Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 17, 1924 — page 122: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

272 Wanderer, Challenge and Valkyrie-all got away on the same tide. An hour later Valkyrie hove to outside the outer knoll to drop her pilot. But the wind was blowing so strong from the northeast, and the sea was so rough, that the pilot boat was unable to lie alongside. Finally, Valkyrie, in lowering one of her own boats, capsized her, and Forbes had the greatest difficulty in saving his boat’s crew. As the weather was growing worse, with heavy squalls, he decided to spend no more time in this fruitless effort. At the pros- pect of being carried on to England the pilot was beside himself, but Forbes, having once determined that he could not land him, was adamant. Meanwhile, Valkyrie was finding it no easy job to get her anchor, with such a strong northeaster blowing. Finally, with everything set up to her mainskysail, fore- topmast, and lower stunsails, she sped away, dead before the wind, at a tremendous clip. Forbes was in his element. All his vexa- tions were swept away. He was going to sea with a gale in the making—his highest heaven. 3 Before nightfall he overhauled the Loth- ario. Slogett was carrying what he con- sidered a heavy press of sail, whole topsails, and courses, with outer jib, while two other ships in company were Close reefed. But the Valkyrie coming up on the opposite tack, so as to cross Slogett’s bows, was actually carrying three topgallant sails, and flying jib. : Captain Slogett looked at the approach- ing cloud of canvas with amazement. In- deed such cracking on would not have been possible, but-the Valkyrie had the run of the sea abaft the beam, whereas the other ships had it before the beam. As the two rivals converged they began signalling. This nearly led to disaster aboard Lothario. Her steersman, watch- ing the signals, allowed his ship to come up to the wind, and get caught aback; in a flash Lothario had heeled right over, and was within a ace of being dismasted. So close were the two clippers that the crew of the Valkyrie could see everything. They saw Captain Slogett knock the care- less steersman senseless, and snatch the ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. wheel; they saw the watch below come fly- ing on deck in their shirt-tails. They were smart as paint in whipping the sail off her, and as soon as she was relieved, the Lothario brought her spars to windward and stood up. “A close shave!’ muttered Forbes, but soon this exciting episode was blotted out by his own headlong pace, Gazing after her, aghast, the more pru- dent clippers beheld the great Yankee flyer, carving a wake of living lightning across the darkling water. Then, like a child of the furies, she vanished into the thick gloom of the howling night. The glass had not yet begun to fall, and no one had the slightest expectation of what was in store. Captain Forbes, in ecstasy, listened to the ever increasing chorus of the winds, thrumming through his shrouds. Boats were got on the skids and lashed in chocks on the deck. Extra lashings were put on spare spars, and extra gaskets aloft. By midnight with the spars creaking and groaning from the terrific strain, Forbes gave the order. ‘Take in the royals.” At length, when a fiercer squall had all but plunged their lee yards into the moun- tain of seas, Forbes examined his barometer. ‘““ We're in for it,”’ he muttered to himself, and then with a rush he reached the poop, shrieking to his first officer. ‘Get the sail off her, as quick as you can!” In another instant all hands were racing aloft. Only a tea clipper crew could re- spond like that, for shortening sail. Over the ceaseless cannonading, the voices of captain and mates sounded like pigmies shrieking at a giant. “* Let go!” “ Let go!” “ Clew up!” ‘Let go all!” By the time the foresail and mainsail were in, the upper topsails were blown to ribbons, By four bells, they were scudding under main lower topsail, but the wind had in- creased to such an extent that the mainsail, in spite of extra gaskets, was blowing adrift. TA CORNICLOOO© (C@