April 29. 1949
THE LEXHIPEP
Page 3
THE ANSWER
—Jimmy Plott
On a hot summer Sunday after
noon several men of the town were
sitting around discussing various sub
jects in which they were interested
at that time.
No one noticed Reverend Bates as
he walked into the group to listen to
.the men tell of the adventures of
their younger days.
“I’ve often wanted to be a sailor,”
came the words from one of the men
who was leading the discussion.
“Yep,” he went on, “I’ve always
felt that I would like to be master
of the sea. ’The life of a sailor must
be the life of a loafer—just riding
around on the sea for weeks at a
time, a yearly vacation!”
“No one can master the sea,” the
Reverend said.
The men turned to see who was
talking and for the first time no
ticed' the Reverend.
“You may sail it; you may live
from it; but you cannot conquer it!”
the Reverend concluded.
“You’ve never been a sailor, have
you, Preacher?” one of the men asked
with a cheerful jest.
“Only once,” the Reverend replied.
“I, too, wanted to lead the life of a
sailor, but an incident on my first
voyage made me decide to become a
preacher.”
“What was it?” someone asked
eagerly.
“Well, boys,” the Reverend started,
“I had just finished my high school
education and was longing to be a
sailor—but, perhaps, I should start
at the first’
“It was a beautiful summer morn
ing that greeted me when I opened
my eyes. Birds were singing to the
top of their voices and the sun with
its golden rays blinded me when I
tried to look around.
“Hurriedly, I dressed and went
through my regular morning habits
before I went downstairs to break
fast. I was surprised to see my mom,
father, and little brother, Jim, sit
ting at the table waiting for me. It
wasn’t often that the four of us
were together at one time.
“Though the day was beautiful and
my heart was light and I felt like a
king, I could only see grief on my
mom’s face and fear in my father’s
eyes. Jim, who was only eleven,
only sat and looked. He was too
young to realize what was taking
place.
“ ‘Mom,’ I said, ‘there isn’t any
need to worry! I’ll only be gone a
couple of weeks. Besides, what’s a
little trip out on the sea going to
harm me?’
“Seeing that I was only making
things worse, I turned to my father
to try to comfort him.
“ ‘Gee, Dad! The way you look you’d
think I was going away forever! Cap
tain Gibt, the captain of the Lucie
Belle, promised me a job this sum
mer and now I’ve decided to take
it. You’ve always known I wanted to
go to seel Both of you said it would
be all right to go; both—’ but I
stopped. All this talking was making
a bad matter worse.
“After I finished my breakfast, I
went upstairs to get my bags I had
packed the night before. In them
were some of my old clothes and a
Bible. My mother had given the Bi
ble to me the day before. When
she gave it to me she said, ‘Take this
Bible and when you’re lonesome and
sad it will bring you comfort!’
“As I came downstairs, my mother
was standing at the foot of them
with tears streaming down her face.
“‘Gosh!’ I said. ‘Don’t cry, mother!
I’ll only be gone about a month.’
“‘Bill,’ she said, ‘be good.’
Though I knew what she wanted
to say, she only said these three
words. But these words meant more
to me than if she would have talked
forever!
Slowly I walked into the living room
to say good-bye to my father. I
knew it wouldn’t be hard after talk
ing to mom, because father was very
understanding.
“‘Good-bye, Dad,’ I said, ‘see you
soon;’ As I turned to leave my fa
ther spoke for the first time since
last night when we had discussed
ihe trip.
“ ‘Son,’ my father began, his voice
tender but firm, ‘you’re a grown man
now. The world is opening its doors
CO you. Your future is up to you.
H—’
“ ‘Good-bye!’ I broke in before he
could finish what he wanted to say.
aee you soon.*
“Quickly I turned to go to the
door, but as I turned around I hit
something. When I looked, I saw
it was Jim.
“ So long,’ Jim said.
“ ‘Bye and take care of yourself,’
I replied. ‘Then I turned and walked
past my mom and out the door.
