⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵...(Tour of "High Island")...
*[Last times...]*
Junior Petty Officer - Carpenter's Mate Aissez-faire jogged along behind Petty Officer – Yeoman Andofzara in the middle of the line. The going was tough along the shoreline as the brush and the vines were a constant obstruction.
“Do ye think we’ll fin' them in time Sairrr?” Aissez-faire asked as he cut away a branch with his sword.
“We hav tae fin' them in time! But when we dae it will be gantin!” Andofzara replied determinedly.
“Puir Loon Tipper! Aw alone an' nae e'en knowin' th' language!"
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*[Along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, Quebec...]*
Commander Galligan hugged the southern shoreline closely as he moved the crew quickly west at a half-run. He knew that the Indians had to have put ashore somewhere close by with their prize captive. Within the hour, his expectation was realized as he came upon a small cove and there, turned over on it’s side, lay a birch-bark canoe, it’s paddles carefully tucked underneath it and bushes thrown over the top.
*“Thaur we ur mates! Th' bastards arenae far away noo! We need tae overtake them afair they make th' main village!”* Galligan said as he walked up on the sandy shoreline.
Junior Petty Officer - Gunner's Mate At-elvis slowly rolled the canoe over to see if there was anything else hidden underneath.
“Pit yer dagger tae guid use Petty Officer, an' pierce th' bottom of 'att heathen vessel! They’ll nae be usin' thes tae come up oan th' Silverton again onie time soon!” Galligan ordered.
“Aye Sairrr!”
While At-elvis got busy stabbing large holes in the birch bark canoe bottom, the other sailors grabbed the paddles and with some effort, broke every one of them over their knees.
“Alright then, let’s move an' move fest!” Galligan ordered as he shouldered his musket and led the way west along the trail.
*[Just east of the Potawatomi camp…]*
The six warriors stopped after a long morning hike along the southern shore. Boy Tipper, who was tied at the wrists and tethered about the neck with a long lead stumbled to a stop behind his captors…
“Let us eat now!” (Translated) The lead warrior said in his native tongue as he sat down on ground and unrolled a deerskin wrap.
Tipper fell to the ground in a grateful rest and eyed them with great contempt. The nearest warrior looked up and laughed as he nudged their leader.
“Look! The man-child from the big canoe is not happy! Ha! Ha!” He said with a spite-full laugh.
“Yes!” The leader said as he bit off a piece of dried salmon and handed the rest around to the others, “The Chief will make good use of him!”
*“I say we kill him!”* A third Indian said as he glared at the boy.
“No… Alive is better. This man-child may be worth many muskets to the strangers on the river! The Chief will want him alive.”
Boy Tipper now somewhat rested, sat up and glared at them. Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he shouted out in as loud of a voice as he could,
*“Do you know how my dog howls Indians?!* ***OWOOOOOOOOO! OWOOOOOOOOOOO!”***
The strange yelling startled the warriors and the nearest one cuffed the boy hard across the face, sending him reeling into the dirt! Tipper pushed himself up and turned to face them, his hands still tied.
*“Yoo’ll nae getta way wi' thes savages! Keptin Slane will hav yer heids spinnin' oan a capstan afair thes is ower!”* He snarled.
*“Ha! Ha! The man-child is angry now! Good! We will make sport of him at the village in front of the squaws!”* The lead warrior said in amusement.
*[Two hundred yards west, along the trail…]*
***<<< OWOOOOOOOOO! OWOOOOOOOOOOO! >>>”***
Galligan stopped dead in his tracks and cocked his head as he listened!
*“Cats’ tails! ‘Att’s Loon Tipper! He’s signalin' us!”* He said as he unshouldered his musket and turned to the others, *“Come oan men! Move muckers! We’re oan them noo!”*
⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
**Vocab fur lainlubbers:**
a body (one)
afair (before)
ben (through)
Cats’ tails (By God!)
duir (door)
enaw (enough)
fash yerse (worry)
gain (gone)
gantin (ugly)
haur (here)
hodden (cheap, common)
hoo (how)
hoor (hour)
ken (know)
loch (like)
mair (more)
mony (many)
nae (no)
noo (now)
onie (any)
puckle (couple)
rin (run)
shair (shore)
skelp (hit)
spyug (bird)
swatch (look)
tay (too)
thaur (there)
tois (two)
thrang (busy)
ur (or)
uir (our)
whit (what)
yin (one)
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"A capstan is a vertical-axled rotatin' machine, developed fur use oan sailin' ships tae multiply th' pullin' force of seamen when haulin' ropes, cables, an' hawsers. Th' principle is similar tae 'att of th' windlass, which has a horizontal axle. It isnae uncommon tae moont th' severed heids of enemies an' ship's thieves oan spikes aboot it's top. Hoddin advertisin' Ahh says! Haw! Haw!" 😄 -Keptin
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"Confused? Ascared? Seasick? Need a private chat with the Captain?" - Skelp th' **'Reply'** button!"
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References: Pictures from: www.freeimages.com, www.pexels.com, pixabay.com, steemit.com, Wikipedia an’ www.google.com/maps. Data loosely interpretted froms: Wikipedia, an' sometimes finely crafted reit from th' author's extensiff personal experience an' such.
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