
                                 CHAPTER TWO

         A chilled wind filled the sails as the Valfreia was sailed  out
       of Los Angeles Harbor.  October had  arrived  and  the trees were
       radiant with a thousand shades of autumn colors.
         Seagulls soared overhead, at times perching on top of the masts
       to steal a ride. The vessel slowly made her way through the  busy
       Los Angeles Harbor. Somewhere  in the distance church bells could
       be heard as they gave their call to Sunday worship.  A light rain
       was falling as Chris Bynum gave orders to the crew of the vessel. 
         Chris Bynum was hired to Captain the Valfreia.  On this October
       morning Captain Bynum gave orders  to sail to  Vancouver, British
       Columbia.  Bayard Nelson stood on  the deck and  was looking back
       toward Los Angeles.
         It has been a little more than eight months since Valery died,"
       he thought.  Sorrow gripped  Bayard's heart  as his thoughts went
       back to the day when the stable man Jim, out  of breath and tears
       in his eyes, ran inside the bank.  Bayard fought memories  of how
       he had cried as he rushed to the  stable and saw  the still  body
       of his Valery covered  with a  blanket  and being loaded into the
       horse drawn ambulance. Bayard's heart throbbed as he recalled how
       he had pushed the attendants aside and threw back the  blanket to
       see his beautiful Valery. The  memories  of her  mother screaming
       and her father broken in sorrow made Bayard  cover  his eyes with
       both his hands. Even now, he gritted  his teeth  and  wiped salty
       tears from  his eyes  with  his hand.  Memory of the funeral, the
       days that  followed and  the events  that led  him to  be on this
       voyage to Vancouver aboard the Valfreia filled Bayard's mind.
         With Valery gone, Bayard  had no desire  to stay in Los Angeles
       and have to remember what could have been. To see her  mother and
       father in such deep sorrow brought even more sadness to him.
         He felt that he could  not have made it through  those  days if
       it had not been  for  his old friend, Charlie Winsted.  He called
       Charlie into his office one day.
         "Charlie, I've decided to sell the bank and  turn all my  other
       holdings in California to cash. He remembered seeing the surprise
       on Charlie's face.
         With this, Bayard had made  arrangements with Charlie to find a
       buyer for the bank and  all  the  other  real estate he owned and
       deposit it all in the various banks in Los Angeles.
         "Where are you going?" Charlie had asked.
         "I'm not sure.  I think I will  take  the  Valfreia and sail to
       Vancouver and after that, I don't know.
         "The Valfreia?" asked Charlie.
         "The yacht. I decided that I would name it after Valery."
          With all this  settled  with  Charlie Winsted, Bayard had left
       the bank and set out to find a crew for the Valfreia. He received
       some recommendations from the shipping company where he purchased
       the vessel and was able to  secure a good and dependable crew.
         There was  Captain Chris Bynum, who served the ship builders in
       Boston as a Transport Captain for years.  Also, Captain Bynum was
       able to bring five good men with him. All five had neither family
       or property to hinder them from extended  service at sea.  It was
       not long before Captain Bynum  had hired  the rest of the crew to
       sail the Valfreia. With no waste of time they supplied the vessel
       and made ready to sail.
         Now the day of departure had arrived and  Bayard remembered how
       he had planned on Valery  being  with him  as he  set sail on the
       beautiful ship. Hurt swelled up in his chest as he recalled their
       last embrace the night before she died.  He closed  his  eyes and
       saw her in his mind  as  the  wind  tossed her long hair over her 
       shoulder and  the bright moonlight showed her beauty as she  joy-
       fully accepted his proposal.
         Finally, his thoughts  turned to last night when he boarded the
       Valfreia. His heart was saddened as he looked for a final time on
       the night lights of "The City of Angels". In his heart he knew he
       never wanted to return.  This life  was over and  Bayard  knew he
       had changed since Valery died. Now as he stood on the deck of the
       Valfreia with  Los Angeles disappearing behind them, he knew that
       from now on it would be a different kind of life set before him.
