p^' 
 
Copyright 1912 by 
 TiiF. Stamford Foundry Company 
 
 / 
 
 ©C1,A329866 
 
"We're the men who set on Georges, 
 ■"On the Channel and Cape Shore, 
 "From the Virgins down to Cashes, 
 "And the Peak to Labrador. 
 "We're the seiners and the shackers, 
 "And the fishermen that go 
 "Atrawlin' on the Eastern Banks, 
 "From Grand to Banquereau." 
 
 — Tlie Song of the Fisliennen. 
 
ERXE rHlNXEY 
 
^\'I1"^LV the American 
 fishing- schooner Col- 
 umbia was making her 
 ]) a s s a g e, homeward 
 bound from the Eas- 
 tern Banks, for Glou- 
 cester, for Jimmy 
 Westhaver, the skip- 
 per, was driving her. 
 Drixing her in every 
 sense of the word ; all four lowers spread to the northeaster 
 howling- oxer the starboard quarter and her bowsprit looking 
 u\) for the twin lights when it wasn't looking for the bottom 
 of the Gulf of Maine. 
 
 The gang, excepting the two on deck — one to the wheel, 
 the other to look out — were enjoying a "lay-ofT" after weeks 
 of hard fishing; and with two thousand quintals in the hold, 
 the skipper did not believe in loafing on the passage while 
 Gloucester market was waiting for their catch. 
 
 It was a wild night, cold, blowing hard, but clear. Just 
 the kind of weather for making a grand shoot for home, and 
 the men, as they la/ded the evening awa}' in their bunks, lis- 
 tened with keen a])preciation to the muttering roar of the bow 
 wa\-e careering past them, with only the scant thickness of 
 the planking between them and it. 
 
 It was a night for the bunk; for the comfort of bootless 
 stockinged feet, slackened belts and a warm blanket : and with 
 pil)es aglow, the crowd lay jammed in their narrow bedplaces, 
 while every timber, ])lank and stanchion in the big semi- 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 kiiockalx >ul schooner creaked and ^f^roaned witli the i)ressure 
 of tile canxas she was hi.i;,!L;in|L;- along. 
 
 1-j-ne IMiinney, the cook — a jolly, ruddy faced man of 
 about forty-five, and reputed to be the best cook out of Glou- 
 cester — found it precarious work hanging- on to the weather 
 lockers, so he slid gracefully dow^n to leeward and scjuatted 
 down alongside old Jerry Da\is, w ho was trying to read "Lady 
 Audley's Secret" b}- the light of a candle in a sticking-tommy 
 placed perilously close to his head. 
 
 "Ski])per's puttin' it to her, Jerry," remarked the cook as 
 the vessel dived into a comber and the forecastle re\'erberated 
 to its thunderous crash on the deck above. "I cal'late we 
 cughter swing around Ten Pound Island by noon tomorrow. 
 She's been dustin' at some clip ever since w^e swung off, and il 
 lie carries this breeze to the Cajjc, lu-'ll make a record. W'liat 
 d'ye think, Jerrv?" 
 
 Jerry laid down the novel and extinguished the candle 
 before re])lying. Jerry and the cook were the two oracles of 
 the forecastle — the former l)eing the oldest fisherman al)oard. 
 and the latter the C(^)ok, and cook on a fisherman is second in 
 importance only to the Presidency of the United States. 
 
 "Yep!" answered Jerry. "She's agoin' some — jest listen 
 to that breeeze, fellers! He's got every chanst to make a pas- 
 sage in this craft, new, well-found, good gear; but, Pord save 
 ye! he'll go some to ])eat the tri]) Tom Robbins nuule in the 
 old BstJicr SuUivaii years agone. D'ye remember that, cook?" 
 
 'Ihe cook smiled reminiscently. "Do T remember it? 
 Gripes! I should rather ihink 1 did. Warn't T the first man 
 to ship with Tom Rol)bins when he bought that old Siillhaii, 
 and didn't I stick with him in all the high line lri])s he made in 
 lier up to the time he left Gloucester and went out halibuttin' 
 -on the I'acific Goast? And 1 can remember that particular 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 trip all ri^ht. for 'twas me that had a hand in niakin' him drive 
 the Siilli-i'cni the way he did. Money and his stomaeh was the 
 only two thinij;s Tom Roljbins had any respect for, aye, dollars 
 and i^Tub, for pride he had none. I drove Robbins and Robbins 
 dro\-e the vessel — " 
 
 "How^ was that, Erne?" interrupted Davis. "Sure I al- 
 ways understood he was out to trim Jason Churchill wdiat had 
 the Rose L. Piillcii. Them two were always at loggerheads, I 
 heard." 
 
 Phinnev reached for a match, "'idiey was an' yet they 
 wasn't. Jerry, for Rol)bins never cared enough about anybody 
 to pick a quarrel. r)Ut it's a kinder roundabout yarn and one 
 that 'ud take (|uite a bit of explainin' to make things clear — " 
 
 "Vou got ])leutv o' time, Erne," sung out a voice from the 
 peak. "Xo hshin" tomorrow y' know, and there ain't no call 
 for vou to turn out early. I'd like to hear somethin' about 
 that tri]) and Tom Robbins — 'Doughnut' Robbins they useter 
 call him, didn't the_\', Erne?" 
 