“As I turned and started down the
steps, I felt as though the world had
been lifted ofi my shoulders. I knew
cnac saying good-bye to my family
would be the hardest part of the whoie
voyage. However, httle did I realize
what lay ahead of me on the voyage
that I thought would be a pleasure
trip!
"iibout eight-thirty I came to the
dock. After lookmg for some time,
i found the Lucie Belle. Though i
naa seen her many times before, she
seemed different now. I stood look
ing at her tall mast, which seemingly
reached the sky. Her body was
shaped like a devil of the sea—un
conquered and unafraid—a ship that
feared nothing—that was always
challenging the power of the sea!
“‘Come on. Bill!’
“A shout sounded from the ship,
and I turned to see Captain Gibt
leaning against the rail.
“ ‘Aye, me lad, we’re ready to set
sail, so come aboard quickly.’ ’The
captain’s voice was full of power. It
was a voice to be obeyed.
“Going aboard the Lucie BeUe, I
noticed the crew going about then
duties. I didn’t know the names oi
any of the crew, so I asked Captain
Gibt why he had such a large crew.
“ ‘Aye, it is a large crew, me lad.
We’re expecting to catch all the fishes
in the ocean on this trip,’ the cap
tain proudly told me.
“With this lodged in my mind I
went below to put up my belongings.
“Alter I had unpacked most of
my clothes, I felt to see if I had
days. Everything quickly came back
to my mind. I could almost trace
my life from the day I cut my foot
at the age of five to my present
condition of trying to live.
“All of this must have happened
in a few seconds, because on opening
my eyes, 1 saw the mainmast fall
and two of the crew who were cling
ing to it were killed instantly.
“I closed my eyes to shut out this
ghastly sight, but nothing I could do
made me forget the stinging pains
in my arm. The pain grew so strong
missed anything in my bags. In the
bottom of my smallest bag I found
the Bible that mom had given me.
“ ‘A Bible!’ I thought. ‘What did
I need with a Bible?’
“With this thought in mind I threw
the Bible back into the bag and pushed
fhe bag under my bunk.
“So, my belongings being put up,
I looked around at the other bunks.
They weren’t at all like I had ex
pected them to be. I had always read
that the bunks were dirty and un
tidy. But these were clean and or
derly. I began to realize this was
only the start of my career.
“I reported to the captain, and he
sent me to help the cook. 'I'hough
this may seem easy, it was long and
hard work. To get up before anyone
else and work in a hot kitchen all
day wasn’t my idea of a sailor.
ffl>ays passed qmckly. Before I
knew it, two weeks had passed; ana
we had reached our destination.
"It took only a few days to flh
the boat with fish, for we had been
considerably lucky.
“Though 1 didn’t know where 1
was, I had a yearning inside of me
to return home. The sea that I haa
longed to master was now my enemy.
“On our sixteenth day out at sea
the yearning to return nome was so
great that I could no longer bear
tne loneliness. Now as the days grew
long and dreary, 1 often read my
Bible for comfort. Oh, how it eased
my lonely soul to have something or
something to take my mind off the
ocean.
“Days went by slower and slower
Soon I found myself keeping a cal
endar of the days that were left
before I finally would be home. Dur
ing these slow and weary days, the
only friend I had was my Bible. I
had been unable to make friends with
any of the crew because of my un
dying hate that now hung in my
heart for the sea.
“On the morning when we were
only seven days from home, I wa;
awakened by the noise and rocking
of the ship. Looking around me, I
realized that most of the crew had
dressed and were now rushing up on
deck t olearn what their orders were
to be.
“I could teU by the action of the
men that there was danger near.
Quickly I slipped into my clothes and
started up the stairs to the deck,
where the rest of the crew had gone.
“As I started up the stairs, I felt
fear gripping me. I Ifound it hard
to raise my feet from one step to
the next. Slowly I climbed until I
reached the top of the stairs. Although
I didn’t know what it was that I
had to fear, I couldn’t keep my body
SUPREME SACRIFICE
—Don Leonard
World War II brought sorrow and grief.
