Fort Madison High School - Madisonian Yearbook (Fort Madison, IA)

Page 16 text:

THE HIGH SCHOOL TIMES THE END OF THE STORY EDWARD KREHBIEL MMM P ARDON me s1r can you dlrect me to the Sm1th Shlp A W plng Company? sald J1m Wells to a young man who Q4 'NH fx had stepped fl om the car Wlth h1m J' Sure come along I m a sh1pp1ng clerk there QM Through the w1ndow of the ofhce door J1m could C C, see an old man s1tt1ng near a table w1th other men grouped around h1m The old sklpper IS golng to g1ve us a yarn Lets go 1n and hsten sa1d the shlppmg clerk As J 1m crossed the threshold a strange look came 1nto the old man s eyes When the newcomers were seated the sklpper began Well boys Ill tell you the story that I have never been able to powder across the bay to a rallroad stat1on From here It was to be transferred to several Amerlcan cru1sers that were stat1oned five mlles north I had gone about halfway when a great black hulk loomed up suddenly ahead of me By a qulck turn of the wheel I managed to clear what I now percelved to be a schooner Before I could change my course however my boat was made fast to the schooner and I was taken on boa1d The thought flashed through my mxnd that I had been taken captlve by a Br1t1sh vessel I was taken to the cap tam who aftel looklng at me for some t1me turned around and talked earnestly IH a whlsper to hxs men From the few words that I heard I concluded two th ngs first that I was on a plrate vessel and second that they had mlstaken me for someone whom they had expected to meet At these words J1m moved as 1f to go but the look 1n the speaker s eyes restramed h1m W1thout seemmg to notlce the speaker con tmued The captaln ordered the shxp to be turned about agam The sallors rushed out to execute orders but at the same lnstant we heard the dull roarlng of cannon ahead The captaln brushed past me and I could hear h1m roar All sa1ls ahead' I was now qu1te forgotten 1n the excltement so I went out on th deck Here a totally dlfferent scene met my eyes On each Slde of the deck I made out the outhnes of cannon and I could see the men d1s trlbutlng powder and shot The rumble of the cannon could shll be heard and lookmg ahead I saw a dull red glow wxth a burst of flame 8 A , 1. , . . . - fr .iq .4 , . ' . H X 4' A N' 'l ' ' . ' I .,j' 1 . . . H . . . I , . . ,, . . . , . , . 66 ! ! end. Back in 1812, just after the war began, I was taking a load of 9 I 7 Y 1 X . ' 3 f - ' . . , , , 9 I t !! . . . , L C . H . . . , I . - , . Y u K A 1 ' , , . ,, . . . , 9 . . I L 1. . . 5

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THE HIGH SCHOOL TIMES 7 at the wlndows as we crawled th1u the down town streets J I was certa1nly amazed when we stopped before an 1mmense house and there were foot men butler and everyth1ng swell but when I entered the hall and a lady all dolled up took two of my fingers and called me My deah I actually w1shed I d llstened to Ma and was at that mmute at Aunt S 1m mntha s teachmg Theodore the parrot a new slang phrase Everythmg was bad enough but Mar1e was the end of the l1m1t She was the I+ rench mald Now 5 ou know V1ve le ro1 IS about the extent of my knowledge of the F1 ench language bes1des the Ou1 ou1 Mons1eur and I employed those two phrases constantly Mar1e thot I was fluffy After Id dressed for d1nner I saw Mar1e lookmg for my 1ewelry I flashed my class r1ng but Im afrald It dldn t 1mpress her I mformed her that I had a d1me and r1ng at dress to d1nner and was glad I had bl ought It because I hadn t dreamed Bess folks were so r1ch In all my perplex1ty how ever there was a l1fe saver Bess brother Arthur QI remembered hear1ng her speak of a brother Mat ty but concluded It was A1thurs pet namej was a d1 cam and he helped me over so many embarrassmg s1tuat1ons The next mornlng Bess1e came but Peg It wasn t Bess Burk at all Here I was an utter stranger 1n the home of the Shelley Lark Bourgues and they d been expect1ng Mary Cornell1 to 1 1s1t BGSSIQ F1nally the whole affa1r was stralghtened out and I left for Aunt Samantha s 1n the suburbs I never was so glad to see Auntle Theodore and the tabb1e cats Arthur brot me 1n h1s car I ve an engagement w 1th h1m ton1ght and Theodore keeps scream 1ng Arthur IS commg so I re'1l1ze xt IS t1me I stopped wr1t1ng and prepare for the Commg of Arthur ' 7 y 1 y v . A I c r v v . ' 7 . 1 7 7 Y Cl 77 7 7' 7 ' 7 . llc 1 , I I 1 c , J I . I c , . . . I , . I ,, . .,,. as ' ' ,' rr 7 ! 'K ' K . . , . . - u A A 1 , w 1 1 , u . 1' . u home and her attitude became more respectful. I wore my party . 4 Q . , , . D 7 7 I - , , . ' KK - 77 ' v 1 . 7 Y - , I . . Y , . Y ! X ' ' tl !7 9 7 , . A K 1 ' 9 , Y- . Q u . - . ,, . . ,, . . . . . . , I L L C4 ' !9

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THE HIGH SCHOOL TIMES 'xt tlmes I now reahzed that we xvere go1ng to take part m a naval battle At fn st I thought of escapxng then I began to wonder whom the captaln would hght for Suddenly a sh1p broke 1nto flames and I could clearly see the whole battle It appeared as tho the Ameucans were gett1ng the xvorst of lt Two large B11tlSh vessels wlth long range guns were firmg at the Amer1can vessels from a d1stance whlle several smaller vessels we1e engaged at close range We sfuled sw 1ftly ahead w1th no hghts Everythlng was qu1et on deck We xx e1e now headed for a po1nt d1rectly between the two Br1t1sh vessels My hopes began to smk for I thot we were going to take up a pos1t1on besxde these two xessels Suddenly I heard the capt'11n call fl om the brldge Let em have 1t boys' I could hardly c'xn1ster We had taken them by surprlse but before long shot began to fly everywhere My rlght leg began to feel funny and I must have famted for when I regamed consclousness I was lylng ln a bed on a dlfferent Shlp I heard a sa1lor say that we had xx hlpped the Br1t1sh all 11ght Then I heard a xolce that I 1ecogn1zed as that of the plrate captaxn say They called me a plrate but I was worklng for my count1y -xll the tlme The speaker stopped then and sald That s about all but I have never been able to hnd out who It was that the schooner was wa1t1ng for At th1s J1m arose and sald I w1ll end the story because you have ended one for me The captaln of th1s shlp was my father and he was xva1t1ng for me I had speclal messages from the government for h1m but I have never been able to find out whether my father was a plrate or not txll now The old sklpper sm1led slowly and sald I thought I saw the captam agam when you came through the door 9 - - 0- 1 .1 ' v . , , U . . I . . V V V V. . V. . ' c . ,, . V. V. . . . C ' a . . V V . V . ' , L ' 1 K ! ' . 1 c , , . keep from cheering as our guns raked their decks with grape and c l . c I ' , 1 y I . , . V . ! 7 , - a H C n ' 66 7 7 Y 77 . . . ,, V. 7 . V V ' ' 77 . . . ,, 7 ' ' 17