 "\'cp!" replied the cook with a smile on his rudd}- features. 
 "And did ye ever hear how he got the name? Xo? Well, I 
 cal'late I'd better gi\'e you the ^\•hole yarn. C'tit me a hll from 
 that plug of yoiu-'n, Jake, and after two draws and a s])it, Ell 
 fill away. So !" 
 
 With his ru])iciuid face glowing through the halo of blue 
 tobacco smoke like the sun in a Bank fog, the cook began. 
 
 "Tt was a good many }ears ago when I first met Tom 
 l\ol)l)ins. I was cookin' in the Prcsidciif Ifarrisoii — an ol' 
 Provincetown tooth])ick — when this Robbins blew into Glou- 
 cester with a btuich of Xewf'nlanders in a bait \essel. and he 
 shipped with our ski])])er in the I larriscn for the winter tishin'. 
 
 "It was aboard the Harrison he got the name of "Dough- 
 nut" Robbins. He'd never seen a doughnut afore, and when 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 I had placed a plate of them on the table, he starts in peelin' 
 the skin off it jest as if it was a ])otato. By the Great Trawl 
 Hook! didn't the gang- laugh! lint they couldn't ji'Hy him 
 nohow for he was as tough and as thick-skinned as a l)luc'-dog. 
 and mean — Lord save ye, but he was mean! Money jest nat- 
 urally stuck to him, and ye couldn't pry him loose from a dol- 
 lar with the boom tayckle and all hands to the fall. 
 
 "He'd mess around with old g'ear that was f()re\ er ])ari- 
 in' on him and the best j)art of his time he was nosin' around 
 lookin' for bargains. There was no fisherman in (Gloucester 
 that could fit out as cheap as Tom Robbins and u]) t(T his 
 boardin' house he had a reg'lar junk sho]) of trawl tubs, odd 
 shots of trawl, buoys, gurdys, and sichlike, which he peddled 
 to the boys when he was ashore. 
 
 "Didn't he git a grab on every trawl kag in Gloucester 
 once? Fittin' out time and most gangs riggin' new gear and 
 not a trawl buoy to be had except from Tom Robbins, and 
 him chargin' three times what they wuz worth ! Oh, but he 
 was a financeer was Tom, and it warn't long afore the boys 
 quit callin' him 'Doughnut', b-f ye did, he'd pull out a roll of 
 bills as thick round as a fishin' hawser and tell ye them was 
 the peelin's. 'Yes!' he would say. 'I useter i)cel my dough- 
 nuts, and them's the peelin's !' " 
 
 The cook paused in his narrative and glanced over the 
 interested faces peering over the bunk rising- boards. 
 
 "Aye," he continued. "It didn't take l\ob])ins long to 
 make enough money to buy a vessel. He wouldn't go shares 
 with nobody but jest bought the old Esther SuUivaii for about 
 three thousand dollars and took her out salt tisliin' withouL 
 givin' her a lick of paint or an o\crhaul. and licr lyin' to the 
 wharf for a vear afore he bought her. 
 
The cook paused in his narrative and glanced over the interested faces 
 peering over the bunk rising boards. 
 
lO "DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 that. I was supposed to git cups, plates, knives, forks, spunes. 
 kittles, pots, lamps, bakin' board and enough fittin's to purvide 
 for eighteen men. 
 
 "Five dollars, by Heck! That was too strong for me, sa 
 I gu\' him his money back and told him I wouldn't ship with 
 a skipper thai wouldn't ])ur\i(le the necessities of life. 
 
 "\\'hat did he do? A\'hy, jest pockets the money, and after 
 tellin' me 'twill be all right, he comes aboard later with a 
 bunch of junk he'd got for two dollars from the old /:. S. Birt- 
 zvell what was laid up. 
 
 "'I've jest saved three dollars by doin' my own buyin',' 
 he says, and he was as ])leased o\er it as a T Wharf shark 
 what has sold a ]>air of imitation rubber boots to a fisherman. 
 Lord, but he was mean ! 
 
 "Well, out to sea we swings, and a more sorrowful set of 
 tags on a vessel never disgraced the port of Gloucester, ller 
 mains'l was like a Noo Bedford whaleman's shirt — a ])atch on 
 a patch and a ])atch overall — while 'twas only a young and 
 actix'e man that could go aloft for she hadn't a whole ratlin 
 left on eitlicr fore or main riggin'. 
 
 "I'>ul we got fisli ! "S^es, fellers; as soou as we made tlie- 
 grounds. 'DonglnuU" liad the dories over and ne\'er let u]) onlil 
 the bait was done and the salt wetted. Then around Eastern 
 P'int we comes pokin' (»ne blowy day and surj)rised the natives 
 — a dirt}-. disre])Utable old scliooner. but with an e\erlastin'ly 
 good tri]) below decks. 
 
 "After that, we made two crackin' gi^od trips — another 
 salt tishiu" and a winter hadilickiu' — what made some of the 
 old timers open their eyes when l\o])l)ins hailed his fare; and 
 e\en to the low dory, our fellers ilrawed liighdine shares out 
 of her stocks. 
 
'DOUGHNUT'- ROBBIXS'S BET II 
 
 "Tliis liclj)cd to make Robbins's name, but ye sh'd have 
 seen the vessel. Hoys! oh, boys! but she looked a sight to 
 everyone but the skipjjer. lie didn't cave two straws for the 
 vessel's a])]:iearance as long as he could catch hsh, and he was 
 the boy to catch 'em. 
 
