SonnieBoysPeople 10759743 PDF

“
Look he re So nn i c Bo y H m
”
m r i t h e
e
-
. e ; a a n sa s
y y o u a
p p a s
,
”
g r
e
a t s t man e ve r was i n hi s fine.
J A M E S B . C ON N O L L Y
COP YR I G HT , 1 9 1 3 , BY
E
C HAR L S SCR I B N R S SON SE ’
l
P ub i sh ed Sep temb er, 1 9 13
C ONT E NT S
SO N N I E -
BOY
’
S P E OP L E
T IM R I L E Y T O UCH
’
s
IN T HE A N C HOR WA T C H
C R O S S C OU R S E S
LEA R Y OF T HE LI GON I E R
How T H E Y GOT T HE HA TT E
I R E N N I SH
K I LL OR I N
’
S E C ARIBB AN DA Y S
T H E BA TT E C E
—
L R UI S OF T H E SV E ND FOY N
T H E LA S T P E E A SS NG R
43753 5
I LLU ST R AT I ON S
Loo k h e re S nn i e—
B y o ere s a m a n y
o H
’
sa s yo ur p a p a
is h g rea es m a n e v e r w as i n hi s l in e
.
,
” '
t e t t F i p r on t f z ece
F A CI NG
A n d f c urse ur b r h e r i s la i n g g r eat p la n s
P A GE
o o yo ot y to
ass ure hi s fu ur e ? t
—
Th a w face d ch a i rm a f urs h n ev e r ipp e d
t t o
— n o yo e t
m e ff c uld fi h
o you w e ce p
o i h ur
g t a ny ay x t W t yo
h a n ds ”
Th e O i p r ve d
r on h a s h e w as fas e r ff h wi n d
o to us t t t o t
h a n w e we r e b r un di ng C a p e C d bef re
e
t y o o o us
I w as D r i sla n e s h e h ad h i s h ea d c u dd le d
t h e r kn ees on
ca m e a n d
,
ill h
t t e t ug g o t u s
Ju s h e n
t t ca me rig h un d e r h e r f re f a n d
one t o oo t an
h e r un de r h e r c un e r A n d I l k s back h
ot o t . oo to t e
g un b a o t
”
Th e s ra n ge r s
t wi h r ev l ve rs bac k
out t o my m en in to
a n d l ck h e m in
,
h t e o t
Tw as m e s h e w al k e d h m e i h
”
o W t
SO NN I E BOY S P E OP LE
’
S o n n i e Bo y l
’
-
s P e op e
HE man Wit h the go ld h eade d cane h a d been -
headed for the cottage but espying the boy ,
at the water s edge h e change d hi s course He

’
, .
crept to W ithin a few pace s of t h e l ad before he

haile d : Ha ll oo l itt le boy ! I ll bet I know W ho
“
,
’
your pap a i s .
”
Th e boy l ooke d casua lly around Seeing th at .
it was a stranger he faced about and stood re

,
s p e ct fu lly erect .
“
Mr Welki e s little boy aren t you ?
.
’
,
’
Yes si r B ut I m most si x
, .
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,
—
Oh h I see a big boy now Bu t w h at h ave .
you got there ? ”
The boy h eld up the toy steamer W ith W hi c h

h e ha d been p l aying .
“
Oh h I see now
-
, Wh at are you going t o do
.
W it h i t ?”
Th e boy l oo ke d s i d ewi s e out to Wh ere in the b ay

a fl e et of b att l e s h ips were lying to anchor
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.
“
L oa d it W it h sugar and pineapples an d s hi p ,
’
em to t h e States are you ? ,
”
z
B oy s P e o p l e
'
S i
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‘
o nn el-
But it s a g n s hi p S ’
— W here the turrets
u -
. ee
’
n
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the figh t i n g tops W i ll be W hen pap a makes
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them .
”
“
an d so you want t o be a great merchant ?
Oh !
—
I want to be a figh t e r articulating sl owly
— “
and distinctly on a big gun ship -
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”
We l l if ever you do little man I ll bet you ll

, , ,
’ ’
be a game one too I s your p apa home ? , .

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“
No si r but Aunt Marie i s
, , .
”
And i s Aunt Marie busy d o you think ? ,
I d on t know si r but s h e s making a b att l e

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’
flag for my gu n s hi p -
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”
That so ? I think I W i ll ca ll on Aunt Marie

“
,
then .
”
Swinging hi s cane an d a d vancing leisurely the ,
stranger headed for the screene d verand a door .
Marie W e lk i e because of having to keep an eye,
on her nephew from the veranda could not avoid ,
noticing the stranger The clothing the j ewelry .

, ,
the air of assurance had disturbe d an d half amused ,
her ; but the kindly tone With the boy the parting ,
pat of hi s head were more p l easing She an ,

.
s we re d hi s knock herself .
“ —
Good evening Miss We lk i e ? That South ”
ern good evening in the middle of the afternoon

“
likewise pleased her

“
Mi ss W e lk i e yes ,
.
I m Mr Necker From a gold mounted case

“ ’ ”
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4
S o nni e B o y s Pe o p l e
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he drew out a card .

“
I m
’
looking for you r
b rot h e r f
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“
He won t be home for some time yet But
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won t you step i n Mr Necker from out of the

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, .
,
sun ? ”
“
Thank you I t i s warm isn t i t ? W armer
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,
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than ordinary ? ”
“
No I sh o uldn t say so It s usua lly h ot here
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Then it must be h ot h ere w h en it i s h ot I t .
wasn t so b a d out in the Gu l f I j u st got i n

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from Key West Not many p assengers come here

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,
Mi s s W e lk i e ? ”
“
On ly somebo d y especially interested in the
—
works usually from Washington Do you mind .
if I go a h ead with this ensign for my nephew Mr , .
Necker ? S h e he l d up a p artly fini she d Ameri

”
can ensign Ab ove the top of it t h e V isitor could

.
see p art of the very w h ite forehea d and a front of

dark straight hair “
I promise d t o h ave it ready
.
for my nephew surely by morning an d after my ,
brother gets h ome there prob ably won t be much ’
spare time B ut were you the on ly p assenger for

.
here Mr Necker ?
, .
”
“
T here was one ot h er He got off at t h e new .
fo rt i fic at i on l an d ing Twenty nine or t h irty per

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haps he was a weIl ma d e easy m o ving kind -
,
- .
”
Hi s voice was casual but hi s gaze was keen ,
enough It never left her face

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“
A tall man .
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came running down to meet h im he resumed , .
“
They seeme d terribly glad t o see each other .
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“
That must h ave been my brother to meet
Mr Balfe was it y o ur fellow—
.
— , p assenger ”
—
.
He hesitated a moment Mr B alfe yes

—
. .
,
that was t Th e captain or was it the captain ?

i .
—said t h at there was a Mr B alfe who went on .
s pecia l missions for t h e government but whether

'
this was the Mr B a l fe or not he c ould not say

.
”
.
She sewed serenely on “

I ve heard that that .
’
steamer captain i s developing into a great gossip .
Ou r Mr Balfe i s my brother s dearest friend and

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—
godfather to my brother s boy the b oy y ou were ’
—
speaking t o on t h e beach and if he ever found
himself in t h is part of the wo rl d wi thout calling
on u s I d on t know w h at my brother would
,
’
think .
”
This time Miss Welk i e l oo k ed u p and Necker ,
smiled with h er Also he peered smilingly through

.
the veran d a vine “

So that is your brother s boy
.
’
out there ? We l l well ! An d a fin e boy too ! A , ,
beautifully s h aped hea d B right I ll bet ? ” ’
—
,
—
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“
Natura l ly wit h a ten d er smi l e we think
” “
“
bet h e i s An d of co urse your brother is
I ll
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l aying great plans t o assure his future ?

I m afraid you are not we ll acquainted with
“ ’
my brot h er Mr Necker , . .
”
6
S o nni e B o y s Pe o p l e -
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happy here she added after a moment and still

, , ,
flushing resumed her needle

, .
P resently he pointed his cane at the boy on the

beach “
A great d ea l of your brother in him
.
,
isn t there ?
’ ”
“
Very much Our o l der friends b ack home say.
—
that it is like Greg that is my brother being — ,
born all over ”

.
“
A fin e boy yes M iss W e lki e and ought to be
, , ,
a great man some day But I ll be running along .

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now Miss We lki e

, .
“
You won t wait for him ? He will be glad to
’
see you I know , .

”
“
Thank you ; but after a man s been out there ’
under that sun al l day is no time for a friend to

bother him An d I am a friend of your brother s
.
’
believe me Miss Welk i e It is because I am a

, .
friend an d an a d mirer of his that I m here ’

.
”
“
But you will return l ater ? ”
—
I will thank you after he s ha d time to clean
,
’
up and eat an d smoke an d a chat with his friend , ,
I ll drop in for a little ta l k and in that little talk

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Miss W elk i e I hope you won t be against me for

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I mean 1t for his best So until eight o clock

—
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to night Miss Welk i e adi or

-
, Necker s wishing .
,
his gold h eaded cane strolled leisurely away

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,
.
I wonder what he wants of Greg murmured

“
,
”
Marie W e lk i e And until his pea green suit was

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8
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lost to sight she speculated on his prob able

errand .
By and by her eyes now less speculative de , ,
t e c t e d the smudge against the concrete walls Sh e .
took down a pair of glasses from the wall I t was the .
towboat l eaving t h e wharf The glasses took the .
place ofh er sewing an d they were still to her eyes

,
W hen a sharp Auntie ! came to her ears

“ ” “
Ten .
’
tion auntie ! C olors ! warned t h e voice L owering

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”
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t h e glasses Marie came obediently to attention

, .
T he sun was cutting t h e edge of the sea The .
l ast leve l light l ay on the long s low swe l ling , ,
waters l ike a r ol ling flaming carp et and in that

—
, ,
flaming pat h t h e gray war ships b obbe d to an

chor ; an d on t h e quarter d ec k of every ship a red
-
coate d b and was d r awn u p an d from the j ack st afi

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,
of every ship an American ensign was slowly

dropping down Th e boy st ood with his b ack to
.
her but Marie knew h ow h i s h eart was thumping

, ,
and s h e knew the l ig h t t h at woul d be on h is face .
“
0 say ! can y ou see came t h e swel l ing notes
over the gently h eaving b ay M arie could feel .
that young Greg was rea d y t o burst ; b ut she

could not detect a move n ot a q uiver out of him , ,
until the last note ofthe last bugle had ceased to

r e echo
-
Then he saluted reverently executed an
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,
about face and called out excited ly : Auntie

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auntie there s papa now ! L ook !

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’ ”
9
S o nn i e B o y s P e o p l e
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Marie pretended to see for the first time the

towboat which a hundred yards o so down the
, r
beach was making a landing

,
“
Sure enough .
,
G reg ! ”
“
And somebody else !
No ; is there ? ”
,
’
—
Why don t you see godfather auntie ! O ,
papa ! Godfather ! He was off ”

.
When he returned he was clinging on the one

hand to a tall brown lean cheeked and rather
, ,
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,
slender man of thirty four or five in dusty cor ,
duroy coat and trousers mud caked shoes and leg ,

-
gings khaki shirt and a hard looking low blocked

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P anama hat ; and on the other hand to a man also

sun tanne d but less tall and not so lean a mus
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,
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c u l ar active man wh o may have lived the thirty

,
years whic h Necker ascribed to him but wh o ,
surely did not look it now At sight of Marie .
W e lk i e stepping down from the screened verand a

he bounded like sixteen years across the beach .
—
Marie W e lk i e at last !
Andie B alfe ! She took his hands within hers
”
and drew them up in front of her bosom The .
smile which Necker had so wanted to see again

was t h ere now and now not to vanish in a mo
,
ment B alfe brushed her h u ger tips with his lips

. .
How far this t i me Andie ?

“ ”
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From half the world around Marie , .
10
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’
And are you glad ? ”
And I would come it twice again to see your

dear eyes smile .
“
Could eyes be made so dull as not to light to
your poetic touch Andie ? And then in a low
,
”
,
voice Wait for the sunset

“
, Sh e stood upon her .
toes for her brother s kiss Another hard hot ’

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,
day G reg ?
,
”
“
No no a fin e day Marie P e d ro
, , he mo , .
t i o n e d to the negro at their rear put Mr a
B alfe s suit case in t h e corner of the verand a

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there That ll be al l to night exce p t to see tha t

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Mr Balfe s trunks come up from the towboat

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He paused on the veranda steps to get a V iew of

the b ay As he stood there n silence the lively
. i ,
notes of a dozen buglers came sharply to them .
He still held the boy s hand

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“
Mess call papa ? ,
”
Getting so you know them all are n t you ,

’
Sonnie Boy ? One minute from now ten thousand

-
husky lads out there will be doing awful things to

the commissary grub But look there ! Andie .
,
did any of your kings or presidents ever o ffer you

sights more gorgeous than that to view from their
palace walls ?
It was the afterglow of the sunset a red and ,
-
orange glory fading into the blue black velvet of a -
C aribbean twilight .
I I
S o nni e B o y s P e o p l e
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’
“
I t s by way of greeting to the far traveller
’
.
This may be the last place on earth here Andie , ,
but we warrant our sunsets to be the best on the

market But let s go inside and make ready to
.
’
eat What do you say Sonnie Boy ?

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,
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”
“
But papa you said that when godfather
, ,
cam e you w ould have the L ittle Men sing you a

song for the steam engine he sent me from Japan ! -
”
“
T hat s right I did But where is i t ?
’
,
”
Right here papa From the veranda corner

, .
he picked up a toy locomotive “

L ook ! Li ght .
n i n g I v e named i t
’
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“
A h u e name for i t too Well let me see , .
, .
How was i t ? Oh yes ! L unch time to day it l

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was an d y our pap a was smoking his cigar and

,
looking o u t to sea all by himself It was very .
quiet with all the donkey engines stopped and the

,
-
men eating inside the walls On the b lufi beyond .
the fort I was sitting wit h my feet hanging over

the edge and the mango—
,
tree I ve told you so often

,
’
about was shading me from the sun The wind .
was bl owing j ust a we e mite and every time the ,
win d would blow and the t re e wo uld wave a mango ,
woul d drop into the bay P lump ! it would g o .
into t h e o ce an below and every time a mango ,
dropped down a L ittle Man in a green coat popped

‘
up
All wet p ap a P , .
12
S o nni e B o y s Pe o p l e -
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Shiny we t Sonnie Boy and blowing their ,

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cheeks out like so many blub blubs -

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“
What s blub blubs papa ? ’
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A blub blub is a fat litt l e fish wh o takes big

-
l ong gulps deep d own in the ocean an d then comes

to the top 0 the water and when he sees anybody
’
, ,
watching him puffs out his cheeks and goes ,
blub blub ! like that

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“
L ike men sometimes papa ? ,
Just like Well by n by there were twelve.

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’ ’
o the L ittle Men in green coats and they s at under

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the mango tree all in a row and looked at me and

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,
the one at the head 0 the row puts up one fin ge r ’

,
W ith his head to one side and his little round eye
rolling out at me and he says : Did Sonnie Boy s ,
‘
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godfather send him that steam engine from Jap an -
yet what you told u s about ? C ause if he did we

,
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h ave a h u e pome about i t .

’
“
Yes he did send him a fine steam engine from
,
-
Japan I said an d you go on an d let me hear your

,
’
pome and if it s a good pome I ll give you all a fin e

,
’ ’
ripe mango to eat And so they a ll puffs out their .

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fat little cheeks an d they begins :

“
Go f t d a h e r b ugh h im a n e n gin e red a n d blac k
o t
w ab bles sl igh l a n d h wh eels d n rac k
, ,
It
’
t y t e o t t
But it don t papa n the wheels do track ’
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But that s what they sai d ’

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13
S o n ni e B oy s Pe o p l e -
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B S nn i e B y fel p r u de r h a n E n gla n d s q u ee n
’
ut o - o t o t
W h e n i p u ll ed r eal s m ke a n d s ur e e n u g h s ea m
t o - o t .
But it s a king in Engl and papa

’
, .
I know but that s the way the L ittle G reen

,
’
Men told me Some thing s they don t know yet

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they re so little
’
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He n a m e d i Lig h n i n g ca u se fi s p eed
t t
’
o ts
An d h l s p i lls h e d i d h eed
,
i
’
t e cas o n a no t
A ll b i g r ads h ad acci de n s p e p le k n ew
.
o t o
Th e re was da n ge r s ur e wh e n h wh i s le blew
,
t e t .
It s true bout t h accidents isn t i t papa ?

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,
’ ’
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’
Nothing truer Now let me see Wh at else ? .

, .
Oh yes
,
Th e Li gh n i n g E p ress i s c m i n g back
t x o
Clea r h w h e re p e ple ff h r ack !

,
t e ay t o o t e t
O S nn i e— B s en gin e red a n d black

, ,
’
r o oy
W i ll k n ck d wn a n d h i y h k l
, ,
’
o you o t ou W ac
Hows th at ? ’
That s great papa An d did they have a b and

’
, .
Wi th them ? ”
“
No No b and but one little six toed fellow
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,
-
—I most forgot him—was playing on a hook a

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zoo That s a sausage shaped thing with things

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like rabbit s ears on i t The music comes out

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the ears .
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And what kind of music papa ? ,
I 4
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was the boy s mother had not lived to see him now
’
.
He turned in his chair What would you do

“
.
without him G reg ? ,

”
W e lk i e understood what his friend had in mind .
It would be like the days having no sunrise I d .

’
be groping in the dark and almost no reason for ,
me to keep on groping Splashed in concrete and .
slaked in lime from head to toe steaming under

, ,
that eternal sun fiy e hundred s p i ggi t i e s and not

,
half enough foremen to keep em j umping I h n d ’
myself saying to myself What in Go d s name is ,

‘ ’
the use ? and then I ll see a picture of his shining

’ ’
face running to meet me on the beach and Andie , , ,
it s like the trade wind setting in afresh The

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men lo o k around to see what I m whistling about ’

.
—
But W e lk i e sni ffed and stood u p — “
get i t ? ”
Balfe caught a faint breath the faintest tang ,
borne upon the wings of the gentlest of breezes .
W e lk i e went inside P resently he returned with

bottles and glasses When a little breeze stirs
.
,
as it sometimes does of a hot night here and there s ,

’
beer in the ice box and the ice not all melted life s
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,
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most worth living Try some A ndie from — .
,
God s country And one of these P orto Ric

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cigars E v e ry b o dy ll be smoking em soon and

.
’ ’
then we poor ch ap s ll have to be paying New ’
York prices for em which means we ll have to

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,
’
”
make a new discovery somewhere .
16
S o nni e B o y s P e o p l e -
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Wait Greg I almost forgot
,
Balfe stepped .
to his suit case took out a box of cigars and

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, ,
handed it to We lk i e “
From Key West Her .
nando Cab ada When I told him I was going to .
see you he sat d own and rolled out that boxful

, ,
which took him three h ours and gave them to me ,
for you For my frien d Mis ter Wel k e e y ay

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,
- - -
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’
he said .
“
Good old Hernando ! W e lk i e opened the ”
box B alfe took one W e lk i e took one ; they

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,
lit u p .
“
Ah h W e lki e woofed a great gob of smoke
-
toward the veranda roof Andie you won t .

“
,
’
have to make any chemical analysis of the ashes

of these cigars to prove they re good There is an ’
.
— —
artist Hernando and more ! I used to drop in
to see him after a hot day He would let me roll .
out a cigar for myself in one of his precious moulds ,
and we d sit and talk of a heap of things

’
S o me .
‘
day Hernan d o I d say along will come some

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’ ’
,
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people and offer you such a price for your name

that I reckon you won t be able to resist No ’
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no my friend he would say

, For my nam there
,
’
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shall be only my cigar I shall mak the good .

’
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fin e cigar until I shall die And for the sam .
’
one p r r ice How d you come to run into him

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Andie ? ”
“
I d heard about him and you
’
I suspecte d .
,
I 7
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too that he could verify a few things about the

,
C onstruction Company .
“
And did h e ? ”
He did And so they have been after you

.
again ? ”
W elk i e nodded .
“
And ofi e ri n g more money t h an ever ?
'
W e lki e nodded .
T hey smoked ou Again Balfe half turned in .
his chair “
I haven t seen you Greg since the
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, ,
P resident sent for you from Washington that time .
How did you find him ? ”
“
Fine And I tell you Andie it heartened me
.
, ,
to think that a man with all he s got to tend to ’
would stop to spend an hour with an obscure e m

”
g i n e e r .
“
You re not t oo obscure Greg What did he
’
, .
have to say ? ”
“ —
Oh h said he wanted me to do a piece of
-
special work and he wanted me because several

,
people in whose j udgment he had con fid e n c e

, ,
said I was the man for the j ob You were one .
of em Andie he tol d me and I m thanking you

’
, , ,
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for i t .
”
I m no t sure that you oug h t to thank me

“ ’
,
G reg With that big company you would be

.
wealthy in a few years but the trouble i s G reg , , ,
when I m on the job I m as b ad as you only in a

’ ’
18
-
’
different and more selfish way I know only one .
road then and once I set out I d brush aside any

,
’
th ng for the one thing Greg

i , .
Of course W hen it s for the flag

“ ’
.
,
Would you ? ”
C ou l d I do anyt h ing e l se ? ”
The boy too ? ,
Where would h e come into i t Andie ? ,
You don t think that your feeling for the l a d

’
and your work could ever clash ? ”
How could they ever clash Andie ?

“
,
I don t know Greg I hope not He re l it

’
, . .
his neglected cigar But what else did the

.
P resident h ave to say ?

He said it was a bit of emergency work h e
“
wanted me for that only the remnant of a small

,
appropriation was available for i t and that if I ,
took it I woul d be pitiab ly pa d ; but that he wishe d i
me to do i r because some day and that not too

, ,
far away it might have to stand the test not of

,
friends but of enemies Also he said l et me

,
— .
see
“
Th at for foreign policy s sake it would have ’
to be d one quietly without advertising as a bit

, ,
of departmental work ? ”
“
That s i t
’
.
”
And that you would get no great r e putation

o ut of i t that your very report would remain
,
I 9
-
’
a supplementary paper buried in dep artmenta l

”
file s ?
“
That was i t .
Did it strike you that the c on d itions were

h ard Greg ?
,
”
“
Not after he explained things And so when .
the C onstruction people said to me later : You re ‘ ’
crazy man ! L ook the two propositions in the

,
eye ! I said : I v e looked one of em at least in

’ ‘ ’ ’
—
the eye and I m p assing the other u p and the
’
other is
“
L ord Greg ! W hether you re the best or the
,
’
worst concrete man in the world is a small mat

—
ter you re a great man And if some day
’
.
Balfe let his front chair legs come down b ang and -
bounded to his feet .
“ —
Greg i t was Mar e who had returned I
”
i
don t know how I ever forgot but I never thought

’
—
till a moment ago there was a Mr Necker here .
to see you this evening .

”
“
Well you don t often forget Marie Must b e
,
’
, .
the sight of those b attle ships Necker ? I don t -

.
’
know any Necker You know him Andie ?

.
,
“
I was trying to guess coming over on the boat .
I was still guessing when he got oil I could .
guess Greg wh o he i s but it would be only a

, , ,
guess .
He didn t leave any message Marie ?

“ ’
,
20
-
’
None except to say that he woul d call again

,
at eight He seemed to know somet h ing of you

.
and to be friendly .
”
He must be a friendly soul to come to this

place to see anybody Well when he comes we l l .
,
’
know How d you leave Sonnie Boy ?

.
’
-
”
He s waiting for you to say good night

“ ’
.
“
I ll go up to him
’
He went inside .
”
.
Marie picked up her ensign B alfe placed a .
chair for her at the little work table and himself -

,
took the chair on the other side of the table .
“ —
A great j oy fo r y o u a l so young Greg M arie ? , ,
If you coul d hol d h im and feel his little heart

against yours when he s s aying Good night ’ ‘
,
auntie after he s said his prayers ! His prayers

,
’ ’
and the Star Spang l e d B anner are h is great set

‘
-
’
pieces .
”
“
And be t ween you an d Greg it s safe to say ’
he s got both letter perfect

’
-
.
“
And spirit perfect we re hoping B ut I must
-
,
’
.
get on with this ensign for him .

”
“
P retty goo d size isn t i t for a toy ship ? ,
’
B ut it s a battle fl ag He l l h ave none b ut

’
-
.
’
b attle fl ag s T here I m up to the stars

-
.
,
’
.
”
“
Y ou re never far from them L et me mak e a
’
.
stretching frame of my fin ge rs and s q uare this

-
end
Do Not q uite so tight And now those
.
— .
—
new States come in so fas t l how many now ? ”
21
-
’
F o rty -
si x .
—
M m four eights and two sevens ?
-
Four eights and two sevens .

