ONE OF SPOFFORTH'S ADVENTURES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2397, 11 September 1886, Page 2

ONE OF SPOFFORTH'S ADVENTURES.

An item for cricketers is supplied by Mr 0., Haddon Chaiubura in OassoH's Saturday Journal. It occurs in an account of ft voyage from Australia to England in tho Orient liner Garonne. He saysWe had Murdoch's second , team of Australian cricketers ns ( and pleasant fellows they all 'woro, tho typical cornstalk Bonufir to the wiry Alex, Bannerman. 1 was oi) good terras with them all, but more particularly with Spuffortli, the "demon whom 1 have had what tho in ' Groat Expectations' used to . call 'sich larkß. 1 In tho Suez Canal the Garonne was detained on account of a ship ahead having gone aground, but as sho might be got off at any moment, our captain did not offer to take us on shore, Mr Spuffortli and I, howover, put our heads toother. The ship was moored to the little jetty by a , thiok,[long, double, hawfer. "Thedemon" pointed this out to me, and declared his intention of making his way along it to the shore. 1 declared my' intention of following him. first of all wo rigged ourselves in old clothes. Then "tho demon" started; Haslippod quickly and easily dowu the fall of tho hawser. 1 followod. Now it raust, be mentioned that I enemies on board and when I was seen to start on tho" advonturons jonrney, my enemies eagerly seized the opportunity of venting their'malice. Presenting a bottle to' two or thrca _of the sailors, they expressed a desire to see me skaken intoitho water. In justice to them I must jjatea to state that they knew I was a swimmer. So was my companion. Ever ready for. a " lark" the sailors seized tho hawser where it was taut, nulled it out to the uttermost and then suddenly let go. This pleasant manoeuvre they repeated at surprisingly short intervals. The mult was that my frieud and I woro flung about like clothes hung.out in the wiud, afforflgfr capital divoraion to the whole shipWompany. "Thisis nasty," quoth "tho demon;" "I'm going in and, wjthout more ado, hodropped in the waterand swam for land, I was loth to allow my enemies to succoed, in their malicious designs, Accordingly hanging on to tho hawser like grim death, I continued to work my way to the jetty. It was dosperato work. . I reached it at last, and found unexpected assistance. It appears that an old Italian who stood there smoking a cigarette had been my warm partisan'all through, emphatically | expressing, both orally andgeaticulatorily, his strong disapproval of the proceedings of my enemies. ■ Whea l had finished my uncomfortable journey,'hp stretched out both hands and helped me on to tho jetty, where he ' proceeded to pour out his hearty, although to 1 me unfortunately unintelligible, congratulations. Tlmhe conducted me to his station wo was Boon joined by my brotherjaamturer. We wore most hospitably entor* tained with light wines, dates and sweet cakes, and, in addition, "ivere presented with a quantity of exquisite cig3retta tobacco. A couple of hours afterwards, muoh elated with our visit, apd our tobacco safe from damp in wa swam back to the ship, and saloon gangway, ;to the envy, I have reasons to believe of all our fellow pasaen* gera,