But to others it brought relief;
In our own land we’ll never know
The sorrow which others did not show,
God is mighty and He sees all.
For he’s the one that gave the call—
The call for which America stood
To unite the world in brotherhood.
Boys came back to their native land
To find the freedom they could understand;
Other boys had fought and died
To save America and her pride.
But maybe we of this great land
Can’t believe or understand
The tragedies they experienced tehn
That America might give “good will to men.”
from trembling.
“Just as I stepped on the deck, I
was mec by a gigantic wave! ‘i'he
once peaceful and calm ocean was
now a force of mad water—a ragmg
lien witn no place for safety.
“Quickly I grabbed a rope. Per-
naps If It haun t been for tnis rope,
1 would have been swept overboard
like one of the men wno had been
oil deck when I came up. I heard
nim call for help many times, but tne
ciew seemed omy iniciested in saving
'their own Uves. x rusnea to tne
side to see if mere was any way I
could help him, but I was too late!
me man had been swept under by
a gigantic wave and was no longer
to be seen.
“Only men did I realize that the
ship was in danger of sinking.
“1 started toward the main mast to
render any help i could to save the
smp and my life. 1 never reached
me mast. Hah way between me
mast and the rail of the ship, I was
caught by a sweepmg wave of my
enemy, the ocean, with a loud crash
X was hurled agamst the ran. l^Or
the second time in less than mree
minutes my hie was again saved by
cnngmg to the ship.
“1 wasn5t as lucky now as I was
the first time. 1 realized now my
left arm was filled with pain. Pain,
added to my fear, made me wish X
were dead. But a^ the same tune I
was chnging to tne rail m order to
save my life. Realizing that mere
wasn’t anything I could do to better
my position, I lay on the deck chng-
ing to me ship, trembhng with fear,
and aching with pain.
“Thousands of things fiashed
through my mind. I thought of home,
my parents, httle Jim, and my school
that I must have fainted, for when
X awoke I was not clinging to me
ship as I had thought but lying in a
clean bed wim my arm in a sphnt.
My eyes failed me at first and every-
tnmg looked blue; but things began
to snape into their form and I saw
that a man in' a navy uniform, evi
dently an officer of some rank, was
standing over me.
“ ‘Where am I?’ I asked.
“ ‘Take it easy,’ came the answer;
‘you’re on me UB.S. Waltermore.’
“ ‘But—but,’ I wanted to ask about
the rest of me crew.
“Before I could the officer spoke.
‘I’m Lt. Comdr Kiltor, commander of
this ship. You had a close cah,
young man! We barely got you off
before your ship went down.’
“‘The captain—?’ I asked.
“ ‘I’m sorry,’ came the quick reply.
You were me only one we could find.
Now, perhaps you had better rest
awhile.’
“I turned over and tried to go to
sleep but ah I could think about was
the horror I had witnessed aboard
the Lucie Belle.
“Finally I went to sleep, but when
I awoke me same thought raced
mrough my mind. No one on me
ship mentioned the accident to me,
and I tried to forget it. However, I
couldn’t help thinking to myself that
out of fifteen men I was the only
one? Why?’
“I couldn’t answer this, but no
happier person was there in me
world than I wen I walked off me
gangplank of the U.S.S. Waltermore
into me waiting arms of my mom
and dad.
“ ‘Gosh, Mom,’ I said, ‘you don’t
know how happy I am to be home!’
“‘Thank God!’ Mother said.
“Then it struck me like a bolt of
lightning—her two words, “Thank
God!’
“‘Yes,’ I mought, ‘mere’s my an
swer.’
‘“Ihen turning to my momer, I
said, ‘Thanks Mom, for the Bible!’”
‘Yes,” he concluded, “I was thank
ful for the Blble-nso thankful mat I
went to college and studied for me
ministry. So you see, fellows, me life
of a sailor may be easy for a time,
but he always has to fear the sea that
can never be made a slave!”