The Golden Argosy: Tom Gale's Ride — page 2: what you’re looking at

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- rush and consequent ducking. 530 THE GOLDEN ARGOSY. ee OO JULY 23, 1887. me one day, ‘‘think I shall be afraid to go out en a yard when we get off Cape Horn. We'll see whether I shall or not. Didn't you ever read of ‘Little Jack, the captain's son,’ and how he stovd on the main truck? It’s in the schoolbook. Well, I don’t think what he did was worth making such a fuss about. If the truck had Been only two feet high, anybody could have stood on it; and I don’t see how its being fifty times as high could make any difterence.” | The next day, as some of us were pulling off to the ship, we saw what appeared to be a black ball away up at the head of the main royalmast. In a minute or two it was discovered to be a human being. The form rose slowly to an erect position and stood fairly upon the truck! The sight made a thrill run through all our nerves. We knew at once that the reckless fellow thus standing in mid air could be no other than Tom Gale. But what a situation! more than a hundred feet high, with only the empty atmosphere about him; and standing upon that small, circular bit of wood, not six inches in di- ameter! It was really awful, He remained thus for perhaps a minute; and we were hoping he wonld spring out into the air, as ‘‘ Little Jack” is represented to have done, and so strike the water feet foremost. But Tom had a plan of his own; he did not take “ Little Jack’s” downwar Stooping carefully, he made a light pedi backward, and, the instant his feet w clear of the truck, caught it with both hands. All this, while he was as high above the ship’s deck as the ball on a church steeple is above the street sidewalk below ! No doubt his safety lay in his utter fear- lessness, whiclf enabled a to do, at this digions height, ajl that he could have e had the mast been only a gate post. saptain, when informed of the inci- . n| 5 saan him severely for the fool- _ But althongh the feat was not praise- worthy in itself, it showed the posses- sion of a native courage worthy of cul- ie “ After we got to sea he certainly betrayed which wercould not have : ; to those he had le&t behind were sometimes really pathetic. — When he had fully recovered from his depression, the aptitude with which he ft hee himself to his new duties was surprising. The wilding tree of ~ his character seemed for the first time to be grafted with a definite purpose. He had taken it into his head that some day he would be captain ofa ship. He would climb up to that position just as he had climbed to the main truck. He was at last the right boy in the right place. Never before had he been set to any task in which he felt an interest, or in the pursnit of which he could see any im- portant object. But this was now changed; it was easy to do that for which he hada naturalliking; andif he were to do it at all, why not do it with the highest possible ob- ject in view ? O€ course Tom Gale was still Tom Gale at the bottom; but he was like an old ship built over—the model was there, but the timkers and spars were new. He would often play sly jokes on his shipmates, but never in a way to do any real injury, while the humor of his acts and words was so ir- _ resistible that he was easily forgiven. When we had been ont two years, Tom was a thorough sailor. There was no duty _of a foremast hand which he did not know how to orm. Yet all this while we had “greenies” on board who could no more splice a rope or take a difficult knot than on the day when the ship weighed anchor. At the end of this time, we lost a boat- steerer in the Arctic seas—killed by a whale —and Tom Gale was appointed to take his place. The very first pull which our boats made after this was in chase of an immense whale, which all the ships about ns had endeavored to capture, but in vain. Even that day the boats of two or three of our cousorts were out after him, but he stove several of them, and the rest gave up the chase. We had not much hope of getting a chance at him, and besides, as we had no boats to spare, we really began to think that it would be for our interest to let him alone. However, just as my own boat, to which Tom Lelonged, was pulling around the point of a large ice field, up the old fellow came, right ahead of us, shooting half his length out of water, He was so close that ‘ tbe too, were in great danger i we distinctly felt the swell raised by his huge bulk as he fell prone upon the waves, ‘Pull, pull, men!” I whispered; ‘‘ easy, easy—no noise! Stand up, Tom!” The boat ran square upon the monster, just forward of his ‘‘ small,” the part be- tween the body and the tail, and ‘Tom let him have both ‘‘irons.” There were other harpoons—the lost property of various ships—sticking up in his back, like pegs on a cribbage board, so that ours were hardly noticeable among them. We ‘‘sterned” as quickly as possible, but, in so doing, put the boat in precisely the position to receive the full force of a blow. The entire boarding of the bottom appeared to crack, and boat, oars, tubs and men were thrown into the air. The whale had swept his ‘ flukes” around in such a manner that instead of flinging us from him, they had tossed us towards him—the extremity of his tail hav- ing been out beyond the boat. Five of us dropped in the water, but the sixth person landed fairly on the leviathan’s back, among the grove of harpoon poles— and that person was Tom Gale. A dozen coils of line