Captain Salvation
1
... it started in the Spring
of 1840....in the little village
of Maple Harbour ... down
sea from Boston ...
2
"Hurry up, Mrs. Morton!
The 'Lucy Foster's'
coming in!"
3
"- Anson's coming home!"
4
"'What will the weddin' breakfast
be?
Codfish cakes and a cup
o' tea!'"
5
"Anson's coming, Father
-- Anson's coming!"
6
"Seminary ain't changed
him much, I'm feared! -
Arrivin' in shirt sleeves
and see-sawin' up and
down!"
7
"Fine parson he's like to
make! - Allus hankerin'
for the sea and horn-
pipin' around!"
8
"You have forgotten the
dignity of your trust,
nephew!"
9
"If ye can slip away -
old time fish fry down
to our shack!"
10
"-- down at the old
hulk --"
11
"Are you sure, Peter -- is
Anson embracing the
ministry in his heart ...
does he feel Called?"
12
"There's a kind of Destiny
in such things - - not
directed by you or me."
13
"My darling - how proud
I'll be the day I see you
in my father's pulpit!"
14
"Always love me, Mary -
always!"
15
"Nor'-easter!"
16
"Dive into that -- while
his aunts and uncles
is fryin'!"
17
"Zeke thinks he's the champeen
belt-buster in these parts --
let's see!"
18
"Tumble out! - Ship in
distress off Bleaker's
Woe!"
19
"I knew bad luck 'ud
follow - with such as
her on board!"
20
"Better if they'd let
her drown!"
21
"If it ain't old Holybones! -
Skipped out without payin'
me once - so he did!"
22
"Who is this - woman?"
23
"Waterfront Jezebel they
jist chased out o' Boston,
sir - - name's Bess
Morgan!"
24
"Let her be cared for
in the village jail - -
where she belongs."
25
"She'll be cared for like
a human being --!"
26
"Are you utterly mad? -
Get that trull out of
here!"
27
"You can't demand that,
uncle - - she's in no
condition to be moved!"
28
"They say she started
doin' a bare legged
dance - soon's he got
her there!"
29
"Widow Pepkin's right -
reg'lar orgy was goin' on,
's what I heard!"
30
"We ladies of Heavenly
Aid Society is goin' to
take steps right away -"
31
"That woman's flesh has
snared him!"
32
"Yes, Bess Morgan, that's
me! Why don't you
hold your nose like
the other brimstone
sniffers?"
33
"No use talking like that
- we're just trying to
help you."
34
"That makes me a little
scared! -- My step-pa
helped me once --"
35
"A good thing the
baby died!"
36
"Do you understand --
damn good thing the
baby died!"
37
"Well -- have you come
to your senses?"
38
"Answer me!"
39
"You can't judge this woman
- - you don't know what
she's suffered - - or why
she's - - what she is!"
40
"You and your kind -
in private heavens of
your own - damning -
damning - damning!"
41
"Christian charity!"
42
"I saw you nip 'em off
Widow Pepkin's line!
She'd be right pleased
to know what's goin'
in 'em!"
43
"When d'ye aim to be
leavin'?"
44
"Soon's I can!"
45
"Stage to Boston goes
Wednesday."
46
"They'd skin me alive -
ever I went back to
Boston -"
47
"It'll take ye t' places
in between."
48
"Anson! - Tell me the
things they're saying
aren't true!"
49
"Then, you'll listen to
your uncle? - - He
knows best what to
do with - such women!"
50
"What has she done to
us that we should push
her farther down?"
51
"They'll take your pulpit
away from you."
52
"If I turn this poor girl
out - they'll take me
back to the fold?"
53
"If that's your idea of
God and His mercy -
it isn't mine."
54
"I'd rather believe there
is no God!"
55
"Anson! - This scarlet
woman is stealing your
soul!"
56
"You little fool! - A real
man loves you - - and
you'd toss his love
away for a pack of
hollerin' gospel wolves."
57
"If I ever had a love
like that - I wouldn't
care where my poor
little soul was goin'!"
58
The town's condemned -
59
"I wonder if they wouldn't
take me on that ship
yonder --"
60
"No harm tryin'."
61
"I could cook - if they
ain't too particular!"
62
"- but you don't know
where the ship is going!"
63
"What's the difference?
-- All places are alike
to me!"
64
"Here's a surer way of
gettin' on board - than
talkin' cookin'."
