Old Jed Horn was the skipper of a lumber schooner which plied between ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the thriving cities of the Mississippi River. Old Jed had two mates, who were big, husky fellows and well adapted for the rough ...

The Skipper&apos;s Daughter

Old Jed Horn was the skipper of a lumber schooner which plied between ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the thriving cities of the Mississippi River. Old Jed had two mates, who were big, husky fellows and well adapted for the rough work in which they were engaged. He also had two daughters, Jane and Lucy. Little Lucy was in love with the big first mate, Tom, while Jane had promised her hand to the good-natured second mate, Jim. Tom soon grew tired of Lucy and transferred his affections to Jane, much to the chagrin of that young lady and to the delight of her father, who had long cherished a desire to have his eldest daughter marry the burly Tom, who was a first rate seaman and destined for a skipper's berth. At the beginning of the story the "Nancy Lee" is unloading her cargo of lumber. The negro crew are hard at work, when a quarrel ensues between the two mates over a difference as to how the lumber should be distributed. They come to blows, but are immediately separated by the irate old skipper, who sends them both about their business, at the same time not forgetting to place most of the blame on the shoulders of poor Jim, for whom the old man has a decided dislike, although loath to part with his valuable services as a navigator. Just as things are beginning to quiet down a little, the two girls, hearing of the ship's return to port, come bounding on deck, and greeting their father warmly, begin casting eyes about to see in what part of the ship the mates are. They soon spy them out and steal away in opposite directions. Jane is greeted affectionately by the faithful Jim, but not so little Lucy. The surly Tom, still smarting with wrath over his encounter with Jim, receives Lucy coldly, and catching sight of Jim and Jane in each other's arms, leaves the little girl with a cruel rebuff and hastens to find the skipper, to whom be reveals the secret of Jane's love for Jim. The old "sea dog" is stirred to parental wrath by the news, and seeking out the young couple proclaims his intention of having Jane married to his first mate before the schooner starts on her outward voyage. This is more than Jim can stand. Right then and there he asserts himself and declares that no one shall take Jane from him. Like pouring oil upon the flames, old Jed's ire is fired to white heat, and seizing an iron bar he fells poor Jim to the ground. Screaming with fright, Jane rushes away to tell her mother of the awful deed. The skipper and Tom, now thoroughly alarmed at this act of violence, start to carry Jim's unconscious form back to the ship. On their way Tom, thinking that Jim is dead, suggests that they throw his body into the water. Old Jed balks at this at first, but is about to give in when Jim revives. At that moment the skipper's wife and daughters arrive and further trouble is averted. For a few days all is quiet, until one evening Tom encounters his hated rival and Jane as they are walking along the bank of the canal talking over their future plans. Tom, who has been imbibing too freely of late, loses control of his better judgment and attacks Jim. A fierce and terrible struggle ensues. Although Tom is the stronger of the two, Jim's faculties have not been impaired by strong drink and consequently he is better able to stand the strain of the combat than Tom. Along the edge of the embankment the two burly mates struggle, raining fierce blows upon each other's bodies, clinching, wrestling and tearing at each other's throats; they at last reach the footbridge that crosses the deep canal. Out towards the center struggle the two gladiators. Jim's strength is fast leaving him, when by a mighty effort he secures a sudden hold on Tom's body, and lifting the huge bulk of his adversary he hurls him over the railing into the water. Striking his head on a piling Tom is rendered unconscious and sinks at once in the dark waters. Now Jane, who has been a terrified witness of the great struggle, sees the helpless condition of the first mate, and fearing that the charge of murder will fall upon her lover's head, she implores him to save his enemy from drowning. Although he is exhausted from the terrible combat, the generous second mate plunges into the outgoing tide and by a mighty effort succeeds in dragging his helpless foe back to land. We next see the actors in our drama aboard ship as the boat is being towed down the canal to the sea on her outward voyage. Relenting of his harsh treatment of the second mate and his eldest child, the skipper allows his daughters to accompany him on the trip. Apparently all is quiet and serene, when all the fierce fire of hatred again burns in Tom's breast. Watching his opportunity when all is still at night, he slips up behind his enemy as he is leaning over the for'ard rail and is about to hurl him into the water, when Skipo, a negro deck hand, sees his fiendish action and gives the alarm. Accusations are made and denied, but old Jed's eyes are at last opened to the absolute meanness of his first mate and he orders him put in irons. Cursing the skipper and all on board, the big brute is dragged aft and lashed to a mast, there to await the return of the tugboat to convey him back to port. Now we are shown a picture of woman's constancy. Little Lucy, although she has been repeatedly rebuffed by the first mate and her heart wrung by his cruel treatment of her, watches her opportunity and securing a sharp knife cuts the ropes that bind Tom to the mast and sets him free. In a moment the mate is over the side of the schooner and rowing rapidly away in the ship's tender, while poor Lucy falls sobbing on the deck, where she is found and carried to the cabin to be comforted by her loving sister and now thoroughly repentant old dad. With the disturbing element out of the way, the "Nancy Lee" has a pleasant voyage, and upon her return home, Jim and Jane receive the blessing of the old skipper and are soon made one. - The Moving Picture World, February 27, 1909

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The Skipper's Daughter

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