from one of our tubs fell upon him and over the harpoons; and while he was trying to disentangle himself, the whale started at full run. Tom seized one of the poles for support, but the har- poon, which had probably been for a long time in the creature’s back, had worked so loose that it drew out. The boy boatsteerer freed himself from the entangling line; and then, had he not been Tom Gale, he would at once have leaped from his strange steed, but this it was not in Tom’s nature todo. One of his old freaks seized him; and he had the recklessness to remain sitting astride the whale’s back, with the water boiling about him as the creature rushed on. In one hand he held the loose harpoon, and with the paste clung to one of those which were The temerity of the act was astonishing. At any moment the whale might go down a hundred fathoms deep, either drawing him under water or leaving him to floun- der at the surface. But he was ‘‘in for it,” as he afterwards said, and meant to see where the affair would end. As we lay on the wre could see him borne away asif the very -" god himself were giving him a ride over the deep. ; At length he disappeared from our view altogether—for a person lying flat om-the water cannot see far along its surface— and, of course, we gave him eF for lost. We, of being lost our- selves, for not one of our boats was vis- ible, and our shipmates could know nothing of our disaster. oes } Great then was our joy, an hour or two later, to see the captain’s boat pulling straight toward us—and the reader may a imagine the surprise we felt to perceive Tom Gale standing up in her, apparently as sound in body as ever! Had we been able to do so, we would have given three cheers, but we were too far gone for that, so we had only to lie still and wait as patiently as we could till they picked us up. ‘*Tom,” I exclaimed, as soon as I could speak, ‘* where is that whale?” *‘Dead, sir, out here about three miles off. He hove to at last, and I churned him to death with ah __ ‘*It is a fact,” added the captain; ‘‘ this fellow actually killed that whale by stand- ing on the animal’s back and churning with the harpoon just as we churn with a lance. He put it away into the creature’s life. Why, Mr. Brown, he rode three miles on that old blackskin! It’s the most wonder- ful thing I ever knew.” We pulled along close by the dead whale, where he was lying with the small ‘* waif” or flag, which whalemen use, fluttering above his back to mark his position. ‘*All I had to do,” said the captain, ‘‘was to come up and ‘waif’ him, for he was as dead as a marlinespike. Well, Tom has found a new way of killing whales, and I guess we shall fill up in short order after this.” Next day the leviathan was ‘‘ cut in,” and roved to be by far the largest whale we a taken on the voyage. A few weeks later, the Warren was headed for home, where she arrived aftera prosper- ous passage, with four thousand barrels of oil and twenty-eight th usand pounds of bone. Tom Gale continued in the whaling busi- ness, and his third voyage saw him captain ofaship. His wild energy, directed in the proper channel, had carried him to the Boal of his ambition, of our boat, wh } CAT-TAILS. CLEAR, dark and cool the shallow pool Lies underneath the summer sky, Low rippling in the sedgy grass As wayward winds go trooping by ; While bladed flags bend Jow to greet The blue-veived lilies resting there, And high above their drooping heads ‘The cat-tails drivk the summer air. Across the pool, with flimsy wings, The ‘* devil’s darning needles” fly, And deep among the shady flags The croaking frogs securely lié; A red-winged blackbird’s liquid notes Sound clear and sweet, ‘‘co-chee ! co-chee!” And in the breezes’ cradling arms Tbe cat-tails rock in airy glee. —_____$ 9-g—__—- [This story commenced in No. 230.] dé Ve 2 ~) . 4 ws i : 7 : soz = ed PET Great No thAMY Syrcus By HORATIO ALGER, Jr., Author of ‘‘ Bob Burton,” “ The Young Circus Rider,” “Ragged Dick Series,” etce., etc. CHAPTER XXXVIII. _ KIT AS A TRAPEZE PERFORMER. 4 the evening the tent was full. Very few knew of the change in the pro- gramme. Mr. Barlow had consented to the substitution with some reluctance, for he feared that Kit might be undertak- ing something beyond his tay to per- form. Even the Vincenti brothers, Kit’s associates, were surprised when the man- ager came forward and said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Mile. Lefroy is indisposed, and will be unable to perform her act this evening. Unwilling to disap- point the public, we have substituted one of our youngest and most daring perform- ers, who will appear in her place.” When Kit came out, his young face glow- ing with excitement, and made his how, the crowd of spectators greeted him with enthusiastic applause. His fellow actors joined in the ovation. They feared he had overrated his ability, but were ready to ap- plaud his pluck. Now was the time, if any, for Kit to grow nervous, avd show stage fright. But he elt none. The sight of the eager faces around him only stimulated him. He caught the rope which hunz down from the trapeze, and quickly climbing up poised himself on his elevated perch. He did not allow himself to look down, but strove to shut out the sight of the hun- dreds of upturned faces, an proceeded to perform his act as coolly as if he were in a gymnasium, only six feet from the ground instead of thirty. It is not to be supposed that Kit, who was ® comparative novice, could equal Mile. Louise Lefroy, who had been