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Exciting Stories of the Players That Are True
By JAMES BLACK
ON a cool summer's night not so long ago, the yacht Sagamore steamed up Long Island Sound, carrying a group of Vitagraph players, among them Wilfred North, director ; Wally Van, Antonio Moreno and William Shay. The humble recorder of these tales had the good fortune also to be a guest. Pipes were going, and every one was reminiscent. The talk turned to sea stories.
"Well," began Mr. North, "before I became an actor I was a sailor, and while I was on the sea some of the most exciting incidents in my life took place. Once, off the coast of South America, in the Pacific, I was the mate of a sailing schooner. We had struck a dead calm, and the pitch leaking out of the seams and the booms creaking made life almost unbearable. I w a s talking with the helmsman, when I noticed the crew suddenly came active. One sailor ran up the rigging, using only his hands, and sliding down again on a rope, his friends cheering. Another hung head down from the yards. I went forward and found that every one was trying to do a difficult feat, a prize of tobacco being offered for
the most difficult. I said that I would do anything that any one else would do. We happened to be in a place that was infested with sharks. Joe Gilligan said: "Will you dive from the bowsprit if I do?" I said, "Yes," thinking he would not do it. But he did and got back safely. Instantly the water was alive with sharks. I knew it was certain death, but I would be called a coward if I did not; so I crawled out onto the bowsprit, standing undecided. I could see the dorsal fins and white bellies of the sharks flashing in
WILFRED NORTH
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the sun, waiting for me, and I shivered with fright. My shipma t es jeered at me. I thought I had better pray, so I said 'Our Father—' Then my foot slipped — I fell with a terrible splash."
"Bunk!" said Wally, but was hushed by a welldirected pillow.
"I was very much startled, ' ' resumed North, "but struck out for the ship. I never swam faster. A shark rushed at me. How I eluded him, I dont know. Getting back to the ship, I was pulled aboard. Just as my feet left the water I heard one of the monsters' jaws snap. A second sooner and I would have lost my leg. When I was pulled on the deck I