And he grabbed the wheel and whirled it over, and the ship s_The Sandman: His Sea Stories

but she didn't swing very quickly, for the _Industry_ wasn't very quick

at minding her helm. But she did mind it in time, and just as she swung

off she shot past something floating. And Captain Solomon looked and he

saw that the floating thing was the hull of a great ship. The masts were

all gone close to the deck and the hulk barely showed above the water,

so that the waves washed over it, although there wasn't much of a sea

and the waves weren't high at all. And when he saw that they were safely

past the wreck, he turned the wheel the other way, and brought the

_Industry_ back again, and he had the sailors change some of the sails

so that she wouldn't go ahead.

Then he called the sailor who had been on the forecastle, looking out,

and he gave that sailor a blowing up, and he was very angry and he blew

the man sky-high. He said that it was nothing but luck that they weren't

all sent to the bottom, for the _Industry_ was heading straight for the

floating hulk, and if they had struck it, their chances wouldn't have

been worth one of his grandmother's cookies. And he said some other

things; and the sailor didn't answer back, for it is not a good plan to

answer back to the captain, especially if that captain was Captain

Solomon and was angry. But he seemed ashamed and slunk back muttering

that he wasn't blind and he was keeping as good a lookout as could be

expected, and nobody could have imagined that there would be that old

hulk right in their course, anyway. But Captain Solomon didn't hear him,

which was lucky for him.

Then Captain Solomon ordered the mate to have out a boat and go and see

what the hulk was, and whether, by chance, there was anybody aboard of

it, or anything to tell when she had been abandoned. And he told the

mate to take with him a good supply of oil and some oakum and to set

fire to the wreck as soon as he was through with her. And the mate had

the sailors get out the boat, and he took the oakum and a big bucket of

oil, and he was rowed away to the wreck, that was about a quarter of a

mile away by that time and shining in the moonlight. And Captain

Solomon saw the boat come near the wreck and make fast under her stern,

and he saw the mate go on board.

The mate went a little way down the cabin stairs, but he couldn't go all

the way down because the cabin was full of water that washed to and fro

as the hulk rolled in the ocean. And nobody was there. And the mate

looked everywhere that he could go, and he found nobody. He couldn't

look into the cook's galley, because the galley had been washed

overboard; but he looked into the forecastle, and that had water in

it, too, washing to and fro over the floor. But he saw that the clothes

of the sailors were all gone except one thing which was washing about in

the water on the floor, that looked as if it had been there a long

time, and he couldn't make out what it was.

So he went back to the stern and asked the sailors if they could make

out the name or the port of the ship on the stern; for every ship has

its name and the name of the city where it belongs painted on the stern.

And the sailors said that there wasn't enough of the name left to tell

what it was, but it seemed to be a French name. So the mate went back

and he put three piles of oakum, one up in the bow, and one in the

stern, and one half way between the two. And he soaked the oakum with

oil and he poured oil on everything that was dry, and he set fire from

the lantern which he carried. Then he hurried to get off and into the

boat, and the sailors cast off. And, before they got off, the mate saw

that there was seaweed high up on the hulk, which showed that she had

drifted about, as she was, for a long time. And the fire blazed up, and

they hurried to get away from the wreck.

[Illustration]

The fire blazed up, higher and higher, as the boat went back to the

_Industry_, so that it was roaring by the time the sailors climbed

aboard. And they hoisted the boat up, and put it in its place, and

Captain Solomon had the sailors change the sails so that the ship would

go ahead on her course. And the mate was on the quarter deck, telling

Captain Solomon what he had seen. When the mate had got through Captain

Solomon thought for a long time.

"That's the Frenchman that was abandoned off Hatteras more'n a year

ago," said Captain Solomon at last. "They thought she was sinking. She

must have been carried by the currents up towards Norway, maybe, and

then down past the west coast of France and Spain. I've heard of

derelicts doing that, but I've never seen it before."

And the mate didn't say anything, but they watched the wreck burning. It

burned fiercely, but the flames didn't blaze very high, for she hadn't

any masts nor any rigging. And the light of the fire made the moonlight

look pale and white. And they watched her getting farther and farther

away as the _Industry_ sailed on her course.

"I hope," said Captain Solomon, "that there's something aboard of her to

sink her."

And just as he said that they saw the light of the fire go out suddenly,

and where it had been there was nothing but some smoke in the air and

the moon was shining brightly all around.

And that's all.