 "We started fit tin' out then for a spring halibuttin' trip 
 to the eastward — that is to say the gang were doin' the fittin' 
 out, not Robbins. All as he did in that line was to give the 
 Sulii-raii's hull a lick of coal dust and kerosene, send up his 
 topmasts, and reeve ofif a new mainsheet. 
 
 " 'Ah !' says he after reevin' off that sheet, 'she's all ready 
 for the summer now. The next thing is to git to sea and pay 
 for her overhaul.' 
 
 "Then some of the boys went up and asked him ef he in- 
 tended to git new dories. 'Xew dories !' he yells. 'An' what 
 in the ruddv Hades is the matter with the ones ye've got?' 
 
 " 'Matter?' answers Jesse Publicover — him that's skipper 
 of the Hood now. 'Jes listen to him boys I Why the blame' 
 bottoms in them arc worn thin as a shingle. Sure, I kin stick 
 my fork clean through ivery time I'm pitchin' fish, and I'm 
 alius afraid some ruddy halibut'll llap extra hard with his tail 
 and send us all into ihe drink — they're so thin. 'Sides that, 
 they're leaky and need bailin' all the time to keep 'em afloat, 
 and the gunnels are so shaky that I'm afraid to pull hard for 
 fear I should yank 'em clean off, an' yank 'em off we will 
 when we start gurdyin' hallibut. 'Tis fine they'd look as 
 flower beds or lobster cars, but as dories for fishin' in, they 
 ain't w'uth an orner}- damn !' 
 
 ''Did tliev git 'em?' Xot on your life! 'Tis easy ye'll 
 have to go in 'em,' says Kobbius. '^'ou fellers abuse 'em. 
 Idiev ain't iron-clads. Go easy in 'em, and Til maybe git a 
 new set in the fall.' 
 
12 'DOUGHxXUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 "'I'hat's all the satisfaction they got from him, and then 1 
 broaches the ([nestion of a new stove. 
 
 " 'I can't cook decently on that bunch of junk below there,' 
 says 1. 'and a new stove I must have. Let me go up to the 
 store and order a SHIPMATE afore we swing out. Let's git 
 3 Stove ef we git nawthin' else.' 
 
 "It would ha\e brung tears to your eyes to have h'ard 
 the way 1 begged him to let me git what I wanted, but it was 
 no use. 
 
 " 'Erne.' says he. '1 ain't got no fault to find with your 
 •cookin'. \\'hen I don't like your grub, Fll maybe see about 
 gittin' a new stove then. Ye have my permission to buy a 
 little wire ef it wants fixin'.' And with that he walks away. 
 
 "it was jest about this time that Jason Chtirchill come out 
 with the knockabout Rose L. PuUcn. Jason come from the 
 same place as Tom Robbins and the two of 'em were always 
 at loggerheads with each other, tho' I don't know why. Maybe 
 it was jest because they came from the same village, but any- 
 ways Rol)bins had no use for Churchill and Churchill had less 
 for Robbins. 
 
 "The Pullcii A\as a mighty fine big craft — a new style 
 knockabout: no bowsprit, and a ^vhale of a fo'c'sle — 'sides 
 what she was well rigged and geared comjiared with our old 
 toothi)ick. 
 
 "While ^ve were fittin' out she lay acrc^st the dock from 
 us gittin' ready for a trip same as us, and Churchill use to git 
 our ski])])er mad by walkin' his vessel's quarter and passin' 
 remarks about the Siillifdii to his gang. 
 
 " 'D'ye see that old wrack acrcxst the dock?' he'd sing out, 
 loud enough for all (lloucester to hear. 'They sav her skip- 
 ])cr's agoin" to hire her out as a }'acht to I'.oston folks. Ain't 
 she an object? Looks like I'om Robbius- dirty as a pig on 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 13 
 
 a niiul flat — and he's been so busy ])eelin' doughnuts and things 
 that he's takin' to scrapin" the paint off his ohl hooker's top- 
 sides to number his high-flyers with. 
 
 "'Some craft, f)o_vs ! Leaks like a l)asket, I'm told, and 
 sails like a house — all drift and leeway, 'sides takin' an hour to 
 come about. Ain't she a curiosity?' 
 
 "And so on and so forth, while Robl)ins "ud be stampin' 
 .and grindin' his teeth. Churchill seemed to be the only man 
 that could raise Tom's dander; and after a broadside the skip- 
 jjer 'ud stamp down into the cabin and curse Jason from Sou'- 
 west Harbor to Fulton Market. 
 
 " 'I'll git him some day,' he would say, 'an when I do. 
 I'll skin him to the ballast. I'll fetch him up all standin' some 
 •of these fine days, and by Godfrey! I'll take pleasure in peelin' 
 the hide off'n him !' 
 
 "Well, (lur crowd got their skates of halibut gear ganjed 
 and hooks seized on. and with our ice and bait aboard we 
 swung' out for the Cape Sable and La Have grounds followin" 
 the Rose L. Piillcii which left two days afore us. ^^"e had a 
 dead beat u]) to the Cully and on the run off' to the grounds 
 our fellers got i)lenty of chanst to think cner things in genera! 
 -and soon they scared up a kinder grouch on the skipi)er 'count 
 of his stinginess. 
 
 "^iliev chewed the rag over the old dories ; they passes re- 
 marks on the sails and the gear, and when the gang turned out 
 to jig u]) they'd lay all ihcir weight du the halliard and when 
 it parted they'd curse and rip around like fishermen do when 
 there ain't no fishin'. Skipper doesn't care a hoot but lets them 
 talk all tlic\- had a mind to, and if the}- bust the gear, they'd 
 have to repair it, not him. 
 
