The Race

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Title:     The Race
Author: William John Hopkins [More Titles by Hopkins]

Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way. And because ships had come there for a great many years and all the sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.

The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's and they owned the ships that sailed from it; and, after their ships had been sailing from that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their office to Boston. After that, their ships sailed from a wharf in Boston.

A long time ago the brig _Industry_ lay at that wharf in Boston, and she was all ready to sail for far countries. And there was a ship that was named the _Augusta Ramsay_ lying at the next wharf, and she was all ready to sail, too, and she was going to the same country that the _Industry_ was going to. Captain Sol had been on the _Industry_ for a long time, seeing that the cargo was stowed as well as it could be stowed, and trying to hurry the lumpers. But he couldn't make them hurry very much.

Captain Sol wanted to get the _Industry_ away before the _Augusta Ramsay_ sailed, so as to gain as much time as he could. For, in those days, the owners of ships couldn't telegraph to far countries to find out what they had to sell and what they wanted to buy, but the captains of their ships had to find out those things when the ships got there. And the captains had to sell the things they brought for as much as they could get for them, and they had to buy what they wanted to carry back for as low a price as they could.

So it made a good deal of difference whether a ship got there first or not; for the ship that got there first could sell the things that she brought at a higher price, and could buy the things to bring back for a lower price than a ship that got there a little later. So Captain Sol knew that it would be a race, for the whole voyage, between the _Industry_ and the _Augusta Ramsay_. And Captain Henry, of the _Augusta Ramsay_, knew it, too, and he was hurrying as fast as he could. The _Augusta Ramsay_ was a good deal bigger than the _Industry_, but Captain Sol had his mind made up to beat her if he blew the sticks right out of the _Industry_.

So it happened that the ship _Augusta Ramsay_ pulled out from her wharf at exactly the same time that the brig _Industry_ pulled out from hers. And they both began to set all the sails that they possibly could. And the ship and the brig sailed down the harbor together before a fair wind. A fair wind is a wind that blows about the way the vessel is going. But the _Augusta Ramsay_ was just ahead, going down the harbor, for the wharf that she started from was a little nearer to the channel than Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's wharf; and the channel that led out of Boston Harbor was even more crooked and narrow than it is now. So the _Industry_ couldn't pass the _Augusta Ramsay_, while they were in the channel and setting all those many sails, and Captain Sol didn't try it.

By the time the _Industry_ had got out into Boston Bay she had set her mainsail and her foresail, and her maintopsail and her foretopsail, and her maintopgallantsail and her foretopgallantsail, and her mainroyal and her foreroyal, and her mainskysail and her foreskysail, and all of her jibs and her spanker and her staysails; and the sailors were busy getting out her studdingsail booms. The studdingsail booms are sticks that stick out beyond the ends of the yards; and, as soon as the sailors had got out these booms, they set the studdingsails that belonged on them, so that it was just as if the foresail and the other sails that had studdingsails had been made so much bigger. And the _Industry_ had set all the sail that she could set.

The _Augusta Ramsay_ had all the sails that the _Industry_ had and, besides those sails, she had the sails that belong on the mizzenmast: the cross-jack and the mizzentopsail and the mizzentopgallantsail and the mizzenroyal and the mizzenskysail and all the mizzenstaysails. But the _Industry_ couldn't set those sails on the mizzenmast, because she didn't have any mizzenmast. And the two vessels leaned a good deal and the foam piled up under their bows and they just flew out of Boston Bay into Massachusetts Bay and out past Provincetown into the great ocean; but neither gained on the other any worth mentioning.

And night came and they didn't take in any of the sails that they had set, but they sailed on, in the moonlight. Captain Sol had to keep his crew pretty busy, changing the sails so that the wind would blow on them the right way, and so did Captain Henry. It is a good deal of a job to change these many sails. But morning came, and there was the _Augusta Ramsay_ right abreast of them. And the wind increased, so that the two vessels leaned a great deal; but Captain Sol said that he guessed he could carry his sail as long as Captain Henry could carry his, and he wasn't going to be the first to take in sail. But the sailors didn't like to hear Captain Sol say that because they knew that it meant hard work for them.

They sailed on, that way, for a long time, and they never lost sight of each other. But, first, the _Augusta Ramsay_ would be a little way ahead and then the _Industry_ would gain a little and go ahead of the _Augusta Ramsay_. Then, one day, it began to blow harder and harder and Captain Sol knew that they would have a storm. And he got a little worried because he was afraid that he might have to take in some sail before Captain Henry did. For he wouldn't risk his ship just because he had said that he wasn't going to be the first to take in sail. And he looked, through his glass, at the _Augusta Ramsay_, to see if she took in any of her sails, and he waited as long as he dared to wait. Then, just as he was going to give it up, and take his glass down, he saw the sailors on the _Augusta Ramsay_ going up on the yards. And he was very glad of it, and he gave orders for his sailors to reduce sail. And the sailors were glad, too, and they swarmed up aloft and took in the sails in a jiffy.