”
Sh e sewed rapidly and without looking u p , ,
until she had completed the first row “

There .
there s one of the eights Now you can breathe

’
.
again Andie
, .
Balfe sat back What did you make of Mr . .
Necker Marie ? ,
She too sat back

, I wonder what I did make
, .
of him He was very curious about you

. .
”
“
That s interesting ’
.
”
Yes He asked questions and I couldn t

.
’
quite fib to him and yet I couldn t see why he ,

’
should expect me to tell him all about you And .
so
”
—she paused and the little half smile was -
hovering around again .
“
And so ? ”
And so I did not attempt to check his imagi

nation She repeated the conversation of the
.
afternoon “
I meant to speak of it at dinner
.
,
Andie to you and G reg but I forgot

, , .
”
Here s a far traveller He paused She

“ ’
.
lo oked u p and quickly l oo ked down

,
.
—wh o gives thanks that you forgot M arie , ,
in that firs t glad hour Mr Necker and his well— , .

,
his possible mission .

”
“
You know something of him th en Andie ? , ,
I m still guessing But I m wondering now

“ ’ ’
.
22
-
’
He leaned back in his chair and lo oked through

his glasses with hi s eyebrows drawn together in ,
that way you d thin k he was scowling if you didn t

’ ’
know him After a moment he said : I should be

.
‘
,
—
sorry but if he does no professiona l or l egal no , ,
—
nor moral obligations can hold him .
’
“
There ! Greg does not even get credit for
Wait But will h e ? he continue d I said
.
‘ ’
.
that I did not think so What makes you think .

‘
he won t ? ’
Because I know him sir But I
’ ‘
, .
,
’
went o n d on t you think Mr P resident that by

,
‘ ’
, .
,
this time he should have a wor d of encourage

ment or ap p reciation ? An d th at l e d to q uite a ”
talk.
“
About Greg Andie ? ,
Greg and his work M arie , .
Sh e leaned her e l bows on the tab l e an d from

between her palms smiled across at him “
When .
you use that tone Andie I know that all women , ,
—
should stay silent But cou ld coul d n t a little
.
’
sister to the man in the case be given j ust a little

hint ? ”
“
To the little sister Oh much ! To her I can ,
say that I have reason to think that something i s

on its way to her brother which will be very pleas
ing to her and to him .
”
For which my lord thy servant thanks thee

, ,
.
Eight bells ec h oed from the fleet “

Eight .
24
S o nni e B o y s Pe o p l e-
’
o c lock an d somebody walking the beach ! It

’
,
’
—
couldn t b e An d ie i t coul d n t be t h at Mr
,
’
.
Necker
Balfe grave ly s h oo k h i s h ea d .
B ut An d ie she whispere d t h ere was the

, ,
”
,
most friendly expression in his eye !

“
I f there s a l iving man Marie
’
— h e bent over ,
”
—
a l so to wh isper wh o coul d h old speech with you
“
for ten secon d s wit h out a friendly gleam A

knock on the veran d a d o o r interrupted .
It was Nec k er “
How d o you d o again Miss.
,
We lki e ? T o her his b ow was appreciative

”
,
deferential T o B a l fe he n odd e d in a not u n

.
frien d ly fashion .
I m gla d to see you again Mr Necker C ome

“ ’
, . .
i n p lease
, I wi ll ca ll my broth er She pressed
. .
a button on t h e veranda wal l “

T hat will bring
him right d own Mr Nec k er An d now I m leav , . .
’
ing you with Mr B a l fe Diana our c oo k s little . .

,
’
boy has a fever

“
Fever M arie ? ,
Oh d on t worry An d i e if you re thin k i ng of

,
’
, ,
’
d anger It s on ly ma l aria An d it s only a step

.
’
.
’
or two and y ou must stay with Mr Necker

, . .
”
Balfe h el d th e d o o r o p en for her She paused .
in the doorway “
I l l be back in half an hour
.
’
.
“
Half an h our ! Time is no boun d ing yo uth ,
M arie We lki e .
”
25
-
’
Come for me then Oh when you please , , ,
she whispered and passed swiftly out , .
Necker was examining the shelf of books above

the work table “
Keats ? Keats ? Oh h poetry !
-
.
-
,
Montaigne Montaigne ? Oh yes ! He took ,

”
it down H m in French ! and put l t back

.
-
,
”
.
One after the other he read the titles “

Eliza
bethan Verse E u r i p i d e s Dante H m
.
- - - - - - - -
. .
-
.
”
Balfe by now had t urned from the screen door .
Necker pointed to the shelf “

Not a book for a .
—
practical man in the whole lot and h e held up ,
”
the ensign this ! Isn t that the dreamer through ’
and through ? ”
But you an d I not being dreamers consi d er , ,
how thankful we should b e .

”
Necker stared in surprise an d then he smiled , .
Now now I m meaning no harm to your friend

, ,
’
.
I guess you don t know what I m after though ’ ’
I ll bet I can guess what you re after

’ ’
.
”
Balfe fairly meeting Necker s eye ha d to

,
’
smile ; and when Necker saw Balfe smile he winked .
“
You don t s pose you could come down here to
’ ’
this God forsaken hole do you without some

-
, ,
body getting curious ? ”
I suppose it was too much to expect Have a .
smoke ? ”
Thanks Necker s t one was p o l ite but it

“ ’
.
,
26
-
’
was a most negligent glance th at he gave the box

o f cigars There was no name on the bo x Balfe
. .
,
with unsmiling mien pointed out two small let ,
ters on the cover H C Mr Necker

“ ”
. . .
, . .
“
H C P ),
Hernando C abada Key West , .
O ho l How d you ever manage t o get hold

’
-
of a box of them ?
“
They re W e lk i e s ’ ’
.
”
How can he a fford em ? I o f fered old C abada

’
a dollar a dollar and a half and fin ally two dol

, ,
lars apiece for a thousand of em coming through ’
—
Key West the oth er d ay an d couldn t get em ’ ’
.
Nor could all the pull I had in the place get em ’
for me He wasn t going to make any more that

.
’
week he said He s a queer on e He s got all

, .
’
.
’
those Socialist chaps going the other way For .
wh y should h e work four fiy e six hours a day he , , ,
said when he coul d make all he wanted in one

,
or two ? Sells cigars to people h e likes for fift e e n

dollars a hundred but wouldn t sell to me at any ,
’
.
—
price I had to take my hat off to him h e stuck .
Now how do you dope a chap like that ?

,
”
How do you ?
“ ”
Don t know the real values in life Maybe

’
.
a bit soft up top besides He lit up and drew

,
several deep inhalations —

M m this is a smoke .
-
for a man ! He picked up the box gently

” “
If .
27
S o nn i e B oy s Pe o p l e
-
’
I thought W e lk i e d
take i t I d offer more than a
’
,
’
good price for the rest of that box But sus — .

”
p i c i o n —
was growing in his eyes how does it
“
—
happen d y s pose s o mebo d y s been here ahead
’ ’ ’ ’
of me after all ?
“
He s coming down stairs now ask him
’
— -
,
smiled Balfe .
W e lk i e stepped into the veranda I was in .
my workroom when the bu z zer to l d me y ou had

come i n Mr Necker but on the way d own I
, .
,
couldn t help looking in on y oung Greg I m

’
.
’
glad to see you .

”
“’
I m glad to meet y ou Mr We lki e An d to , . .
get right down to business I m the new president ,

’
of the Gulf C onstruction C ompany an d I want ,
t o talk a few thing s over with you

”
.
“
Surely .
”
G reg B alfe had Opene d the door h ow

-
far up the beach to your cook s shack ? ’ ”
Oh for Marie ? A hundred yards that side

“
,
“’
I ll look in there Good night Mr Necker .
, . .
Don t hurry away on my account Mr Balfe

’
, . .
I d like you or any friend of Mr We lk i e and his

’
, .
family to hear what I have to say It s a straight

, .
’
open and shut proposition I ve got

- -
’
.
“
Then we ll try to be back to hear some of i t
’
.
Good b y for a while then

-
T he door close d b e
, .
”
hind him .
28
S o nn i e B oy s Pe o p l e
-
’
L et s sit down M Necker

’
, r . .
Thanks And how did you l eave th at boy of

.
yours ? ”
“
his l ittl e be d with his pillow j ammed up
In ,
close to his window screen singing the Star -

,
‘
Spangle d Banner to himself and looking out on

’
the lights of the fleet He s afraid they ll steam .

’ ’
away before he s seen his fill of them and to ’

,
night he s not going to sleep till he hears taps he

’
says ”
.
I t must be a great thing to have a boy like

“
him an d to p l an for his future and to look for

,
ward to what he l l be when he s grown u p ’ ’

.
”
W e lk i e looked his interr ogation .
“
Surely We lki e A boy of b rains he l l b e I
, .
’
.
d on t have to look at a man or a boy twice

’ '
B rains and wil l power Y ou could make a great .
—
career for him We lk i e a great engineer say if
, , ,
he was started right But of course you ll be .

, ,
’
in a position by an d by t o see that he gets the

start .
”
“
Starte d right ? What d oes h e want w h en h e
has health and brains an d a heart ? ”
“
All h u e but h e l l nee d more than th at these
,
’ “
days .
Are these days so d i fferent ?

Different man ! Why the older a country
, ,
is the more civilized it i s the more education

, ,
29
-
’
means the more social position counts the more

, ,
money counts .
”
How much m o re ?
“
“
A heap more L isten Y our father on twenty
. .
h y e hundred a year say could put his children , ,
through college couldn t h e ? On twenty fiv e ’

-
hundred a year to—

,
day a man with a family has

to battle to keep out of the tenement districts .
A dozen years from now if you re getting no more ,

’
money than you re getting now you ll be wonder

’
,
’
ing if you won t have to take that boy out of

’
school and put him to work Isn t that so ? .

’ ”
W e lk i e ma d e no answer .
“
All right But before I go any farther let ,
me say that I want yo u Mr W e lki e for our new , .

,
job
What s wrong with the man you ve got ?
’ ’
He won t do You re the one man we want

’ ’
.
,
and if there s money enough in our strong box

’
we re going to get you And now that I v e got

’
.
’
that ofi let me show you where it is for your

'
—
higher I say your higher not alone your moneyed ,
-
interests to come with u s M r W e lk i e There s , . .
’
—
that boy of yours you d surely like to see him a ’
great man ?
“
I surely wouldn t dislike i t ’
.
Good Then give him a chance Get rid

. .
firs t of the notion that a poor boy has as good a

30
’
What !
That s what I call most of em Necker
’ ’
,
ditch diggers If your man of action hasn t him

-
.
’
self thought out what he s doing that s what he ’
,
’
—
looks like to me a ditch digger or at best a -
,
foreman of ditch diggers And a ditch digger a -

.
-
,
- —
good d itch digger ought to be respected until ,
‘
he thinks he s the whole works Those kings of

’
.
yours may have bossed the world Necker but , , ,
so long s we re arguing i t wh o bossed them ?

’ ’
,
You mean that the man wh o bosses the worl d

for thirty or forty years isn t quite a man ? ’ ”
“
Surely he s quite a man ; but the man wh o
’
bo sses men s minds a thousan d years after he s

’ ’
—
d ead he s the real one And that kind of a man
’
.
,
so far s I know things Necker never lived too

’
, ,
comfortably on earth He can t I tell you .

’
.
,
Necker you can t be born into a fat life without

,
’
being born into a fat soul too ,

.
”
“
You re not stinting yourself in the ex pecta
’
ti on of running things after you re dead Wel ’
kie ?”
We lk i e noted the half ironical smile but he -

,
answered simply evenly : It s not in me ; but

“
,
’
I d live even a sparer life than I do if I thought

’
,
anybody after me had a chance .
“
You re a hard man to argue with W e lk i e
’
, ,
an d I m not going to argue with you not on

’
—
32
-
’
things d ead and gone Y ou re too well posted .

’
for me But suppose it was that way once is it

that way to —
.
,
d ay ? I ll bring it right h ome to you

’
.
Here s the overpowering fig u re in public life

’
,
Roosevelt a man you think a lot of probably

,
wa s he born in poverty ?
”
“
No but I n otice he cut away from his com
,
fo rt able q uarters about as soon as his upb ringing d

’
let him .
“
Wait I n fin ance wh o ? Morgan ? All right
. .
Son of a millionaire fin an ci e r wasn t h e ? ,

’ ”
“
B ut if you re going to b ring in money
’
I know Wha t of the C arnegies and the

.
Rockefellers ? you re going to say There s where’

.
’
you think you ve got me but you haven t ; for

’
,
’
I ve a lways sai d that being born in poverty fit s

’
a man to make money ab ove all things because ,
he s brought up t o va l ue it out of all propor

’
tion t o everything else But where are they .
after they get i t ? America s full of millionaires ’
wh o came up out of nothing but wh o had to work ,
so hard getting started that they d nothing left in ’
’
em or didn t know anything but money when
’
they got to where they c o uld st0 p to look around .
If they ha d any genius to start with it was dried ,
out of em trying to get going Hitch any two

’
.
mile trotter to an ice wagon and where will he -
fini sh ? Y ou overweight your boy going of f an d

33
S o nn i e B o y s Pe o p l e
-
’
he will be handicapped out of the race t oo But , .
can I have another one of those cigars ? ”
Help yourself
“ ”
.
Thanks I wish I had your pull with old

.
C abada Now W e lk i e I m only trying to show

.
, ,
’
you where you ought to cast aside certain out

worn traditions and face actual present day -
truths Now listen You probably don t b e

. .
’
lieve I m a villain W e lki e and you know I re p re

’
, ,
—
sent a powerful corporation reputable even if
powerful Yes Well this work of ours is good
. .
, ,
—
useful work don t you think we can fairly claim
’
that ?
—
Beautiful work beautiful .
Good Then wouldn t you like t o see that

.
’
work growing under your hand ten thousand -
men driving night and day and that concrete ,
structure reaching out as you ve p l anne d i t in ,

’
long white stretches to the sea ? ”
“
It s certainly a fine prospect
’
.
Then why not do i t ? What s the use Welki e ? ’
You re the best man in the country for u s and

’
we re the best concern for you We offer you the

’
.
biggest job in sight What d y say P You ve .

’ ' ’
been turning u s down but think it over now , .

”
W e lki e shook his head .
“
Why not ? ”
—
Because but they are coming back .
34
-
’
Necker could see the hands of Balfe and Miss

We lk i e unclasping in the half darkness as they -
entered He touched W e lki e on the arm

.
“
Why .
not tell Miss W e lki e an d Mr Balfe what it is I m .

’
after ?
“
But I m d oing work here that I ve got t o
’ ’
fin i sh and they know that

”
.
,
“
I know you are but consider this What does
,
.
the government pay you here W e lki e ? I prob ,
ably know but no matter ,

.
”
“
Two hundred a month an d this house .
And I m offering you two thousand ! An d

’
listen to this please Miss W e lki e In place of a

, , .
mosquito infested shoe box of a shack in a Go d

- -
forsaken hole we ll give you and your brother a

,
’
fin e concrete house on a breezy hill in God s own

’
—
country a real home Miss W e lki e with great , ,
halls an d wide verandas an d sun lighted rooms -
through which the sea b reezes will b l ow at night so

you can sleep in peace A mansion Miss W e lk i e .
, ,
with reception and music rooms where you can ,
receive your friends in the style a lady should or ,
a man of your brother s ability shoul d A place ’

.
—
to be proud o f Miss W e lki e pa l m stud d ed clean
,
-
,
clipped lawn rolling down to the sea And a sea .
—
I ll bet you know i t Mr Balfe a blue and
’
, .
-
green sea rolling down over to coral reefs as white

as dogs teeth a shore front that needs only
’
,
-
35
S o nni e Bo y s Pe o p l e
-
’
building up t o be as pretty as anything in your

swell Mediterranean places What d y say ’ ’
W e lk i e ? And here s the contract now a ll ready ’
for you and pay begins to day

,
- .
”
“
It s alluring it surely i s But I must fi u i s h
’
, .
h ere .
“
B ut you l l s oon be done h ere A few weeks
’
.
more they told me in Washington What are

, .
you going to do then ? ”
“
I hadn t thought ’
.
Well why not think of it now? C onsi d er

,
your boy what it will mean to h im s ome day

, .
Why not ask Miss W e lki e ? ”
Welki e turne d gravely to his sister Wh at

'
d o you say to that fine house with the grand din

ing room an d the music room an d a j asmine
-
,
-
,
twined pergola to sit out under of a night and —

watch the m oon ro l l up from the shining sea ? I
—
know th e h ouse it s al l that Mr Necker says it i s ’
. .
“
An d mahogany an d all kin d s of beautifu l ,
l inen for the table Miss We lki e I magine that , .

,
wit h cut g l ass and silver and the e l ectric can d les
gleaming over it of a night .
”
“
I w ou ld d early l ove to preside at the h ead of
tha t table Mr Nec k er but Mr B alfe was speak
, .
, .
ing of something that perhaps my brother should

hear about firs t .
”
“
What s that An d ie ? ’
36
-
’
L et it wait Greg , .
Better now What is i t ? .
You may not like i t .

”
Maybe not but we may as we ll h ave it now

, ,
Andie .
”
“
I was t o te l l you that after this work is done
there s another job waiting you on the west coast
’
,
j ust as important j ust as needful of your super

,
vision and no more reward to it than this

,
.
”
“
Whee eu ! whistled Necker
-
” “
T he steamer .
captain had him right .
Then I m afraid We lki e turne d t o Necker

’ ”
“
it s off between us
’
.
Don t say that yet W ait t ll you hear What

’
. i .
are you wo rking for ? L eaving the money end

out of i r which I know y ou don t care for and
,
’
never will care for what are you getting ? You ,
want recognition ? And prestige ? Do you get

them ? Not a bit Who really knows of this .
work ? A few engineers wh o keep tabs on every

thing yes Who else ? Nobody The govern
, . .
ment for go o d reasons of their own d on t want

, ,
’
it mentioned in the p ress Why it s hardly men .

,
’
t i on e d in the engineering journals

”
.
“
Even so It will go down in the recor d s that
.
I did i t .
”
“
Will i t ? L ook here I v e been waiting for .
’
that.
”
From his inside coat pocket Necker drew -
37
-
’
out several typewritten sheets Mind you I .

“
,
didn t want to produce this but I m forced to

’
,
’
.
My firs t interests are my company s There is a ’

.
copy of the last o ffici al report on this work Read .
what that says The credit is given you see to

.
, ,
wh o ? To you ? No no Not a mention of you , .
except as a civilian engineer wh o assisted .

”
“
But how did you get hold of this ? W e lk i e ”
held the papers but without showing any i n ,
c li n a t i o n to read them .
“
Does how I got hold of it matter ?
That s right it doesn t matter
’
,
’
.
”
W e lk i e offered the papers to Balfe .
Balfe waved them back “

I saw the original
of that report in Washington What Mr Necker . .
says is so .
”
“
There ! Necker brought his fist down on
the table The man of all others to bear me
.
out .
”
He stepped close to Balfe
“
I couldn t .
’
place you for a W hile Thanks for that . .

”
“
Don t hurry your credit slip snapped Balfe
’
,
”
,
with his eyes on W e lk i e .
W e lk i e silently passe d the papers back to

Necker .
“
You believe m e now M r W e l k i e ? , .
I don t know s I doubted you Mr Necker

’ ’
, . .
I t caught me j ust a mite below the belt and I had ,
to spar for wind .

”
3 8
—
S o nni e B o y s Pe o p l e ’
that any man d id anything without a selfish mo

tive ”
.
“
That d on t seem right Andie ’
, .
No it d oesn t but it s so Greg B ut he

,
’
,
’
,
.
—
set his j aw at Necker what if they do think so ?
“
L et them L et them ride hogback through the

.
mud if they will Oceans of other people oceans .

, ,
will still be looking up to men like Greg W e lk i e

here He reste d his hand on his friend s shoul
” ’
.
der Yo u stick t o your ae rop lani ng in the high

.
air Greg
, .
”
“
And chance a fall ? suggested Necker ”
An d chance a fall ! snapped Balfe But ”

.
there are no falls if the machine is built right and

the aviator forgets the applause .
”
Marie We lki e s hand reache d o u t and pressed ’
one of Balfe s He hel d i t “ —

It s all right he s
’
. .
’ ’
a rock he whispered , .
“ —
I must say W e lki e Necker fix e d his eyes ,
—
on the floor and spoke slowly t h at the govern
“
ment in this case seems to be represented by a

man of picturesque speech a man with imagina ,
tion I can only handle facts and in a matter

.
,
o f fact way
-
I ask you t o consider this : you
.
have a boy an d there is Miss We lki e a l ovely

, , ,
cultured woman and h e jerked his head sud ,

”
-
d e nly u p
“
but what s the use ? Here s a con
-
’ ’
tract nee d ing only your signature and here s a

, ,
’
40
-
’
check nee d ing only my signature I sai d two

,
.
thousand a month Suppose we make it three ? .
Here s pen and ink and remember your boy is

’
looking out on t h e battl e ships from his little bed -
u p stairs
”
-
.
“
You re right Necker he is in his l ittle bed
’
, ,
u p stairs and I ve got to think of him

”
He
’
- .
turned to Balfe T he P resident Andie just .

, ,
natura l ly expects me t o tackl e this new job ?

“
I think he does Greg , .
”
T hen there s o nly one answer l eft Mr Nec k er

’
, . .
Wait again We lki e you ve a God given .

,
’
-
genius for concrete work I came here to get you .
—
and I sign now and I ll make it four th o usand ’
.
”
No .
”
No ? Why l ook here ! Here s a check See

,
’
.
I m signing it in blank I m leaving it to you

’ ’
.
to fill it in for what you p l ease For what you .
p l ease for your firs t year for u s an d the c ontract ,
to run five years at the same rate Remember .
you ve been trimme d once an d you re l ike ly to be

’ ’
trimmed again .
”
“
L et them trim me an d kee p on tri mming me !
T he work is here an d I did i t T hey know it .
and I know i t If nobo d y but myself and my

.
Go d know we k n ow And no offi ci al o r u noffici al

, .
crooke d ness can wi pe it out ”

.
41
-
’
But that little fellow u p stairs with his face -
against the screen ?

“
It s that little fellow I m thinking o f He l l
’ ’
.
’
never have to explain why his father renege d on a

job he was trusted to d o .
But you haven t promise d anybo d y in writ

’
ing ? ”
“
No .
And as I ma k e it out you h aven t even gi ven

, ,
’
your word ?
“ ”
No .
Then what right has anybody t o

He don t need to have any r i ght He j ust
’
.
thinks I m the kind of a man he can count o n

’
and in a show down that s the kind of a man I

, ,
’
reckon I want him or any other man to think I

”
a m
.
“
Then it is finally no ?
No .
”
No ?
No An d let that be the end of th e noes
. .
Necker smoked thoughtfully Then slowly .

,
gathering up his papers he said : I m licked

“
,
’
W e l k i e ; but I would like to know what licked me .
It might save me from making the same mistake

again .
“
Why I don t know s I know what you mean ;
,
’ ’
but there is one thi ng Necker : if it ever happens ,
42
’
that a nation which don t like u s comes steaming ’
U p here to get hold of this base to batter it to ,
pieces say she won t No And why ? Because

, ,
’
. .
it s no hapha z ard mixture of water and sand It s

’
.
’
a good job an d if I m no more than a lump of

,
’
clay in my grave I want to be able to roll over ,
—
and say a flame seemed to shoot from his eyes
”
You sons 0 guns y ou can t get i n because

‘ ’
,
’
,
what you ve come to take was built right an d

’
,
’
twas me built i t by ,
Necker studied him “

W ell if that isn t throw .
,
’
ing a halo aroun d your work I don t know what i s ,

’
.
I v e met that befor e t oo B ut y o u ve got more

’
, .
’
—
than that what is i t ? ”
I f I have I don t kn ow i t He p aused

“ ’ ”
, . .
I know whispere d M ari e in B alfe s ear

,
” ’
her eyes turned to the ensign on t h e table .
“
But if there s anything else th ere it must ve
’
,
’
been born in me an d so that s no cre d it But if

,
’
.
there is anything else there I want my boy to ,
have i t too , .
”
Necker picke d up his h at an d cane He ll .

