Peter B. Kyne

“ Away out there in the darkness half a hundred human beings hung to them. Back there in that maelstrom of wind and wave men pinned their faith to the Trinidad and a wire cable, and, calm in that faith, fell asleep. McNaughton clinched his great hands in the darkness and thought of the girl in Pedro. ”

“ Young Hickman rose from his desk and joined his father at the window. He was a clean-cut, well-dressed young man, possessed of a kindly, humorous mouth and calm, gray eyes. To the casual observer Young Hickman seemed to convey the impression that the world was his oyster, which he would open at his leisure.
"Just watch that Scotchman berth her against a flood tide," he said, pulling out his watch. "There isn't a skipper on the coast that can handle a boat like McNaughton. He'll have her tied hard and fast in four minutes." ”

“ A flare-up light on the port bow!
McNaughton was out on the end of the bridge, hands gripping the cold, wet railing, eyes strained out into the darkness. For several minutes he looked, then away off on the port bow a light flickered faintly for a moment; then, gathering strength, it flared up brightly to several times the glare from an ordinary side light. For fully half a minute it burned, then went out.
"Bed linen dipped in oil," the captain muttered. "Must be in a bad way and running short of rockets. Ah! I thought so," as a blue light shot skyward. ”

“ The black bulk of the dirty Norwegian collier, steaming in past Alcatraz, was always beautiful to him. Whenever harassed or worried he sought the window and gazed on life—his life—a life he had helped to create. Even now as he gazed his hard old face softened, his wizened hands ceased their restless tattoo on the window-sash. A steam schooner slipped down the bay past the dirty Norwegian collier and turned her blunt nose in toward her berth at Pier 12. Old Hickman turned from the window.
"The Trinidad's in from San Pedro," he announced to the outer office. ”

“ In the outer office he paused to close down his father's desk, then with good-natured force he jostled the old man away from the window.
"Young man," he said sternly, "you're working yourself to death. Come on up to the club. I can trim you in one rubber of crib. Are you on?"
Old Hickman was touched on his weak spot. He smiled. After all, he was only working for his boy. "You bet I'm on," he answered, and as he looked up into Johnny's smiling face the memory of McNaughton and the Trinidad, rotten towlines and dull freights, vanished from his mind. ”

“ The Trinidad, oldest and least valuable of the Hickman fleet, insured to her full value and with her deck equipment run down to a degree that bordered on the criminal, was regarded by every soul that knew her, or pretended to know anything at all about shipping, as the essence of a marine joke. Throughout the entire length of the waterfront, from Meiggs wharf to Hunter's Point, there was but one man who spoke well of her. Henry Schmidt, her stout German engineer, always spoke of her as "an able liddle ship." ”

“ That McNaughton is a good man, Johnny, but uppish, sir—very uppish. He must be taught that a steam schooner can't be run as expensively as a yacht."
"The Trinidad really needs new lines," his son ventured. "He'll dock her in three minutes, by George! or I'm an Indian. And look at that tide! Oh, rats! His spring line has parted."
Young Hickman laughed. "That'll put Mac in a pretty temper," he said as he walked back to his desk. "Handle him with gloves, Dad. Mac is a whirlwind, and we can't afford to lose him." ”

“ As the stern was once more lifted high in air, the skipper of the John C. Wilkins saw the fragment of hawser flash through the foam and disappear as the steamer settled. To add extremity to the situation, both vessels were rapidly being driven toward shore by the terrific wind and tide, and, with both vessels helpless, there was grave danger of a collision. To the Falls o' Clyde the situation was indeed desperate. Heavily loaded as she was and with the seas breaking over her, she was likely to founder at any moment. ”

“ After all, there was some excuse for Henry Schmidt's pride in the Trinidad. Old Hickman never grudged a dollar on his engines. He was too smart a man not to know the value of speed in a steam schooner as a dividend producer. The Trinidad had two new Scotch boilers, a "composition" wheel of latest design and as good a set of triple expansion engines as Henry Schmidt had ever wiped in all his forty years at sea. Old Hickman would as soon have contemplated bankruptcy as the denial of a requisition from the engine department. Moreover, Henry Schmidt never bothered him personally. McNaughton did. ”