THE LIGHTHOUSE 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. 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 the brig _Industry_ was coming back from far countries to that

wharf in Boston, and little Jacob and little Sol were on her. And, when

she was nearly in sight of the end of Cape Cod, a great storm came up,

and the wind blew like Sam Hill. It blew harder than it had blown at any

time while the _Industry_ was sailing over the wide ocean to the far

countries and back again. So, at last, Captain Solomon had to turn her

around and run for it. But he ran as slow as he could, for he wanted to

get to Boston; and he growled and grumbled all the time because he had

to go the way he didn't want to.

Little Jacob had been feeling rather excited and very glad because he

was so nearly home again. But, when the _Industry_ turned around and

sailed away from Boston, he didn't feel glad any more, but he felt

rather mournful. And he was just a little bit frightened at the great

wind and at the great waves; for Captain Solomon hadn't turned around

until he was obliged to, and that was the last minute that it was safe

to keep on. It was getting dark, and Captain Solomon thought it would be

a pity to run the risk of getting wrecked on the Cape when the brig

had gone all the way to Manila and back safely. So little Jacob crept

into his bunk and held on tight, because the ship was pitching and

rolling so much, and he tried to go to sleep. At last he went to sleep;

but he had horrid dreams.

[Illustration: "AT LAST HE WENT TO SLEEP"]

Captain Solomon was on deck all that night, and he had on his oilskins

and he was sopping wet outside the oilskins, but inside them he was dry

as a bone; for oilskins keep the water out beautifully. And the spray

was flying high above the rail and, once in a while, the top of a wave

would come aboard in solid green water. But Captain Solomon didn't mind

the water. He was only very angry at having to sail away from Boston.

The storm kept on for nearly three days and little Jacob was pretty

miserable but little Sol enjoyed it. Little Sol wasn't so anxious to get

home as little Jacob was. And, at last, one morning when little Jacob

woke he didn't feel the ship pitching as she had been, and he was

surprised to find that he was a little bit excited once more. And he

went on deck as soon as he could, and he found that the wind was still

blowing pretty hard but not so hard as it had been blowing, and the ship

was headed for Boston again. And all the sailors looked cheerful. And

Captain Solomon was the most cheerful of all, although he needed some

sleep.

"Well, Jacob," he said, "we're headed for home again. I guess you're

glad."

"Yes, sir," said little Jacob, smiling, "I am glad. When shall we get

there?"

"If this breeze holds," said Captain Solomon, "we'll get in before dark

to-night. But I'm afraid it won't hold."

"Oh," cried little Jacob, "I _hope_ it will."

"So do I, Jacob," said Captain Solomon. "We'll see."

But the wind got less and less. They passed Provincetown, on Cape Cod, a

little while after Captain Solomon and little Jacob and little Sol had

finished their dinner, and Jacob felt hopeful. But the _Industry_ kept

going slower as the wind died down, and Jacob's heart kept going down

and down. But he watched, to see if he could see Boston. And, at last,

it was almost dark and he hadn't sighted Boston, and his heart was

almost down in his boots. He thought that he saw some land away off on

the western horizon, but he couldn't be sure whether he did or not, for

it was only twilight and the western horizon was all dim and misty. And,

suddenly, a little friendly star shone out, just where he was looking.

"Oh," he cried, "what is that star? It just came."

Captain Solomon was standing near him, and he smiled at little Jacob's

question.

"That star, Jacob," he said, "is Boston light. We can't get in to-night,

but we'll go a little nearer and we'll stand back and forth until

daylight. Then we'll go in. But we sha'n't be there to breakfast."

Little Jacob gave a long, shivering sigh. "Well," he said, "I suppose

you can't go in to-night. That light is a long way off, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Captain Solomon, "it's a long way off. And, besides, the

wind is dying out."

Little Jacob didn't say anything for some time.

"The light-keeper must have to stay up all night," he said, then, "to

see that his light doesn't go out."

"Yes, Jacob," answered Captain Solomon, "he stays up all night, taking

care of you and me. Or he looks out for his end of it. There are two or

three of them--the light-keepers. And, in the daytime, he sees that his

lamps are filled and his wicks trimmed and his brasses bright and his

glasses polished. When night comes he lights his lamp, and he looks at

it every little while to make sure that it is burning all right. If it

wasn't, there might be a wreck."

[Illustration]

Little Jacob stood and watched the light for a long time without saying

anything. Captain Solomon stood and watched it, too.

"That is a very friendly light," said little Jacob, at last, drawing a

long breath and smiling at the light. Captain Solomon couldn't see the

smile, because it was dark; but he heard it in little Jacob's voice.

"It is, Jacob," said Captain Solomon, "a very friendly light."

"I guess it's my bed-time," said little Jacob. "Good-night, captain."

"Good-night, Jacob," said Captain Solomon. "By the time you're up, in

the morning, we'll be almost in."

And little Jacob laughed happily and went down to bed.

And that's all.