’
have i t never fear Welki e an d th e m o re surely

, , ,
because he wo n t know it either I m oil Do ’

.
’
.
you mind if I take another of C aba d a s cigars ? ’ ”
“
Surely Help yourself Fill your case ”
. . .
Thanks He lit u p These are a smoke

. . .
I wish he d let me have some but he s l ike you

’
,
’
43
-
’
so mething — he s only to be got at from the i n

’
side and I guess I m not on the inside Good b y

,
’
.
-
,
W e lk i e I hope you get your reward some day

.
,
though I doubt i t Good by Mr Balfe Y ou re

.
-
, . .
’
the firs t of your kind I ever met You fooled me .

,
but I ll be ready for you next time G ood b y

’
.
-
,
Miss We lk i e I forgot to say h e smiled slyly

.
”
-
— there was a sixty horse power French car and

“
- -
a fifty foot motor launch went wit h th at house

- - .
Good by -
”
.
The pebb ly beach crunched un d er Necker s re ’
ceding feet Dear me sighed Marie d on t

.
” “
, ,
’
you fee l half sorry for him An d ie ? ,

“
Just about half I ll bet h e plays a good game
.
’
of poker But Greg. B alfe d rew a square

,
—
white envelope from an inner coat pocket I was “
-
—
given a letter the other day to give you i n case
you were still on the job here ”
.
On the job ? Where else could I b e

“ ”
? He
had taken the envelope and was about to rip it
carelessly open when his eye caught the embossed
,
blue lettering on the corner :

W H IT E HO US E
He hel d it up in bewil d erment Not from the .
P resident An d ie ? ,
“
Why not ? Read i t .
S lowly Welki e rea d i t He took it over t o t h e .
44
-
’
l ight at th e littl e tab l e an d read it again H . e
droppe d it on the table an d gaze d through the

screen at the lights of the fleet After a time he .
l
“
said in a low tone : I must tell Sonnie Boy and -
,
”
,
turning went inside the house

, .
“
Is it very private Andie ? whis p ere d Marie
”
, .
No no, .
”
T hen I m going to rea d i t

’
.
She read i r “
Why An d ie ! s h e gaspe d an d
.
,
”
, ,
crowding to the l ight she also read it again Her ,

.
face was alight when she l ooke d up at last An .
die Andie isn t it sp l en d i d ! I f Mr Necker coul d

, ,
’
.
only hear this

It is a fin e thing in these d ays of m aterialism
that a man of your genius can set asi d e the al
lu re me n t s of m o ney an d fame an d e xile yourself ,
to a region w h ere certain har d ship an d p robable

disease await you ; and this on ly that your coun
try may be serve d And the rest of i t ! 0 Greg !
.
’ ”
W e lk i e was bac k with his boy in his arms .
He took the l etter from his sister L ook here

“
.
,
Sonnie B oy what d o you think ? Here s a man

-
,
’
says your papa is the greatest man ever was in

his line Y ears from now you ll look at that l etter
.
’
and perh aps you ll be prou d of your papa Your

’
.
papa s boasting now Sonnie Boy but only you

’
,
-
,
and your auntie and godfather can hear him ,
an d they l l never tel l So that s all right Our

’
.
’
.
‘
45
S o nni e B o y s P e o p l e -
’
—
papa was as good as anybody in his line a great ’
man said so What do you say little fiv e and

.
,
-
a half you ll be a goo d man too i n your line

’ '
-
, , ,
some day won t you ? ,

’ ”
“
Can I be a figh t e r papa on a big gun ship ? , ,
-
Well if you re bound to go that way I don t

,
’
,
’
see who s to stop you Sonnie Boy But if you

’
,
- .
are whether it s a sword to your belt Or a lanyard

,
’
to your neck here s hoping you ll never go over

,
’ ’
the side of your ship without h e picke d the ”

-
ensign u p you leave your colors flying over her

And n owwe ll g o back to bed Sonnie Boy and
.
’
-
, ,
this time we ll go to sleep In the doorway he

’
.
stopped “
What do you reckon Necker would
.
say to that letter Andie ? ,

”
Balfe smiled “
He d probably say W e lki e ‘
’
, ,
.
—
you ought to publish that letter capitalize i t ,
’
and think you were four kinds of a fool if you

didn t ’
.
”
“
Well I won t publish it or capitalize i t I m
,
’
.
’
going to frame it and hang it at the fo ot of your

bed Sonnie Boy where you ll see it mornings
,
-
,
’
when you wake Up we go son .

, .
”
Facing each other across the little work table -
were Marie W e lki e and Andie Balfe Sh e had .
said : You surely have been my brother s friend

“ ’
and if you were not already so successful I could

, ,
wish a great reward for you .

”
46
S o nni e -
Bo y s Pe o p l e
knew what you looked like even b e fore I stole your
photograph
Stole ?
“
I did G reg dropped it one day I found it

. .
—
and never gave it back There it is after nine .
years .
”
Sh e laughed W hen she saw i t Why I can t ’

.
,
make out to see What I looked like then Andie ! ,

“
I know what you looked like I v e kissed .
’
the face away dear but I know In nine years

, , .
,
Marie I never shifted from one coat to another

,
without shifting your photograph too If any , .
thing had happened to me they would have found ,
your photograph on me With your address on ,
the back Then I used to say to myself she ll

.
‘
,
’
,
‘ ’
know And Greg won t mind my stealing i t

.
’
.
’
He laid it face up between them on the table .
“
The miles you ve travelled with m e dear heart
’
, ,
and never knew ! Back in the d ays of the con

struction camp they used to fin d sketches of a
girl s head in my note books a beautiful head
’
-
,
—
badly done d rawn from that photograph But .
after I met you

“
And after you met me Andi e P
, .
Then I neede d no photograph th ough l o o k ,
and look at it I surely di d Steamers in western .
seas battle ships in eastern waters balustrades

,
-
,
—
of palaces wherever it might be I was w h irling
48
-
’
with this old earth around I ve had your face to ,

’
look a t And when I couldn t see for the d arkness

.
’
—rolled up in my rubber poncho in no more ro ,
mantic a place than the muck of a swamp I v e ,

’
looked up through the swaying branches o r in the—

lee of a windy hill it might b e with no more to
, ,
hin d er than the c l ear air I ve looked up and ,

’
marked your face in the swirling clouds : your nose ,
your chin th e lips so shyly smiling And if

, .
through the clouds a pair of stars wou ld break ,
I d mark them for your shining eyes Ma rie

’ ”
, .
P oetry again Andie ! She was laughing but

,
”
,
a l so she was meltin g under his eyes .
I f that s poetry then I m losing respect for i r

“ ’ ’
, .
I t s a weak thing M arie an d

’
, ,
Sh h i f s o me b o d y s h ou ld be wa lking o n the
—
“
-
beach !
“
L et them sweeth eart I t s a fine nigh t for a
, .
’
walk W hat harm is truth ?

.
”
“
B ut I don t want al l the wo rld t o hear Andie
’
, .
For my poor heart was aching t oo Andie and , , ,
now it wants it a ll t o itse l f An d ie mine

”
, .
I t was ta p s on t h e battl e fl e t Over the mel -

e .
l owing d etaining waters of the bay the long

,
drawn bugles ec h oe d G oo d night go o d mi i gh t

.
,
- -
,
g
-
d
o- o-
n i -
g h t —they
- - -
sai d -
an d gent l y softly , , ,
whisperingly d ie d away .
49
-
’
He s asleep at last We lki e was standing in

’
.
the door .
“
And I don t know but we d all better
’ ’
be getting to sleep too For to morrow morning

, .
-
,
you know we , Wha at ! -

”
Hi s friend was standing before him Shunt .
care for the morrow G reg G reater things than

, .
have happened are happening around you The .
dream of years has come to pass And we we — .

,
G reg
He looked to her and tremulous V ivid she came
, , , ,
and with her at his side he was himself again .
“
Marie is to take me for Sonnie Boy s uncle and -
’
, ,
G reg we want your blessing

, .
”
T IM R I L E Y S TOU C H
’
T i m R i le y To u c h
’
s
—
MAN o utsi d e says his name s Riley
’
announced the youth W ho guarded the

outer door “
A big husky ! he added when h e
.
”
saw the chairman did not look pleased .
The state chairman nodded roun d t h e table .
This is that new man the senator s been talking ’
about .
”
From a ne at pi l e ofletters the chairman
picke d ou t one .
“
Here is what h e sent in the o ther d ay From .
it you can obtain an idea ofthe calibre of the man .
L isten : As you ask me what I think ab o ut the

‘
crow d up here I ll say that I th ink th ey ve had

,
’ ’
their own way so long they ve got t o where they ’
figu re they don t have to make good T hey seem

’
.
to thin k that to be in politics is to be trying to

—
foo l everybody T hey would rather the most of
.
—
them get ten votes by faking than a hundre d by
straightfo rwar d work T hey don t seem to see
.
’
that nowadays people know more about the i n

—
side of things than they used to that they re ’
doing more thinking for themselves in po l itical

matters .
’
53
Tim R i l ey s To u c h ’
—
And the chairman reinserted the letter in
— “
the neat pile there s more drool of the same kind
’
.
I don t believe he ever wrote that letter As I

’
.
understand i t he s a coal heaving sort wh o ought

,
’
-
to have gone into the prize ring an d n o t politics ; -

,
but w h ether he wrote it or not we will have to

, ,
humor him because of the senator wh o is of course ,
—
the boss h e shot a glance roun d the table
”
“
the boss now We ll give this fellow a little rope
.
’
.
A couple of the boys up where he comes from

—
tipped me off about him and we ll let the senator ’
see him for what h e i s I ve seen these wonders .

’
before ”
.
“
An d I guess y ou d on t have t o see too much ’
of a man to be able t o size him up either ! This ”
from a faithful one on the chairman s right ’

.
The chairman s lips knea d ed shut

’ “
Well in .
,
—
political life I d on t say this i n a boasting’
-
,
—
spirit you understand gentl emen i f a man in ,
my position can t size a man up fairly well at

’
a glance he might as well get out His letter .
alone would te l l me that he knows it all and the ,
wor d I get from the county chairman up his way

is that he is one of the turbulent figh t i n g kind , .
However we ll have him in here and look him over

,
’
.
Show him i n George,

”
.
And Riley stepped into the room F mm the .
moment of his entrance not a soul there had a

54
Tim R i l ey s T o u c h
’
Hurroo ! The new man did not d o that He .
gazed steadily into the face of the chairman .
However every specimen could not be expected

,
to meet every requirement No doubt of i t

—
.
here wa the made to order creature for clever

s -
manipulation ; and there followed the n the sug

gestion to V isit N ew Ireland with artful words to ,
whet a figh t i n g man s appetite for that kin d of

’
job
And now for one l ast little touch before we
send the poor boob to his political e x tinction ,
”
whispered the chairman to his ne x t at han d .
Aloud he said :
“ —
Yes sir I believe in frankness Mr Ri l ey
, , . .
And I will tell you now that we didn t p ol l many ’
votes in New Ireland last year I d on t just re .

’
—
member how many I have mis l aid the figu res ;
—
but I wish to tel l you frank ly frank ly I say ,
that we d id not pol l many W hat they nee d .
there I think is a d etermine d man l i k e your

, ,
self to pile into them hammer an d tongs T hat .
would be the way I think And you show me

, .
,
Mr Riley a fair Republican increase in New Ire

.
,
— —
land fifty out of fiv e hundred say and you can ,
lay out your own itinerary for the rest of the

campaign Now isn t that fair ?
.
’ ”
“
Why yes ; that seems all right As he said
,
.
i t however the new man his eyes ever on the

, , ,
56
T i m R i l ey s T o u c h ’
c h airm an s h a d a fee l ing that it was not a l l right

’
, .
A nd as h e was one of those intuitive ones with

,
whom to fee l was almost t o prove his attitu d e ,
c h ange d fro m the subjective to the objective He .
h a d not l ike d this man a bit from the firs t and he ,
was liking him l ess and less ; that fin i sh i n g Now

“
isn t th at fair ? was sure ly n ot meant for his

’ ”
b e n e fit
T he new man left the committee—
.
roo ms with a
d isturbed s ou l and on his w y to the elevator he
, a
began to think things over Among a d ozen other .
things wh ich flashed through his kindling b rain he

recal l e d the glint f what now he knew w
i
o as
m oc k ery brightening the pale eyes of th e chairman

as the d oor cl o se d behind him .
H p ressed the button for the e l evator ; but

e
before the upcoming car reached his floor he d e

cide d not to d escen d H would have it out . e .
H a l most ran bac k to the committee rooms an d

e -
,
brushing by th e kn owing but i n ffi i n t outer e c e
guar d ma d e fo t h e roo m where the l ea d ers were

, r .
—
Already h e c o u ld hear the l augh ter yes and t h , e
roaring at s omething or oth er ; and as he placed

his han d on th e knob of the inner d oor he heard :
He s come here from the other end of the State

’
with a reputation for burning things u p L et .
—
him try to burn up New Irelan d and then g o
b ac k t o where he ca m e from Why let his kin d .
,
57
Tim R i l ey s T o u c h ’
come butting in on u s and soon we wo uld all be

out of jobs The chairman s voice that was
.
” ’
, .
Tim opened the door and when they looked up ,
and saw him it was as if they had all been c l utched

by the windpipes .
“ —
Go t o the devi l a ll of you ! exploded the
new man Do you hear ? Every mother s son
.
’
of you ! ”
From out th e silence some one at l ast said

You mean Mr Riley you are going to d esert
, .
,
th e party ? ”
Tim whirl ed on him .
“
No ; it doesn t mean I m going to desert the ’ ’
party Did ever you know a man wh o was any

.
good to d esert any party or anything good or ,
bad un d er fire ?
,
”
“
I m glad t o hear that
’
T he chairman had .
come to life “
And not alone because we would
.
lose you eloquent though you are reported to b e

, .
So many of our peop l e have maintained that no

Irishman
“
C ut that I rishman stuff! My chance to make
a living and my children s chanc e after me I owe
,
’
,
to t ll l S country
‘
.
3,
“
But M Riley you are of Irish blood
, r .
, .
Irish blood ? You may be sure I a m and so ,
proud of it that when I speak of it I slop over ;

but I m an American citizen too However if
’
.
,
58
you don t mind we ll leave that for private dis

’
,
’
c u ssi o n and not for politica l trading .
The chairman recovered .
“
That s all very well ; but when we ask y our
’
people to make sac ri fices for the principles of our

party
“ —
P rincip l es of t h e party slush ! S ave that
for your platform speeches Y ou re in the party .
’
because there s more n t for you I m in it

’
i i .
’
because a man wh o gave me a square meal when

I was starvin g asked me to join i t And once in .
,
a figh t I stick I stick because I don t know how

, .
’
—
to do anything else and I m going to stick now ’
.
And I m going out now to New Irelan d and talk

’
to them .
The door be h ind T im opened and a smooth ,
carefully trained voice sai d : W h at s this about

“ ’
New Ireland ? ”
Tim knew the voice even before h e turned to,
greet him It was the tall boss the real boss the
.
, ,
senior senator the man who ordered the S tate

,
committee roun d even as they o rdere d the cam

p g
a i n speakers .
“
New Ireland ? the senator repeate d
”
No .
,
Mr Riley I can give you something better than

. .
that That would be a waste of time I ll c h ange

. .
’
that ight now Here

r .
“
Excuse me sir ; but I m going t o New Ire
,
’
59
land I d on t know what kind of a place it is or

.
’
what kind they are there except what the name ,
,
—
tells me and I don t care I m going there No
’ ’
.
gang of men ever picked me for an omadhaun in

the morning but found out they were mistaken
.
’
—
before night And I ll say further indignation ”
in Tim always disposed him to classic periods

“
i f there are those wh o wave the green flag to
tatters at every Irish meeting and then betray ,
her to those wh o hate her there are also those ,
wh o though they have never made a sac ri fic e in

,
their l ives for this country would prevent all but ,
their own littl e kind from breathing the free air

of i r As for me I ve come to this city to do
.
,
’
something ; and I ll stay here until I ve done i t

’ ’
.
A while ago I agreed to go t o New Ireland and ,
to New Ireland I m going Good day ! And

’
.
”
the windows rattled with the banging of the door

behind him .
A proper bull— headed Irishman that fel l ow , ,
observed the chairman presently .
Or is it h e has convictions an d is not afraid

“ '
to voice them ? ”
T he senator ha d a habit of
scratching his bear d with his fin ge r nails and again -
,
of drawing his chin in on his chest and looking over

his gold rimmed pince nez He drew in his chin
- -
.
now and the chairman did not like i t He never did

,
. .
“
A go o d figh t e r I should say
, The tall boss .
”
60
scratched h is beard with his finge r nai l s An -

.
encouraging thing to meet a good figh t e r in these

fat days ; but let u s see He stepped over to .
”
where a b l ue— an d red spotte d map of the State

- -
was hanging and laid a fin g e r on a blue spot :

“
New Ireland which we can safely call the e n
,
emy s banner town for its size in the United

’
States If Riley can leave his mark on that place

.
it will be proof to me that he can make breaches

a ll along the line ”
.
“
More likely I think th at the p l ace will leave
, ,
its mark on him More likely they wil l crack his

skull I think He m
.
ay love a fig h t ; but New Ire

'
, .
—
l and is full of men wh o l ove figh t i ng too an d they
are not with u s .
”
“ —
T hat s true they are not T he b o ss d rew
’
his chin in to his neck again T oo b ad they are .
not Suppose W e wait however an d see how

.
, ,
Riley makes o u t His reputation is that of a .
most resourceful man An d if he d oes make an .
impression on New Ire l and he can h ave anyth ing

I can gi ve him in this State .
”
I t is a good p l ace — —
m ving train f seri u a o or o s
me d itation Tim Riley allowed the landscape to

.
fly b y the w h i l e he considered matters

, H knew . e
61
T i m R i l ey s To u c h
’
the temper of the kind of people with whom he

was to battle They were so many more like him
.
self As for trying t o bulldoze or browbeat them

.
,
or
— —
i f he was that kind to bribe a single one ,
though they were the hard working u n so p h i s t i

-
,
c a t e d kind — —
wh i sh t l like the wind they d g o the
’
other way And as for scaring the tough ones

.
,
he might be the strongest and toughest and scrap

piest and quickest lad on his feet that ever was ,
but out there in that quarrying town would be a

dozen or twenty or fifty j ust as strong and as
quick and as scrappy as himself And that kind .
—
which was his kind you might set them up in a
row and knock them down one after another and ,
just as fast as one went down another would come

bouncing up for the honor of the last word .
New Ireland ! Tim V iewed a town of two o r

three hundred small square planned wooden
,
-
houses with one green painted house larger than

,
-
most labelled Kearney s Hotel ; another larger

,
’
than that again with a square cupola which he

, ,
knew would be the town hall ; and yet one more ,
largest of all white— , painted with a surmounti n g

,
gold cross which of course could only be the

, , ,
chapel A mile or so beyond the town on the

.
,
scarred hillsides stuck up the derricks of the

,
quarries which were the town s reason for being

,
’
.
Beyond the quarries were foot hills which gradu -

,
62
J. And there s any number of Republicans

’
with
names as good .
”
“
,
—
I dare say but not in New I re l and nor likely
to be while so many of your party put u s down for
a tribe of savages .
“
Have patience Mr Kearney T here s a new , . .
’
order of things under way Have patience And . .
tell me now h ow many Republicans should you

estimate there are in New Ireland ? ”
“
Estimate ? Sure and that s a l arge wor d for ,
’
them T here s Grimmer the cashier and chief

.
’
clerk o the savin s bank T here s Handy wh o

’ ’
-
.
’
keeps the real estate o ffi ce And did ever y e-

.
notice Mr Riley how when a man has a soft

—
, .
, ,
payin easy workin job tis ten t o one he s a

’
,
’
,
’ ’
Republican
“
I ve spoken of it so often myself Mr Kearney
’
, .
,
merely by way of humorous observation that my ,
party loyalty has been doubted If you woul d .
never h ave your loyalty suspected Mr Kearney , .

,
you must never let on that you possess i n t e lli

gence ; but have patience and we ll have that ’
—
changed some day maybe So t h ose two are th e .
leaders are they ?

,
”
“
L eaders man ! T hat s a ll of em
,
’ ’
.
Two ? Two out of nigh h y e hundred ! Well ,
glory b e what kind are those two ? The figh t i ng

,
kind ?
64
Har-rd lythe figh t i n kind Mr Ri l ey They ’

, . .
couldn t well be that in New Ireland bein R e

’
,
’
publican and remain whole Har rd ly ! No not

, .
-
,
if they were John L Sullivans the pair of em .

,
’
.
Among h y e hun d re d quarrymen d y s e e Mr ,

’ ’
, .
Riley an d they mostly young men there s al

, ,
’
ways p l enty of what a man might call loose

—
energy lyin round specially after hours and Sun
’
days and holidays ; surely too much for any two ,
or two do z en disputatious in d ividuals to contend

,
against And yet as I sai d the easiest quiet

.
, , ,
est people living here

“
Yes yes ; I ll bet a leprechaun s leap against
,
’ ’
a banshee s wail I know what peaceable kind they

’
are An d I think I know now wh y I was

.
No matter about that though C ould you Mr .

, .
Kearney get somebody to pass the word to the

,
q uarries that the Republican speaker is here ac

cording to announcement an d that his name is ,
”
Riley ? ”
“
I ll sen d me boy Dinnie ! called the land
’
.
”
lord No answer
. Dinnie ! No answer The .
”
.
landlord opened his lungs and roared : D i nn i e ll

“ ”
Then he looked out of the dining room window -

.
H ml I thought as much L ook at him p e lt i n

“ ’
-
.
it on his bi sigh cle for the quarries ! He heard

- -
you say Republican and twas enough No fear ’

.
—
now not a soul in New Ireland but wi l l know it
65
before dark — m inute

And but excuse me one ,
Mr Riley
. .
The landlord stood up to greet a forlorn look -
ing old woman wh o with a man s overcoat

, ,
’
wrapped ro un d her had appeared at the dining

,
room door .
“
How are you to d ay Mrs Nolan ? About as -
, .
'
usual ? Well don t be wo rry i n Yes you ll fin d

,
’ ’
.
,
’
Delia in the kitchen Go i n . .

”
Tim nodded after the old woman as she went i n .
“
And wh o is she Mr Kearney ? , .
”
A poor old creature wh o comes here once or

twice in the week to have a cup 0 tea and maybe ’
a little to g o with i t With the cook A p oor old , .
soul d ep e n d i n on charity and yet she won t take

’
,
’
it from every one .

”
“
P oor woman ! Will you give her that not ? —
now but When she goes out Mr Kearney
, He , . .
slipped a silver dollar into the landlord s hand ’

.
“
No need to tell her where it came from I ll .
’
be going along now I think to have a look at the

, ,
town I ll be back for supper

.
’
.
“
G ood luck to you ! ”
Tim had not left the hotel a hundred yards

behind him when he met a Catholic priest .
Good afternoon Father said Tim and , ,

”
,
raised his hat .
“
Good afternoon sir And is it the cane , .
66
T i m R i l ey s To u c h ’
was shifted from the right hand to the left and ,
the hand thus freed extended to Tim Mr — “

.
—
Riley isn t i t ? ’ ”
I t i s ; but how did you know Father ?

“
,
Oh if P eter Kearney s long legged Dinnie

,
’
-
hasn t told half the quarries before this of your

’
name and b u si n e ss t wi ll be because he s burst a ’ ’
tire or broke his neck rolling down the steep hills .
And so you re to speak to u s to night ?

’
-
”
“
God willing I a m , .
And you re not discourage d ?

’
And why should I be discourage d ?

Why ? You mu st be a stranger to t h ese
parts .
”
“
I am .
And no one told you of what happene d t o th e

l ast man your party sent here ? ”
“
They did not And what happened ? .
He was rode out of town on a rail

'
Well well Father And what did he d o the

, , .
,
p oor man ? ”
“
Oh he only hinted at firs t that we were a l ot
,
of ignorant foreigners wh o were Democrats b e

cause we didn t know any better ; but he warmed
’
up as he went along I don t know wherever they .

’
got him from In the middle of it Buck Malone

.
gave them what they call his high sign his —

—
right fo re finge r raised so and every man in the
67
ha ll got up and walked out A few ofth e m cam e .
back later and took him off They didn t hurt .

’
—
him no b ones broken or anything like that ; but
they do say he never waited for the train when
they turned him loose but legged the thirty miles
,
back to the city without a single stop ! ”
“
He did ? Well it s fin e e x ercise Father run
,
’
— ,
ning ; though thir ty miles in on e bite to be sure , ,
is a bit too much for good digestion I d say ,

’
.
—
This Buck Malone he s the boss here Father ? ’
,
”
He i s An d a famous one for surprising folks

“
. .
Thank you for the information Father , .