 " 'I'll worry the old tightw ad,' says Publicover. Her gear 
 is jest about on the last tack, and some fine da}- when it's my 
 
14 
 
 "DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 trick I'll jibe her over and fetch everythin' down by the run. 
 See ef I don't !' 
 
 "All this time I was ha\'in' a holy session with that old 
 scrap pile of a stove, for it took most of my time tinkerin' and 
 coaxin' it to cook anythin', but while I was messin' around 
 with it, I has an idee. I never said nawthin' to nobody about 
 it, for idees are best worked out by the man wdiat has them, 
 and as mine spelt trouble for all hands as well as the skipper, 
 I jest worries around until we made our first berth some 
 twenty-five miles to the s'uth'ard of Cai)e Sable. 
 
 "Soon as he made the ground, Robbins had the gang bait- 
 in' up and the set made, and I got busy on my own hook, so 
 when the crowd comes aboard for dinner after gurdyin' away 
 on halibut gear snarled up on hard bottom all mornin' I had 
 a dinner ready what wasn't fit for a dog to eat. I had some 
 clam chowder which I managed to scorch nicely; then some 
 b'ilcd salt beef jest warm and no more and 'bout as tough as 
 a lignum vitac bulls-eye, and with a pot full of smoky, burnt 
 tapioca, some soggy ginger cake and sour bread, I jest had 
 that crowd rippin' and tearin' around somethin' sinful — skip- 
 |)er and all. 
 
 " '\\'hat's the trouble, cook?' says he to me. 'Ain't vou 
 feelin' well?' 
 
 " 'I'm well enough,' says I. 
 
 " AW^ll.' he sputters, for he was kinder 'fraid to comj)lain. 
 'How did ye come to dish up sich a mess of burnt, g-oozy grut) 
 as this?' 
 
 " 'I'is me that'll ask you a question,' says T, 'for how d'ye 
 expect mc to cook anythin' on a heap of ballast iron held to- 
 gether with hay wire. 'Tis on its last legs, and was, years 
 agone, an' didn't I ask vou for a new one in Gloucester afore 
 we left?' 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 15 
 
 "To tliis he L;i\cs no answer — jest looks at the stove and 
 chnihs u]) on deck. Then I turns round and gives the g'ang a 
 wink. Tf any of }-ouse is hungry,' I says, 'ye'll find a mug-u]:) 
 in the lldur cu])l)iiard: not the shack locker, y'understand, but 
 the store cu])l)oard. The shack locker grub is for the skipi)er's 
 niug-u])S, and don't none of youse ])ut him he]:) to my game or 
 by the Great Trawl Hook! I'll put i)oison in \-our soup ef 
 you do !' 
 
 "Of course when the gang got wise they started a little 
 game on their own end of the line and they cert'nly ])laye(l 
 hell with Tom I\ol)bins that afternoon. They kept him chasin" 
 after them all o\er the grotmds — the gear was forever ])artin' 
 they said — and Robbins was beginnin' to think there was an 
 ■everlastin'ly hard tide runnin' below the surface as he towed 
 dory after dory up to their buoy's. 
 
 "It was jest comin' on dark when he started in ])ickin" the 
 dories u]). and as we carried no spare hand. I had to be on deck 
 to catch the dory painters, and believe me, I never had so 
 much fun in all my life. There was jest a nice little westerly 
 breeze ablowin" with a little jobble of sea and that crowd 
 made ha}- of the skipper's dories. 
 
 "Tom Killam and George Hood in number one dory came 
 alongside first; ho\e out their skates of gear, the buoys and 
 the gurd}', and then the two of them gives an extry hard stamp 
 of their feet on the bottom boards and she filled to the gunnels, 
 'idle two dorymates jumped lor the rail as she went under and 
 a fine doryload of prime halibut goes sli])])in' into the sea again 
 wdiile the skipper was ahowdin' for to git her on the tackles as 
 he jabbed at the siid<in' halibut with the long gait. 
 
 "Somehow or other" — and the cooked smiled meaningly — 
 ""that dory painter ])arted and while the old man was ri])])in' 
 
l6 'DOUGHNUT" ROBBIXS'S BET 
 
 out North Shore prayers on us, there come a yell from for'ard 
 --the vessel was jest fillin' away again with no one to the 
 wheel — and the first thing- we seed was Jesse Publicover and 
 his dorvmale ascramblin' over the bows. Jesse comes tearin' 
 aft to the ski])i)er lookin' as savage as a bear. 'This is a nice 
 thing!' he roars at Robbins. 'Go and run me down! Try and 
 drownd me and Jack there, and us bin ayellin' at ye and dodg^- 
 in' ye all o^■cr the Idasted Rank as ye come slammin' at us hell- 
 to-split and drive us under. Run our dory inter chopsticks 
 with yer carelessness and lose all our gear and fittings 'sides 
 as fine a haul of halibut as ever corned ofl:' this bottom !' 
 
 "Sure enough, we looks over the stern and there was 
 Jesse's broken dory and his trawl buoys floating- away, and for 
 five minutes Tom Robbins had to listen to the rough side of 
 Jesse's tongue without bein' aide to say a word. 
 