THE RUNAWAY 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. That was a great many years ago.

The brig _Industry_ was one of the ships that used to sail from that

wharf and Captain Solomon was her captain for many years. But, after he

had been sailing to far countries for a long time, he thought it would

be nice to stop going to sea, for he found that what he wanted was a

farm where he could settle down and stay in one place. And, besides, he

had three sons; and he didn't want his three sons to go to sea because

he knew what a hard life it was.

Little Sol was the oldest of his three sons, and he had been one voyage

to far countries. Captain Solomon took him, thinking that the voyage

would show him how much better it was to stay ashore and be a farmer

than to go to sea and be a captain and have to stand all sorts of storms

and perhaps be wrecked. But the voyage to those far countries hadn't

made Sol think what Captain Solomon had hoped it would make him think,

but it had only made him want to go to sea all the more. Little Sol

wasn't little any longer, but he had got to be about sixteen years old.

And Captain Solomon's youngest son was the one that was, afterwards,

Uncle John and the father of little John, that it tells about in the

Farm Stories. And what was the name of the middle son of Captain Solomon

I have forgotten. Perhaps it was Seth.

[Illustration]

So Captain Solomon bought the farm that he wanted. It was a beautiful

farm, with a river running through it, and a great pond in it, and you

would have thought that it would have suited Sol exactly. But it didn't.

For the one thing that Sol wanted, and that all these beautiful things,

the river and the great pond, and the hills and the woods, wouldn't make

up for, was the ocean. The farm was twenty miles from the ocean. Sol

would have given anything if he could just _hear_ the ocean. Where he

had lived he could hear it all the time, sometimes loud and sometimes

soft. It put him to sleep many and many a night, that sound of the sea

as it broke on the shore. And he wanted it so badly that he was almost

sick, but his father wouldn't let him go to sea, and he wouldn't even

let him go to Wellfleet to visit his cousins; for he was very much

afraid that Sol wouldn't come home again, but would go off to sea. And

at last Sol couldn't stand it any longer. He felt sick all the time and

he couldn't sleep and he just hated that farm. So he made up his mind

that he would have to run away from home.

It was on his sixteenth birthday that he made up his mind to run away

from home. Captain Solomon was a kind father, but he had been a captain

for such a long time that he wanted to run his family and his farm just

like a ship and to have everybody do just exactly as he said and ask no

questions; and, when anybody didn't seem to want to do just as he said,

but began to ask questions and argue, he got very angry. Sol was very

sorry to leave his mother, but there was nobody else except his two

brothers. And he was very sure that Seth would run away to sea when he

got old enough, unless Captain Solomon let him go. But, long before it

came to be Seth's time, Captain Solomon had learned better. And John, at

that time, was a little boy.

So Sol made his plans. And, when the time came, he left a letter to his

father. The letter was scribbled on a leaf that Sol tore out of a book,

and it was very short, for Sol didn't like to write letters. The letter

said that he just _had_ to go to sea, and that he hoped that his father

wouldn't blame him, and that he would come back some day when he had got

to be a mate or a captain.

Then there was a letter to his mother. It was longer than the letter to

his father and in it Sol said that he was just sick for the sea and

that, if he stayed on the farm, he knew he should get sicker and die.

The farm was a beautiful farm, but farms were not for him for many years

yet. He would rather plough the ocean than plough the earth. Sol was

rather proud when he wrote that about ploughing the ocean, for he

thought it sounded rather well when he read the letter over. And he

subscribed himself, with a great deal of love, her loving son.

Then Sol made a bundle of the clothes he thought he would need, but the

bundle was a small one, for he didn't think that he would need many

clothes. And, when it got late that night, and everything was quiet

about the house and even his brothers, Seth and John, were sound asleep,

Sol opened the window and threw his bundle out. Then he got out and slid

down the rain spout. The rain spout made a good deal of noise, but it

was wooden and not made of tin, so it didn't make as much noise as a

rain spout would make now. Sol was afraid that his father would hear the

noise and wake up, so he hid behind the lilac bushes in the corner of

the fence. But Captain Solomon had been doing a hard day's work,

haying, and he slept very soundly. And, when he found that his father

didn't wake up, Sol crept out from behind the lilac bushes and took up

his bundle and went out the wide gate.

First he turned north and walked quietly along until he had passed the

old schoolhouse and had got well into the village. He went carefully,

while he was in the village, for he was afraid that somebody might be

about and see him. Almost everybody in the village knew Sol, and anybody

who met him, at that time of night, would know that he was running away.

Perhaps they would call up the constable and have him sent back. Sol

shivered when he thought of that. Then he came to the old turnpike road

to Boston and he turned toward the east into the turnpike. He hadn't

met anybody in the village nor seen a single light.