”
It s no information T he very babies here

’
.
know of the last man here If you see the children .
in the street smiling sly li k e when you pass that ,
m
will be why .
”
Tim p ul l ed h is lower l i p wit h t h u b an d fore

fing e r .
“
And yet they d l augh al l the l ou d er if I was t o
’
g o away without speaking Father What k ind is, .
Buck Ma l one t o loo k at an d wh ere d oes h e h ang

out ? ”
T he p ri est p o k e d t h e en d o f h is cane at Tim s ’
chest .
“
I s it figh ti ng you d b e at Mr Ri l ey ?
’
, .
.
’
—
I t is not I m not for figh ti ng un l es s of ,
course I have t o I sn t it on ly natura l t o want t o

, .
’
k now w h at ki n d your o pponent i s ? ”
68
—
Soi i t is so it i s Well then ab o ut this time
.
, ,
0 day you ll h n d him in that cigar store with the

’ ’
-
—
sign out below there He s a contractor him .
’
self who furnishes labor for the quarries A man

, .
about your height and breadth he ll b e but a ’
t ri fl e fuller in the waist A stout strong man and .

, ,
not many ab l e to look him d own A n eye in his .
head has Buck ! I would n t want to see the pair

,
’
of y e at i t .
“
,
—
T hank y ou Father And look d y s e e that .
’ ’
old woman coming out of the hotel ? What s her ’
story Father ?
,
“
The widow Nolan; A sa d hist ory Mr Riley , .
,
if you could get it ou t of h er ; but it s few she l l ’ ’
talk to ”
.
“
P oor woman ! Wou l d you give her this a —
—
coup l e of d ollars Father after I m gone ? ,
’ ”
“
I will An d it s good of you An d you re
.
’
.
’
bound to speak to night ? ”

-
“
I l l s p eak And I d l ike y ou to come Father
’
.
’
, .
N o t I Mr Riley , P riests are better out of

. .
politics Good day an d God speed you !

.
”
Tim stroll e d toward t h e cigar store ; and d raw -
ing near he picked out standing near the glass ,
case a tall powerfully built man with i n t e lli

, , ,
gently h eavy features and the unwavering eyes of

a figh t i ng man As Tim entered this man was .
speaking Befo re ten words ha d been said Tim

.
,
69
’
knew that his entrance had been forecasted and

that this was Buck Malone .
“
And he ll be up there on that platform all
’
—
alone not a soul with him because these two ,
dubs that ought to be standing by him they ve ,

’
got cold feet already And he ll be up there all .

’
alone except for a pitcher of cold water and a

,
glass and a table and a chair ; and he ll begin to

,
’
spout I dunno whether he c n talk or not ; but

.
’
we ll l et him run on for maybe ten minutes and

’
about the time he thinks he s making a hit I ll ’ ’
start up and I ll raise my fo re finge r like that

’
see ? And that ll mean everybody get up and go ’
.
—
out No hurry mind you nor no h u s t li n ; but,
’
everybody just stand up and walk out and leave

him talkin to that picture 0 that dago or wh o
’ ’
,
ever he i s d i scov e ri n the Mississippi on the back

,
’
wall .
“
—
And now you Malone turned leisurely to a
stocky looking young fellow in seedy clothes stand
-
ing wistfully off to one side you go on and pass

the word to em as they come out o the quarries
’ ’
.
”
“
All right answered the stocky one in a hoarse
,
”
voice but without moving

, .
A meagre— looking man stoo d behin d the cigar

case .
“
Will you l et me have sai d Tim to him , ,
three good cigars ? ”
70
You gettin hard 0 hearin ? Thought I told

’ ’ ’
you t o get along ! snapped Mal one ”

.
“
I am goin a long returned the husky voice
’
,
”
,
s oo n s I light u In the curling of the smoke

’ ”
p .
from the corner of his mouth in the wh oo fin g of ,
it toward the ceiling in the squaring of the thick

,
—
shoulders as he passe d out there was a hint of
rebellion .
“
You may be the boss thought Tim but , ,
your grip isn t t oo sure’

And turning squarely .
”
on Malone he observed genially : Fine day

“
.
”
“
Hp p
- -
Malone stared fixe d ly at Tim .
Tim stared back Tim wa s rapidly developing a

.
feeling of respect for the man Tim knew t h e .
kind A few years back h e ha d been such an

.
uncompromising one himself wh o would have ,
whipped off his coat as no doubt Malone would ,
now and battle d on the s p ot in p reference to

,
V erba l argument .
I t is a fin e d ay responded Malone slowly ;

“
,
but accord i n t o my d ope it ain t goin to be half

’ ’ ’
s o fin e a night
”
.
From behind the cigar case came a giggle and -

,
from the b oss himself came an after chuckle and -
a please d little smile .
“
Why it s not going to rain is i t ? asked Tim
,
’
,
”
,
and with an appropriately innocent manner he

steppe d to the door to look at the sky ; and in
7 2
’
looking he saw not the sky but the wi d ow No l an , ,
with some o d ds an d ends of firewood making her ,
halting way against the win d .
“
T he poor creature ! murmure d Tim ; and
”
while pitying h er t h e plan came to him “

Gentl e .
men h e sai d over his shoulder I h ave to b e

,
” “
,
o fi ; but before going I cor d ially invite you and all

‘
your friends to the t own h al l to night to d iscuss -

,
the issues of the campaign Goo d d ay gentl emen

.
, .
”
And through the d o o r before it closed after

,
him he could hear the cackle of t h e man behind

,
“
the cigar case : Is it going to rain ! Say Buck
-
, ,
you wo n t d o a th ing t o him to night wil l yuh ?

’ ”
-
,
III
With his greeting of G ood afternoo n t o you ,
Mrs Nolan ! T im stowed the widow s little bun

.
” ’
dle under his left arm .
“
And good afternoon t o you sir ; but yo u ll b e ,
’
sp iling your h u e clothes sir !

’
,
”
“
An d if I d o it s smal l l oss
’
He grippe d h er .
right elbow “
I t s the har d walking it is Mrs
.
’
, .
—
Nolan what with the wind an d the steep hill
and an old lady of your age .
,
—
Oh yeh it is coming on t o seventy five
,
-
.
Seventy fiv e ? An d you sti ll h opping about

-
active as a grass h opper ! A great age t h at Tis .

’
73
l ittle afraid many of u s young ones will be

, I m
’
,
thinking of climbing steep hillsides when we re ’
coming on to seventy fiv e Tis you was the -

.
’
active one in your young days I ll wager ,

’
.
”
“
Tis me that was sir ; but oh I m not that
’
, ,
’
now .
“
It s sad it must be to be looking back on the
’
bright dancin days 0 youth Mrs Nolan ’ ’

,
. .
”
“ —
Sure and it is sir ; but wh y the fin e b ou nci n ,
’
—
lad y e are why should you be sayin i t ? ’
Ah sure youth has its trials and tribulations

, ,
too ma am sometimes And is this your little

,
’
, .
place ? ”
I t is A n will you come i n sir ?

“ ’
.
,
I will and thank y e kindly ma am T i sn t ,

’
.
’ ’
every day a lady invites me into her place .
“
Whisht ! There are ladies enough to be pleas
ant to a fin e s t rap p i n lad like you with nothing ’
on earth to be b o t h e ri n you ’
.
”
Tim laughed as he sat down

“
Nothing ? Oh ma am ,
’
And what is it can be wo rry i n you sir ? ’

, ,
What is i t ? Well if you had my job Mrs , , .
Nolan I m t hi n k i n you d be worrying too ; even

,
’ ’ ’
if twas big and strong and a man you were and

’
but thirty years o f age I m the Republican .

’
speaker ma am that has been sent to y e here

,
’
, .
And for why ? T o convert y e ma am ,

’
.
”
74
T i m R i l ey s To u c h ’
An d so yo u re a Repub l ican s i r ? W e ll we ll
’
, ,
—but savin your presence you don t l oo k it or

,
’
,
’
talk i t Sure you re as Irish as myself !

.
,
’ ”
I m that Irish ma am that if you were to

“ ’ ’
, ,
take the Irish from out of me it s faded and limp ’
as a morn i n gl o ry at two in th e afternoon I d

’
-
’
”
be
An d what s your name may I as k ?
’
,
”
Riley ma am Timothy Joseph Riley

,
’
.
, to be
e x act f
’
“ —
Riley Tim Riley ! Well you re the firs t ,
’
Ri l ey ever I knew was a Republican T hat thin .
necked one in the b ank an d that o t h er on e the , ,
- —
fat necke d one in t h e rea l estate p l ace sure you -
,
don t favor them no more t h an

’
Y et th ere must
be goo d men Republicans t oo Wi l l you h ave a
T i sn t much ; but twil l war—
,
.
c u p p e e n 0 tea ? rm
’ ’ ’ ’
you maybe on the chill day

, ,
”
.
“
T hank you ; and twill taste fin e a cup 0— ’ ’
tea on a chill day like this And like to be chiller .

,
Mrs No l an
. .
“
T rue for y e An d g e n rally I fee l s i t ; but not
.
’
so to d ay sir Mr Kearney gave me a dollar

-
, . .
,
sayin it was fro m a stranger an d I wasn t to men

’ ’
— —
tion i t an d I won t ; but she shot a q uick ’ ”
,
warm glance at Tim God guard the kin d heart

of him whoever he is T o morrow I ll be o rd e ri n
, .
-
’ ’
some beautiful groceries with i t Tis a gran .

’ ’
75
i
s i n s a t on to be goin into a store an d ’
or d e ri n
’
t h ings .
”
Sh estooped for her l ittl e bund l e of fagots but ,
T im forestalled her He undid them arranged .

,
them craftily in the stove with rolls of old news

paper beneath and touched a match to the fire , .
There ma am ,
’
.
We ll have the little kittle b ilin in a minute

’ ’ ’
now sir , .
“
And what will y ou d o against the col d winter
comin ma am ?’
,
’ ”
Oh yeh ! I ll do no doubt what I ve d one

“
,
’
, ,
’
—
every winter since I c o me here live through i t .
”
“
With the c ol d wind coming through the wide
cracks and t h e snow piling high on the wintry
mornings it won t be the tightest p l ace in the
,
’
world ma am ,
’
.
”
“ —
Thanks be to Go d I have i t the same little
cabin ! ”
T h ank God you have ! Whisht ma am

“
,
’
Tim laid a restraining hand on hers as s h e spooned

the tea out of the can you won t be leaving ’
yourself any at all .

”
4
“
Sure there s en o ugh for the breakfast And
,
’
.
if we could a lways be sure of our breakfast it s ’
little we d have to complain o f And now let me

’
.
get out my cups an d saucers I have two of each .

,
thank God ! ”
76
—
L et me Mrs No l an I see them
,
. .
—
Well we l l but tis the spry lad
, are ! ’
y e
,
’
—
Sure you re across t h e floor in one l ea p li k e a
stag j ust .
”
“
Oh sure ; my l egs are y oung An d one spoon
, .
fu l 0 sugar is i t ma am ?
’
,
’
—
One yes And now sit d own An d so it s
. .
’
a Republican y e are ? And an I rishman too ?

,
,
—
Well we ll t h ey d o be q ueer h ap p e ni n s in the ’
world ! ”
“
! ueer enough An d fr o m w h at part.o f I re
l and are y e ma am ? ,
’
“ ”
Galway .
A fine p l ace ma am I kn ow i t ,
’
. .
Do y e n ow? B ut you re n ot Ga lway ?

’
I wou ld n t li e t o y e ma am though I m
’ ’ ’
—
, ,
tem p te d I m no t ; b ut I ha d an unc l e as fin e a
’
man as ever l ive d wh o d ie d there I went t o see

, .
him t h ere once an d a gran d time I h a d wit h sa l m

,
o n fish i n
-
i n the l oc h an d fishi n wit h the Cl a d
’ ’
—
d agh m en i n t h e bay an d on a S atur d ay nig h t
the littl e boys singin the ol d I ris h s ongs i n t h e ’
streets an d before M rs M ack s h ote l d oor An d .

’
.
was it in Galway the l ast o f y o ur p eop l e d ie d ?

”
“
I t wasn t
’
.
—
An d they di d n t d ie they were ;
’
killed G od rest their souls !

,
”
“
Amen ! ”
T he sticks in the littl e stove crac kl e d ; t h e

. 77
water in the little kettle spluttere d ; a gaunt

black cat crowded his way through the poorly
fastened door and rubbed himself against Tim s ’
legs whereat the widow threw a stick of wood at

,
him .
“
Out 0 that you with your mud on you from
’
the quarry pools sp i li n the gentleman s fine ’ ’ ’
clothes ! ”
S mall harm h e ll d o ma am
“ ’ ’
, .
It s better manners he ought to be h avi n

’ ’
,
though tis fin e to see a man like yourself hasn t

’ ’
too much conceit of his clothes But now have .
your tea avi c , .

”
“
I will Ah h ! an d the h u e tea it is t oo And
.
-
, , .
isn t it a queer thing n ow M rs Nolan th at I can

’
,
.
,
g o to the h u est hotels in the lan d and not get the

like 0 this for tea ? T he h u est of hotels yes ;
’
—
and here in a little c abin with the wind blowing ,
through the cracks I m bavin tea that for its ’ ’
—
,
equal I d have to go well to C hina itself I m

’
, ,
’
thinking But tell me Mrs Nolan it s as a

.
— , .
’
friend I ask what misfortune was it brought

-
y u to be living in a little shebeen on this rocky

o
hillside ? ”
The old woman made no response except to ,
add three or four little sticks of wood from her

pile to freshen the fire It was sti l l chilly and out .
side it was windy and Tim drew the man s worn

,
’
78
Indeed and I d like that fin e Mr Riley ; but

’
; .
—
they don t be i nvi t i n women old women to
’
— ’
any ra l lies .
”
“
Tis me is giving th e rally and I ll invite
’
,
’
—
whom I please I mean if you re not afraid of ,
’
the rioting when they d on t like maybe what ’

, ,
I m going to say t o them

’ ”
.
“
Me afraid ? Of what ? Sure and they could
be liftin the roof itself from the town hall and a
’
lone woman like myself would be safe among

them But why should you be wanting me
.
there ?
“
Why ? I ll tell you Nanna and you must’
, ,
take it for the true reason until I can give you a

better An d wh o knows it isn t the true reason ?
.
’
I m that vain Nanna that I want some one soul

’
, ,
—
there that isn t against me some one that before
’
ever I begin I know will hear me ou t If you re

, .
’
there I know wh ose heart will be warm to me

while I m speaking For tis terrib l e d iscouraging
’
.
’
to see nothing but cold faces staring up from the

benches and your heart bursting t o tel l them what s ’
in i t .
”
“
Sure an d it must b e avi c T he c old heart , .
’
tis an awful thing A b ony b l ack cat itself is .
more c ompany in th e house than one of our

selves when the heart 1s me But whisper .
”
she leaned doubtfully toward him thin k

there d be hope of you t u rni n D i mi c rat ?
’ ’ ”
80
“
I m afraid I m fix e d where I am I m not
’ ’
.
’
easily turned Nanna , .

”
“
,
—
Oh yeh l Well well i n one minute T immie, ,
a vi c I ll be a l ong with you

’ ”
, .
And she d uste d t h e hearth and gathered up her

cups and saucers which as she washed Tim , , ,
dried And presently he was guiding her halting

.
steps down the hill .
At eight o cl ock that night Tim was facing his

’
audience and a fin e large audience it was not

,
—,
a hand s width in a single bench vacant ; from

’
the front row where sat B uck M alone a l most

, ,
smiling to the back wal l where De Soto with

, ,
some In d ians and mailed companions was d is

—
covering the Mississippi from stage to entrance ,
not a vacant seat What hopes for a man in a.
figh t i n g audience like that if he coul d but win

them to him !
Tim was a l one on the stage .
“
“
Gentlemen he began the Republican party
,
”
,
in New Irelan d seems t o b e very busy to night -

.
On e half o f it has to atten d a c o nference o f bank

-
cashiers o ver in Rocktown ; an d R ocktown it ,
appears is four miles in a buggy over a rough

,
road T hat rough road and the buggy are of

.
,
81
course an incontrovertible argument gentle

, ,
men And the other half has a rich prospect

.
—
ive customer for a couple of town lots also over
in Rocktown A busy little place that Rocktown
.
must b e ! I don t won d er you re smiling I ’ ’

.
smi l e d myself when they told me .
“
But if they are n ot here gent l emen to ac , ,
cre d it me I am here to speak for myself And

, .
,
as you see there is the table the chair the ice

, , ,
—
water pitcher the empty glass al l as h e smiled
, ,
”
—
d own at the boss in the front row as Mr Malone
“
.
said it would b e Twas this very afternoon Mr.

’
.
Malone spoke of i t ; and myself happening to ,
hear him I would not for a lord lieutenant s i n

,
’
come disappoint him Twas my good old mother .

’
—God rest her sou l l—wh o used to say— and

many s the time she said i t : Timmie dear don t
’ ‘
,
’
never d isappoint people if you can help i t And .

’
—
I never do especially W hen it don t cost me any ’
thing ; for water is the only thing I had to b ing r
—
into the hall to night an d water gentlemen is
-
, ,
h e ap f
’
c
Yes an talk s cheap t oo !

“
,
’ ’
Tim bowed to the voice an d smi l ed with the

laugh that followed .
“
God knows it is cheap If it wasn t t i sn t the .
’ ’ ’
likes 0 me could afford to be handing it out to you

’
to night and no charge for admission at the door

-
,
.
”
82
Say Buck his ten mi n u t e s ll be use d up b e

, ,
’
fore ever he gets started ! came a voice from mid ”
way of the hall .
“
True for you boy And so I ll b e i n t ro d u
, .
’
cing myself My history is short Riley is my

. .
—
name Timothy Joseph Riley bapti z ed by Father
,
,
—
Kiley in the parish of Bally mallow and I m a ’
Republican .
”
“
And there s what we d like to h ave you tel l
’ ’
us,
—
Mi s t h e r Riley h ow came you to be a R e
publican ? ”
“ —
Yes you blarn ey i n turncoat how came y e ? ’
A man in the front row stood up to say that

last a rugged looking man wh o looked as if he
,
-
,
would like mighty well to j ump up on the stage

and haul Tim d own off i t Toward him Tim .
stepped leaning over th e e d ge of the stage so

,
that the belligerent one would not miss a syllable .
“
I ll tell how I came to be a Republican When
’
.
I landed in this country an d before I was fairly

o u t of Castle G arden some thief of a pickpocket
or worse stole the few little d ollars I had to keep

me until I could get a job I was a seventeen .
—
year old boy and that shy I couldn t beg For
,
’
.
t wo days not a morsel of food went into my mouth .
And there I was j umping sideways with the hun,
ger when a man comes along and saw me and

,
b rought me into a grand restaurant A n d h ow ll .

‘ ’
83
I ever pay you ? I asks when I d eaten my fill

’ ’
.
He was a b u t ch e rman with a white smock on ,
him And he laughs and says : You can t now ;

.
‘ ’
but by and b y when you get a vote be sure and

, ,
vote the Republican ticket And I says : Why .

’ ‘
the Republican ticket ? And he says : Oh just ’ ‘
—
by way 0 variety just to show that you peop l e
’
don t all g o one way

’
.
’
“ —
And Tim straightened u p I took his
hand and Si r I will ! I said He was joking
,
‘
,
’
.
,
maybe ; but I wasn t And I did vote the R e

’
.
publican ticket ; and I m still voting the Republi

’
can ticket And I m saying to you all to night

.
’
-
the one Republican among fiv e hundred of y e

that I m not apologizing to any man in this hall
’
or any other hall for i t And I m saying to you .

’
—i n the face of the inquiring man in the front

row in the face of Buck Malone in the face of
, ,
,
—
the whole hall Tim clinched his fis t I m say
“ ’
ing that the man of Irish blood wh o ever forgets

the promise that he s made to t h e one that b e
’
—
friended him I say to y e all and I don t care ,
’
—
whether y e like it or not his blood s been crossed ’
—
somewhere ; he s no Irish in him ! No nor fit to
’
be called a man at all ! ”
Tim stepped back to pour out a glass of water ;

a form rose up midway of the hall and a voice ,
roared out :
84
Say you Riley man y our p olitics are the

, ,
d i vi l s own but you re Irish all right

”
Go on !
’ ’
, .
Tim held the glass toward the spea k er .
“
An d ma b ouch a l tis y ou has the Irish heart
, ,
’
in you t oo Here s to you ! You stubborn u m

, .
’
,
converted hereditary Democrat here s to you !

, ,
’ ”
He drained the glass .
Go ou l Tell u s more !
“
—
Yes ; go o n talk u p !
Y ou ll get a show here Go on !
’
.
Tim glanced down at Buck Malone swe p t the ,
benches for the sight of a more cheerfu l face and

caught the friendly eyes of P eter Kearney Also .
he suddenly recognized the face of Ma l one s ’
—
henchman th e man to whom he had given the
cigar He was wagging his head encouragingly
. .
“ —
Gentlemen I will go on and thank y ou for,
the chance And wit h your permission gentle

.
, ,
men I ll speak of something besides politics It

,
’
.
is of charity Gentlemen a great quality is char

.
,
ity Only because of the spirit of charity in you

.
,
gentlemen am I allowed to speak to you here to

,
night ; but it s another p hase of charity I d like

’ ’
to speak o f I will put it in the form of a story

.
and gentlemen not t oo long a story

, , .
“
There was an old la d y in the old country who ,
received a letter from her oldest son John with , ,
passage money for her second son P at to come

-
, ,
85
over and join him She gave her c onsent Why .
—
.
wouldn t she w h en the living was so har d ? P at

’
went leaving his mother of nigh seventy and the

,
last of his bro thers W ith her One son had already .
gone to S o uth America and another to Australia ;

and now on ly a boy was left to her and him—
with one l eg gone in a railroad accident for w h ich ,
they d never got a farthing

’
.
”
A t this point T im hear d the side door softly

open and close He took a quick backward peek . .
Dinnie and ol d Nanna Nolan were waiting in the

wings T im signed t o them to remain there
. .
He steppe d to the front of t h e stage then j ust in ,
time to see Ma l one wh ose every move he was ,
watching uncross his l egs an d ha l f rise in his seat

, .
Tim l ooked at him steadily and waited Malone .
d id not move farther an d Tim resumed ,
Well the two s ons in America strong and

, ,
willing worke d si d e by side earning their dol

, ,
lar and a q uarter and t h eir d ollar and a half a

day with now an d again a d ay s or a week s lay
,
’ ’
o H to set them back but managing a lways b e

‘
tween them t o save four d ollars in the week and

'
—
sen d it over every m onth t o the old mother until
by an d b y she scrimping and saving too there
, , ,
was passage —
money for herself and the lad to come
to America The y took the steamer at ! ueens
.
town ; and twas like a grand dream to them’
86
Tim R i l ey s To u c h
’
for t hat figh t i ng chance which remark brought

,
out a quick burst of applause .
“
Well gentlemen that poor old woman landed
, ,
in the strange country Grief stricken she was

.
-
,
but not yet utterly discouraged The son P at .
was to meet her at the dock He was not there . .
Well she could see a good reason for that They

, .
—
could not leave their work sometimes the bosses
—
were strict they had often written so in their
letters No matter With not much left of her
. .
little savings she bought a ticket and to ok the

,
train for the town where her two sons were work
ing Well neither was P at at the station to
.
,
—
greet her but by and by she learned why .
“
T here had been a premature explosion in the
quarries and a fall of rock had knocked P at
,
senseless ; and as h e lay t h e re f u n con sci ou s a ,
second blast came an d kille d him Well that was .

,
an awful thing ; but stil l there was the son John .
And they had then to tell her of John Well .

,
while P at l ay there helpless another man h ad run

,
in to carry him out of danger He was a brave .
man that second man for the flame of the second

, ,
fuse was then almost to the charge ; but he ran

in and he had the inj ured man l n his arms when
the second explosion came They were killed to.
gether T hat second man was her other son

.
,
John f ’
Tim paused ; but he no l onger ha d to as k their

88
leave to speak He was in full swing ; an d out

.
there beyond the ends of his nervous spreading

, ,
fin g e rs they were swinging with him Sitting up

—
.
,
straight an d sti ll t h ey were o r l eaning forward ,
bent an d eager .
A potent gift th e o rator s A writer may never

,
’
.
hope to achieve instantly h is great intention .
He is limite d t o m on o t on o us l oo k ing b l ack words -
on a blank page B ut a speaker ! Ad d e d t o the

.
wor d s are eyes lips hands hea d bo d y an d the

, , , , ,
immeasurable force of personality Tim s voice .

