The Cruise of the Dolphin(海豚的游弋)

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The Cruise of the Dolphin

The Cruise of the

Dolphin

by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

The Cruise of the Dolphin

(1 An episode from The Story of a Bad Boy, the narrator being Tom

Bailey, the hero of the tale.)

Every Rivermouth boy looks upon the sea as being in some way

mixed up with his destiny. While he is yet a baby lying in his cradle, he

hears the dull, far-off boom of the breakers; when he is older, he wanders

by the sandy shore, watching the waves that come plunging up the beach

like white-maned sea-horses, as Thoreau calls them; his eye follows the

lessening sail as it fades into the blue horizon, and he burns for the time

when he shall stand on the quarter-deck of his own ship, and go sailing

proudly across that mysterious waste of waters.

Then the town itself is full of hints and flavors of the sea. The gables

and roofs of the houses facing eastward are covered with red rust, like the

flukes of old anchors; a salty smell pervades the air, and dense gray fogs,

the very breath of Ocean, periodically creep up into the quiet streets and

envelop everything. The terrific storms that lash the coast; the kelp and

spars, and sometimes the bodies of drowned men, tossed on shore by the

scornful waves; the shipyards, the wharves, and the tawny fleet of fishing-

smacks yearly fitted out at Rivermouth--these things, and a hundred other,

feed the imagination and fill the brain of every healthy boy with dreams of

adventure. He learns to swim almost as soon as he can walk; he draws in

with his mother's milk the art of handling an oar: he is born a sailor,

whatever he may turn out to be afterwards.

To own the whole or a portion of a rowboat is his earliest ambition. No

wonder that I, born to this life, and coming back to it with freshest

sympathies, should have caught the prevailing infection. No wonder I

longed to buy a part of the trim little sailboat Dolphin, which chanced just

then to be in the market. This was in the latter part of May.

Three shares, at five or six dollars each, I forget which, had already

been taken by Phil Adams, Fred Langdon, and Binny Wallace. The fourth

and remaining share hung fire. Unless a purchaser could be found for this,

the bargain was to fall through.

I am afraid I required but slight urging to join in the investment. I had

four dollars and fifty cents on hand, and the treasurer of the Centipedes (1

The Cruise of the Dolphin

A secret society, composed of twelve boys of the Temple Grammar School,

Rivermouth.) advanced me the balance, receiving my silver pencil-case as

ample security. It was a proud moment when I stood on the wharf with my

partners, inspecting the Dolphin, moored at the foot of a very slippery

flight of steps. She was painted white with a green stripe outside, and on

the stern a yellow dolphin, with its scarlet mouth wide open, stared with a

surprised expression at its own reflection in the water. The boat was a

great bargain.

I whirled my cap in the air, and ran to the stairs leading down from the

wharf, when a hand was laid gently on my shoulder. I turned, and faced

Captain Nutter (2 Tom Bailey's grandfather.) I never saw such an old

sharp-eye as he was in those days.

I knew he would not be angry with me for buying a rowboat; but I also

knew that the little bowsprit suggesting a jib and the tapering mast ready

for its few square feet of canvas were trifles not likely to meet his approval.

As far as rowing on the river, among the wharves, was concerned, the

Captain had long since withdrawn his decided objections, having

convinced himself, by going out with me several times, that I could

manage a pair of sculls as well as anybody.

I was right in my surmises. He commanded me, in the most emphatic

terms, never to go out in the Dolphin without leaving the mast in the boat-

house. This curtailed my anticipated sport, but the pleasure of having a

pull whenever I wanted it remained. I never disobeyed the Captain's orders

touching the sail, though I sometimes extended my row beyond the points

he has indicated.

The river was dangerous for sailboats. Squalls, without the slightest

warning, were of frequent occurrence; scarcely a year passed that three or

four persons were not drowned under the very windows of the town, and

these, oddly enough, were generally seacaptains, who either did not

understand the river, or lacked the skill to handle a small craft.

A knowledge of such disasters, one of which I witnessed, consoled me

somewhat when I saw Phil Adams skimming over the water in a spanking

breeze with every stitch of canvas set. There were few better yachtsmen

than Phil Adams. He usually went sailing alone, for both Langdon and

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TheCruiseoftheDolphin1TheCruiseoftheDolphinbyThomasBaileyAldrichTheCruiseoftheDolphin2(1AnepisodefromTheStoryofaBadBoy,thenarratorbeingTomBailey,theheroofthetale.)EveryRivermouthboylooksupontheseaasbeinginsomewaymixedupwithhisdestiny.Whileheisyetababylyinginhiscradle,hehearsthedull,far-offboomoftheb...

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The Cruise of the Dolphin(海豚的游弋)

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