacob and little Sol, together, so that it
sounded as if there was only one boy.
"Well, hop in, then," said Captain Solomon.
And little Sol hopped in, and little Jacob hopped in; and Captain
Solomon got in, and the sailors rowed them ashore. And they got out of
the boat upon some wide stone steps that went down to the water, and the
boys were very glad, for it was the first time that they had set foot
upon the ground for a long time. And little Jacob was surprised to find
that the ground seemed to be waving around just like the deck of the
ship, so that he couldn't walk very well. And he spoke of it to little
Sol, and Captain Solomon heard him, and he gave a great laugh.
"So it does," Captain Solomon said. "So it does. And so it will for the
next three days, Jacob, if I'm not mistaken. It's queer ground, Jacob,
isn't it, to be waving around so? Must be an earthquake."
And little Jacob looked up at Captain Solomon to see whether he was
joking or not. For Captain Solomon was very apt to joke, but you
couldn't tell whether he was or not unless you looked at him, and you
couldn't tell, even then, unless you knew him pretty well.
And little Jacob decided that Captain Solomon was joking, so he smiled.
"Yes, sir," he said. "It must be an earthquake. We were very lucky,
weren't we, to be just in time for an earthquake?"
It was Captain Solomon's turn to look at little Jacob to see what he
meant.
"Ha! Ha! Very lucky, indeed, Jacob," said Captain Solomon. "We're lucky
dogs, Jacob."