65
"What ship? Where
bound?"
66
"The good ship, 'Panther'
- bound for Rio - where
nightingales sing always!"
67
"Ungallant would I be
indeed to refuse a
lady passage!"
68
"Do you need an able-
bodied seaman?"
69
"So - you wish to
be near - my new
passenger!"
70
"No - there's nothing to
keep me ashore - and
I long for the sea."
71
"He's gone, Mary - I guess
the sea called him louder
and kinder - than Maple
Harbour did."
72
Southward sailed the "Panther"
- - out of the reach of all
things known - - into seas
where anything can happen -
73
"All this -- sort of makes
you feel clean, doesn't it?"
74
"You'll never know what
you've done for me,
Mister Campbell - sort
of think I'll believe in
things again."
75
"Promise me you'll keep
on thinking that way -"
76
"You ain't bound for
Rio, matey! You're on
a convict ship - and
a hot packet she is!"
77
"Yes, a sad cargo - sick
souls - - for the salt
mines on the 'Islands
of the Blest'."
78
"It's branding day, me
blue-eyed boy - - and
you'll help with the
fire."
79
"Oh, you're going to
find me the merriest
fellow!"
80
"Always?"
81
"No -- sometimes I'm sad -
and need little girls like you
to make me merry."
82
"My birdlet
understands,
I'm sure."
83
Toward the bottom of the
earth - - while hot winds
sang in the "Panther's"
rigging - -
84
"See the old rascal creep-
snakin' the wren! She'd
best give in - or --"
85
"Last trip was a gal who
wouldn't -- 'Into th' hold
with 'er,' sez 'e -- and
down she went to the
convicts!"
86
"Too bad! - But little
boys should learn
to knock!"
87
"- there's no help, Bess -
he's going to send you -
down - down - down -"
88
"- he won't send me
down - I promise you
- by God!"
89
"There's no God anywhere
- this is the Devil's world!"
90
"It ain't so, Mister Campbell
-- it ain't so!"
91
"Yar! - The Devil's kiss
on yer back - - his
mark on me hand!"
92
"It ain't so, Mister Campbell
-- it ain't so!"
93
"The ships just pass,
don't they, Zeke?"
94
"If he can only think of
me without hating me
- that's all I ask."
95
Another day -- and the
"Panther" with her dismal
freight ends her long
journey to the "Islands
of the Blest".
96
Each man a number --
each tag a man!
97
"I've told you and told
you - - you're never
goin' to touch me -
you slime-jowled skunk!"
98
"Choose, my dear -- it's
either me tonight -- or
tomorrow - the guards
about the salt mines!"
99
"Why can't you let me
alone - ain't I a
right to my body--
ain't I a right to be
decent?"
100
"I've got this far,
and I ain't goin'
back, Mister Captain--
never!"
101
"No - no, my merry Captain -
I ain't never - goin' back -"
102
"-- so -- 'cause I
couldn't fight him
any longer -- I --"
103
One twilight--
a strange ship came
sailing into Maple
Harbor--
104
"Ship comin' in--
big square rigger
off Bleaker's Woe!"
105
"It's Anson! I know
by the trimmin' of
her sails!"
106
"Think of him daring
to come back! - Purty
nervy, I call it!"
107
"So you flaunt that
woman's name in
our very faces?"
108
"I've brought Bess Morgan
back to you."
109
"Take her and be off
- you and your trull
ship!"
110
"- she ask only that
you listen for a little
while."
111
"Dyin' ain't so hard -
Mister Campbell - I'm
awful happy I kept
that promise."
112
"It's gettin' - awful dark
- won't you - pray for
me?"
113
"It seems brighter now -
you're prayin', ain't you?"
114
"'Gentle Jesus meek and mild
Listen to a little child,
Pity my simplicity
Suffer me to come to Thee.'"
115
"'Fain would I to Thee be brought,
Gracious God forbid it not.
In the kingdom of Thy grace
Give a little child a place.'"
116
"--and those who watched
cried aloud -- at the great
light on her face -- at the
peace in her soul...."
117
"-- in that black pit, among
sinners, with Bess Morgan's
dying hand to guide me --
I found Him who taught
me to pray --"
118
"....Calling me to sail His
seas - carry His word -
to the hearts of men."
119
"I've been wrong, Anson."
120
.... and this is how the first
gospel ship came into being
.... in the little village of
Maple Harbour .... down sea
from Boston ....
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