Local Color to Burn by Charley Wood
Page 3
At last she had passed the final line of
the crew, while Mate Handy stood over them
hungry, jagged rocks and was in the open s«a and by the liberal use of his boot caused them once more. One by one the company came
to keep their backs straight. Certain of his down from the rigging and began to recover
words came to those who clung to the rigging: their poise with unbelievable rapidity as they
“Put your weight on ’em—dig your
saw that all danger was practically over. Miss toe-nails in the deck—keep them backs Faire suddenly went over and shrilled in the straight er I’ll straighten ’em—”
captain’s ear:
Finally, after three shiftings of the
“I’m glad you saved your ship!”
kedge, the Starshine floated once more. There
“Put us ashore anywhere—the sooner
was no insincerity in the cheer that those in the better,” shouted the director in his other the rigging made an unsuccessful attempt to
ear. The captain put his mouth to the director’s utter. With Captain Jericho at the wheel and ear and replied:
the mate abusing the crew into getting the jib
“We’re only goin’ to one place, and
up in a hurry, she gradually gathered headway that’s Amityville. Three-quarters o’ this
and held her own. He headed her nose straight hooker is mine ag’in and I goes where I
for a seemingly impassable maze of jagged
please!”
rocks, where the passage over the reef was
As nobody could dispute the assertion,
hidden, and the task of getting her into the and as everybody was glad to be able to get
open sea was at last begun.
ashore at all, there were no vain objections With the floating of the schooner the
raised. Mr. Swiberg was far from happy,
seas had ceased coming aboard, but still the however, for with the lessening danger he
movie company stayed in the rigging, for they began to feel the loss of his check cruelly, and feared they would only be in the way on deck he hoped the wind would soon cease to roar so and knew not what else to do.
loud so he could say all he wished to the
They were still there when the running
director.