culti- vating her specialty for ten years. He went ehrough several feats, however, hanging from the trapeze with his head down, then quickly recovering himself and swinging by his hands. The public was disposed to be pleased, and, when the act was nished, gave him a round of applause. Mr. Barlow saw him as he made his exit from the arena. ‘‘You did yourself credit, my boy!” he said; ‘“‘and saved us the awkwardness of apologizing for an omitted act. Is Mlle. Lefroy ering gt indisposed ?” ‘No, sir; I think she will be able to ap- pear to-morrow.” ‘sTt is a caprice, then?” ‘No: there was a person among the spec- tators who would have recognized her, and whom she did not care to meet.” ‘‘That is her own affair. Most of our performers have some m ystery, or romance, which I never wish to inquire into. If anything should prevent her appearing to- morrow, will you again become her substi- tute?” ‘Yes, sir; with pleasure.” . ‘‘Thank you; yuu will lose nothing by being obliging.” In the outer inclosure Kit met the two Vincenti brothers. ‘‘ Look here, Kit,” said Alonzo, ‘* you are eclipsing us. When did you learn your act on the trapeze?” ‘‘T have been practicing some in my leisure moments. Besides, I could do a little on it in the gymnasium.” ‘‘You were cut out for the circus. You will be a star.” ‘‘T hope so, but not a star of the circus.” ‘‘Did you know Signor Oponto, of the Havana circus, was here this evening? He watched you very closely, Perhaps he will offer you an engagement.” Kit laughed, and treated it as a joke, but itallcame true, _ Later in the evening a small man, with a very dark complexion, and keen, black eyes, approached him as he was standing near the lion's cage. ‘Ts this Luigi Vincenti?” he asked. This was Kit’s circus name. He passed for a brother of Alonzo and Antonio Vin- centi. ‘* Yes, sir,” answered Kit. ‘*T saw your trapeze act this evening,” he went on. “It was very good.” ‘*Thank you, sir. You know, perhaps, that Iam nota trapeze performer. I only appeared in place of Mile. Lefroy, who is indisposed.” **So I understand; but you do very well fora boy. How old are you?” ** Sixteen.” ‘*You are the youngest performer in the profession—on the trapeze, I mean.” : Iam only an amateur,” said Kit, mod- estlv. ‘*Then you are a remarkably promising one. Do you know who I am ‘*Are you Signor Oponto? 4 at you were here.” ‘* Yes; Iam at the head of a large circus in Havana. My visit to the United States is partly to secure additional talent. How long are you engaged to Mr. Barlow?” ‘* For no definite time. IsupposeI shall remain till the end of the season.” ‘* You have no engagements beyond?” | ‘‘No, sir; this is my first seasofi with any circus, and Kam not known outsidé c this show.” ’ ; **'Then I will make you an offer. I dc = ‘ a “3 rom Mr. Barlow, want to take yo when the season is01 arrange for y ppearance in Havana — under my personal management.” ‘s Kit was astonished. It seemed strange to him that he sh@mjd find himself in de- mand among circus managers. Only a few « weeks since he was a schoolboy, with no object in view except to make a creditable —. record in his studies. re Though Kit was modest he was human. He did feel flattered to find himself rated so high. It even occurred to him that be might like to be regarded as a star in circus circles, to be the admiration of cireus audi- ences, and to be -gardec wi ' ond 2 awe hy boy his owm age throughout the — pine | But Kit was also a sensible boy. After all, this preeminence was only of a physical character. A great acrobat or trapeze artist has no recognized place in society, and his ambition is of a low char- acter. He remembered what Mile. Louise Lefroy had told him, that she was not will- ing to have her child see her perform, or even know in what way she gained the money that paid for his education. While these considerations were presenting them- selves to his mind, Signor Oponto stocd by in silence, waiting for his answer. He thought that Kit’s hesitation was due to pecuniary considerations. ‘What salary does Mr. Barlow pay you?” — he asked, in a business-like tone. ‘* Twenty-five dollars a week.” ‘‘T will give you fifty, and engage you for a year.” He regarded Kit intently to see how this proposal struck him. ‘©You are very liberal, Signor Oponto,” Kit began, but the manager interrupted him. ‘J will also pay your board,” he added; ‘‘and of course defray your expenses to Havana. Is that satisfactory?” ‘It would be very much so but for one thing.” ; ‘* What is that?” ‘© doubt whether I shall remain in the business after this season.” ‘“Why not? Don’t you like it?” ‘¢ Yes, very well; but I prefer to follow some profession of a literary character. I am nearly prepared for college, and I may decide to continue my studies.” ‘* But even your college students devote most of their time to baseball and rowing, I hear.” ‘‘Not quite so bad as that,” answered Kit, with a smile. ‘* You won't refuse definitely, I hope.” ‘*No; it may be that I may feel obliged to remain in the business. In that case I will give you the preference,” ‘That is all I can expect. Hereis my ecard. Whenever you are ready, write to me, and your communication will receive instant attention.” ‘* Thank yon, sir.” As Signor Oponto left him, Mr. Barlow came up. ‘‘T saw you talking with the manager of the Havana circus,” he said. * You. gir.” ‘Did he try to get yon nway from me?” ‘No, sir; he said he did not want to in- COmiGcnpoeo S;€O er I shall be ready to — <y * . tee + “ os. hemes aoe dba: a A]