“ She went down stern first, her pathetic bow lifted high in the air. As the blue waters closed over her Henry Schmidt burst into tears. Young Hickman laid his soft-gloved hand on the old chief's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Chief," he said kindly. "We have the St. Margaret coming out from the East in May. She carries a million and a half. You and Mac are too good for a little hooker like the Trinidad. You've earned a better boat, you two, and better money."
Standing in the bow of the motor-boat McNaughton smiled happily and dreamed of salvage and a red-haired girl in San Pedro. ”

“ The smile faded.
"Whose cable is that?" he demanded.
"Belongs to the Trinidad," the skipper answered. "Dug it out of the up freight. It's a logging cable."
"Why don't you bring your prize up off Alcatraz instead of dropping her right here in the fairway?"
"It's a safe anchorage here," the Scotchman answered doggedly. "She couldn't steam another inch. The Trinidad has finished her last voyage. She's torn to pieces; her fires are out. She'll sink in an hour."
It was sunset when she sank. From the deck of Young Hickman's motor-boat her jaded crew watched her settle. ”

“ Old Hickman turned toward his son and raised his hands in agonized horror. "Johnny, boy, for Heaven's sake don't go crazy! You know her hawser is——"
"Taken!" snapped Leach. "I'll go you if I lose."
"You're on!" yelled Johnny Hickman. "We'll deposit our checks and a memorandum of the bet with Hayes. Here, Dad, let up. I know what I'm doing. I tell you. that big Scotchman is a bulldog. He'll never let go anything he sinks his teeth into. ”

“ Nelson, going aft to read the log, reported progress of a trifle less than three knots an hour. The wind, if anything, was increasing in velocity, and the seas broke over them with greater frequency. The lower deck was continually awash, and at McNaughton's command lifelines were stretched fore and aft. Suddenly, as the Trinidad lifted her creaking bulk on the summit of a huge green comber, McNaughton saw the line stretch taut, clear of the water. ”

“ A smart marine engineer never fights for his requisitions, let freights be what they will. When Henry Schmidt wanted anything he got it. If it was not forthcoming promptly the Trinidad would lay up suddenly to install new brick in the furnace, or patch up the pumps, or repair a leaky tube. Henry always found a way.
McNaughton often wished he was an engineer. ”

“ Five minutes later, in gum boots, oilskins and sou'wester, he fought his way through the rain and wind up to the bridge. The first mate was at the speaking-tube calling for him as McNaughton reached the bridge. He shouted something about a light.
"Can't be the Umatilla light," the skipper answered. "We've been making fast time, but we shouldn't pick up the lightship till about four o'clock. Better go below and get into dry clothes and your oilskins." ”

“ There she lay—a clear thirty thousand dollars at the very least. McNaughton had never heard of a bigger bunch of salvage so near and yet so far away. He turned and walked forward to the galley for a cup of coffee. Here he found Nelson.
"Nelson," he said, "that line won't hold half an hour. It breaks my heart to cut the salvage in half, but half is better than nothing at all. We'll have to borrow a line from the tow. Finish your coffee and signal her for her line. Nice, elevating job for a sailor man, isn't it?" ”

“ Up the bay, toward Mission Rock, an Italian cruiser swung at anchor, side by side with three big battle-ships of the Pacific squadron. Beyond the warships a score of full-rigged ships lay awaiting grain charters. ”

“ Mit der coal all oudt der engines vill die und der pumps—mein Gott! It iss not to my liking yet to lose der Trinidad. She iss a noble liddle ship."
"How much coal have you, Henry? How long will it last?"
Henry Schmidt looked up at the captain. "Mac," he said, "you haf your worries. I take care by mine own worries. Ven der coal iss oudt—vell? Until den ve vait und see. Ven der coal iss gone ve burn oil und oakum und cut out der timbers und decking in der alleys, und ve burn dot."
Henry turned to go. McNaughton let his huge paw rest for a moment on the old chief's greasy shoulder. ”

“ He knew the ship he had under him. He wanted very much to live, for life was sweet. And McNaughton was young, and so was the girl. As for the salvage—bah! What did it amount to now? It was all in the day's work—its reward the joy of accomplishment.
•⁠•⁠•⁠•⁠•
At noon on the twenty-fifth a wireless from the Table Bluff station reported the steam schooner Trinidad, with the Falls o' Clyde in tow, off Cape Mendocino. Young Hickman got the news from Hayes right off the bat. He was low enough to 'phone Leach, of Higgins & Leach. After lunch Old Hickman consulted the weather chart at the Exchange. ”