’
softene d an d d eepene d halte d an d quickened , ,
roun d e d and tremb l e d ; the ru dd y cheek took on

a ru dd ier co l or ; his d ee p set eyes grew d eeper and
-
d arker an d by an d by th ey flame d He grew

, .
ta l ler ; h is b od y e x pan d e d He sprea d his hands .
—fin e s h a p e ly h an d s with nervo us e x pressive

—
, , ,
fiu gers an d as he gesture d h e q uivere d to his

—
very finge r tips an d d own th ere on th e benc h es
,
th ey q uivere d wit h h im T he c old wor d s h e .

—
warme d an d revi vi fie d th e m Un d er t h e caress of .
h is b eauti fu l barely perceptib l e b rogue the com

,
monest h ars h est l ines too k on sm ooth ness and

,
roun d ness ; an d fro m o u t h is m outh the fin e ten ,
d er wor d s b l oome d l i k e summer fl owe rs ; and the

larger co l orful w or d s flashed like gems
, .
Tim in short was an orator And when he

, , .
s ai d : Th ere gentlemen you have the story

“
, ,
89
Tim R i l e y s T o u c h
’
and y ou k now whose story it is P oor old Nanna

‘
—
Nol an s y e s z when he had said that with
’ ”
,
arms and hands no longer gesturing but droop ,
ing straight and motionless by his side no one ,
—
stirred but a great sigh went u p .
And n ot till that moment did M a l one wake up

to i t th at h e had waited t oo long ; but that mo
ment he desperately chose to take his position at
.
the e n d oft h e aisle and face his hitherto unbroken

'
constituency ; and while Malone was doing that

T i m was motioning to Dinnie in the wings ; and
n ow Dinnie wa s leading her o u t — old Nanna
Nolan halting and bewildered blinking at the
, ,
—
audience as T im held up one hand for a last
word .
“
Here she is ! I ve trie d to tell you her story
’
,
gentlemen ; but there s only one living person’
n tell that story right and I m not that one If ’

ca ,
.
u could have heard her telling i t — she in her

y o
little cabin on that windy hillside before her little ,
stove with the dark coming d own and the lights

,
beginning to shine through

And that instant while Tim s arm wa s across
,
’
her poor thin shoulders covered as ever with the ,
w or n man s coat that instant Malone whose

— ’
,
back wa s to the stage chose to raise his fateful

,
fo re fin g e r .
And Tim waite d . And M alone waite d .
90
Not a man left the hall .
Malone turned and faced Tim .
“
“
You win he said ; but that two faced
”
,
-
—
chairman of yours and he ain t any friend of ’
—
yours h e never tipped me oil you could figh t
~
any way except with your hands Speak the rest .
of your piece Y ou win ! .

”
B ack at headquarters t h e state chairman had

been for an hour trying to e x tract a little comfort
from the newspaper story of the New Ireland
upheaval when th e tall boss came i n T o the .
boss of course h e h a d to make s ome c omment

, , ,
and he made i t .
“
This man Riley he began cautiously I ve ,
“
,
’
been trying to discover whether he s a Republican ’
or a Democrat by what he says here .

”
“
H ow s that ?
’ ”
He says : T ake your l ea d ers : an d if they

‘
don t carry ou t your wil l fire em out ! If the

’ ’
men you have set on high betray you he puts ,

’
i t lass o em of? their pedestals and set em on t h e

‘ ’ ’
street level again ! If that isn t ’ ’
—government by the people ?

I wasn t going to say that sir
’
, .
Why not ? Isn t that what it amounts to ’

?
L et me see your paper please H m l I don t ,

.
-
’
see what there is here to obj ect to He is not .
9 1
against a party government ; in fact he s all for ,

’
party Only make sure the party leaders are

.
honest he says in politics religion business i n

, ,
— , ,
everything ; an d if t h ey d o n ot live up to their

promises read them their l esson Well wh y not ? .
,
I think he s right T he people know more than

’
.
they di d and we might as wel l reckon with that

new kn owledge T he men wh o don t do that
.
’
might as well give up the l ea d ership ! ”
There was a whole page of it in the New I reland

R ecor d about Tim The senator read it a l l When
. .
he at l ast looked up he murmured :

“
Raised twelve hun d red and odd dollars for
the wi d ow Nolan That was surely well done !
.
Two hundred and fifty votes pledged to him b e

fore he left the hall He surely has the touch !
.
An d Mal one says he s going to stick to his con

’
tracting hereafter G ood idea !

.
”
T he senator read o n : An d M alone a l so says

a l so says H ml-
”
T he chairman was startled out of his silence .
“ —
I set Malone on to Riley to fool him .
”
You did ! T he senator scratched his beard

”
with his h u ger nails drew his chin in to his neck

-
,
and looked over his pince nez at the chairman - .
“ —
Too bad he misunderstood you wasn t i t ? It ’
would be so nice if we could give you the credit ;

but I m afraid we ll have to hand it to Riley
’ ’
.
”
9 2
IN THE A N C H OR
In t h e An c h o r W atc h
Win dward and leeward came also the quick , ,
sharp t oned double stroke

-
“
Why aske d C arlin couldn t they strike
,
”
,
’
those two be ll s without bothering that deck

o ffice r ?
Regulations .
They re the devil those regulations Wickett

’
, , .
—
Wors e sometimes You can steer clear of .
the devil if you want to He paused “

And yet . .
it would soon be a devil of a service without

’
em .
”
A sailor stepped up to the offi ce r of the deck ,
and saluting said

,
“
A nchor lights burning
,
'
bright sir , .
”
A man in a c h ief petty ofii ce r s uniform stepped ’
up t o th e offi ce r o f the deck whereupon Wickett , ,
sitting u p sai d : T hat s ou r wireless operator

“
,
’
.
”
“
A message for Mr Wic k ett sir came t h e .
, ,
”
O p erato r s voice
’
.
“
You ll fin d Mr Wickett on the after b ridge
’
.
,
the office r of the d eck said ; and the wireless man

came up the bri d ge ladder and saluted
“
Y ou raise d the Cler mont Wesson ? Wickett s ,
” ’
voice was eagerly anticipatory .
“
No sir I cou ld not She has no wireless
, , . .
Oh h ! -
”
But I raise d the C ape station and they t e ,
porte d she passed there on sc h e d ule time .
9 8
In t h e An c h o r Watc h
Ou time ? Good ! Thank you , Wesson ; that s ’
Were you expecting someb o d y on the Cler

mb n t ? asked C arlin when the wire l ess man had
”
,
gone .
“
Not real ly e x p ecting My h ome is a thousand .
miles from here and my pay won t allow of my

,
’
family travelling around everywhere to meet me .
But I like to dream of rosy possibi l ities don t ,

’
you ?
A coo l night breez e was b lowing Wic k ett b are d .
his head to i t P resently he began t o hum

.
A n d i 0 y l i le baby b y
t s
’
ou tt o
A d n cing
-
a my k n ee on
W i ll i be a bel e d c h a rge r
t t
O a h ea v i n g deck
r sea ? to
I
’
s t to b e h se rri ed p e nn a nt
t e s
O h r ll i n g b l u e N v ee ?
r t e o a-
Or i s be
’
t to
He turne d to C arlin When I hear myse l f sing .
ing that in my own quarters ashore then I m

, ,
’
—
home an d not before .
He set to humming soft ly again
An d i t
’
s 0 y ou l i le baby g i rl
tt
A hwa r t t y o ur m h e r s la p
ot
’
Sud d enly he asked : Were you ever away fro m

home sixteen months ?
99
Carlin emphatically shook his head No s i r .
, .
A year once And I don t want to be that long

.
’
.
—
away again Were you before this cruise ? ”
“
Five years one tim e
—
F i i ve l Whee—
,
- -
eee ! P retty tough that .
Tough ? More inhuman A man can get

— .
fat on wa r but h y e years from your family l

,
— ”
He raised his face to the stars and whoofed his

despair of i t .
“
My year away from home said C arlin , ,
though not immediately was in th e P h i h p p me s

“
,
—where I firs t met you— remember ? The night

you landed from the little tug you were in com
—
mand of and a bunch of u s war correspondents
—
we calle d ourselves were gathered around a big
”
fir e .
Wickett no dd e d I remember And pretty

. .
blue was I ? ”
“
Not at firs t I thought you were the most
.
care free ki d I d met in months as you sat there

-
’
te l ling about th e funny things that had happened

y ou and your little war tugboat B ut towards .
morning with only the two of u s awake I remem

, ,
ber you as possibly the m ost melancholy young

naval offic e r I d ever m et Y ou started to tell
’
.
what a tough life th e navy was for the home

loving o ffi ce r o r man and I ha d a specia l reason
,
—
for being interested in that I ha d I sti ll h ave .
100
pines wasn t Fi li p l nos began Wickett
’
I d
, .
“ ’
been in the East a year that time we met and I ,
put in another year on top of that in China A .
terrible two years But even two years in the .
East with your heart at home must have an end

ing After all the earth can only revolve so many
.
,
days in one year though at times I used to b e

,
lieve she d quit revolving altogether had stopped

’
,
—
dead was only marking time specially nights ’
and that th e astronomical sharps weren t on to ’
her c h anges However at last she d rolled her

‘
’
.
,
sun up and her sun down the necessary seven

hundre d and odd times an d I was headed for
home .
“
I W ent out a middy and came back an ensign
which is very important A n ensign may not .
rate many high rights in the service but he does ,
rate a leave of absence And when my leave .
came I flew across the bay to the fort where ,
—
C olonel Blenner Doris s fa th e r was c o mman ’
u
d ant And on the way over I had a thousand

.
visions dreams hopes with of course a million

, , ,
misgivings fears d oubts and so ou

, , , .
“
When I met her I set it down right away that
my misgivings ha d c ome true A fleet of young .
artillery o ffi ce rs were man oeuvring within shelling

range of her and while I didn t expect her to
,
’
bound half way across the drill ground and throw

- -
10 2
her arms around my neck or anything like that , ,
because she never had b o unde d down and thrown

her arms around my neck an d wasn t the bound ,
’
ing down an d throwing h er arms around your neck

- - - - - - - -
sort of a girl anyway ; but what I d i d sort of

hope for was that after a polite l ittl e interva l she d ’
turn the re d cape d c h aps adrift and say C ome

-
,
‘
o u D i ck l et s sit d own here in t h e corner by our

’
, ,
selves an d have a goo d talk an d perhaps later ,

’
,
before the evening got too o ld g o for a stroll on ,
the l ong walk same as s h e use d to

, .
“
But she d i d n t turn any of them l oose She
’
.
kept them all about her w h ile she d rew me into

t h e middle of them B ut poor me ! I d had no
.
’
service at all in th e civi l ize d ports an d h a d n t ’
seen more than a d oz en w h ite women in the w h ole

t wo years I d b een g o ne an d of t h at d oz en had
’
spoken to o n ly th ree wh ile as for t h ese artillery

,
—
chaps l Th ey ma d e m e fee l l ike a si x pound - -
shell in a b ig turret magazine Any on e ofthem .
cou ld ta l k the eye ou t o f my h ead the best d ay

I d ever seen
’
A n d the d ay I came back t o h er
.
’
—
wasn t th e best d ay I d ever seen not fo r talk’
ing purposes I l ooke d at an d listene d to them

.
,
an d kept saying to myse l f : I wonder if th ey realize ‘
what a l ucky lot they are to be able t o stay all

the time around where civilized women live ? ’
But I don t believe they did They took every

’
.
10 3
thing as if twas no more than small arms a mmu ni
’
-
tion was being served out t o them .
“
I n my room in the hotel that night I began to
chart a few new courses for myself Before I left .
for the East Doris wa s terribly young and there d ’
been no other war heroes hanging around Sh e .
and her mother were then living in a quiet hotel

near my house while her father was off on some
boar d mission in the West But now it wasn t .
’
any is ol ated l ittle country hotel I t was post .
quarters with her father the c omman d ant and

, ,
a para d e of young army offi ce rs in an d out of

those q uarters with s q uadrons of two and three
,
stripers steaming over pretty regu l arly from the

navy yard across the bay And she wa s two
-
.
—
years older a terrible a d vance eigh teen to twenty , ,
and I d been two years gone

’
.
You said a while ago C arlin What a kid you

‘
, ,
are ! and perhaps I a m though I think I m an old

’
, ,
’
,
old party myself; but about the time I came back

from the East that first time I must have been a
good d eal of a kid I know now I was That firs t
. .
night at the hotel after I d been to the fort all

,
’
day I talke d t o myself in good shape And I

,
.
wound up by saying : Well what do you care ?‘

,
There are forty nice girls between this hotel and

the post But there weren t forty There were
.
’ ’
.
a hundred as far as that went but there was only

, ,
104
I went through the post grounds to get sight
of her window in passing and there she was all,
—
dresse d and looking out across the bay from their
,
veranda I was just wondering if you too would

.
‘
, ,
be up early this morning Dick she said Do ’ ‘
you think it is going to stor m

, , .
? And I told her ’
no and if it did what matter ? And without

, ,
waiting until after breakfast we went ofi for our

’
young cruise in the bay .
“
I was half hoping it would storm so I could ,
show her what I could do with that little boat .
But there was no storm or anything like i t There .
did come a squall of wind an d I let it come wear ,
ing the boat around and letting the main sheet

,
-
run And she zizzed And I let h er z i z z Noth

. . .
ing could happen Sh e was one of those little

.
craft with a lead keel that you couldn t capsize ’
which I explained to Doris while down on her ,
side the little thing was tearing a white path in

the blue water But D o ris s people had been
.
’
always army pe ople and she hadn t much faith

,
’
in fl oat i n g contraptions She clung clo ser to me ;

.
and the two of u s sitting together and nothing

—
to do but watch the boat go why well we sat , ,
together and let her go .
“
The breeze died down until there wasn t ’
enough of it to be called a breeze but that was no ,
matter W e were still sitting c l ose together and

.
106
while we sat so I found courage t o tel l her what
,
had been flooding my heart th rough a ll t h ose

nights and d ays in Eastern waters And we came .
back to breakfast engage d An d after b reakfast .
Wickett unex pected ly turne d to C arlin

and said half shyly : I suppose you still think
,
“
I m a go o d d ea l of a ki d t o be te l ling you all

’
this ? ”
C arlin n odd e d in serene agreement I a lways .
thought you were a goo d dea l of a ki d I h ope .
you always wil l b e God save me from th e man

.
wh o isn t still a good d eal of a ki d at t h irty W hat

’
.
d id you d o after breakfast ? ”
After breakfast I went u p to see C o l one l B len

ner and found him on his veran d a smoking his
,
after b reakfast cigar befo re h e went o ver t o guard

-
mount He was genial as ever ; e x cept th at he put

.
his fo o t d own on an engagement An engagement .

‘
means a marri age o r sh o u l d h e says an d how

, ,
’
,
‘
can y ou marry on an ensign s pay ? You with ’
your me ss bills an d o th er e x p en ses ab o ar d ship

—
,
an d D o ris wit h h er q uarters as h o re y ou would

n ever meet your bi ll s
’
.
“
I agree d wit h h im but a l s o argue d wit h h im
, ,
an d shoo k h im s o me but c o u ld n ot q uite upset

,
him I left h im to run b ac k t o th e h o te l t o t h row

.
my th i ngs together An d t h ere I found a new

.
—
complicati on or d ers were waiting me I was to .
10 7
be d etache d fro m my ship an d t o ta k e c ommand
of the gunb o at B ayp ort an d a rust—
— eaten old
kettle of a Bayp ort she was fa m ous for h er dis ,
abilities ; and I was to sail for Manila nex t morn

ing at eight o clock M anila ! Another jolt I
’
. .
s a t d own an d th o ught it out .
“
An d when I got ta lking to myself again I ,
said : Doris Bl enner you re a great girl the

‘
,
— ’
best ever ; but yo u re not superhuman No man

’
.
has a right to expect a girl to be that You re too .

’
lovab l e t oo human Doris to be the superhuman

, , ,
kind I l l be away in the East L o rd knows how

.
’
— —
long an other t wo years perhaps and there s all ’
those army chaps always on the job We ll j ust .

’
have to be married that s all there is to that

,
’
before I leave .
’
“
I was back to the post in time to join a riding
party after lunch It was no use my t rying to
.
see her alone riding But after the ride we slipped

.
o u t onto the ramparts of the fo rt an d there the , ,
pair of u s sitting hand in han d and a sentry a

dozen paces away trying n ot to see and hear u s ,
I tol d her of my o r d ers and th en entered my new

plea All for myself Doris I told her By that
.
‘
, ,
’
.
time the sun was low behin d u s and throwing our

two shadows onto where the water of the bay
came gurgling up against the walls of the fort ,
and lookin g d own on our shadows from the fort

10 8
‘
Danger yes sir I sai d
, I V e been out
,
’
.
‘ ’
there in the islan d s in a tugb o at with her e n

'
gines broken d own an d s h e d rifting onto a beach

where four h un d red squatting Moros with Rem
i n g t on ri fl e s were waiting hopefully for u s to come
ashore Fo ur hundre d of them and hy e of u s all
.
tol d B ut that s not d anger sir I hurries o n

.
’
, ,
’
,
o f t h e k in d to scare a man thoug h it d i d sicken

‘
,
me to think I d never see Doris again and that

’
perhaps it would shock her when she hear d of i t .
But otherwise sir that s no danger B ut when

, ,
’
.
a young ofli ce r goes a thousan d miles up a C hinese

river in comman d of a gunboat as I was this last
—
,
—
time gone for months on i r an d being com
man d er was everywhere receive d as the represent
ative of a great country by all t h e governors and
topsi d e mandarins along the route And they .
haven t ou r i d ea of things a lot of things that

’
-
seem wro ng to u s seem all right t o them They .
mean no harm T hey inten d only to be courteous

.
and com plimentary and so they strew a fellow s

,
’
path with the fl owe rs of ease and pleasure i f he —

forgets h imself there s danger C olonel I said
,
’
, ,
’
.
‘
I sail at eight in the morning sir I m to be , .
’
gone I don t know how long perhaps another two

’
,
— —
years and C olonel I want a home anchor .
’
He said no word till he had fin i sh e d his cigar

“
.
When he does he drops it at his feet steps on it ,
1 10
to p ut out the light an d says : A good argument
,
‘
for yourself Richard but what of Doris ?

, ,
’
‘
Doris has probably done a lot of thinking in
th e matter sir Why not leave it to Doris sir ?
, .
,
’
Of course he said dry as pow d er D o ris

‘ ’ ‘
, , ,
wou ld be d isintereste d in this case ! ’
T hen leave it to her mother sir

‘
, .
’
‘
I see neither l ogic nor prudence in your
argument Richard he answers at last but I
, ,
’
,
‘
will l eave it to her mother And when h e said .

’
that I knew I ha d won ; for without her ever tel l

, ,
ing me I knew her mother was with u s I f I h a d

,
.
tol d him that I wou l d only h ave been tel l ing w h at

,
he already guesse d as he to ld me th at same nig h t

, ,
later .
“
Anyway after a minute wit h Doris an d h er
,
mother I jumpe d over t o the hote l and from the

, ,
side of a most billowy wa l tz partner I d etache d

Shorty Erroll t o get the r i ng an d t h e sma ll er
sto res for a proper we d ding an d t h en I went out ,
to bespeak my own ship s chaplain I foun d him ’

.
lying in his bunk in his paj amas with a History of

the T unisian Wars balance d on h is c h est an d a
wall light j ust back of his h ea d an d he says :
-
,
‘
Why surely Dick when I to ld him but a dd e d
, ,
’
,
‘
T hough that old sieve of a B ayp o t I d oub t wi ll r , ~
you ever get her as far as Manila after which ,

’
carefully inserting a book mark into the T unisians -

,
111
he glides into his uniform an d comes ashore with
me .
“
An d without Doris even changing her dress
—
we were marrie d i n the colonel s quarters with ’
every o ffi ce r and every member of every o ffice r s ’
—
family on t h e reservation even the children
stan d ing b y And the women said How distress
.
,
‘
ing Mr Wic k ett to have to leave in the morning !

, .
,
’
an d th e men said Tough luck Dick and be — ,

‘
,
’
sure I thoug h t it was tough l uck and it would ,
have been tough luck on ly by this time the

entire post had got busy an d got wor d to Wash
i ng t on and at eleven o clock while we were still
’
, ,
—
at the we d ding supper wor d came to delay the ,
sailing of the gunboat for twenty four hours - .
An d that was followed by a telegraphic order

ne x t morning to haul the B ayp ort into d ry dock
and overhaul her .
”
Wickett wh o had been ta l king rapidly came to

, ,
a full stop while three be l ls were striking through

,
out the fleet .
“
Nine thirty said Wi ckett I thought I saw
-
, .
a steamer s light beyond the breakwater

’
.
C arlin l o o ke d where he p ointed I d on t but

“
.
’
,
I haven t your eyes How l ong was th e respite ?

’
.
”
I n ten d ays they ha d h er afl oat again I

“
.
thanked my Go d given l uc k for every flying m in

-
ute of th ose ten d ays ”

.
1 12
reminded her that before a great while now I
ought to be on my way home And one day 1n .
the C hina Seas I saw the sun between u s an d the

shore setting under a thousand golden lakes and
pools and purple pillars and a home bound pen
,
-
nant of a full cable s length whipping the breeze

’
in our sm o ke astern .
”
Wickett paused and resumed : T hat was a

,
great night It was two years an d three months

.
since I d left Bayport The first thing I d i d in

’
.
the morning after turning ou t an d for every ,
morning th ereafter was to step to the ca l en d ar on

,
the wall of my room an d block out that d ay s ’
date with a fat blue lea d e d pencil I d got from

-
’
the paymaster for that purpose alone an d then , ,
estimating the run on the chief engineer s d ope ’

,
c ount h ow many d ays were l eft .
Wickett was silent He remaine d silent so l ong

.
that C ar lin t h ought that that must be the end ,
abrupt though it was t o the sto ry But it was no t

, .
t hat . Wickett was p ointing across the b ay

“ — —
See C arlin the flag ship of the sec on d s q uad
,
ron has j ust sent out an or d er for i t s first d ivi

sion to prepare for an emergency signal d rill An d .
the firs t division are to have a torpedo d rill at

—
the same time Wait i n half a minute it will be
.
ou.
—
There look ! ”
From the mastheads the re d and white A rd oi s

1 14
lights were winking even as the illum nate d arms i
of the semaphores were wigwagging j erky mes

sages from bri d ge t o bri d ge ; on shore on the ,
water on the clou d s t h e great search lights swept

, ,
-
and cro sse d en d lessly I t was dazzling Sud . .
d e nly it cease d Oh h ! protested C arlin

“ ”
-
. .
“
L ife is just l ike that isn t i t ? said Wickett ;
”
,
’
a ll ligh t an d play an d c olor for a s p ell and then ,
—p E—l ights out .

”
Maybe admitted C arlin but d on t impede

,
”
,
’
the speed of the story Your ship was racing for .
home .
”
“
Our orders were to proceed by way of Sue z
and to rendezvous with the battle fl e e t at Guan -
t anamo C uba We got into Guantanamo the

, .
day before the M i smlama arrive d from the North .
The Mi ss alama ha d or d ers to procee d t o the West

Coast Ha l f a dozen of the o ffice rs a l ready in
.
Guantanamo were or d ere d to h er I was one of .
them .
”
“
Goo d night ! B ut th at was a jo l t !
That s what it was But that s the service
’
.
’
.
An d c ou ld n t y ou d o anything about i t ?
’ ”
What c o ul d I d o ? T here were my orders .
A couple of the fellows came as near to being

politicians then as ever they d id in their lives .
They trie d to reach peop l e in Washington

b ure au ch iefs senators i n flu en ti al c ongressmen
, ,
1 15
to have me detached an d ord ere d home But nex t .
day was a holiday and th e d ay after was Sunday ,
and the ship had to sai l by Sun d ay And she did .