         "Take us away to Vancouver, Captain Bynum," he shouted.
         The chilled  October  wind  blew salty  spray in his face as he
       made his way to the pilothouse. The Valfreia came alive with much
       activity as she  cleared the harbor and Captain Bynum gave orders
       to raise full canvas.  As Bayard entered the  pilothouse he spoke
       to Chris again.
         "Everything set Captain?"
         "Just right and we are now  ready to go."  answered Chris as he
       spread a navigation chart on the table.
         "Good man, let's sail."
         Bayard left the pilothouse. Crossing the deck to the companion-
       way which led to the quarters below,  he met Bodo Jackson who was
       the youngest crewman on board the Valfreia.
         "Good morning Bodo."
         "Good morning  Mister Nelson,"  replied the crewman.  As Bayard
       opened the door to the companionway, he continued.
         "Meet me in the library in about an hour. I need some good help 
       to put some books in the shelves. Be sure and check  with Captain
       Bynum first."
         "Aye, Sir," answered Bodo.
         Bayard entered the companionway and made his way below.  On the
       lower deck a passageway led  the entire length of the vessel with
       doorways on both sides.  Several  lamps, mounted in brass holders
       on the walls gave plenty of light for the passageway. The library
       was on the port  side  of  the  passageway  about midships of the
       Valfreia. Taking a key ring from his pocket, Bayard found the key
       to the library door and entered.
         The library was a huge room with shelves around three walls. On
       the fourth wall was a large map  of the world  placed between two
       portholes which gave ample light on a  bright day.  In the center
       of the room was a  huge  oak  desk with a shiny brass lamp on it.
       Scattered about the floor were many boxes filled with books.
         Bodo was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  In the early years of
       his life he developed a love for the sea as he helped his  father 
       fish for shrimp in the  Gulf  of Mexico.  Bodo would never forget
       the night a bad storm dashed his father's boat to pieces  and the
       gurgling cry of his father as  he  disappeared  beneath the foamy
       sea. Bodo had escaped  death  only  because his father had strap-
       ped a heavy life jacket to him when the storm began breaking  the
       boat apart.  Bodo remembered  drifting  all night in the wild and
       turbulent sea and he would  have perished  but for  being  washed
       ashore on a  small  island.  Bodo  spent two starving days on the
       little island before being  rescued by another shrimper.  With no
       food and only drinking water from rain  puddles  he  was in a bad
       way.
         Being left motherless at birth and  fatherless at fourteen, set
       the stage for self reliance on the lad.  In the following year he
       had  drifted  from job  to job on many  fishing  vessels until he
       met Chris Bynum.  Chris had been a real  friend  to Bodo.  He had
       taught the youngster about the sea as he helped deliver ships for
       the ship builders. When Bayard  Nelson hired Chris as Captain for
       the Valfreia it was natural for  Chris to include Bodo as part of
       the crew.
         "Come in." Bayard answered Bodo's knock on the library door. 
         It took the best part of the next five hours to place the  many
       books that Bayard had brought aboard the Valfreia.  Bodo  guessed 
       these were probably the most books he had ever seen in one place. 
       He would stop many times and  ask  Bayard to explain a title of a
       certain  book  and  listen with great interest as Bayard gave him
       details about some subject or writer.
         Bayard decided he liked this young seaman and figured he  could
       be counted on for whatever might happen.  As they  discussed many
       different  books and  authors  Bayard  discovered that Bodo had a
       surprising working knowledge of intellectual things.  Bayard soon
       learned that not only had Bodo learned the things of the sea from
       Chris Bynum but he also had been taught to read and write by him.
         "You may borrow books from  the library when you wish, my lad,"
       offered Bayard.
         "Aye, I thank you, Mister Nelson." Bayard sensed real apprecia-
       tion in the young seaman's voice. From the aft part of the vessel
       they heard the ringing of the chow bell in the galley.
         The galley on the Valfreia was worthy of  the admiration of any
       ship's cook.  Built to accommodate far more  than the crew of the
       vessel, it had the equipment  of any  fine restaurant.  It was in
       this surrounding that Pounds Logan provided food for the crew.
