By the great hORN SPO0n

Chapter 1 - The Stowaways

The Lady Wilma, a grand ship, drove out of the Boston harbor, on its way to San Francisco. I sat in a damp barrel as a stowaway. We were rushing to the fields of gold, so my aunt Arabella could own her house and keep her fortune. Our butler, Praiseworthy, agreed to come along, for he was as indebted to my aunt as I was. My parents passed away of Cholera, and not me nor my family actually remember them.

Cautiously sitting in the depths of a barrel, I heard a bold voice. “All clear, Master Jack.” “Is that you, Praiseworthy?” I muffled. “Your obedient servant,” Praiseworthy elegantly replied and opened the lid of the barrel. I was so thirsty, it was like I was a lonely kid in a desert. So I slaked my thirst by sucking on a raw potato I found in my barrel. I finally said, “We’ve made it, Praiseworthy.” as if I had won a race.

I was never so happy and miserable in my life. I gazed at the weird shapes of the black cargo, all piled up. Then I listened to the rough sounds of the ocean scraping the hull of our ship. As I did so, I thought of the friendly flames residing in my aunt’s large fireplace. Of course there was no turning back now. We were going to the fields of gold.

Praiseworthy asked if I was hungry or cold. “I’ve been colder and hungrier, I guess,” I said, so I wouldn’t appear as if I was complaining. Praiseworthy suggested that we try improving our accommodations. Praiseworthy suddenly wanted to pay respects to the captain. “THE CAPTAIN!”, I exclaimed as the words were briefly stuck in the middle of my throat. “Why, he’ll put us in chains -- or worse!” I didn’t know what Praiseworthy was thinking. “Leave that to me.” Praiseworthy suspiciously said. I was more encouraged with Praiseworthy’s assurance. Besides, I couldn’t remember anything able to ruffle his calmness. Praiseworthy was Aunt Arabella’s obedient butler, and she used to say that Praiseworthy was the best one. The Lady Wilma lurched and we went through the odorous Hold. I saw smoked fish, bricks, and lumber all bound for San Francisco. I followed my butler to the cracked deck above. I knew that the captain would at least chain us up. Praiseworthy asked a man to direct us to the captain. “The wild bull of the seas? Up there!”, he said. Following his directions, we went to another deck. We then saw men of every kind, and some who didn’t fit any kinds. No women were among them. Clearly, they were fighting for the warmth of a stove. Again, Praiseworthy asked for directions. “Up there, up there!”, a man snapped and returned to the stove. Sooner or later, I was in the crew’s deck. Apparently, the “Wild Bull of the Seas” was trying to thaw his black whiskers with a candlestick. “Praiseworthy at your service, sir.”, Praiseworthy politely said as he shut the banging door. Then Praiseworthy introduced me as “Master Jack, a young gentleman who seeks his fortune in the gold fields”. Well, Captain Swain said “Bah!” as a reply. Captain Swain hardly bothered to look up. Our ship started to roll and shake as the candlestick slid around the table. Then, Captain

Swain started carrying on about the blasted weather and how he hated his accommodations. “I’ll beat the Sea Raven, if I have to shove all the extra passengers overboard!!”, he breathlessly growled. That speech got me wide-eyed, and I stared at the captain as if he was a stout devil. It was difficult for me to see if he was a good man in a bad mood, or the other way around. The ship lurched again and the candle flew right into Praiseworthy’s hands.