 "^^^ell, fellers, we sure badgered Tom Robbins that night. 
 The l)oys 'ud come rearin' down agin the schooner's hull and 
 then wlien half their fish had Idn pitched out they'd kick out 
 the i)lug and jum]) for the rail as the dory started to fill. 'Look 
 how l)ad slic's leakin', skipper,' they'd say, and Robbins, 
 unable to see the drawed plug under the fish would yell for 
 the dory to be lioisted aboard before it sunk. 
 
 ''Two dories with gunnels stove, one sunk and one run 
 down was the bill for that night, and it was all done apurpose, 
 even to Jesse Publicoxer runnin' under her l)ows to git his 
 dory smashed up. 
 
 "I'hen I had a sup])er ready that 'ud make a shark snifif. 
 A half baked halil)Ut swininiin' in the rancidest Ijutter I could 
 git — lead line arming it was; half boiled potatoes, smoky tea 
 and doughy biscuits jest 'bout got Rol)])ins goin' and the wa\- 
 the gang carried on was a terror. 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 17 
 
 "We cal'lated the skipper would gh kinder fed up with 
 Ihin.^s and l)e for swingin' her off for Gloucester, but he warn't 
 the kind to give u]) in a hurry. 'There's four dories left,' says 
 he, 'and this craft will make a trip even with four dories. 
 Youse fellers kin g'o four to a dory — two kin bait up and over- 
 haul gear aboard, and other two kin make the set.' 
 
 "And this was how he kept 'em agoin' all next day, and 
 ss it was a'most a flat ca'm, there was no chanst for smashin' 
 dories, so we gits quite a little deck of fish, much to the an- 
 noyance of the gang. 
 
 " 'Twas me that got in the fine work, fellers, even tho' 
 I had to work double tides to do it. For every dish I sp'iled, 
 I had to make a good one to put in the flour cupboard for the 
 boys, and I want to tell ye, the skipper got his fill of half- 
 cooked and burnt vittles them days and it was makin' him 
 sick. And the boys didn't spare his feelin's any by the way 
 they talked about the way the food was served. 
 
 " 'Infernal shame.' they says, 'that we have to eat sich 
 truck. Erne Phinney is a good cook — as good as any out of 
 Gloucester — but what kin he do with sich a hunk of junk as 
 he's got for a stove. And 'tis all the ski])])er's fault, lie won't 
 git anythin' in the way of new gear. Look at the dories we 
 got! Look at the outrajious fittin's on this hooker! Sails 
 ain't w'uth a damn and liable to blow away in anythin' of a 
 breeze ; ropes all ready to ])art as soon as ye lay an_\- weight on 
 them—' 
 
 "'Yes,' savs Jesse Publicover. 'l^hcre's Jason C'liurchib 
 dfiwn to loo'ard there alaughin' at us. I was atalkin' to one of 
 his crowd when we was out in the dories today and he said 
 that Jason A\as agoin' to send the derelict destroyer out Iiere 
 to remove the llsthcr Sullivan as bein' a menace to navigation. 
 Said this here ]ieddler reminded him of the 'Flyin' Dutchman' 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 — she was so old lookin" and it was a wonder to him how she 
 e\-er mana.qed to fetch ( ilducester with sich old rags for sails. 
 
 ■■l\()l)l)ins was standin' l)y the fo'c'sle scuttle wdien Jesse- 
 was atalkin' and he must have h'ard e\ery word of what he 
 said, for wdien he comes down the ladder for sui')])er he asks 
 Jesse when the PtiUcn was swingin' ofif. 
 
 " 'Tomorrer. I cal'late.' answers Jesse. 'One of her crowd 
 tdld me she'd used u]) all her ice and bait.' 
 
 "The skipper said nawthin' but deals himself out a plate- 
 ful (if l)()iled rice, tastes it. and shoves it away wdth a curse- 
 wliile the gang nearly exploded laughin', for I excelled my- 
 self on that rice — boilin' it in salt water and burnin' it nicely. 
 'Idien he gra1)S a ddughnut, feels it. and lays it down; then a 
 hunk of bread, sniffs at it. and heaves it back — it was good and 
 doughy and sour, believe me — and he gits u]) from the table 
 and stam])s aft while the boys near busts laughin' at him. 
 It was too funny for anythin' to see the look he shot at ])Oor, 
 innercent me, alius busy tinkerin' with the stove when he was 
 'round. 
 
 "Drawin' away on his jumbo he sneaks down to h^o'ard 
 where the Rose L. PuUcu was dressin' down her catch. There 
 was a good breeze al)lowin' and the baroiueter was agoin' 
 down for more, as under i)ur four lowers we swings around 
 the Piillcii's stern. 
 
 "'Ilullol" yells ("hurchill as we swings l)y him. 'Still 
 afloat with that old wrack? Come up, fellers, and see Xoah's 
 Ark, Ararat for orders, and with old Noah to the wheel there!' 
 
 "His gang knocks off to have a laugh at us. and we could 
 see Robbin's face as black as a thunder cloud, lie throws the 
 vessel up for a minute and sings out. '.^he's an old wrack, is 
 she? d'hen what odds will ye give me on a hook from here 
 to Kastern P'int?' 
 
'—they'd kick out the plug and jump for the rail as the dory started 
 
 to fill." 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 19 
 
 "Go 'way/ shouts Churchill. 'Tis like takin' candy from a 
 kitl, but I'll take a hundred dollars off'n you with ])leasurc.' 
 
