Dorymates: A Tale of the Fishing BanksMunroe, Kirk
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Dorymates: A Tale of the Fishing Banks
Munroe, Kirk
Newfoundland and Labrador -- Fiction
The _Fish-hawk_ was a much larger and more comfortable schooner than any
he had sailed in before; and only the thought that there were sorrow and
anxiety in the little home cottage on his account prevented him from
thoroughly enjoying the prospect of a trip in her to far distant seas.
Even this cause of trouble was partially removed two days later, when
they sighted several fishing schooners, and the skipper offered to run
down to them, and ask the first one that should be homeward bound to
take letters, and also to report Breeze McCloud as safe and well.
As they drew near, one of these anchored vessels seemed strangely
familiar to Breeze, who, after looking at her through a glass, said, “I
do believe it’s the old _Vixen_.” He was right, and no men could have
been more surprised than were her crew, when, soon afterwards, he and
Captain Coffin rowed to her in dory No. 6. They welcomed Breeze as one
from the dead, and there was not a man on board but shook him heartily
by the hand and gave him a cordial greeting. Of them all, none appeared
so glad to see him as poor Hank Hoffer, who, still suffering greatly
from the effects of his exposure in the ice, had never ceased to mourn
the loss of his brave young rescuers.
They were intensely interested in the story he had to tell them of his
experiences since drifting away in the fog, and all declared that they
had never before heard of any one person having such peculiar adventures
during a single trip to the Banks. The _Vixen_ was to return to
Gloucester in two or three weeks more, and her skipper promised to
contradict any unpleasant rumors he might hear concerning Breeze, and to
tell the true story of his mysterious departure. He also promised to
deliver, immediately upon his arrival, the letter Breeze had written to
his mother, telling of his safety and where he had gone.
Before they left the _Vixen_ her skipper told Captain Coffin that his
anchor was caught on an ocean telegraph cable, and asked him whether he
thought he ought to try and haul it up, thus running the risk of
breaking the telegraph, or cut his own cable when he got ready to leave.
“Buoy your own cable and cut it, by all means,” replied Captain Coffin,
promptly. “The telegraph company will pay you the full value of all that
you lose, as soon as you send in a statement of the case to them. I did
the same thing myself only about a year ago.”
After getting the suit of shore clothes he had left on the _Vixen_,
Breeze bade his old shipmates good-by, and he and Captain Coffin
returned to the _Fish-hawk_, one of the _Vixen_ men going with them to
carry back dory No. 6. Breeze could not help watching the departure of
the old dory with regret, as he thought of all he had gone through with
in it, and how often it had served him in times of danger.
As they sailed away from the _Vixen_, the thought of her being fast to a
telegraph cable caused Breeze to ask the skipper how many cables there
were crossing the Atlantic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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