         No one ever bothered to  ask  Pounds  his real name.  His bulky
       build added credit to his nickname.  Pounds  had a very  friendly
       disposition and the crew all liked him. He was very generous with
       the fine food that  Bayard furnished.  It was well known in years
       to come that the crew aboard the Valfreia enjoyed better food and
       accommodations  than any other crew.  Pounds had worked for Chris
       Bynum for many years as cook on many voyages.  Now it had  become
       his lot to serve on the Valfreia.
         "Time for chow,"  said Bayard as he ushered Bodo to the door of
       the library.
         Locking the library door, Bayard went to the chow hall where he
       found Chris Bynum who had left  the first mate,  Norman Timkin in
       the pilothouse at the wheel.
         "Would you eat with me?" Bayard asked as he led the way.
         "Sure I will,"answered Chris. They made their way to a table in
       the corner of the chow hall.    
         "Pounds did a good job with the table," commented  Bayard as he
       put a chair at the table and motioned for Chris to do the same.
         "Yes, he did. Pounds is a good man and a good cook too,"replied
       Chris.
         The two men began to fill their plates with food.  As Chris put
       a steak in his plate from a well laden platter, Bayard asked.     
         "What is our position?"
         "We've just passed Point Dume. We are well under way."
         The two men ate in silence.  Fifteen  minutes  later  Bayard
       shoved his plate aside.
         "I'll be in my cabin if you need me for anything."
         "Sure, have a good night," answered Chris.
         Bayard wondered at the common language used by Chris Bynum.  He
       noticed that while Bodo and the other crewmen used the common sea
       faring language, seldom  did he  ever hear an "aye" or any of the
       other phrases of seagoing men come from the lips of Chris.
         "No matter," he thought as he made his way to his cabin.
         The Valfreia was a luxury  vessel of  first class.  It had been
       built as a personal yacht for the Czar of Russia but had not been
       delivered due to a heated argument between the Czar and  the ship
       builders concerning the terms of delivery. All the very fine care
       and splendor of a fine yacht caught the eye everywhere.  The ship
       had been built as a  three masted schooner  and was fitted with a
       steam-winch for the labor of hauling  at braces and the halyards. 
       A square-rigged vessel of the same  class would require a crew of
       nearly a hundred men but the Valfreia, fitted  with a steam-winch
       could sail very well with a crew of  fifteen to twenty men.  Even
       for trimming the sheets or trimming the  topsails, it only took a
       turn around the drum of the winch engine and a turn of  the steam
       valve. The trouble and labor the steam-winch saved more than paid
       for the cost of keeping wood  to provide  a steady  head of steam
       when it was needed.  A by-product of the steam-winch was a system
       of tubing  installed  throughout  the  vessel to  carry steam for
       heat. The tubing ran from the boiler located in a small shed like
       structure on the upper  aft  deck  to  each  room  throughout the
       Valfreia. The tubing was connected to the baseboards of the rooms
       and as the steam was  forced  by  the pressure in the boiler thru
       the tubes and back to the boiler it supplied good,  warming  heat
       for the vessel. The vessel had also  been  modified  with a pilot
       house in the center of the upper deck  providing  protection  for
       the wheel which was a  bounty for the pilot.  It  was  especially
       appreciated on wet, cold days when the ship  was under sail.  The
       absolute fine craftsmanship of the  Valfreia showed the pride and
       care of her builders to deep-water sailors everywhere.
         Bayard entered his  cabin and closed  the door  behind him.  He
       looked at his reflection in a mirror that covered an entire wall.
       Reflected in the mirror,  the  fine  drapes  and  fixtures showed
       forth a beauty found only in the very finest hotels of the world.
       Although Bayard had seen them several times before and even slept
       in the giant bed last night, he stood for long moments and looked
       on their beauty.