 " 'A hundred dollars be damned !' says Robbins. 'What's 
 a hundred dollars to me ! Suppose you make it five hundred, 
 eh? Will you put up five hundred on yer vessel? I got that 
 much anyhow to put up on this old wrack as ye call it — ' 
 
 "'Five hundred!' yells Jason. 'D'ye mean to say ye'll 
 risk fi\c hundred dollars with me on a race in that old tub?' 
 
 " 'That's what I said,' answers Tom. 'Maybe ye'd be for 
 raisin' it a little? Say a thousand? ITow about it?' 
 
 " 'This was too much for Churchill, who thought Robbins 
 was gone crazy, and he wasn't the only one that thought so, 
 for sure the crowd of us were of the same notion. 
 
 " 'Xo,' says Jason. 'T cal'late five hundred'll satisfy me. 
 T don't want to lilxd that old hooker for payment. AMien d'ye 
 swing- oft?' 
 
 " 'Xow.' replies Robbins 'I'm all ready.' 
 
 " 'l^hen go to it!' yells Churchill, and soon he was holler- 
 in' to his gang to git the light sails set — " 
 
 "Why. Tom Robbins must ha' had a lot of confidence in 
 his old \esscl t' take on a bet like that," interrupted a man on 
 the lee locker. "Was she much of a sailer. Erne?" 
 
 '"Yes," ansAvered the cook, ".^he could sail all right tho' 
 Tom Rol)l)ins hadn't done much crackin' on in her afore. He 
 was so careful of the gear in our run-ofTs that he wouldn't drive 
 her. and comin' home we Avcre gen'ly so deep that she could 
 only make ordinar' sailin' of it. but she had a good sharp hull 
 on her and ])urty fine lines — jest as good as the PiiUcii tho' she 
 was an older vessel." 
 
 Here the cook paused to refill his i)i])e and the eager faces 
 peering over the bunk l)oards waited imjiatienlly for the con- 
 tinuation of the narratixe. 
 
20 'DOaGHXUT" RORBINS'S BET 
 
 "Well, as I was asayin'. the PuUcn swings ofif and Rob- 
 l)ins calls the gang- aft. 'Ye heard me. I cal'late.' says he. 
 *Xow git your halldon and stays'l set. Give her the main- 
 tops'l. Jig nj) everythin', and take a i)nll on that niainsheet 
 liere ! I'm agoin' to trim that big nKUithed ballast fish afore 
 he's a year older. Swing her off fur Gloucester! \\'est by 
 no'the and nawthin' to!' And round goes the old Sullivan 
 buckin' in to her long' two hundred and twenty-five mile 
 stretch for Eastern P'int with the wind out of the no'th'ard 
 and breezin' up. 
 
 "We rouses out the stays"! and ball('*on out of the box, 
 Ix-nds them on and sends them u]), and after sheetin' dowMi, 
 away goes our old hooker poundin' hot-foot after the PiiUcn 
 half a mile ahead of us and hoofin' it for all he was worth. 
 Then it comes on thick and we lose him in the blackness of 
 it, for it got so dark we couldn't see him. He couldn't see our 
 sidelights 'cause the ski])per wouldn't let me put them up. 'I 
 ain't agoin' to show that joker where I am,' savs he. 'Jest 
 keep 'em hand}- for showin' in case ve sights another \essel. 
 iuid keep a (kiuble look-out for'ard !' 
 
 "By the Lord Harry, l)0}-s, that was a night and no mis- 
 take. He had no need to tell us to keej) a good look-out for'ard 
 tor nearly every mother's son of us kei)t the deck, too scared 
 to stay below for fear she'd run herself under or be run into bv 
 another \essel, and the \\-ay that old toothpick stom])ed, 
 r'ared, and rii)])ed along, was a fright. The breeze stifi^ened 
 into a pro])er buster and had the old SiilliTiin draggin' her lee 
 rail through it at a twelve knot gait. Robbins stagg'ers along 
 the weather (piarter. s(piintin' into the binnacle and uj) at 
 the sails and snitfin' at the breeze. Lord llarr\! I fanc}' ] 
 kin see him yet — pacin' the deck with his hands in his ])ockets 
 jinglin' some coppers; his shoulders hunched u]). and the red 
 
'DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 21 
 
 nose and whiskers of liini stickin' out from under the fore- 
 thatch of a winter trawler's hat like the tusks of a wahnis I 
 once seed up the Labrador! 
 
 "P)}' midnis^ht she was luggin' more than she could carry 
 and the wind was comin' away squally, and wdien she got the 
 puffs she jest laid down to them until the main hatch went 
 half under and everythin' fetched to loo'ard that wasn't rivited 
 to the hull. 
 
 ''Didn't the boys have a session? He had Publicover to 
 the wheel for two hours and ]M-etty nigh scared him stifif. 
 ■'Don't you dare let her come up in them i^uft's.' the skii)])er 
 told him. ' 'Tis the puffs wdiat helps her along.' 
 
 "'Put she ain't got no stiff'ness,' says Jesse. 'There's 
 nawthin" in her hold — ' 
 
 " '.\n emi)ty hold is good racin' trim !' answers Robbins. 
 'both for vessels and men. Sure'n I haven't had a square meal 
 sence we made the grounds and wdien I go in trainin' like that 
 I'm a fair de\il for carr^dn' on. Keep her off' now — she'll stand 
 it I' And when he says this, she rolls down until the lightboard 
 in the Ice riggin' goes under and all the gear is washed out of 
 the to]) dor}- on the lee nest. 
 
