west.

The two skippers came on deck at once.

About four miles away they could make out a vessel heaving up and down, her sails flapping and idle. For, a common occurrence at sea, she lay within a streak of calm. Her 5 presence had probably been kept from being known before by the slight mist that hung over the sea to the west and north. The long, easy swells were ruffled by the slight wind that filled the sails of the whaling fleet, and were dimpled to a darker color. But where the stranger lay 10 there was a smooth, even path of oily calm. Beyond her some miles the wind was blowing in an opposite direction. She lay between the breezes, not a breath touching her.

"What d'ye make her out to be, Ezra ?" asked Captain Dewey, his fingers twitching anxiously, in his eagerness 15 to take hold of the glass through which Captain Steele was squinting.

Man-o'-war, brig," responded the taller man. "Sure's you're born, sir."

"You're jest right," responded Dewey, after he had 20 taken aim with the telescope. "I'll bet her captain's mad, seein' us carryin' this breeze, an' she in the doldrums! We'll pass by her within three mile, I reckon. She may hang on thar all day long an' never git this slant of wind at all. Wonder what she's doin aout here, 25 anyhow?"

In about ten minutes Captain Ezra picked up the glass again. "Helloo!" he said. They've lowered away a

66

boat, an' they are rowin' off as if to meet us.

Wonder

what's the row?" A tiny speck could be seen with the naked eye, making out from the stretch of quiet water. The crew of the Blazing Star had sighted her also, and at the prospect of something unusual to break the monotony, 5 had lined the bulwarks. Suddenly as the boat lifted into the sunlight on the top of a wave, there came a flash and a glint of some bright metal. In a few minutes it showed again. Captain Ezra picked up the glass.

"By gum!" he exclaimed; "that boat's chuck full of 10 men all armed. What can it mean?"

"Dunno-I'd keep off a little," suggested Captain

Dewey.

The helmsman gave the old creaking wheel a spoke or two in response to the Captain's order.

"She's baound to meet us anyhow," put in the lanky skipper. "What had we better dew?"

"Got any arms on board?" inquired Dewey. "Looks suspishus. Think I'd better be gettin' back to my old hooker," he added half to himself.

Amos Jordan, the first mate, was standing close by. "I reckon we've got some few," he said.

"Git 'em aout," ordered the Captain, laconically;

us, won't

ye?"

15

20

pro-25

"and, Cap'n Sam, you stay here with Amos started forward. In a few minutes he had duced four old muskets, and a half-dozen rusty cutlasses. But there were deadlier weapons yet on board, of which

there were a plenty, - keen-pointed lances, that had done to death many a great whale; and harpoons, with slender shanks and heads sharp as razors. And there were strong arms which knew well how to use them. The Captain 5 went into the cabin and came back with three great, clumsy pistols. One he slipped under his long-tailed coat, and the two others he gave to Captain Dewey and Amos Jordan. There were twenty men in the Blazing Star's own crew. The visitors from the old whaler added five 10 more, and with the three mates and the two captains, five more again. In all there were thirty men prepared to receive the mysterious rowboat, and receive her warmly should anything be hostile in her mission.

"I dunno what they want," said Captain Ezra ;

15 to my mind it don't look right."

"Jesso, jesso," assented Captain Samuel.

"but

A plan was agreed upon; a very simple one. The men were to keep well hid behind the bulwarks, and if the small boat proved unfriendly, she was to be warned 20 off the side, and if she persisted in trying to board, then they were to give her a proper reception. The suspense would not be long. The boat was now so close that the number of men in her could be counted distinctly. There were eighteen in all, for the stern sheets were seen 25 to be crowded. The brig at this moment lay in her own little calm, about two miles directly off the starboard beam. The rest of the whaling fleet had noticed her, and

had sighted the approach of the armed cutter also. They were edging off to the eastward, evidently hailing one another and huddling close together. But the Blazing Star, with just enough wind to move her, held her course.

-JAMES BARNES: Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors.

annals, history; hold, part of the ship which holds the cargo; doldrums, part of the ocean where calms or baffling winds prevail; hooker, old-fashioned, clumsy boat; laconically, briefly, without wasting words; buffeted, struggled against. ›

During the years 1812-1814, the United States, then a young republic, had a second war with England, caused by her refusal to respect our rights on the sea. A large number of the battles fought were naval battles. In this war the United States was victorious, and since that time the peace between the two great nations has been unbroken.

Explain why these sailors were ignorant of the fact that a war was going on. Could you trace their course on a map of the Western Hemisphere, from the whaling grounds in the Arctic Ocean, down the Pacific, around Cape Horn, and north on the Atlantic? To what place were they bound? Picture the little fleet of whaling vessels. Describe the skipper of the Blazing Star. Tell about the visit of Captain Dewey and the first sight of the man-of-war. Can you explain why she was obliged to lie idle while the whaling vessels sailed on? What preparations were made to receive the small

boat?

In reading the conversation, pronounce the words as they are spelled. Where have you met with similar speech?

Spelling. Hostile, whaler, tempestuous, harpoon, buffeted, cruising.

Word Study. Analyze returning, homeward, unrewarded.

Give homonyms for the following and be able to write them in

sentences ruff, scull, frieze, peer, week, tier, vale, vane, thyme, ore, tare, due, cell, grate, deer.

Grammar: Adjectives (summary). An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun to modify or limit its meaning. Descriptive adjectives are those which describe the objects named by the noun.

Adjectives of quantity tell how many or how much of the thing named by the noun is meant.

Demonstrative adjectives point out particular objects from a whole class.

Write two sentences containing descriptive adjectives. Write two sentences containing adjectives of quantity. Write two sentences containing demonstrative adjectives. Write one sentence containing an interrogative adjective. Select all the adjectives in the preceding selection. Arrange them in columns according to class; thus:

I.

II.

III.

Descriptive Adjectives Adjectives of Quantity Demonstrative Adjectives (including proper

adjectives)

(including numeral

adjectives)

If you find which or what used as an interrogative adjective, give the sentence in which it occurs.

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THE MEN BEHIND THE TIMES (Concluded)

ALL was suppressed excitement, for the armed small craft was now within half a cable's length. "Ship ahoy!" hailed an officer in a short, round jacket, standing up. "Heave to, there; I want to board you!"