Sheila of Big Wreck Cove - A Story of Cape Cod by James A. Cooper
page 17 of 344 (04%)
page 17 of 344 (04%)
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"But you keep her full on her course."
"Spite o' that? In course. But I can feel her tuggin' like a big bluefish trying to bolt with hook and sinker. Never did feel that same tug to sta'bo'd but once before on any craft. I told you that." Tunis Latham nodded. The old man's keen eyes tried to read the skipper's face. He could scan the signs in sea and sky at a glance, but he confessed that the captain of the _Seamew_ revealed no more of his inner thoughts than had the mahogany countenance of the older Captain Latham with whom Horry Newbegin had so long sailed. "Well," the steersman said finally, "I've told ye all I can tell ye. That other schooner that had a tug to sta'bo'd like this, the _Marlin B._, got a bad name from the Georges to Monomoy P'int. You know that." "Cat's foot!" ejaculated Tunis cheerfully. "The _Marlin B._ was sold for a pleasure yacht and taken half around the world. A Chilean guano millionaire bought her the year after the Sutro Brothers took her off the Banks." "Ye-as. That's what Sutro Brothers says," and the old man wagged his head doubtfully. "But there's just as much difference in ships, as there is in men. Ain't never been two men just per_zact_-ly alike. No two craft ever sailed or steered same as same, Captain Tunis. I steered the _Martin B._ out o' Salem on her second trip, without knowing what she'd been through, you can believe, on her first." "Well, well!" Tunis broke in sharply. "Just keep your mind on what |
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