The storm lasted for three days and two nights. The wind blew harder and harder and the waves got higher and higher and the rain came down in sheets. Then it would stop raining, for a little while, and the wind would blow harder than ever, while the flying clouds seemed to be no higher than the masthead. Then it would begin to rain again. But they didn't lose sight of the _Augusta Ramsay_ completely, although, at times, she was hidden by the rain and, for one whole day, they didn't see her at all. But she was there on the next morning. And the _Industry_, all through that hard blow, was sailing under double-reefed topsails, and so was the _Augusta Ramsay_. And double-reefed topsails is very little sail, compared to the enormous spread of canvas that the vessels had set when they left Boston.

At last, after dark of the third day, the wind began to be less and the clouds to be more broken, and Captain Sol knew that the storm was over. And he made up his mind that he would get out of that place just as soon as he could, for he thought that, just as likely as not, it would be calm there for some time. And he thought that the sooner he got out of any place where there was likely to be no wind, the better. So he didn't go to bed, but he watched the weather, and he waited. Finally, he thought that the _Industry_ could stand a little more sail.

"Call all hands," he said to the mate, "and get sail on her, little by little. We don't want to loaf around here."

It was two o'clock in the morning, and the mate thought that the sailors would grumble; but he didn't care. "Aye, aye, sir," he said.

And he called all hands, and they came up on deck, grumbling at the captain for routing them up at that time, to make sail, when it was blowing hard enough, anyway. But the mate pretended not to hear them, and he ordered some of the sailors aloft. And the sailors that went aloft shook out the reefs in the topsails; and the sailors that were on deck pulled away at the halliards and at the sheets, but they didn't shout out any chanty.

And the _Industry_ began to sail faster. And pretty soon Captain Sol had the men shake out some other sails and hoist them. And the wind was less, and a star showed. And Captain Sol had the men set more sails, so that the vessel had all that she could stand. Then, pretty soon, more stars showed, and the wind kept on going down. And, by daylight, he had nearly all the sails set, and nothing was to be seen of the _Augusta Ramsay_. And Captain Sol chuckled to himself, and went down to bed.

He didn't sleep very long but just took a little nap and then he went on deck again. There were two things that bothered him a little, besides the sailing of his vessel, which couldn't be said to bother him at all; for he always did the very best he could. Nobody can do any more than that. And, when he had done the very best he could, Captain Sol didn't worry about what would happen; which was very sensible on Captain Sol's part. And the two things that bothered him were, first, where the _Augusta Ramsay_ was; and, second, the disposition of his crew. It seemed to him that they were likely to make trouble. Captain Sol wasn't afraid of trouble, but he knew that the willingness of the crew made a great difference in the speed that could be got out of a vessel in a long voyage. So he made up his mind that he would attend to the second matter first.

Captain Sol had all hands called; and the men came up unwillingly, and they were very cross with Captain Sol because they thought that he had called them to change the sails again. And they had been up nearly the whole of three nights and wanted to sleep. But Captain Sol called them all aft, and he stood by the railing that was at the edge of the quarter deck and he made them a little speech. He said that the men must know that there was a race between the _Augusta Ramsay_ and the _Industry_, and that each vessel was trying to be the first to get to the far country, where they both were bound. It was worth something to his owners to have the _Industry_ get there first, and he would promise the crew five dollars apiece if they beat the _Augusta Ramsay_, even if they only beat her by an hour. And, for every day that they beat her, up to two weeks, he would promise them two dollars apiece. He didn't care about beating her by more than two weeks, because he thought that he would have his cargo aboard, all ready to carry back to Boston, in that time. But there must be no skulking and no unwillingness. Anything of that kind would be severely dealt with, and he would not hesitate to put any man in irons for the rest of the voyage who didn't jump to his duty at the word.

And, when Captain Sol had finished his speech, the men all shouted out a cheer for him and another cheer for Captain Jonathan and Captain Jacob. And they weren't grumbly any more but they were glad. And Captain Sol turned away and looked through his glass to see if he could make out the _Augusta Ramsay_. But he couldn't see any sign of her.

So Captain Sol sailed the _Industry_ across the wide ocean and down around the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean; and he carried sail until it almost cracked the masts, and his crew were as willing as they could be and nobody skulked. But, all that time, there was no sign of the _Augusta Ramsay_. And they sailed into the wide river and anchored; and Captain Sol sold the things he had brought and bought the things to carry back, and still there was no sign of the _Augusta Ramsay_.

And he loaded the _Industry_ with the things that he had bought, and he hoisted his anchor and sailed away down the river. And, just as he came to the ocean, there was the _Augusta Ramsay_ sailing in.

Captain Sol had the sails fixed so that the ship wouldn't go ahead and so did Captain Henry. And Captain Sol had a boat lowered and sailors got in, to row it, and he went over to make a call on Captain Henry. And he found that the _Augusta Ramsay_ had been caught in a calm place, after that storm, because Captain Henry hadn't been willing to rout his men out at two o'clock in the morning; and she hadn't been able to get out of that calm place for nearly two weeks, but had stayed there, with her sails flapping against the masts, for all that long time. And Captain Henry said that it was a joke on him and bade Captain Sol good bye and wished him a good voyage home. But Captain Sol thought that it was no joke for the owners of the _Augusta Ramsay_.

Then he got into his boat again and went back to his ship. And the _Augusta Ramsay_ fixed her sails so that she would go ahead, and so did the _Industry_. And they sailed away from each other; but Captain Sol had taken Captain Henry's letters.

And that's all.

[The end]
William John Hopkins's Short Story: The Race

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