 "That little roll-down took the maintops'!, for in a second 
 after she s])lit, and there was nawthin' but the boltropes left 
 to clew up. l'"rom then until daylight, the gang had their work 
 cut out for them ])atchin' up the gear as it i)arted. Everythin' 
 bust but that new mainsheet. First goes the lee balloon sheet, 
 and down the sail has to come until a new one is bent on. 
 Then the stays'l catches a jniff and snaj^s the pin what the 
 sheet is belaved to. and when Robbins brings her to the wind, 
 there was the gang up in the lee riggin" clawin' awa}- at thac 
 sheet awhi])pin' around in the darkness and threalenin' to flick 
 someone o\-er the side. 
 
22 'DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 "'I'he forcshcct was the next to git adrift, and when it 
 went tlie ])nnm jest slintcred the lee nest of dories inter 
 kindlin', and willi the l)an,<4in' and flappin' of the fores'l, the 
 peak haUiard parts and there was hell to pay for a good quarter 
 of an hour until they got it secured and the sheet rove ofif, end 
 for end, afresh. 
 
 "Long about tliree in the mornin', the skipper comes be- 
 low for a mug-U]), and T own I felt kinder sorry for him when 
 I sees him diggin' inter a mess of cold, 1)urnt l)eans and a 
 hunk of scmr dough. I had some coffee too, made especially 
 for him, and stewed till ye could ha' used it for ink. He fin- 
 ished a plateful of l)eans and a cuj) of coff'ee, and tlien looks 
 over at me with the nuig of him redder'n a b'iled lobster. 'By 
 God, cook.' says he. 'The sooner we git to Gloucester, the bet- 
 ter f(ir all hands. T\e eaten belter truck with a North Shore 
 live-}erc in starvation time — ' 
 
 "Pis the stove, skipper,' I says gently. 'Didn't I ask 
 ye for a decent stove afore we left?' 
 
 " 'I I ell !' he says, and then stamps on deck. 
 
 "It was jest a1)out breakin' daylight when she wlii])s the 
 two t()i)masts right out of her — snapped oft' jest al)ove the 
 mastheads in a strong ])uft', and down conies the balloon and 
 sta}'s'1 in among the gear. The skip]ier had the Avheel himself 
 then, and it was liim what jum])ed tlie broomsticks out of her, 
 and he laughs, 3-es, laughs like a schoollx^y, when he saw them 
 go, and there was the g'ang peekin' at him as if they thought 
 he was crazy. 'Clear away that raffle !' he sings out. 'She's 
 in A\-inter rig now and will stand auAtbin'. Save the gear and 
 sails, fellers. lhe)'re all right !' 
 
 " 'Sa\e them and ])e gol darned!' sa}s ['ul)lico\er, as he 
 crawled out on the bfnvsprit to rescue the balloon. '(■liiume a 
 knife I' he savs, and he cuts it adrift. 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 23 
 
 "'J'hc ski])])er nuisl ha" seen him from aft, for he gives the 
 wheel a wrench to starboard and drives her nose into it and 
 Jesse and the crowd on the bowsprit went under. 
 
 "Holy ]^Iackeral ! Ye should ha' h'ard Jesse swearin' 
 when he came aft! 'Did \c saxe ni}- l)alloou?' asks the skip- 
 per. 'Xaw,' answers Jesse, all drippin' wet. 'The blame thing 
 was l)lown out of our hands afore we had a chanst.' 
 
 "Robbins jest gives a grunt at this, and asks Jesse to re- 
 lie\-e the wheel. 'Take it, Jesse, and keep her full an 1 bye. 
 She's ala\in' her course and don't you dare let her come up 
 r.ny !' 
 
 " 'But ]'m all soakin' wet,' says Jesse. 
 
 " 'That's nawthin', boy,' says the skipper. 'You ain't the 
 only one that'll be wet afore this day's over. A little sjiell 
 to the wheel'll dry ye out, man.' And poor PublicoN-er had 
 to take a mighty long and tough trick, for the others were too 
 scared to take the wheel in sich a breeze and sea. 
 
 "\\"hen it come full daylight there was no sign of the 
 Piillcii. and not another craft did we see but a big luni]) of a 
 Dago salt bark standin" in for Gloucester and shortened down 
 to his lower tops'ls. It was blovvin' stiff then, and the old .9;^/ 
 In-an was jest scoopin' seas aboard and jumiMu" about so nmch 
 that ye could a'most feel her keel twistin' e\-er}- time she 
 bucked a grayback. 
 
 "The skij^per was right about gettin' the gang wet, for 
 he drenched them all afore noon — she was jest like a half-tide 
 rock — and when we made to the sout h'ard of Cashes, her rot- 
 ten old mains'l started rippin', an' the first thing we knowed, 
 it had gone into tatters. A\'e roused the ridin' sail out of the 
 kid and bent it on while she was holding her course, and after 
 gittin' things squared up, she ships a sea what drives the chain 
 box up agin the weather dories. Them dories jest naturallv 
 
24 
 
 'DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 leaves tlic ^riix-'s and chocks and C(jnies aft — jest niissin" the 
 skipper at the wheel as they sweeps over the quarter — and 
 him a'most up to his neck in water awatchin' them go, and the 
 gang" hangin' to the mainlxiom. 
 
 " "We'll ha\e to git new dories now,' he says to the crowd, 
 but the}- were too scared to laugh, and let me tell you it took 
 a whale of a lot to scare that crowd. 
 