,
and I With her .
And how d o y ou acc ount for your being

shunted off l ike that ? Somebody have it in for
’
you ? ”
“ —
No no not that Simply the politicians
, . .
I d on t suppose the service will ever be free of the

’
near politicians The navy has them fellows

-
.
—
wh o are no t goo d enoug h o fli ce rs to depend upon
themse l ves a l one and not good en ough p oli t icians
,
to go in for politics altogether Somebody with a .
goo d sh ore billet somewhere was probably d ue for

sea d uty an d not wanting to let go of a good
-
,
thing an d having th e pull somebo d y e l se went i n

, ,
stea d An d s omebo d y e l se for t h at somebody

.
else an d s omebo dy e l se again an d so on till at

, ,
l ast t h e s omeb ody e l se wh o c ou l d be made to

serve a turn h appene d t o be me .
Hard l uck Dic k ie sai d the war d room mess

‘
, ,
’
- .
‘
—
But c h eer u p i n t h ree months you l l see the ’
Gol d en Gate and by then you ll be rea d y for a

,
’
little d uty on your h o me coast T hen your lieu .
tenant s straps an d shore d uty an d your wife and

’
baby t o yourself for a while I had that thought .

’
to cheer me t h rough the night watches aroun d -
South America but at Callao we got orders to

,
1 16
was T he fo rt b o at had come alongside and
.
—
people had come aboar d fli c wives an d o e rs
’
families I knew but not just wh o because th e

, , ,
boat had unloaded aft while I was on the bridge

forward But I knew . .
“
T he messenger smiled when he told me T he .
men along the deck smiled when they saw me

hurrying aft The marines on the half deck
.
-
smiled as I flew by them Everybody aboard .
knew by this time of my h y e years from home and

the little baby waiting Good old Doctor and .
P ay going up to take the air on the q uarter deck

,
-
,
said : Hurry Dick hurry ! Hurry ? I was ta

‘
, ,
’
king the ladders in single leaps A t the foot of the .

‘
last one in the passageway leading to the ward

,
room I all but bowled over a little fellow wh o was

,
looking up the ladder like he was expecting some

body I picked him up and stood him on his
.
feet again Hi little man ! I remember saying

.
‘
,
’
,
and thinking what a fin e little fellow he was but ,
no more than that I was in such a hurry ,

.
“
And into the ward room and everybody in -
,
the war d room that wasn t occupied with some of

-
’
his own wa s smiling and pointing a fin g e r to

where in the d oor of my stateroom Doris was
, ,
wa t ng for m e And I dove through the bulk

i i .
head door leaped the length of the ward room

,
-
country and took her in my arms For a minute

,
.
,
1 18
—
five minutes ten minutes just how long I d on t
,
’
—
know but I held her and patted her and dried
her tears .
‘
where s little Dick ? I asked at last
An d
’ ’
.
Why that was Dick you stood on his feet

‘
,
in the passageway s h e said an d laughed to think ,

’
,
I didn t know him B ut that s because he looks

’
.
‘ ’
so much like you and not me No man knows .
what he l ooks like himself she sai d and ran and ,

’
got Dick and brought him to me and sai d : Dick

, ,
‘
,
here s your papa And Dick looke d at me an d he

’
.
’
said : No mama that is not my papa My papa

‘
, , .
has no legs j ust as I was going t o fol d him in my

’
'
arms an d hug him to death .
“ —
An d will you still think I was only a ki d ?
-
I steppe d into my room and d rew the curtains ,
an d sat down by my bunk an d cried After h y e .
years ! An d Doris came i n an d perhaps she wante d ,
to cry too but she didn t She drew a photo

, ,
’
.
graph from h er bosom an d s h owe d it to me It .
was the on ly one of me that ever suited her and ,
it happene d to be only a h ea d and shoulders and ,
every d ay since the baby was old enough she had

told him : T hat s your papa d ear and some day
‘ ’
he ll come home in a great big war—

, ,
’
ship with guns
and guns and then you ll see An d the poor
,
’
.
’
little kid four years and three months old had

, ,
never seen any legs on the man in the photo

1 19
grap h ; but he had seen his mother cry almost
every time she looked at i t and he supposed ,
—
that was why she cried because papa had no
legs And so the poor kid was waiting to see a
.
man with no legs .
Wickett was silent Carlin asked no more .
questions In silence h e too studied what was

.
, ,
left of the night life of the fleet Only the white -

.
anchor lights of the motionless battle ships the

- -
,
colored si d e lights of the chugging steam launches

- -
,
were now left .
Carlin pointed out to Wickett a green light

coming rapidly in from sea “
Another battle .
ship W ickett ?
,
”
W ickett shook his head No I ve been . .

’
watching her It s the Cler mont She s due .

’
.
’
.
And I m half afraid to go and board her

’
.
”
“
W hy ? ”
If my wife s aboard she ll have with her a ’
,
’
fift e e n months old daughter that I have never

- -
seen Suppose she too greets me with

. She s , ,
’
—
swinging back to her anchorage look — .
T he green light rolled in a great half circle i n -
shore and disappeared A red light curved into

, .
i gh t .
Wickett j umped u p C ome ou C arlin I ll .

, ,
’
get permission to leave the ship We ll be there .

’
before she lowers the port ladder .
1 20
Suddenly he recalled and laughed and whispered , ,
Sh h — l I m due for a year and a half of shore

’
duty But don t mind if I hurry along will you ?

.
’
I got to get these children to bed .

”
“ —
Go o n hurry and good night said Car -
,
li n .
“
Good night Mrs Wickett and handed , .
,
her mm the elevator ; and smoked two thoughtful

cigars on the veranda and then went inside and
sat down and wrote a long letter on the subj ect
of the navy as a profession to the mother of a
young lad back home
‘
.
There was much detail and then ,
A s o be i n g a w ay fr m h me f l n g p e r i ds M a rri e d
t o o or o o :
ofli ell m h a i i s h a rd i m es B j u dg in g by w h a
ce rs t e t t t at t ut t
I sa w awh ile g h e re h h m c m in g al m s ffse s h
.
t o o t o t t
l n g abse n ces Th e k in d f a w ma n h ey m a rry p r ba bly
a o , e e o e
o o o t
h
. o
m akes a l fdifl ot o I d y l
’
h i m i f
e re n c e
g e w a n s ’
sa et o t to
G d ni g h
.
, .
oo t
b r h er
.
Y ur fi i
’
o a e ct o n at e ot ,
1 22
C R O S S C O U R SE S
Cro ss C o ur ses
P i
ass n e r j ?
P assenger ? C ertainly .
Excuse me! says our stevedore I oughter .
known better 0 course you kn ow all about .

’
sailors and sits down

, .
The lecturer was all right He was doing the .
best he knew with the fin e st and fattest of words

,
he could pick out to make things clearer to his ,
audience ; and his audience appreciating that , ,
let him run ou until he said that there was not,
one mysterious thing which had ever happened

that could fail to be proved very ordinary by
mathematical or historical or logical or physical
, , , ,
“
or some other cal deduction ; which bounced ”
our watch dog out of his seat again

-
.
“
How d y o u count he growls for t h Ori on
’“ ’ ” ’
, ,
Si r i u s ?
’ ’
n
Well l he could n ot account for i t for the sim

-
, ,
ple and o v e rwh elml n gly conclusive reason that ,
previous to that very moment he had never ,
heard of the ships named .
“
Then s pose you hear f em now says our
’ ’ ’
stevedore and starts in and delivers the lec

,
turer a lecture on the Or i on and S i i ur and it r ,
wound up the show ; for when the lecturer started

to butt i n all the old barnacles who before this
, ,
had been clinging warily to the edge of their

seats now rose up and rallied around our steve
,
1 26
Cro ss C o ur ses
d ore to his story which he did ; an d the old
fini sh ,
fellows on leaving the hall said that the credit of

, ,
the proceeds for the Sailor s Haven fund for that ’
night anyway ought to g o as much to their old

, ,
college chum from the coal wharf as to any i m

ported lecturer with his deckload of lantern slides .
But our stevedore didn t tell all there was of ’
the O i on and the S i i u s The lecturer went home

r r .
thinking he had been told all about i t but he ,
hadn t Here it is as it was

’
. .
I
In the fleet of big coa l sch ooners which at this ,
time were running from the middle Atlantic ports

to Boston the twin fiv e masters the Or i on an d
,
-
,
the S i i u r were notable

r , .
They were twins in everything : built from the

one set of moulds in the one yard at the one time ,
launched together rigged together sailed on their

, ,
maiden trips together and were b rought home

,
with their firs t cargoes of coal together by two

masters W ho were almost as twinlike to look at
as their vessels .
It was the history of these two big sc h ooners ,
that they seemed always to be wanting to get to

gether Their crews used to say of them that if
.
left anchored at all near each other in the stream ,
1 27
Cr o ss C o ur ses
they wo uld start right away to swing toward each
other Even if it was slack water they would
. .
Yes sir
,
.
I can t speak from personal knowledge of that

’
—
tide swinging trick but I do know that I saw them
,
a few hours after they had twice smashed into

—
each other once under sail off the Capes and once
in tow up Boston Harbor ; and it was not to be
doubted that in both cases they had more than
drifted into each other And of their near— col
.
lisions ! A d ay s loaf along the water front would

’
-
yiel d gossip of a dozen or m o re .
Now these next few lines are from ou t of the

,
sai l ors b ook of gossip of mysterious happenings

’
at sea ; and it is true that t he more sailorly the

gossip the more likely will it be to try to account
,
for unusual accidents at sea in a natural way ;

an d the most usual reason given is i n e ffi ci e n cy
lack of seamanship As to that it is true that .
,
l ack of seamanship or of sea instinct has accounted

for many calamities at sea and the same lack ,
w ould probably account for many another not so

set down on the public tablets ; but lack of sea
manship won t account for all the queer happen
’
ings at sea Every now an d then comes a ship

.
“
which no earthly power seems able to keep up

with From out of our superior shore knowledge
.
we m ay d e d uce that the buil d er or designer was

128
C r o ss C o u r ses
chance 3 third person referred to one in the pres
ence of the other in anything like complimentary
terms that third person was soon let to know
,
that he wasn t making any hit with whichever

’
Captain Sickles it was who had to listen If it .
was Norman of the S i i u s he would shift his feet

r ,
and start to stare intently at the ceiling or the

sky ; if it was Oliver of the O i on with a snarl r ,
of disgust he would get up and walk off .
I had heard a lot of the Sickles cousins but had ,
never had more than a hailing acquaintance with

either of them until this early fall when my firm
,
chartered among others the O i on and the S i i u s

, ,
r r ,
and sent me down to Newport News to see that

they lost no time in loading and getting out It .
was the time of a threatened coal famine in New

England with coal freights up to two dollars a
,
ton and my firm chartering everything they could

,
get hold of to take the coal from the railroads at

Newport News and rush it east .
In our two new schooner captains Norman and ,
Oliver Sickles I found when I came to have deal

, ,
ings with them a pair wh o knew their business

,
.
Implacable toward each other they surely were ,
but so long as their feelings weren t delaying their ’
sailing days that was their own business Tall

,
.
,
broad powerful chaps they both were twenty

, ,
eight or thirty years of age to look a t slow in ,
1 39
thought heavy in action but competent sai l or
, ,
men always I had no need to know their rec

.
ords nor to talk with them too many hours to

, ,
fin d that ou t Not much about a schooner be

.
,
she two or h y e master nor much about the North

,
Atlantic coast that they didn t know

,
’
.
I had been three months in Newport News ,
C hristmas was at hand and the rai lroad people ,
were telling me that they would have no more

coal for my firm until after New Year s There ’
.
were twenty thousand tons not yet gone ; but if

my four four— maste r schooners could sail next
’
morning and the h y e masters O i on and S i i u y

,
-
, r r ,
get away the morning after that twenty thousand ,
tons would be c l eaned u p .
I hunted up the Captain Sickles of the Si r i u s

and put the question to him : C aptain Norman
“
,
if I can get you loaded and cleared by the morn

ing after to morrow what s the chance of your
-
,
’
making Boston by C hristmas ? An d he an ”
swe re d , after some thought : It s a westerly ’
wind with a medium glass to day I t ought to -

.
hang on westerly and dry for another four or five

days Clear me by the morning after to morrow
.
-
,
and I ll lay the Si r i u s to anchor in Boston

’
—
Harbor Christmas Eve o r h e was a man of ,
”
serious ways and spoke most seriously now o r

,
— “
I l l give you a good reason why

’ ”
.
131
Cro ss C o u r s es
I hunted u p Captain Oliver Sickl es of the O i r on ,
and I found him having a drink in the bar of the

T idewater Café He looked as if he d welcome
.
’
a quarrel but that was nothing strange in him

, .
I put the same questi on to him that I had put to

his cousin and th e answer came in almost the
,
same wor d s as to the medium glass and the ‘
westerly win d but at that point h e looked sharply

,
at me .
“
An d w h en d oes the S i r i us sai l h e as k e d
? ”
.
T he morning after to morrow -

.
—
An d suspiciously wh o first th at mo rn
” “ -
i ng the S i r i u s or me ?
,
“
I d on t know You ll be loa d e d an d c l eare d
’
.
’
—
together i t s for yourse l ves to say wh o sails
’
fi rs t .
“
An d what di d he say ?
C aptain Oliver ha d a h ecto ring way ab out h im
w h ich used to make me promise myself that some
day after he d done hauling coal for my o u tfit
,
’
I d tell him what I thought of h i m

’ “
Wh at d i d .
wh o say ? I asked him now

”
.
“
Warn t you tal k in t o my c o us i n awh i l e ago
’ ’
about the same thing ?

“
I was t h ough I d on t re m e mb er te ll i ng y ou
,
’
about it
H m he sneere d I th ough t so Y a lway s
“ ’
-
.
, ,
g o t o h im fi rs t .
”
1 32
Cro ss C o ur ses
no matter what my firm or any other firm
thought of this or that which warn t none 0
,
’ ’
their business anyway he wanted em all to u m

,
’
d e rs t an d that he was as capable of getting a

quick passage out of a vessel as any Norman
Sickles that ever walked ; which gave me a fin e
chance to say : Well the place to prove that is
“
,
at sea and not in a barroom ashore

, .
”
—
Not V ery delicate no ; but it sent him almost
on the run down aboard his vessel to clear his ,
decks for loading which was mostly what I was

,
after .
—
And I let it leak out the answer of the two
cousins about being in Boston before C hristmas .
A little rivalry of that kind doesn t do any harm ; ’
and I wanted to walk into the o fii ce on Christ

mas eve and say The last of that Newport News
,
“
coal is lying out there in the stream waiting to

d ock and then go home even as many of the
,
”
,
crews would want to g o home with an easy con

,
science for a C hristmas holi d ay .
II
P eople in my line used to say that I was pretty
young for my job and some of them to warn me
,
about allowing the un d erlin g s to get familiar with

me Well perhaps I was too young for my job
.
, ,
1 34
Cr o ss C o ur ses
or for any oth er job of any account ; but as to the
other charge I never noticed anybody getting
over familiar with me Friendly yes ; but even
- .
,
the head of the firm himself couldn t get over ’
familiar unless I let him .
P art of my job as I figu re d i t was to know

, ,
freights and ships and the masters of ships ; and

where it hurt the firm s interests if I knew the
’
crews as well I couldn t see Some would tell

,
’
.
me that the further away I kept from them the

more highly they would respect me and the more ,
highly they respected me the more they would do

for me which would have listened well if their
,
vessels were getting in and out of loading ports

any faster than mine did ; but nobody noticed '
that they were .
And beyond that : I could never see where a

little friendliness to anybody did any harm I .
may have been too young for my job but I wasn t ,

’
too young to know that the world is alive with

unassuming little fellows wh o are full to the
hatches with knowledge of one kind or another
that they will cheerfully unload to anybody who
has time for them Not that I want anybody to
.
think I a m so long headed or forehanded a chap

-
as to spend time only with people wh o could tell

me things ! I didn t do any thinking about it one
’
way or the other Any man that had time for

.
me I had time for him

, .
1 35
Cro ss C o ur ses
I ha d time for Drislane He was one of the .
crew of the Si r i us and I had been seeing q uite a

,
little of him while I was in Newport News this

fall on the coal The Si r i u s would load sail and
.
, ,
return ; load sail and return ; and between trips

, ,
Drislane and I would have sessions .
I d seen something of Drislane before this in

’
B oston His mail used to come addresse d to our

.
Boston ofli ce where everybody knew that twice

,
a year toward the e n d of June and just before

,
Christmas a check would come to him from his

,
home in the West When he came up from the .
vessel after a trip and found that home envelope

awaiting him he woul d step aroun d to his room
, ,
clean u p and in his shore going suit of clothes

,
-
come back have u s cash his check and then ac

, , ,
—
cording to our offi ce force it was Good night ! ,
for two weeks .
—
The check always the same for twelve hun
,
—
dred dollars would have given him a good two
weeks whirl in highly rated expensive places if
’
-
, ,
he cared for splurge but I guess he never was i n ,
fl u e n ce d much by regulation ratings Any place .
—
he liked the l ooks of would do for him an d some
perhaps that he d idn t like the looks o f ’
.
It was no use to try to tell the offi ce force that

Drislane hadn t a weak joint somewhere Man
’
.
,
they kn w! and holding no berths for the purely

e
spiritual with but one su sp 1c1ou s and unexplained

,
1 36
Cr o ss C o ur ses
seemed to be ironed out of his face when he cam e
back .
The man was so everlastingly unconscious that

he was di fferent from anybody else that it was r e
freshing But there was more than that to me
.
-
,
at least I always looked on him as a touchstone

.
,
one of those men by whom you may gauge other

men Drislane was sensitized to crooks He
. .
had only to stand in the same room with them to

get their moral pictures If I heard of Drislane
.
distrusting a man or of a man disliking Drislane ,
I would at once set that man down knowing ,
nothing of the man as having a rotten spot in

,
him somewhere .
That was the Drislane wh o met me this night

before the S i i u s and the O i on were to sail for
r r
their last coal trip of the year and asked me to ,
have supper with him And he took me to that

.
same place where I d had the words with C ap

’
—
tain Oliver Sickles the day before that is the ,
—
Tidewater Café where was a drinking bar in
front and a restaurant in bac k a common enough ,
sort of place where women o f the street could

,
—
and did bring drunken sailors and they served ,
you pie with a knife .
I speak of that 1tem of serving pie with a knife ,
not by Way of poking fun at anybody ; but here

was a man five years away from his inland hills ,
1 38
Cro ss C o ur ses
for a whole year owner of an eating place in a -
good sized seaport city and had not yet noticed

-
,
that some people ate pie without a knife By it .
I fancied I could gauge the man s social inherit ’
ance And there were other customs of the place

.
in keeping with the pie and knife I used to sp e c u .
late on what primitive sort of an upbringing he

had that he was so slow to adopt the most ordi
nary civilized customs .
Drislane seemed to be at home in the place .
So was I for that matter ; by which I mean I felt

safe enough Several times before this in my
.
,
inquisitive ramblings about the port I had looked ,
in there So far as that goes there are not many

.
,
places where they bother a man wh o doesn t ’
bother them always excepting of course that he

, , ,
doesn t get drunk and disorderly and isn t nat

’
,
’
u r ally foolish .
While I was studying the place and the people ,
Drislane ordered supper I paid no attention to .
him until he joggled my elbow “

What d o you .
think of her ? he asked ”

.
“
Which one I asked and looked about me
? ”
,
afresh to note what worshipful creature it was I

had missed .
You didn t notice he said plainly put out

’
, ,
with me the girl wh o is waiting on u s ?

“
,
I had noticed her ; but when she reappeared with

I 39
Cro ss C o ur ses
the firs t part of our order I noticed anew A tall , .
,
full b osomed girl she was and as she walked

-
,
across the floor toward u s a load of table things ,
in each hand she swayed from her hips like a

,
young tree in the win d .
T he physical force an d poise of the girl was

the notable thing about her She carried her .
armfuls of dishes and food as if they were hand

fuls of marshmallows She must have spent .
years working like a man in the field s to have

developed such physical power As to her face .
—i t was innocent as a child s

’
.
He introduced me when she had set down her

dishes “
Miss Rose
. I d idn t get her sur
” ’
“
name and it doesn t matter
, Rose s uncle owns
’
.
’
this place he added ,

”
.
“
P oor girl ! I thought ”
.
She met his enchanted ga z e with a slow red ,
lipped smile To me she gave an embarrassed

.
,
half sidewise glance Strange men as yet were

-
.
evidently disturbing items in her life .
He watched her when she left u s until she had ,
passed through the kitchen d oor and beyond -
I m going t o marry an d settle d own he

“
sight .
’
,
”
said .
“
T his young lady ?
If she ll have me I haven t aske d her yet
’
.
’
.
He was fid d li ng with his bread and butter Sud .
1 40
C ro ss C o u r ses
ize the things you don t know about the world
’
and began to wish then for his own sake that he d ’
hurry up and take to looking at life through the

same glasses other people used .
Sh e was living in sordid quarters in a section

where a woman was any man s wh o could get her ’
and on any terms he could get her ; and she was of

the type and at the age which has always been
held most desirable by the primitive male ; and
it was to be doubted if she had had the religious
or home training needful to an emotional nature .
In a good home in a community where a woman

,
was respected because she was a woman all ,
—
would have been fin e ; but here they married ,
—
and he most of the time at sea I felt sorry for
her as well as for him .
“
Take her out of here when you marry I ,
said to him before parting .
He shook his head No I had a scrap with

“
.
,
my people leaving home They re all right at

.
’
— —
home the best but th ey want me to get down
on my knees to them .
“
Better be on your knees of your own will to
your own people than against your will to an
enemy I said but it had no meaning to him ;
,
”
,
and I left him to his Rose almost wishing that ,
something would happen to him soon to shake

him u p even i f shaking him u p it shook C IT a
, , ,
1 42
few of the purple blossoms that he thought so
necessary to the tree of life T hinking of him I al .
most talk like h im in his absent minded moments - .
III
I left Dris l ane to the th eatre with C a p
to go
tain Norman Sickles T he theatre o ver he went

.
,
with me to my hotel to get a few ship s papers I ’
had for him After that we sat in for a smoke

.
and a chat .
Not that there was much chatting on C a p tain

Norman s part He never did have much to say
’
.
of himself nor too much of anybody else though

, ,
he could praise a man if he like d him It was the .
firs t time I had ever spent more than an hour

together with him except on pure business and I ,
was curious to know j ust what h e thought of a

lot of things ; among others of his cousin I gave , .
him two or three openings b ut he d idn t rush i n ,

’
.
What he did have to say of him he said at one

gulp It was : Where I was raise d twas common
.
“ ’
talk that after y o u d been getting naught but fair

’
winds for a long course it was then a good time ,
to keep a watch out T he headwin d s have to .
come some time and the longer they be in coming

,
the longer they ll stay with you when they does

’
come Oliver Sickles s been r u nni n with a free

.
’ ’
1 43
C ro ss C o ur ses
sheet so long that I calc lat e he s forgot there s ’ ’ ’
such a thing as headwinds this side the Western

ocean .
”
Even as Drislane so d id C aptain Norman l ook

,
like a terribly lonesome man at times He prob .
ably was not yet over losing that girl wh o had

been tricked into marrying his cousin Hi s cousin .
seemed to have got over i t There was gossip .
enough between Boston and Norfolk to han g

.
—
more than a s u sp i ci on of that on for that and
‘
the belief that not so much in marrying her as

in getting the girl away from his cousin was where
Captain Oliver ha d most likely achieved his main
desire .
We ta l ke d unti l C aptain Norman thought it

was time for him to be getting back aboard his
vessel and turning i n As h e stood up to go he
.
,
sai d : T is sai d you li k e a little sea trip now and

’
again ? Why d on t you g o home with me in the

’
Si r i u s ?
—
I was pleased at that h e was known to be not
- —
over free with his invitations and I thanked him ,
but on my not saying yes or no at once he l ooked

chagrined ; seeing which I explained that early ,
that fall his cousin ha d invite d me if ever I cared ,
to return t o Boston by water to take passage ,
with him on the Or i on .
He tried to smile He was a w h ale of a man

.
,
I 44
Cro ss C o ur ses
Her uncle ! he snorted He s no more wit
”
.
’
than my ship s cat ’

.
”
“ —
But Drislane knows won t he tell her ? ’
He don t seem to A proud one Drislane

’
.
, .
Six months he s been with me now in the Si i u s

’
r ,
and if she isn t sure she wants him above anybody

’
else on this earth then she needn t have him ,

’
that s all ; or leastwise that s how I sen se him

’
,
’
.
He wouldn t take n o o dd s of the devil that lad

’ ”
, .
I could believe that ; and it set me to thinking .
Maybe you re t h i n ki n now he went o n

’ ’
,
”
,
that she should be able to see for herself what

my cousin is ? But what training has she had to
j udge 0 men ? What other kind does she see
’
aught of in her uncle s place ? Indeed with her ’
bringing up an d what brains the poor girl has ,
she s done very well I m t h i n ki n to h a kept of?