         For a moment he  remembered  that  Valery  should be beside him
       here. Pounding his right fist into the other hand,  he shoved the
       memory from his mind.  Getting into bed, he soon dropped off to a
       sound  sleep as the exhaustion of the last few days overtook him. 
       
         Outside, strong wind began to blow with vigor.  A violent storm
       engulfed  the sea  as  Bayard  awoke  several  hours later with a
       start.  The vessel  heaved with  the force  of deep  swells as he
       sprang out of bed and pulled on his trousers. He ran out into the
       passageway and climbed the companionway as the  ship lurched from
       the force of the driving wind.  Pushing  open the door at the top
       of the  companionway,  Bayard  stepped out into  the blast of the
       Pacific storm.  Holding  against  the  wall of the pilot house he
       made his way around to the door and  shoved  it  open.  Chris was
       busy fighting the  wheel  and  Norman  Timkin, the first mate was
       trying to read a chart in the flickering light of an oil lamp.
         "What's the story Chris?"  he yelled  above  the  sound  of the
       howling wind.
         "We're in for a real blow."
         The Valfreia splashed heavy  in  the  raging sea as she went up
       and down on the angry waves. Lightning flashed and  deep  thunder
       rolled as  the  ship slid into the deep  troughs  and then rocked
       violently as she rose above the white-capped peaks.
         Chris yelled at Bodo. "Take Cally and trim the sheets.  We have
       to have some slack."
         Bodo and Cally Williams, another of the men who came with Chris
       Bynum, rushed out the pilothouse  door  and made their way to the
       steam-winch. As Bodo released the brake on the winch the topsails
       on the mainmast and the foremast gave slack.  As bright lightning
       flashed the  two  seamen  watched  as the line fell off the winch
       pulley. With all the pressure gone from the winch it gave a  loud
       whirr until Cally grabbed the brake and gave it a hard pull.
         With the pressure that Cally put on the brake, it tightened the
       halyards but as Bodo  looked up  into the cloud of  sails, he saw
       them become tangled in the lines. The mainsail was flapping loose
       in the wind and the topsails had dropped and began to wrap around
       the halyards.
         The Valfreia dipped down deeply into a trough  as the wind left
       the sails.  Above the  flapping of the mainsail  Bodo heard Chris
       shouting to them from the pilothouse door.
         "Go up the mainmast and  try to  untangle the  sails.  We can't 
       control the ship.
         Without delay Bodo and Cally began to climb the mainmast in the
       vicious wind as they  tried to  hold on to the rigging.  With the
       tangled winch line it was going to be impossible to get the sails
       untangled  without  cutting the  line.  Bodo  knew he had to give
       Chris some canvas so he could control the ship. In a bright flash 
       lightning the men  were  seen by  Bayard  as  they  drove against
       the angry wind to reach the rigging.  As Bodo cut the winch line,
       The mainsail ripped with a loud swish. As the winch line  dropped
       it let the boom swing free and Bodo yelled too late to warn Cally
       as the boom  caught him across the chest.  With a sickening thud,
       Cally came crashing down  from his  position  beneath the "Crow's
       Nest". He plunged onto the roof of the pilothouse. He gripped the
       top for a moment and then slid off to the wind swept deck  below. 
       Bodo screamed as he saw a giant wave crash down on the ship. When
       a wall of water had passed over the bow of the vessel,  Cally was
       nowhere to be seen and Bodo knew he had been swept into the sea.
         Above the shrill of the wind Bodo could hear Cally calling from
       the raging sea.  For a swift  moment,  Bodo  had visions of years
       before  when he saw his father  swallowed up by such  a sea as he
       was seeing today. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the dark,
       rolling clouds  through the rain.  Bodo felt  flesh tear from his
       hands as he made fast  the  topsail  and made his way down to the
       deck of the Valfreia.  For a moment he leaned against the door of
       the companionway as he looked into  the sea that  had claimed his
       friend. As lightning exposed the rolling waves, he looked for any
       sign of Cally but knew it was hopeless. As the blast of the storm
       pressed against Bodo, he grasped  the rail pulling  himself along
       the deck until he was even with the pilothouse door. The Valfreia
       rocked  with  the force  of the wind  and  another  powerful wave
       smashed into her hull as Bodo released  his hold on  the rail and
       made a dash into the pilothouse.
