The Voyage of the Norman D.
I think 'twas—an' part of the port taffrail got carried away—see there, folks, where you can see that new paint? Well, that's the piece as got carried away, and I see we had to lose that load. So we give it a little start, and, I tell you, folks, it wasn't very hard. All we had to do was give it a little start, and off it went. I had it all insured, folks, and I guess the boys would have been glad enough to have the whole lot go, hold and all! Ha! Ha! Ha!" (It was the same gale that carried down one of the oak trees in the woods near us.)
He evidently liked to boast about his early days at sea. One tale he told which particularly took my fancy: "When I was a greenhorn, I got the hang of a sailor's job pretty quick. I was a smart lad at the helm. The cap'n was particklarly pleased with me. I was proud, I tell you, folks, one time when we was havin' some rough weather. Another greenhorn that put out to sea with me went up aft to take his trick, but he couldn't manage it at all—the waves come breaking over the ship, and the cap'n saw he didn't know the ropes at all. Well, I'd jist had my two hours; I was all through and gone up forrard, but when the cap'n see this lad didn't know nothing, he called me aft agin, and gave me the helm fer another trick. Well, I was proud, I tell you!"
So he rattled on, tale after tale. He was telling us about the schooner he was in command of before
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