’
,
’ ’
,
’
the rocks as long as she has A hundred to one .
you ll h n d my h u e cousin at the T idewater to

’
night But I must be going Good night to

. .
you .
Only the barten d er was in the front room of the

Tidewater and he was so busy peeking through
,
a slide in the wall the same through which he ,
passed t h e d rink orders from the restaurant that ,
he di d not hear me come i n The d oor to the i n .
ner room was closed but the low powered roars ,

-
1 46
of peop l e trying hard not to be noisy were ooz ing
through .
“
What s doing ? I called to the bartender I
’ ”
.
had to call it twice to make him turn around .
It s the big captain of the Or i on and that little

’
d eck hand Drislane

- .
”
A nybo dy taking Drislane for a joke always did

get my goat “
He s not a deck han d ! I bit out
.
’
-
”
,
“
he s a seaman and a good one But what about
’
,
.
him an d C aptain Sick l es ? ”
“
I t s about him an the b o ss s Rose Th e cap
’ ’ ’
.
tain begins t o abuse Drislane so me th i n h erce ’

,
an
’
he comes bac k at him T hen t h e ca p tain .
brings h er into i t W hat wou ld a gir l be wan t i n

.
‘ ’
with a l ittl e runt l ike you ? he says ; an d after ’
that I d unn o but I ll take her to B oston with me

,
‘ ’
this trip an d said it like he meant i t A n the

,
’
.
’
little Drislane he j umps into him two handed an -

,
’
they re hard at it now

’
.
”
I squeezed inside the d oor of the inner room .
Man to man fashion ! I could hear in the

- -
”
,
powerful voice of C aptain Oliver while I was ,
crowding through the ring of peo p le to the open

space in the midd l e of the floor “
T hat s i t ’
man fashion wi the naked fis t s ! some scattering

’ ”
voices echoed .
Man to man fashion ! As if man could invent

- -
an unfairer scheme to settle private quarrels !

Give a man heavy muscles and huge knuckles ,
1 47
Cr o ss C o u r ses
tough hide and thick skull add half the courage ,
of a yellow dog and how can he lose at that game ?

,
The old time duellists with their swords were a

-
hundred times fairer A long sword to his wrist .
and the smallest man had a chance ; which is as

it shou l d b e or else we might as well pick some
,
seven foot soli d J s k u lle d savage from out of the

-
,
j ungle and set him up for king .
Man to man ! Dris l ane was five foot six and

weighed possibly a hundred and thirty fiv e
, ,
-
pounds and was no boxer Sickles was six foot

, .
three an d weighed t wo fifty He had enormous -

.
musc l es an d knuckles of brass His hide was .
thick an d hard as double ought canvas Dris -

.
lane could have stood C IT and pounded on his ribs

for a week and hardly black an d blued them He - -
.
could have swung on him for a month an d not

knocked him over .
It was the old fashioned style of stand u p- -
figh t i n g No regular rounds with a rest between

. .
The men rushed and slugge d and clinched and

tugged an d when they fell got up and went at
, ,
it again Always when they went to the floor

.
, ,
Sickles let his two hundred an d fifty pounds drop

limp and heavy on Drislane Drislane would .
almost fl at t en out under i t Standing u p when .

,
Sickles s fis t landed on him he would wince all

’
over He felt pain like a girl

. .
I t was slaughter Blood blood blood ; and .

, ,
1 48
Cro ss C o ur ses
up at his conqueror but would not say the word .
Sickles dug the toe of his shoe into his side .
I had been waiting half sick to my stomach , ,
for a good excuse to butt i n I had marked when .

,
I firs t came i n a piano— stool setting upside down

,
atop of the piano to one side of the room In .
these possibly rough house wind ups it never does - -
any harm to note W here a few little articles of

warfare may be picked up in a hurry This
piano stool had a two—
.
- inch oak seat .
“
You wu n t heh ? Sickles lifted his foot
,
”
.
No he won t ! I butted i n and as he straight

,
’ ”
,
ened up to see wh o it was I went o n : And “

,
don t think I ll be foolish enough to go staving in

’ ’
my good knuckles on you See this little where .
withal I m holding and not too loosely by the

’
, ,
wi n d a rd leg ? You ve a fin e thick skull but this

’ ’
is thicker One cute little wallop 0 this amidships

.
’
of your ears and it s little you ll care whether

,
’ ’
you take the Or i on out on the firs t or the last of

the flood tide to morrow L et him b e !
- -
.
Now don t le t any b ody think I was making a

,
’ ‘
play for any Carnegie medal thereby I knew .
Oliver Sickles and even better did I know his

,
kind wh o only go to battle when certain V ictory

,
lies before them The only chance I was taking .
wa s with my fir m s interests It might be that

’
.
he d have such a grouch against me that he d

’ ’
1 50
Cro s s C o ur ses
carry no more coal for my firm than he could help
in future .
He let him b e He put on his collar and coat

.
,
and received as his due the applause of that

crawling breed which are never by any chance
seen shaking hands with anybody but a winner .
While he was still at the hand shaking I threw -
him his ship s papers ’

.
I h ad the bartender or d er a carriage an d while ,
waiting I tried to cheer up Drislane I told him .
that he must not think of going to sea next day ,
that I would see C aptain Norman Sickles and get

him off and later go with him to Boston by rail
,
.
He shook his head He could hardly part his

.
swollen lips to talk ; and then could only half

whisper “
.I ll sail to morrow on the S i i u s he
’
-
r ,
said ; and rolle d his head over to see what Sickles

was doing .
Sickles was j ust then stepping through that

kitchen doorway where but two minutes earlier
Rose had been standing Drislane closed his .
eyes ; and then as if he thought he had to show

,
me he wasn t beaten he opened them and smiled

’
, .
After I d fully taken in that smile I wished he had

’
crie d
.
The barten d er calle d through the slide that the

carriage was waiting I carried out Drislane .
,
drove him to my hotel and called in a doctor , .
1 51
C ro ss C o ur ses
Between u s we gave him a hot bath sa l ved and ,
plastered him and put him to bed , .
I turned in on a cot which I had had brought

in. Hours after I heard him groan I switched .
on the light and went to him He wa s lying on .
his side with his head on one arm His hands .
were clinched .
After a moment he said : She is in trouble

somewhere That was another one of th e things
.
”
—
he believed i n telepathy .
He may or may not have ha d it right ; but it

certainly wasn t going to do him any good to l et
’
him lie there and be torturing himself “

Sh h .
-
g o to sleep son Don t, imagine things .Y ou ll ’

.
’
find everyth ing will be all right to morrow I -

,
”
said .
“
No he sai d everything will never be all
, ,
right while he s alive and I m alive ’ ’

.
”
That didn t sound good to me so I sat down by

’
the bed and began to talk to him We talked I .

,
doing the most of i t until past daylight We ,

.
talked of her She s all right he said at last

.
’
,
”
,
“
I tell you she is Even if she d idn t like me and
.
’
did him it would be only natural But she likes

,
.
—
me the best of her likes me better than him and ,
when she gets to know him all of her will like me .
You ll see
’
.
”
There were people wh o used to say Drislane

1 52
Cr o ss C o ur ses
low halted him in his walk aft He turned and
, .
stared at the man wh o was speaking whereupon ,
followed such a sudden and foolish twist to the

conversation that he might j ust as well have been
told .
Throughout his trick at the wheel Drislane said

nothing but every moment the compass could
,
spare his eyes saw them roaming across to where

the Or i on like ourselves was plugging through the
, ,
short green seas for home When his watch was

.
done he borrowed my glasses climbed by painful ,
relays to the masthead and trained them on the

O i on
r .After he came down and had gone below ,
I went aloft and spent the rest of the morning

trying to see what it was that Drislane may have
seen on the deck of Oliver Sickles s vessel ’
.
Was it a woman s head showing ab ove the

’
cabin companionway ? or was it a man passenger

Oliver Sickles had taken aboard at the last min
ute ? If a man he surely was no seagoer ; for in
,
the two hours that I watched he never once stepped

out on deck He leaned dejectedly or it might be
.
,
patiently but either way motionless as a stan

, , ,
chion against the companion casing his soft flap ,
ping hat and the shoulders of a loose coat show

i n g just above the woodwork Man or woman .
,
the face was pointed steadily toward the S i i u s r .
Ou r captain said it wa s a passenger of some kind .
1 54
Cro ss C o u r ses
It had to b e he said because during the morning
, ,
he had kept an eye on the O i on s deck and ac r

’
counted for every man of her crew which num ,
bered exactly the same as his own ; even for the

cook wh o had shown himself on deck to heave a
,
bucket of galley refuse over the rail It could .
not be an extra hand shipped for the trip b e ,
cause no han d would be allowed to stand on the

cabin stairs .
And did he think it was a man or a woman ?

The shoulders in the loose coat looked wide
enough to be a man s And I looked at him and
’
.
he at me So was Drislane s Rose big enough for

.
’
a man but we said no more of that then Dris

,
—
lane had j ust come on deck and was making his
way aft Again he borrowed my glasses went
.
,
aloft and trained them on the Or i on From time

, .
to time he looked down to the man at the wheel ,
as if to hint to him to get a little nearer the Or i on ,
but the man at the wheel had already got a quiet

word from the captain We were to leeward . .
“ — — — —
Keep olf keep oH oH ofi l Captain Nor ”
man was saying in a low voice to the helmsman .
“
Don t let her get any nearer leastwise while he s
’
,
’
aloft with the glasses .
It looked as if we would have to wait to get

to Boston to settle the question Meantime if .
,
Drislane would only try to forget everything of

1 55
Cro ss C o ur ses
shore matters he might be getting great comfort
,
o f a run like this If he were himself he would

.
,
by now being half in the way of a poet and half

,
hoping s ome day to be an artist be drawing little ,
water colors and writing little rhymes of these

-
two big schooners racing home together .
’
Twould have been well worth his paint and
paper The O i on and the S i i u s were two of the
. r r
best in their class and more trimly modelled than

most What the Or i on looked like we must h ave
.
looked like and she was something I used to

,
spend whole watches on deck j ust looking at .
Sh e carried an Open rail amidships and her white ,
painted stanchions carved to hour glass form ,

-
,
with the white painted flat h and rail atop stood

- -
,
clearly sharply beautifully out above her black

, ,
lower sides and the pale green seas -

.
Not that either of u s had much lower planking

to show for four thousand fiv e hundred tons of
,
coal had brou ght u s pretty well down to our

scuppers Too deep loaded for our best looks
.
-
,
—
some would say ; but I don t know with all her ’
j ibs and all whole sail to her h y e lower spars we ,
must have l ooked pretty good the pair of u s , ,
plugging along together through the curling

rollers W e had set no topsails or staysails
'
.
,
because they would not have stayed on bl owing ,
as it was a good half gale - .
1 56
C ro s s C o u r ses
It could have been blowing twice a gale and
nothing happened to either of u s P robably no .
stiffer class of vessels sails the seas than the big

coasters of our side of the North Atlantic Give .
them plenty of ballast and there is no capsizing

them We surely had plenty of ballast in u s
.
now and took cheerfully all the hard westerly

,
had to give u s and foamed along Foamed ? We

,
.
—
wallowed like a couple of sailing submarines
almost In that wind and sea with all that
.
,
loose water sloshing a round her deck there was ,
no careless standing around of course ; but with

rubber boots to your hips a good oil slicker to ,
-
your back and yourself lashed to something so lid

,
up to wi n d ard it was a great place for a man

’
to let the wind blow away three months of coal

dust from his eyelids ; and what the wind couldn t ’
blow away the sea would surely wash out .
—
T hat loose water flopping around her deck that
was no harm Tarpaulin her hatches clamp em
“ ’
.
,
,
—
down and let her roll ! that had been Captain ”
Norman s word coming out of Hampton Roads

’
.
And Batten her down and let her plug into i t !

“ ”
had come roaring across to u s at almost the same

moment from the deck of the Or i on And no .
more than into th e open Atlantic than we were

plugging into i t The sea came mounting up over
.
—
our low l ee rails u p up our swash swept decks
-
,
-
,
I S7
Cr o ss C o ur ses
clear across u s sometimes when for a moment a
‘
doubtful helmsman would let her ship an extra

cargo But again no harm in that L et em
.
, , .
’
—
slosh and let em roll we were standing u p the
’
pair of u s like two brick houses And the rest

, .
didn t matter And so almost forgetting Drislane s

’
.
’
trouble in the strain of the race we batted our way ,
through the Winter seas on which the sun was

—
dancing batted and slatted plugged and slugged ,
our way beside the Or i on for the New England

coast .
Two vessels may be built alike and rigged

alike but that doesn t mean they will sail alike
,
’
.
The O i on in the j udgment of seafaring folk was

r , ,
a shade faster reaching and runnin g than the

Si i r A t any rate the O i on proved to u s that
r u .
,
r
she wa s faster off the wind than we were by

rounding Cape Cod before u s T o there it had .
been a good passage NO collier loaded to her .
s uppers is ever going to break any sailing records

c ,
but hard driving had brought the pair of u s along

at a good clip So far h u e ; but it was to be a
.
,
beat to windward for the rest of the way West .
north west is the course from Cape Cod to Bos

-
ton and west—

,
north west was where the wind was -
coming from when it hit u s on the nose as we

rounded the C ape .
The Or i on might outrun u s th e S i r i u s but to , ,
1 58
Cr o ss C o u r ses
tain put the Si i u s about earlier than he had r
originally intended As we tacked so did the .

,
Or i on We stood in toward the harbor The

. .
Or i on stood in toward the harbor We were .
surely going to pass close to each other very—

close Altogether too close
. .
I d idn t like the looks of things Being a pas

’
.
senger I had a mind free for other things than

,
navigation In case of doubt wh o gives way

.
the Or i on or the S i i us ? I asked C aptain Nor r

”
man “
Why she d oes he said surprised
.
“
,It ,
”
, .
— —
has to be her not u s Both of u s close hauled .
,
but we being starboard t ack have the right of way .
He ll have to come about and give u s the road

’
.
“ ”
But suppose captain he will not give way ? , ,
What ! not give way ! T hat d be foolish He ’

.
c n go bulling his way on shore all he pleases but

’
,
out here he ll only get what s due him He ll have

’ ’
.
’
to give way .
”
So Norman Sickles sai d but he wasn t the man

’
,
to lose his vessel or risk men s lives The Or i on ’

.
was ho ld ing o n She was going to force u s When . .
Norman Sickles saw that he motioned with his ,
arm for the man at our wheel to keep off But the .
Si i u s wasn t keeping ofi Norman Sickles turned

'
’
r .
“ — —
and yelle d : Keep her oE oH off I say ! start ,
”
ing aft at the same time to take the wheel

, ,
himself .
1 60
Cro ss C o u r ses
He was too late They seemed drawn to.
gether We took a shoot The Or i on took a

. .
shoot “
. Damned if she didn t get away from ’
him ! I remember hearing one of our fellows j erk

”
out but I remember also I was left wondering

,
whether he meant our vessel or the O i on r
—
.
They rushed together and g g h h ! Talk of a - -
smash ! Forty five hundred tons of coal nine

-
,
tenths of it below the water line and a breeze of -

,
wind ! Either one would have sunk a battle ship -

.
It shook the spars out of the Or i on He r after .
mast came d own t h e ne x t one came down the

,
-
,
others were swaying “ —

T he boat the boat !
.
”
her crew yelle d but taking another look up at

,
those wabbling masts they waite d to launch no ,
boat With few wo r d s but much action they

.
,
W ent over her si d e one after the other and began

, ,
—
to claw out for the Si r i u s on which she was
—
,
inking t oo our crew h a d a big quarter boat -
ready to launch .
While the two vessels were still locked in col

li si on I had seen Drislane c o me running from aft
and leap into the Or i on I l ost sight of him then .
,
because wi th our captain I had j umped below

into our cabin he t o save his ship s papers and I
,
’
to save my firm s We were on d eck in time to

’
.
get into our boat an d help pick up the crew of

,
the Or i on in th e water .
16 1
Cro ss C o ur ses
L ooking for Drislane then I saw him and Cap ,
tain Oliver Sickles at each other s throats in the ’
stern of the Or i on There wasn t much left of her

.
’
above water then And on her deck it was a mess

.
of fallen spars with her foremast the only stick

,
—
left and that unsupp orted by backstays and
,
—
the wind still pressing against the big sail that
was wabbling Even as we looked it came down
.
—lower an d top parts—with a smash which

snapped the topmast off and sent it twisting and
gyrating to where after a bound or two it rolled
, ,
down and pinned to the d eck the two battling

men in the stern With it came a tangled mess
.
of halyards and stays .
W e had pi cked up all of the Or i on s crew from ’
the water and were now hurrying to get to the

t wo men on the Or i on which was fast settling , ,
when a red haired girl came running from the

-
cabin companionway Almost as if she had been .
waiting in ambush she rushed over to the fallen

,
spar untangle d the h alyards fro m the legs of one

,
of the furthest men an d after an effort lifted the

,
end of the spar so that he could scramble free .
She needed to be strong to do that ; but she was

strong If she had held the spar up only an i n
.
stant longer the other man might have wiggled

,
free too But she let it drop back The man she
. .
h ad freed she picke d U p and carried to the quarter

16 2
Cro s s C o u r ses
Wh en I came back Drislane and h is Rose were
gone and no wo rd behind them But the day after .
Chris tmas he came to the o fii ce early to get his

semiannual check and cash i t I wasn t there .
’
b u t he left word for me that he and Rose were

married and he was going to take my advice
‘
an d go home to his people The o f fi ce force said .
that with him was a girl of glorious Titian hair

and su per physi q ue wh o smi le d wonderfully on
'
-
,
him .
c apt ain Nor m an married the girl he should

h ave married in the fi rs t place And so all the .
good people came happy out of i t ; all except our

fir m Nine thousand tons at two dollars per ton
.
th ere was e ghteen th ousand dollars worth of i

’
freights that we never collecte d .
So there s the Ori on and S i r i u s thing only in

’
, ,
telling it at t h e Sailor s Haven the other night

.
’
,
our o l d steve dore didn t say anything of Rose s ’ ’
part in i t He probably d idn t see what that had

.
'
’
to d 0 wi t h i t However he said enough to con

'
' ‘
.
,
vince t he lecturer who was a pretty fair minded

‘
,
-
kind that perh aps he wo uld have to reconstruct

,
his V iews about sailors superst t ons ’

i i .
And p erhaps t h e re is som ething in i t ; but it s r

’
a po or: case won t sta nd hearing both sides of the ’
evidence “
Hoodoo ships ! It s a fascinating
.
” ’
1 64
L E A RY O F T H E L I G O N I ER
L ea ry o f the L i go ni e r
Tim L acy Another 0 his kin And what .
’
.
would be bringin him to Shepperd s to night ? ’ ’

-
”
I t will be a dance to night

“ ”
-
.
Oh the dancin ! No fear but you ll know

,
’ ’
0
’
the dancin An he ll be there the d ri n k i n ’ ’ ’
,
’
mu r d e ri n
’
“
It s no right father to be sp e a ki n like that
’ ’
, ,
’
0
’
a man you never set eyes o u .
”
A n how come it you know him girl ? Where

“ ’
,
was it you had truck wi him ? Where ?

’
“
I never had truck wi him But I see him ’
. .
—
Who could help se s i m him h e was in an out o ’ ’ ’
Shepperd s his last time i n ’

.
“
Well take care you see him no more An
, .
’
A step outside the door caused John L owe to

pause .
“
Ah h John L owe almost smiled
-
.
His wife glanced at the clock “

I t will be the .
trader she explained

,
”
.
“
,
’
—
Aye an now we ll h a the news n ow we ll ’ ’ ’
h a the news
’ ”
.
A knock followed the step and following the , ,
knock the door opened and in stepped the ex

,
c t e d trader No wild daredevil no sail carrier

p e .
,
this but a smooth passionless man of business

, ,
.
And he got right down to business .
By dawn John L owe there ll be two hundred

“ ’
, ,
men of the bay drawn up on Half Tide Beach - .
1 70
L ea ry o f the L i go n i e r
An d an hour later the L i gomer and all s in her ’
'
—
will be lyin on the bottom of the bay o r so
’
—
he glanced doubtfully at the girl o r so we
“
planned i t Will you be there John L owe ?

.
,
”
“
He ll no be there Mr L ackfor d Mrs L owe
’ ’
, . .
”
.
half rose from her chair .
John L owe glared at her And since when is .
it for you to say I ll not be there ? ’ ”
I m your lawful wife John L owe An d wh o

“ ’
, .
is this man would tell you what to do ? Y ou read

your Bible night and mom John L owe and you , ,
tell me and you tel l B ess we shoul d read i t too , ,
and all t h e b ay knows i t An how can you preach

’
.
’
to u s as you do an join in this d ee d ? Righteous ’ ‘
shall be all my days say y ou a n you think 0 ,

’
,
’ ’
—
j oinin a band that will sink an d estroy yes a n
’ ’
,
’
mayhap kill in the morning T his American has .
as much right to what herrin his men can ketch ’
as anybody else .
”
John L owe turned to the tra d er She s right .

’
,
Mr L ackford she s right

.
,
’
.
”
“
You ll not be with u s ?
’
I can t ’
.
”
After all you said ! Well there will be enough ,
without you He was still addressing John

.
”
L owe but it was on the woman his eyes were

,
bent . Only let me carry back the word you ll ’
not be against u s .
”
1 71
Lea r y o f the L i g o ni e r
—
No no I ll not be against you
,
’
.
That s enough G oo d night

’
. .
”
Good night .
The door close d T hey listened to the crunch .
ing of the trader s boot heels on the pebbly beach ’

-
outside .
“
They ll be killing mayhaps in the morning
’
, , ,
and it s well for you to be clear ofi t John L owe

’
, .
”
But he lost my son ”

.
It was a natural death for a fish e rman J ohn ,
L owe to be lost that way

, .
“
But what reason to love him for i t ?
What reason h a y e to hate him till y ou know ’
more of him ? ”
Silence reigned again in the kitchen ; silence

until John L owe set aside his bo o k and made for
the stairs With his foot on the bottom step he
.
paused and sighed “

Even after three months .
it s no easy to bear But you re right wife it s

’ ’
.
’
, ,
’
no right what some of them b e up to

’
.
”
No it s no right An he s no t the man

,
’ ’
.
’ ’
L ackford an the others would h a you believe

’ ’
John f ’
He looked long at his wife No ? No doub t .
—
no but no stop to it now If there was a way .
to slip a word and not be known for i t ; but there s ’
no way C ome to bed woman But the girl

.
— ,
.
was standing u p — “
where be you of? to ?
1 72
Lea ry o f t he Li go ni e r
and no dreary passage of time before he spied
I3ess .
“
Why Bess God bless you how are you ?
, , ,
And you ain t forgot ? And do I get a dance this

’
evenin or no ? Tell me do I now ? Ay that s

’
, , ,
’
—
you hard hearted as ever Eyes to light a v e s
-
.
sel to port but never a soft look in em

,
’
.
“
My eyes Captain L eary ? ,
”
Ay your eyes Bess

, Eyes B ess that the , .
, ,
—
likes of never looked across the bay before eyes
that flash out from the dark like twin shore lights -
when a man s been weeks to sea ’

.
”
“
Oh Captain L eary ! b reathed Bess ; and
,
”
presently took to sighing and from sighing to ,
smiling and all at once burst out into such laugh

,
ter that the whole company took notice ; whereat

a huge surly man in a corner went into the back
,
room .
Gi me one drink and I ll smash him into hits

“ ’ ’
the big man said to L ackford the trader wh o was , ,
standing guard in the back room over the little

jug which Shepperd kept handy for his guests .
What now ? No Not now please not now

,
.
, , .
There ll be plenty of chances for figh t i ng in the

’
morning The crowd is only waiting for daylight

.
to make a move T h ey wan t you Come on .

,
.
now do and get a good night s sleep so s to be

, ,
’ ’
feeling good in the morning Come on now And . .
I 74
L ea ry o f the L i go ni e r
you ll have two hundred men at your back in
’
the morning remember ; and remember too that

, , ,
after you ve put the American out of the way all

’
the girls in the b ay ll fall to your hand ’

.
”
The big man was d i ve rt e d an d passed out , ‘
with L ackford meantime that L eary with an

, ,
arm half around the girl s waist was pleading : ’
,
“
The next dance for me hah Bess ? , ,
”
“
,
—
Ay captain who could deny you ? an d they
”
went at i r .
’
Twas a sh u ffl i n g across the flo o r a whirling of ,
buxom partners b y h u sky men wh o never omitted '
to m ark the measure with the thump of boot

heels that jumped the dust from cellar to roof .
Shouting stamping joking smiling with quick

, , , ,
—
b reathing such joy entirely it was with Tim ,
L acy oilskinned and j ack booted leading the

,
-
,
swing across the floor Yes and back again al .