         "We lost  Cally!" he exclaimed. "He fell from the top and I saw
       him go into the sea."
         "Aye, we saw him fall," said Norman.
         Chris sent two more  crewmen out to the  steam-winch.  Catching
       the lines of the  remaining topsail, they  were  able to hitch it
       around the pulley and raise the sail.  With the added canvas, the
       Valfreia began to respond a little better to the wheel.  Still, a
       tremendous onslaught  of wind rocked the ship as Chris fought the
       wheel. It took all of his strength as he guided the vessel out of
       the troughs and topped the crest of massive waves bearing down on
       them.  Bayard  watched  as  the  lightning flashed and he saw the
       flapping mainsail which Bodo had not  been able to secure because
       of the intensity of the storm. With a loud swish it ripped apart.
         Down below, Pounds and  Terry Baldwin  who was  the last of the
       crewmen who had signed  on  the  Valfreia  with Chris Bynum, were
       trying to keep the galley  from becoming a complete wreck in  the
       storm. Most of the dishes and cook ware were  scattered about the
       floor from the pitching and rolling of the ship.
         "We had better go  topside and check  with Captain Chris," said
       Pounds. "Grab an extra lamp to take to the pilothouse.  It's get-
       ing dark"
         Terry took a lamp fro  one of the tables in the chow hall.  The
       Valfreia heaved with all the force of  gigantic waves.  It seemed
       that the storm was growing more intense by the minute.  Lightning
       darted  across  the velvet sky.  The persistence  of the storm to
       destroy the Valfreia seemed to shout through the driving wind.    
         For hours the storm raged, and it was far into the night before
       Chris noticed a break in the fierceness of the wind.  For another
       hour Chris held the wheel against the last dying struggles of the
       storm. He was exhausted when he turned it over to Norman. 
       Daylight finally forged its way through the rain. Even though the
       wind had now calmed to  a manageable  force  the  rain  was still
       falling quite hard.
         "Let's check and see how much  damage  we have."  Chris led the
       way out the pilothouse  door  and  with  the rest of the crew and
       Bayard following close behind him.  They drew their  coats  tight
       about them as they  stepped out into the rain.  After the search,
       they found that the vessel made it  through the storm with little
       serious damage  except  for the  ruined  mainsail.  It would take
       several hours before everything  could be put  in its place again
       and replace the mainsail. Bayard found  that a great  many of the
       books that he and Bodo had placed in the library shelves had been
       thrown to the floor.  Pound's  galley  was in a serious  state of
       disorder.
         Little was said  of Cally.  They all  knew  this was an example
       of the  sometimes  sickening  reality of following a life at sea.
       Two hours later the sea  was engulfed in a dead calm.  The  sails
       were all empty of wind. One of the  strange traits of the sea was
       how it can throw all the  power  of  the elements against a ship,
       bent on her total destruction, and  then  rest in the calm  tran-
       quillity of peace and safety. Chris yelled at Norman.
         "Tie the wheel.  Everyone take  three hour watches until we are
       rested and  then  we  will  all pitch in and clean this mess up."
       Bayard entered the  companionway and went down to his cabin.
         It was the next morning when  Bayard  awoke.  The sea was still
       calm with a light breeze  blowing  from  the west.  As Bayard was
       dressing his thoughts turned to the storm and the death of Cally.
       He wished there was  someone  he  could  write  and  express  his
       sorrow, but according to Chris, Cally had no kin.  As he buttoned
       his shirt he stepped over to the wall of his cabin. Taking down a
       large picture from  the  wall he  exposed a large safe built into
       the wall. He swung the heavy door  open to reveal  many stacks of
       neatly banded money.  With a strained effort he lifted a huge box
       from the safe.  Next, he struggled  to lift it to his bed.  As he
       opened the cover of the box the light coming through the porthole
       in his cabin reflected the brilliance of a fortune in gold coins. 
