The coast guardsman

The coast guardsman by W. E. Carlton. It is an adventure short story written in the early 20th century. Set on Cape Cod during the rum-running era, it follows a young surfman whose courage and sense of duty drive him to confront smugglers and prove himself worthy of leadership.

Aubrey Sears, a capable but slighted surfman at Santuck station, is undermined when Jansen, the swaggering Number One, claims credit for wounding a smuggler from the schooner Seabright and paints Aubrey as a coward. Pushed by his sweetheart Mamie and a wary neighbor’s tip, Aubrey checks Howesport harbor on a foggy night and clashes with the Holway lobstermen, whose muffled-oar landing escalates into a brutal brawl; bloodied but unbroken, he even floors the hulking “Bloody Nathan.” Captain Cole arrives with the crew, reveals he never backed Jansen’s story, and that while Aubrey fought, the guards found a tube of opium hidden among the “lobsters,” tying the landing to Seabright and casting suspicion on Jansen’s push to end the harbor patrol. Cole vows to pursue the case in court and promises to elevate Aubrey to the top spot at Santuck, effectively placing station authority in his hands. (This is an automatically generated summary.)