Fairhaven High School - Huttlestonian Yearbook (Fairhaven, MA)

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12 THE HUTTLESTONIAN Luck of the Viking T HE boys had strolled down to the wharf to watch the photogra¬ phers take the pictures of the scenes in the coming whaling film, “Down to the Sea in Ships”. Their grandfather, an old sea captain, had accompanied them. As they were watching the photographers busily at work, Bob suddenly looked up and asked his grandfather if he wouldn’t tell them a story of whaling. His grandfather consented to do so. Sitting down on a pile of boxes the old man commenced his story: “It was back in 1879 when the bark ‘Viking’ sailed out of New Bedford Harbor on a whaling expedition in the North Atlantic. Her crew consisted of Yankee sailors of New Bedford and mulattoes from Cape Verde. Her captain, Ben Harris, was one of the finest men that ever walked a deck. He was a typical Yankee whaler. The first mate was a man named Stevens. John Morgan, the second mate, was of medium height, broad chested, with muscles of almost herculean strength. A story about him says that once in a fit of rage he had thrown a heavy barrel of whale oil at his opponent. The third mate, Lem Shanks, was a long, thin man, rather loosely built, with eyes which never seemed to be still. “As the vessel sailed out of New Bedford harbor, the captain on turning around from a conversation with the first mate chanced to see Lem Shanks regarding him with a sinister air that could not be¬ token anything but evil. Then and there deep under the skin, some¬ thing told the captain that trouble was brewing in the form of the third mate. “As the morning of the sixth day out dawned, the cheerful cry of ‘Thar she blows’ greeted the sailors. For a moment, the captain for¬ got the third mate and hurried to the starboard rail where the eyes of most of the crew were centered on a black object about one-half a mile from the ship. Immediately he ordered the boats to be lowered. In command of the first he placed Second Mate Morgan, the second he took command of himself, and in the third he placed First Mate Stevens. The Third Mate, Lem Shanks, he left in com¬ mand of the ‘Viking’. The whale, a young bull, was soon harpooned and towed back to the boat. “While the three boats had been absorbed in getting the whale, the Third Mate and the other men left on board the ‘Viking’ had been

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THE HUTTLESTONIAN 11 overwork and laziness, called by some, “spring fever”. The outside world is in accord with your spirits. One day it is cold, the next warm with a mixture of snow, rain, and sun. If you are a student, you feel that all the universe is against you. Work never seemed heavier! Lessons never end! Teachers are unmerciful and a bore to you! To be sure there is no real cure for this feeling—but it can be alleviated! How? Do some of the work you have been contin¬ ually putting off. It will keep your mind and your hands busy. If you work with a will, it won’t be long before you find yourself recov¬ ering from your attack of spring fever, and you will at least have something to show for it! Once more, then, the world will smile upon you. SHORT STORY CONTEST The announcements of the results of the Boston Traveler Fifth Short Story Contest came to us after the last issue of the magazine had gone to print. We therefore take pleasure in announcing now that of the 125 stories to receive honorable mention, three were written by Fairhaven High School students: “Luck of the Viking”, by Granville Prior; “Three Thousand Years Ago”, by Hope Dudgeon; “The Hero of the Sixth”, by Donald Axtell. The stories are printed elsewhere in this magazine. To each author of these stories, The Traveler has given a “Cer¬ tificate of Honorable Mention”. The stories while not so good as the prize winners, were “ ' mighty close” in the opinion of Mr. Rugg, the short story editor, and they all showed much promise. It is several years since the High School has taken part in The Traveler’s annual contest, and it will be interesting to the student body to know, that the stories written by their schoolmates were ranked in the first 125 of the 1,110 stories submitted by high school students from all over New England. MY REMEMBRANCE OF PORTO RICO Miss Helen Mae Kidd, who lived in Porto Rico for several years, has consented to write her recollections of the island for the present issue of the magazine. Miss Kidd’s impressions of this beautiful is- land on the boundary of the Caribean Sea are most entertaining,

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THE HUTTLESTONIAN 13 planning mutiny. As the boat of the First Mate drew nigh the bark, Shanks whispered to his fellow conspirators, Tight if the old man tries to put anything over on you.’ “The next three days were spent in cutting up the whale, trying the blubber, and barreling the oil. Late one night as the captain was watching some of the crew try blubber, chancing to look up, he saw the Third Mate regarding him with an evil glare. The next mo¬ ment the eyes of the Third Mate appeared to be gazing on the ocean. “Early on the morning of the fourth day after the harpooning of the whale, Captain Harris ordered several of the mutineers to swab the decks which were covered with grease and fat. The men said nothing, but made no motion to obey. The captain repeated the command. This was a signal for the mutineers. Immediately the deck was a mass of struggling figures. Everything from belaying pins to the sharp tools used in cutting up a whale were used as weap¬ ons. The Second Mate had seized a belaying pin and was using it with astounding effects on the heads of the mutineers. As the deck was slippery, many of the men slipped, striking their heads on the deck and rendering them unconscious for the time being. Out of the mel£e a voice suddenly yelled, ‘Thar she blows and sparm at that’. “Almost miraculously the mutiny was forgotten in the prospect of returning richly laden with oil. Boats were again over the side and in a trice everybody was thinking of whale and oil. This time the captain stayed on board with those who had been wounded in the fight. The Third Mate’s boat was the first to get within harpooning distance of the whale. It proved to be a gigantic sperm whale. As the Third Mate was the best harpooner on the vessel he prepared to harpoon the whale. This he did with effect, striking the whale in the back. After being pulled miles by the whale, the boat was finally picked up by the ‘Viking’ and the whale was pulled alongside. “After the process of simmering the blubber and getting the oil out, it was found that they had an unusual number of barrels of oil which would bring them a goodly sum of money. They then sailed for New Bedford. As the days went by Captain Harris expected mutiny to break out any minute. At last one cloudy morning it did break out. The crew had just sat down to eat their morning chow and while they were busily stuffing victuals into their stomachs the Third Mate seized a knife and hurled it at the Captain. Luckily for him the weapon did not go true to its mark but missed him by a scant (Concluded on Page 24)