         When Bayard decided to sell all his  holdings in Los Angeles he
       left much of his money in the bank but not knowing when he  would
       return to Los Angeles he brought a great amount of paper money as
       well as gold with him. He had left word with Charlie Winsted that
       when the bank  as  well as his  other  properties sold, the money
       could be put in his account at the bank in Los Angeles.
         As he looked at the bright coins  he  wondered  what his father
       would have said or thought about him selling everything and sail-
       ing away into an  uncertain  future.  Bayard knew he had  all the
       money he would ever need to live this free life  style as long as
       he wanted.  As his thoughts turned to  the future  he entertained
       a certain excitement at the prospect of adventure sailing the sea
       aboard the Valfreia.  Ever since his first meeting with Valery he
       had been  impressed  with  how  people  could  live without being
       enslaved with the shine and polish of the  elite  circles of high
       society.
         As his mind wandered  back to Valery he rushed over to the safe
       and took a small picture of her from it. As he looked at the pic- 
       ture the pain returned.  His voice quivered as he read aloud from
       the bottom of the picture.
         "With all my love, Valery."
         He at last placed the picture back in the safe and with a  hard
       struggle lifted the box of gold back to its place in the safe and
       closed the door.  Hanging  the wall picture back over the safe he
       left his cabin and started for the chow hall.  As  Bayard entered
       the chow hall he saw Chris pouring hot  coffee  from the pot that
       Pounds had placed on the table.  As he  pulled  up a chair to the
       table he asked.
         "How are repairs coming?"
         "Good.  We replaced  the mainsail  and about all  we lack being 
       ready to sail is cleaning the deck and some of the cabins."
         "That's good."
         Bayard filled his plate with  breakfast  that Pounds set on the
       table. He spoke to Chris.
         "Too bad about Cally. You may need to take on some more help as
       soon as you can. Maybe two more."
         "Yeah, Cally was a good sailor.  We will  miss him.  Especially
       Bodo, they were pretty close," replied Chris.
         "How long will it take us to reach Vancouver?"
         "Two, maybe three days. Depends on the wind."
         "That's good. We will be there for quite a while."
         "Sure," replied Chris. "By the way, we  need to pay the crew
       before we reach port."
         "I'll have the money ready for you before we  reach Vancouver."
       Bayard pushed his plate aside and  stood to his feet.  "You did a
       real good job bringing us through the storm."
         "Thanks," responded Chris. Bayard  left the chow hall. Stepping
       out into the passageway he met Bodo.
         "Good morning Bodo.  I'm sorry  about Cally.  Chris told me you
       were close to him."
         "Yes Sir, thank you," answered Bodo.
         Bayard walked  down  the  passageway to the library.  He took a
       book from the shelf and sat down at a desk to read.  It  would be
       several hours before he would come back  up on deck.  He  finally
       finished in the library and climbed the companionway to the upper
       deck. A brisk wind was blowing from the  west  and Chris was busy
       getting ready to sail.  He  watched as Bodo and Terry started the
       steam-winch and raised the sails under orders from Chris. A light
       jerk rocked the  vessel as wind filled the sails and it  began to
       slice through the water. Bayard smiled as Chris waved to him from
       inside the pilothouse.
         The next two days passed without any problem as the vessel made
       passage to Vancouver. Bayard was reading in the library when Bodo
       knocked on the door.
         "Come in."
         "Cap'n Chris said to  tell you we  are going to be in Vancouver
       early tomorrow morning, Sir."
         "Good, give  this  to him if you will."  Bayard  handed Bodo an
       envelope with the crew's wages.
         "Tell Captain Bynum I'll be up in about an hour."
         "Aye, aye Sir," said Bodo as he turned and left the library.
         It was dark when Bayard came up on deck. He stood and looked at
       the outline  of the  mountains that lined the shore.  There was a
       full moon out  tonight  and the  mountains made a beautiful sight
       against the background of a velvet sky.
       
       End of Chapter
       
