Fred Fearnot's New Ranch Part 3

To his astonishment the girl kept her feet admirably, and even when supper was announced she looked up at him and said:

"Mr. Fearnot, father and mother and sister have all retired. Will you take me down to supper?"

"With the greatest of pleasure," he replied, with a smile. "You are a strong, brave girl, and you must pardon me if I give utterance to my admiration."

"Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Fearnot," and, taking his arm, she accompanied him down into the dining-room, where she was the only lady pa.s.senger present.

She ate rather a light supper, and so did Fred. The meal over, they went back up on deck, for all people when seasick want to be out in the fresh air, and if the wind blows strong and cold they are all the better for it.

Of course, the air wasn't cold at that season of the year, but the wind blew fresh and strong from over the sea.

They walked about on the deck until ten o'clock, and then she said:

"Mr. Fearnot, you will excuse me if I retire."

"All right," said he, "but tell me, do you feel the least bit seasick?"

"No, indeed. I did expect to be, but that acid phosphate seemed to have been the very thing for me, and I thank you heartily for suggesting it to me."

"Perhaps you had better take another dose before retiring. You may need some, too, through the night; so you may take the bottle to the cabin with you," and he got it and placed it in her hand.

The next morning the pa.s.sengers came straggling into the breakfast-room, some looking very pale and wearied; but the elder Miss Elon came tripping down the stairs like a sparrow.

While she and Fred were at the table her sister and Evelyn came in together.

Fred sprang up to accompany them to seats.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Fred inquired.

"Fred, I confess I haven't gotten over old Neptune's slap yet. Did he worry you any?"

"Not the least," and then he told her about Miss Elon's sister.

The younger Miss Elon was sitting alongside of Evelyn and remarked:

"Oh, Josephine never gets seasick."

"So I found out last night," replied Fred, "for we promenaded the deck until ten o'clock. She drank pretty freely of acid phosphate, and that removed the feeling entirely."

"Oh, my, Fred! Why didn't you offer me some of it?"

"I did for two days before we came aboard, but you refused to take it."

"Yes, but I didn't need it then."

"Well, that is the time when you should have taken it. I see you are looking a little pale yet, and it isn't too late to brace up with a dose of it now, but Miss Josephine has the bottle in her cabin."

"Yes," said her sister; "she gave me a dose of it, too, and, Mr.

Fearnot, I wish you could have heard the many kind things she said about you. It's a wonder your ears didn't tingle."

"Well, well, well! Now I know why my ears did tingle so last night. I am glad I know what caused it."

Evelyn laughed with Miss Elon and remarked:

"He is good at that sort of thing."

The breakfast set the girls all right, and they went up on deck and promenaded until many other ladies appeared, some of them still showing the effects of seasickness, but by noon they were all out, for the sea was by no means very rough, and the further south the ship plowed the more quiet the waters became.

Terry didn't eat any breakfast that morning at all, unless sucking two or three whole lemons might be called by that name.

He came out on deck about ten o'clock, still entertaining very bad opinions of old Father Neptune.

He could have abused the old fellow better without indulging in profanity than any man living, but along in the middle of the afternoon he recovered entirely.

He took charge of Grace Elon, the younger of the two Elon sisters, and kept her laughing heartily as they walked to and fro upon the deck.

When they struck Cape Hatteras, where the water is always rough, it was quite late in the night, and some of the pa.s.sengers felt the effect of it, which spoiled the pleasure of the evening.

The water is nearly always rough at that point on the Atlantic coast.

The next morning, though, the bosom of the ocean seemed to be like a vast mirror, so smooth was it. Seagulls were flying around, following the ship to pick up such bits of food as the cooks and waiters cast overboard. Some four or five gentlemen got out on the stern deck and with revolvers were shooting at the birds.

Nearly a dozen shots were fired without a single seagull being hit.

All sailors object to pa.s.sengers shooting at Mother Carey's chickens, as they call the seagull, but the average pa.s.senger has no such superst.i.tion.

"It's a pity," said Josie Elon, "to kill such beautiful birds. How white and clean they seem to be, and what beautiful white wings they have.

Every feather seems to have been made of snow."

"They are very hard to hit," remarked Terry, "and only a good marksman can hit one of them on the wing."

"Mr. Olcott, I have read in the papers about you and Mr. Fearnot being the best marksmen in the country. Couldn't you kill one of them?"

"Yes, easily, and if you want a wing to place in your hat I will procure it for you."

"I would like to have one so that I could examine the feathers."

"Wait, then, until I can get my revolver and I'll bring one down on deck here so that you can examine it to your satisfaction." So he went to his room and soon returned with his revolver.

"Now, let's get out on the middle of the deck and wait until one of the gulls flies over us, then he will drop down on the deck and he can be your prize."

He waited for about fifteen minutes before a gull flew directly overhead, and then he quickly raised his revolver and fired. The bullet actually cut the bird's head off and it fell fluttering to the deck.

Of course, the marksmanship created quite a sensation among the pa.s.sengers every one of whom exclaimed that it was an accident, and that the gentleman might fire one hundred times again without bringing down another bird, but not one of them thought to ask the name of the gentleman who had fired the shot, for the ladies gathered around to examine the beautiful plumage of the gull.

There were two or three ladies on board who had wing feathers of the same kind in their hats, and some of them insisted on comparing the wings of the dead gull with some found on the hats of the ladies.

Naturally a dispute arose among them as to whether or not those on the hat were the same kind as those of the dead bird. Some, of course, were larger than others.