[Illustration: "TOOK UP HIS BUNDLE AND WENT OUT THE WIDE GATE"]

It doesn't take a good, strong boy of sixteen all night to walk a little

more than twenty miles, and Sol loafed along and didn't hurry. Once in a

while he sat down to rest or sleep for a few minutes, but he didn't dare

to really go to sleep, for fear that he would sleep all the rest of the

night; and he had to be in Boston by daylight. And, once in a while, he

had to sneak around a toll-house, because he didn't have any money. And,

at each toll-house, they made each person that was walking on the

turnpike pay some money; perhaps it was a penny that they had to pay.

They charged more for each wagon that passed. At last he came into

Boston and it wasn't daylight yet. So he walked over to the Common and

lay down under some bushes and went to sleep.

Sol was wakened by the snuffling noise that a cow makes when it is

eating the grass and by the sound of the grass being bitten off. And he

started up, thinking of the farm at home, and there was a cow almost

near enough to touch. When he started up, the cow was frightened and

galloped off, and Sol saw that the sun was up and it must be about six

o'clock. He laughed at the cow and opened his bundle and took out some

bread that he had brought, and some gingerbread, and he ate them. It

wasn't much of a breakfast, but he hadn't been able to get anything

better. And, when he had finished, he walked down to Spring Lane and got

a drink of water at the spring, and he washed his face and hands.

Then he kept on down to India street, for he was afraid his father would

come after him and there was no time to lose.

[Illustration: "HE STARTED UP, THINKING OF THE FARM AT HOME"]

Sol needn't have been afraid that his father would come after him, if he

had only known what was happening at the farm. Captain Solomon had been

surprised that Sol didn't come down stairs and, finally, he had gone up

after him. There were Seth and John just waking up and rubbing the sleep

out of their eyes; but there was no Sol and his bed hadn't been slept

in. And Captain Solomon looked around until he saw the two letters

pinned to the pin-cushion. Then he looked angry, and he took the two

letters and marched down stairs again. He didn't say anything, but he

gave the letter that was directed "For Mother" to his wife.

And Sol's mother didn't say anything, either, but she opened her letter

and read it. It didn't take very long to read it but it took longer than

Captain Solomon's. And the tears came into her eyes as she handed the

letter to Captain Solomon and asked him not to be hard on the poor boy

but to be gentle with him, for he must have felt that very same way when

he first went to sea.

And Captain Solomon read her letter and then he sat without saying

anything for a long time, looking out of the window. Perhaps he didn't

see the things that were there; perhaps, instead of the fields of tall

grass and of wheat, waving in the breeze, he saw the blue ocean

sparkling in the sun and stretching away until it met the sky. Perhaps

he saw the tall masts and the white sails of the _Industry_ rising far

above his head, and felt her buoyant hull under his feet.

Whatever he saw, as he sat there, he laughed aloud, at last, and brought

his fist down on the kitchen table.

"Let him go!" he said. "It's in the blood. The sea's salt is in the

blood and the only thing that will take it out is the sea itself. He can

no more help it than he can help breathing. I'll write him a letter."

And so it happened that there was a letter for Sol in Captain Jonathan's

and Captain Jacob's office the next morning. They didn't know where he

was, but they sent to all their ships that were in port to see if he

could be found. The _Industry_ happened to be in port, but she was just

ready to sail, and she was to sail that afternoon. And it happened that

Sol had shipped as one of her crew and he was on board of her. Captain

Jonathan and Captain Jacob didn't know that Sol was one of the crew of

the _Industry_, because they didn't generally look over the crew lists

any longer, but they left that to the captains and the mates. But when

they found Sol, they had him come to their office, and they gave him the

letter from his father. And Sol read the letter and he was very happy,

and he wrote a long letter to his father.

In that letter he said that he knew, now, that it was very foolish for

him to run away, because Captain Solomon would have let him go if he

had made him understand how he felt. But Sol had always thought that his

father was very stern and he hadn't told him how badly he felt at being

kept away from the salt water. It may have been Captain Solomon's fault,

too; and when he got Sol's letter he went to a field that was far from

the farm-house. But he didn't do any work. He sat there, under a tree

that grew beside the stone wall, all the morning looking up at the

clouds.

It would be all the more foolish for any boy to run away to sea,

now-a-days. For things have changed very much in the last hundred years.

Steamers have taken the place of sailing ships, and the crews of the few

ships that there are aren't made up of men like Captain Solomon and

Sol.

But, when the _Industry_ sailed away from that wharf in Boston for far

countries, more than a hundred years ago, Sol was a sailor.

And that's all.

THE TRAFALGAR STORY