 "I ne\er done no cookin' that day. Nawthin' could be 
 done wilh the \essel r'arin', pounclin". and flingin' herself 
 about, and a wild, cold, miserable day the boys put in. The 
 cal)in was swillin' with water — the skylight was smashed in — - 
 and the fo'c'sle leaked like a basket so that every time she 
 shipped a sea it "ud come streamin' down the scuttle, the ven- 
 tilator, and down the foremast and pawlpost. Yes! she was a 
 miserable tub '\\dien she was bein' driven! 
 
 "Long about se\en in the mornin' we took a sound and 
 made the seventy-five fathoms to the south'ard of Fipennies — 
 she was rippin' along like a liner then under ridin' sail, fore- 
 sail and jumbo with the crowd of us tryin' to keep a fire goin' 
 in the cabin stove — and at half past eleven we had Cape Ann 
 abeam. That was some clip for a vessel under that canvas — 
 fifty-seven miles in four and a half hours! But Lord, boys, 
 it was blowiiT strong enough to l)low the teeth down your 
 throat ef you s])at to wind'ard that day. 
 
 "Twenty minutes or so later we hauled around Eastern 
 T^'int with the crowd of us lookin' to see if the PiiUcii had luan- 
 aged to git in before us. 
 
 "'She ain't there, fellers,' says Robbins (juite cool. 'Don't 
 worry. That \'\\q hundred is mine!' 
 
 "The cock-sureness of him fair took the gang scpiare amid- 
 ships, and 'twasn't until a tug came down the harbor that we- 
 rcall\- beliex ed we'd won. 
 
"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 25 
 
 "'Is the Rose L. Pitllcii in yet?' we sung out to the tug- 
 boat skipper. 
 
 " 'Xa^\^' says he. 'You're the only vessel in this day. See 
 anythin' of an Eyetalian l:)ark outside?' 
 
 '■ "Xevcr mind your bark,' yells Robbins. 'She's a hundred 
 mile away from here. Take our line and git us to the dock. I 
 want to git where I kin git a decent meal.' 
 
 "And so we slides into our wdiarf — a vessel with no trip 
 below but a run of two hundred and twenty-five miles in eigh- 
 teen and a half hours to her credit. Some goin' for an ill-found 
 craft like the Esther Siillivaii !'' 
 
 The cook ])aused and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. 
 
 "What happened next?" inquired Jerry Davis. 
 
 "A\'ell, as soon as we got her tied up. Jesse Publicover 
 ste])s up. 
 
 " 'Lookvhere, skipper.' says he, 'how did you know you 
 could win that bet with this old hooker. 
 
 "lesse was never very respectful in speakin' to the skipper, 
 but Tom Robbins liked him the best of the crowd. 
 
 " 'I knew I could trim him.' he says. 'I have a good vessel 
 here, but I ain't got wdiat he has got, and that's a big yellow- 
 streak a yard wide. I knew he'd quit in that breeze with that 
 big nosed knockabout of his scoopin' water and playin' general 
 ructions 'round his decks. I'll wager he's reefed down now 
 and cal'latin' that I'm sunk, dismasted, or hove-to somewheres. 
 I knew that feller sence he was a kid and I knew it was goin' 
 to blow hard, and as I had a light vessel what needed a lot 
 of ne\v gear owin' to the dislike some of you have taken to 
 what she had. I jest cal'lated I'd make Jason ("hurchill pay for 
 it. And he will, for 1 cal'late I've jest about ])eeled him good. 
 Yes. skinned him lo the ballast! Xow, I'm goin' ashore for 
 somethin' to eat.' 
 
26 "DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 
 
 "'Do \vc git new dories?' asks Jesse. 'Xew ones, not 
 second handed things.' 
 
 "Yes,' growls Robbins. 'You'll git new dories — bran new 
 ones. The vessel will be oxerhanled and fitted out with new 
 sails and gear.' 
 
 "jest as he was agoin' on to the dock, 1 had my say. 'How 
 about m}' sttjve, skipper?' I says. 'Kin I order a new one?' 
 
 "lie gives me a look that 'ud sour new^ milk. 'Yes,' says 
 he in a roar ye could hear outside Ten Pound Island. 'For 
 the love of Mike, git one. My stomach has bin clean ruined 
 with your truck — ' 
 
 " 'A g"ood one is what I want,' says I, an' them 
 SHIPMATES are the best to be got.' 
 
 " 'Then g"it one,' yells he, 'and by the Great Trawl Hook, 
 ef }e e\er dish me u]) any more of that damned goozy pig hash 
 after this, there'll be one more cook in Hell when they take 
 the tally!'" 
 
 Phinney rose from his seat on the locker and loosened his 
 apron. 
 
 "So that's the story of the Esther SiilUvan's race with the 
 Rose L. Pullen, and what is more important, it is the yarn of 
 how I got my .SHIPMATE stove out of the stingiest skipper 
 in r,l(incester. Oh. boys, he was a hard, rough man was Tom 
 Kobbins. but he loxed his grub. Holy Sailor! 'tis after eleven 
 — sure I sh'd ha\c turned in an hour ago!" 
 
 A few minutes later the long triangle of bunks were fully 
 occupied, and the snores of the sleei)ing fishermen mingled 
 with the crash and thunderous mutter of the seas outside, 
 wdiile the gallant schooner reared and stormed over the same 
 old sea path that the Esther Sullivan ploughed in the vears 
 gone by. 
 
it^ij 3) 19t2 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 018 360 481 8* 
 
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