, ,
though on him even as on L eary o l d Shepperd

, ,
looked with disapproving eye .
“
A wonder Tim L acy you wou ld n t leave
, ,
’
your gear on your vessel he snorted ,

”
.
“
Sure an I m on my way to the vessel now
’ ’
, ,
an she ll be le av i n the bay for the States in the

’ ’ ’
“
You think she will amended Shepperd from , ,
behind the musician who was his own strong ,
lunged daughter Su e .
Ou a chair atop of a fis h box in one corner was -
I 7S
Lea r y o f the Li g o ni e r
balanced a native genius who pull ed most i n
Su e , ,
d u s t ri o u sly into a musical instrument made of a

sheet of tissue paper wrapped around a fin e -
tooth comb .
Tim L acy though he never let o u caught the

, ,
sly remark L ess guileless than he looked was

.
L acy a little man forever lighting his pipe He

, , .
struck another match n ow and between p ufi s de

‘
livered a belated message So many years senior .
was L acy to his skipper t h at he used to talk to

him like a father .
“
You know as you sai d yourself we was to , ,
—
hurry Sammie and do come now Sammie ”
, ,
—p ufi — and hurry o n —p aj — to Half Tide

“ “ ”
-
Beach p aj — — “
and there we ll take the dory for ’
the vessel Ah h there she s goin No drat her

.
-
,
’ ’
.
, ,
she s out again ! Hurry o n boy We oughtn t

’
, .
’
be standin here all night The c rew ll be wait

’
.
’
i n for u s wi the vessel at Caplin Cove

’ ’
A .
special wor d they left for you Sammie They , .
—
says if you was here here Tim stepped close ”
—
and whispered as how I was to tell you they re
“ ’
feared for trouble .

”
He peered over the flame of the l ast lit match -
at his skipper .
Tell him Tim they says to me that if

‘
, ,
’
,
‘
we re to get the last 0 the herrin aboard that

’ ’ ’
they re afeard it ll have to be an early start I

’ ’
.
’
misdoubt p ufl — ”
they have a noti on of how
1 76
has this American to come here and take the
herrin from our very doors ? What right ? That s
’ ’ ’
the way the trader ta lked to em in the back room ’
afore you came in I n the old days I v e seen ‘ ’
men beat to death on the beach for less I heard ,

’
’
em through the bulkhead Ay a n their ves .
‘
,
’
sels run up on the ro bk s somewhere he goes o n ,

’
.
Ah it s you Sammie they has in mind

’ ’ ”
, , .
And the crew to C aplin Cove an only me and ,

’
Tim to stand by the vessel The vessel an d her .
full hold But who ll get the word to them ? If

.
’
only there was some one some one we could ,
trust; Bess ! ”
“
There is one that could do that too boy , , .
Who What ! Y ourself Bess ? Could you

p .
,
— —
make where they are C aplin C ove alone and by ,
—
night and tell em what s in the wind so they ll
’ ’
,
’
be aboard in time W hile I go and hurry after Tim

,
L acy to the vessel at Half Tide Harbor ? C ould -
a woman l ike a man well enough to do that ? ”
“
Well women likes men sometimes Sammie
, ,
.
God bless y o u Bess of course And some

, , .
times too a man likes

, , But Bess ! Sh e ,
”
“
lay swaying in the hollow of his arm Bessie ! ”
—and oh the nearness of him ! I don t want to

,
“ ’
—
fool you girl we war car ry i n sail the night
,
’
your brother Simon was lost A livin gale and

,
.
’
,
’
—
she b u t t i n into it with a whole mai n s l you ’
won t hold that agin me ?

’ ’ ”
1 78
Lea ry o f the Li go n i e r
How could I Sammie ? A man that s a man ,
’
at all is bound to carry sail at times And fish e r .
men sail ca rry i n or no sail ca rry i n they comes

,
-
’
-
’
and goes .
”
Ay girl and sometimes goes quicker than

, ,
they comes Oh Bess the fin e men I v e been

.
, ,
’
shipmates with ! And now twould take a chart ’
of all the b anks tween Hatteras and Greenland to

’
h n d out where the bones of the half of em lie

’
.
“
B ut do go now Sammie Sh e snuggled
”
,
.
closer to him Have a care now for I m lovin

.
,
’ ’
you now ,
Ay you are And I m lovin you Bess But

“ ’ ’
, .
, .
your father Bess ; he ll put you out

,
’
.
“
Well if he do
,
If he do Bess you know who ll be wai t i n for

, ,
’ ’
Ay , I d o A n I ll come to you too no fear

.
’ ’
, , ,
boy But no matter about John L owe now boy

.
, ,
so you won t forget me Sammie

’
,
.
“
Never a forget Bessie , .
”
T hen hold me again Sammie afore we part , , .
—
And don t forget never a man afore di d I like
’
like I likes you Sammie , .

”
And B ess ha d gone and delivere d her message

to L eary s crew at Caplin Cove
’
Be all hands
aboard afore dawn and have her ready to sail was ,
”
I 79
Lea r y o f the L i go n i e r
Bessie s message and with that put off for home
’
in her father s little sloop There had been stars

’
.
on her run over bright cheerful stars that made , ,
you overlook the frost in the air but no stars now , .
But that was the way of the weather in the bay .
In the lee of Shingle Spit it wa s calm enough ,
and so for all the b oom of the sea outside Bess

, ,
had time for revery A gran fig u r of a man .

’ ’
S ammie L eary Strong he was Ay strong . .

, .
A n not stern
’
L ord knows there was enough of
.
,
that to home No no saft like same as Sammie

.
, ,
-
that was the kind for a woman to love

-
.
And Sammie now Out under the shadow of .
the porch he had sai d You re the lass for me “ ’

.
”
Ay he did, But so many talked like that and

.
meant naught by i t but took your kiss and your ,
heart wi the kiss and sailed away and you never

’
again see em mayhap There was Jessie Mann

’
, .
,
and Oh no matter them Sammie wa s none

, .
0
’
—
their kin d 0 men A n yet there were those ’
.
’
wh o said that on e like Sammie never made a

good husband Sai l ed wi too free a sheet he .
’
did An yet did ever a vessel get anywhere with

.
’
out a free sheet at times ?

And thinking of a free sheet Bess gave the
, ,
little sloop a foot or two more of main sheet And -

.
there she was going through the water faster for

i t And she would need to go fast through the
.
‘
1 80
L ea r y o f the Li go ni e r
and Bess knew she should be carrying less sail ;
but it would mean a lot of time to reef the main
sail and if she was to get on there was small time
,
for re e fing specially as the wind was hauling to

,
’
the east A beat home now as Captain L eary

.
,
warned her twould b e Surely she would never

,
’
.
be home by d aylight now And colder n ow it was . .
Ay it was
, She drew the tarpaulin over her
.
knees an d that helped to keep off the spray

,
which as it splashed up from her bows wa s

, ,
carried aft in sheets before every squall .
And those squalls were frequent And little .
pellets of hail were thickening the air And over .
the tarpaulin that covered her the ice was ma ‘
king Sai li n by the wind tis terrible cold Sh e

.
’
,
’
.
—
was becoming d rowsy hard work to keep from
—
falling asleep Goo d enough for her ay good .
,
,
—
enough her father would say dancin half the ’
night and c arry i n messages to strangers the other

’
half .
T he air softene d and that was some relief; but

—
in place of the awful cold and still cold enough
—
was now the snow And in that snow storm with .
,
the wind continually veering she knew at last she ,
must have run of? her course ; for the sound of the
surf beating against the rocks came to her .
And what would that b e ? What now ? Ay

Shar k s Fin L e d ge it must b e Sh e must h a
’
.
182
Lea ry o f th e Li go n i e r
saile d wi too free a sheet arter al l Ay she
’
,
.
,
must h a Time to come about now But not

’
. .
so much sail on ! Well sail or no sail it was time

, ,
to come about About she was comin ay

.
— ’
s h e was — —
no l ay
Over came the boom an d then high it skied , ,
and then the wind took it and slit the sail from
boom to ga ff and off to leeward went the sl oop .
Too much sheet that time thought poor B ess , ,
and could have crie d at herse l f And might have .
crie d if she ha d n o thing else to d o But no ti me .
now Her little sloop was rolling and pitching in

.
the seas an d d rifting always drifting ; and in that

, ,
snow there was n o seeing how fast she was d rifting

in to the l edge ; but fast en ough no d oubt , .
No use wailing over i t Bess took to bailing .

,
an d the work kep t h er from thinking overmuch

of herself; on ly she coul d n t help picturing her ’
fath er with his B ible an d her stepmother wait

,
ing up for h er An d S ammie ? Never another

.
dance or kiss from Sammie An d oh the black .

,
disgrace of it if she was lost in the bay when may ,
be they foun d her body groun d to pieces on the

l e d ge ! T here would be those wh o would say
’
—
what wou l dn t they say o fher that couldn t hide ’
her likin for him up to the d ance at Shepperd s ?

’ ’
1
1 83
L ea r y o f the Li g o ni e r
III
The tail of the night found L eary striding over
the hills “
Going to heave her herrin over
.
’
board are they ? And she ll never clear for home

,
’
Sh e won t eh ? And over the hills he ran ”

ha h
’
P .
, .
In and out up and down over th e crests and at

, , ,
last down the tangled slope across moss grown -
rocks where lay the tide tossed kelp and onto the -
,
beach where in the dawn he came suddenly on

,
them .
A great shout went up when they were certain

twas h e ; and down upon him presently they bore .
T wo hundred of em maybe calculated

“ ’
, ,
L eary and looked wistfully toward where his

,
vessel should have been laying to anchor “

If I .
weren t such a hand for s ky la rki n she d be lay

’ ’ ’
i n there now with Tim L acy standin by the old

’ ’
six pounder and she loaded to the muzzle with

-
,
nails and one thing and another ready to sweep ,
the beach of em And somewhat sadly he waited

’
.
”
for the mob ; and waiting wondered how Bess , ,
was making out for the squalls were chasing each

,
other off the hills and out beyond the little har ,
bor all wh i t e c ap p e d lay the Open bay

, ,
.
As a sea sweeps up and buries the lone rock

under its surge so did it seem to L eary that the
,
1 84
A doz en it w and one huge man and L ack
as,
ford with no oilskins to hamper them were i n the

, ,
front ; and because they were in front they felt

the force of L eary s arm It would have been joy
’
.
to stop and battle with them all but that wasn t ,

’
saving the vessel He caught one with one hand

.
,
—
and one with the other and it was so easy and
so satisfying !
But that wouldn t be making Bess happy by’
and b y There were two more that he could have

.
reached but those t wo he dodged But two now

, .
between him and he was for stopping to box

,
—
with them the battl e fever was getting him
but a V oice came to him : Don t stop for them
“ ’
skipper Come o n We re here

. .
’
.
”
L eary turned and saw and raced for the water s ,

’
edge A wide leap and he was in the dory They

. .
tore after him minding not the fallen bodies in

,
the ir eagerness Up to their waists in the water

.
they rushed with yells of rage Stones came fly .
ing after him A few struck him but they were

.
,
too small to do damage .
From the dory L eary faced them again That s .

’
— —
you two hundred of you you spawn of dog
fish
Blast em Sammie don t talk to them ! u t
’
, ,
’
.
oars Ned and drive her ! Here s the kind of

, ,
’
talk for the likes of them ! and between his skip ”
1 86
Lea r y of t he Li go n i e r
per s arm and body Tim L acy from behind thrust
’
“
an old fashioned heavy dragoon pistol
-
Only .
one shot in her but make that one good ; here ,
y are Sammie
’
, .
”
L eary s fingers curled about the stock of i t

’
and it felt pleasant to the touch Yet for all that .
he thrust it back but as he did so Tim s dory ,

’
mate tumbled down beside L eary in the dory .
On the bottom of the dory the j agged rock was

rolling even as the blood welled from his temple .
—
And then came a report another and a third ; ,
and with the third a bullet whizzed close .
Blast you all ! shrieked L eary and with a ”

,
leg either side of the fallen man s body he held ’
the pistol waist high “

C ome on now ! C ome on
-
.
now I say ! You and you an d you you white

, , , ,
livered
“ —
After him d rag him out of th e dory !
Ay drag me out ! Come you and drag me
,
‘
out ! And threatening variously with his pistol

”
,
L eary pointed directly at what seemed to be a new

leader a man with a revolver
,
“
And let me tell .
”
- —
you h e pointe d to the armed man whoever “
you are you round shouldered glue—

, eyed squid -
,
you whoever goes you go firs t Mind that

, ,
.
whatever happens you go first I ve got y ou you , .

’
,
- —
pop eyed slit mouthed d og fish and now shoot
,
-
again .
”
1 87
L ea ry o f t he Li go ni e r
The man with the revolver shrank back ; but
L eary s pistol
’
still trained on him and far
was ,
ther and farther he shrank until h e melted into

the body of the crowd .
In the rear of the crowd were those wh o strug

gled to get nearer Why don t you go after him .
“ ’
down there ? they yelled “

Or let u s do i t ? One
”
.
man against you all ! Why don t you pull him ’
out of the dory ? ”
A y pull him out ! Sen d him to he l l ! roare d

“ ”
,
another .
“
Well send me to hell retorte d L eary
, ,
maybe I ve got friends in hell t oo !

’
,
”
Back onto the beach receded the mob L eary .
turned to his mate To the vessel T im an d — .

,
drive her !
By the time they reached the vessel s d eck the
’
inj ured man came to A cup of coffee and five .
minutes by the fire and he was ready to turn

to but L eary turned him into a bunk instead
, .
“ ’
—
We ve men enough without you a full crew .
L ie down boy and go to sleep Which he did

, ,
.
”
.
“
Now fellows make sail Drive her The
, , . .
trader an that whole crowd they ll be after u s

’
,
’
—
soon in their jacks Come ou li ve ly t h e re s .
fl
’
thirty sail of em rea d y to roun d the p oint ! An

’ ’
Tim ? ”
“
Ay Sammie, .
1 88
L ea r y o f the Li go ni e r
No matter ; you ll do L eary commented and
’
, ,
cast another look toward the open water of the

bay where were now twenty fiv e or thirty small -
schooners rounding the headland .
L eary now contemplated the anchor chain of

his vessel .
“
I hate to lose you specially li ke this but
,
’
,
And without further word he reduced the chain

to one turn of the W indlass “
And now let all .
hands tuck away under the rail all but one man ,
to go aloft and look out for a small white sloop .

”
An d he took the wheel where he was needed , ,
for the squalls in full force were now whistling

, ,
battle hymns from deck to truck

-
.
The fleet of j acks were now to be seen coming

on rapidly ; but presently the squall proving too ,
strong for them they all came fl u t t e ri n g up into

,
the wind and began to shorten sail .
“
—
No heaving to for this one eh Tim ? yelled , ,
”
L eary ; and putting his wheel u p and feeling the ,
L i gon i e beginning to pay of

r f and the anchor to
drag he gave the word to slip the cable
, .
Through the hawse hole the clanking chain tore

-
swiftly and away came the L i gon i e like a wild

,
r
thing L eary patted the wheel and began to talk

.
to her
“
Crazy to get away aren t you ? Been laying ,
’
too long to anchor yes No wonder And I ll

,
. .
’
1 90
Lea r y o f th e L i go n i e r
not stint you —
now take
your fill of i t girl ,
.
Which she did and with L eary giving her plenty

,
of wheel through the white swash she scooped a

,
long we t rail
, .
Tim L acy now came aft T here they are .
’
—
wai t i n for u s an the joke of it is S ammie we
’
, ,
c n g o out the North P assage with a fair wind

’
.
They must a forgot that I was born and brought

’ ’
up in this very bay .

”
“
But we re not goin out t h e North P assage
’ ’
,
Tim .
”
“
No ?
No
But wh y ? A n it s a beat up by them ’ ’
Well a beat it ll b e G o fo r a r d now

,
’
.
’
.
What ll he be at now ? muttered Tim

’ ”
.
But L eary knew One eye he had for the ap .
p ro ac h i n g fleet and one to the ledge of rocks

toward which the L i gon i er was winging Some .
of em by this time think we re trying to run

’
, ,
’
away But they ll know better in a minute And

.
’
.
now d o you Tim stand by that old cannon

, , .
Sh e was almost into the rocks then holding ,
in for the last foot of clear water ; but not for too
long did he allow her to run o u Just in time .
he tacked and then it was about and away for

, ,
the fleet of native schooners wh o watching her , ,
closely an d assured now of her course spread out ,
19 1
Lea r y o f th e L i go ni e r
to intercept her Ex p ert seamen themse l ves no
.
,
where did they leave a space wide enough for a

rowboat let alone a ninety t on fish erman to slip
,
-
,
th rough .
And they were armed A shot rang out . .
L eary looked to see where the ball struc k but ,
among the endless merging of whitecaps there

was no discove ring that Not that I care where
“
.
—
it hit blast y e ye ll never stop me now for
,
— ’
hide under the rail you Tim with the rest I m — , ,

’
after some of you And he headed the Li gon i er

.
”
straight for the wi ndward j ack which now he ,
could see was that of the trader L ackford whose ,
round shouldered fig u re in the bow betrayed

-
‘
him .
“
Out of my way ! roared L eary before he ”
realized that he Was too far away to be heard

against the whistling squall “
But you ll hear .
’
me well enough soon he muttered “

And Tim , .
, ,
so long as you won t hide away stand by that old’

,
fog buster and be sure to have the lanyard long

-
,
enough to let you hide behind the fo re m s t for ’
—
there s no telling the old antiquity might ex
’
p lo d e .I don t s pose she s’

been shot
’
off this ten ’
years When I give the word now but wait

.
— , ,
wai t yet ! For a flying moment he brought the

”
L i gon i e : head into the wind

“ ”
N ow!
’
r .
Boo m ! It made more noise than a modern

1 92
Le a ry of the Li go n i er
Tim g aloft and p oint the way and hurry afore
,
o -
,
th e snow comes .
“
P oint the way to what Sammie ? ,
For a little white sloo p with a girl in i t

—
.
Ho oh that s i t is i t ?
’ ”
-
,
IV
B ess had curled herself up and falling was
asleep ; and her last sleep it would have been but
for the boom of a small gun and the hail of a
familiar voice She s tood u p Again a hail
. . .
And through the curtain of w h ite it came almost

atop of her the grandest schooner ever was ! The
,
long lines of her seemed familiar T hen a clearer .
glimpse Ay she d know her anywhere b y the

.
,
’
—
—
rust on her jumbo she would the L i gomer And
'
—
then it swept on b y ay sailing as a wild gull ,
.
Out of sight it went in the snow s q uall but -

,
leaving a V 0 1c e l n 1t s trail .
“
Bessie ! Bessie ! it called ”
.
And now no schooner at all Gone it was . .
And she remembered that that was the way of it

-
the beautiful picture afore they went at last .
But soon again the sweep of the great white sails

and the b l ack body beneath And the beautiful .
han dl ing of her ! Seamen them ! said Bess ad

“
,
I 94
Lea ry o f the Li go ni e r
mi ri ngly , an d —
then al ongside it came beautiful ,
beautiful .
Then two arms scoo p ed down and swept her

o ver the rail of the lovely big American schooner .
A strong arm and a voice Oh Bessie ! Bessie !

“
.
,
and the big warm foolish he art of you ! said the

, ,
”
voice and the arms carried her below and wrapped

,
her in blankets and poured hot coffee mugs of i t , ,
down her throat and laid her in a bunk while he , ,
—
sat on the locker and looked j ust looked at her .
“
Ah h Sammie ! murmured Bess b lissfully
-
,
”
.
A n now you ll bring me home Sam mie ?

’ ’ ”
,
Ay home Bess
“ ”
, , .
Ah h ! A n my mo t h e r ll no h a to cry for
-
’ ’ ’
me arter all A n father too he ll h a no cause

, .
’
, ,
’ ’
to Ah h God love you Sammie

-
, , .
By the light of the kerosene lamp in John L owe s ’
kitchen sat John L owe reading his favo rite vol

ume harrowing tales of religious persecution cen
,
t u ri e s agone And Mrs L owe sat rocking herself

. .
by the stov e Every once in a while she would

.
hide her head in her skirt and on withdrawing , ,
i t wipe her eyes

, .
Now and again she would sigh wearily Too .
harsh too harsh we were on the lass The blood

, .
runs warm at her age .

”
Whereat John L owe would turn an d look fix

I 9S
Lea ry of the L i go n i e r
e at her open his lips as if to say so m ething
dly ,
but always without speaking re fix his attention

, ,
o n the fin e black print before him .
A knock on the door and a tall man in oilskins

and sea boots entered -
“
I ve come to say .
’
he began but by then John L owe was on his

:
feet
“
C aptain L eary is i t P
C aptain L eary it is .
T hen I ve th is to say t o y ou C a p tain

,
’
L eary
“
Hush John C aptain beside her husband
, .
-
.
—
Mrs L owe stood trembling Captain L eary
“
,
’
—
we ve a little girl an the story s around the ’ ’
bay
L eary raised a han d I know ma am ; I .
,
’
know Your daughter Mrs L owe she s safe

.
, .
,
’
.
,
—
Y es John Lo we safe i n every way safe No , .
thanks to me but to herself And she an d me , .

,
W e re going to be married Yes ma am married

’
.
,
’
, .
Don t look so h ard man Yo u re t h i nki n n ow

’
, .
’ ’
—
I know you re t h i n ki n it s a p oo r p i l ot I l l b e
’ ’ ’ ’
for her on life s course ? ’ ”
Ay I m t h i n k i n so captain an d n ot afear d
“ ’ ’
, , ,
t o say i t — I fear no man Ay a poor c o mpass .

, .
“ —
C ompass ? T here a h u e word compass B ut , .
the compass itself that most every one th inks is ’
so true John L owe we have t o make a ll owance s

, ,
1 96
L ea r y o f the L i go ni e r
possible is better than mine Call her ca p tain
, .
, ,
call he r
.
”
Next morning for all the bay to see the cur

, ,
tains in John L owe s house were raised high

’
.
1 98
H OW T H E Y GO T T HE H ATTI E
R E N N I SH
H o w Th ey G o t the Hatt i e R e n n i sh
Alec paused but only for a quick breath
, We .
had the fin e st little scheme of sealing t i ll t h e y took ~
to hunting u s Up and down the length and

breadth of the sealing—
.
grounds they d up and ’
chase u s whenever they d get word of u s from — ’
the Japan coast b ack by way of the Aleutians

clear down one time a pair of em till we h ad
, ,
’
to put in behind Vancouver Island and hide the

Hatti e behind a lot 0 screen boughs ’
.
”
Alec paused ; this time for a longer an a l m ost ,
re fl e c t i v e breath ,
“
That being their business.
,
p
’
r
’
ap s they were all right ; but ain t it a fin e
’
thing when a gang wants to go seal hunting that -
a lot 0 gover ment people must specify where

’ ’
—
they can kill em and when ? and t h ey i swi mmi n
’
,
’
the wide ocean as the L ord intended ! And our

—
little vessel the H atti e R enn i s h when she used
—
to go fresh h ali b u t i n out o here remember ’ ’
her ? ”
There were several wh o heartily remembere d

the fast and able Hatti e .
P resently letting the elevated front legs of his

,
chair drop to the floor Alec rested one forearm ,
on the table and went on to tell of how at la st

they got the Hatti e Renn i sh .
“
Twas a Californian man name d T rumbul l
’
bought the Hatti e when she was fresh h ali b u t i n ’
out o Gloucester A good sort of a man and

’
.
,
20 2
H o w Th ey G o t th e H att i e R e n n i sh
’
twas him got me wi th A rchie Gillis for mate to
, ,
bring her round to Frisco ’

.
“
But the time I m going to speak o f the Hatti e
’
—painted green she was and called the P i on eer ,
—was l ayin into Seattle when a chap comes

’
,
aboar d wi t h a letter from Trumbull to me ex

plaining that certai n aspects of the sealing busi
ness d been taking on a serious look to him lately
’
and he d sold the H atti e and the party who d

’
,
’
bought her letter herewit h might want to do

, ,
business with me .
“
T he l ooks of t he new owner d i d n t warm me ’
toward him in the start ofi L ooks of course

‘
- .
, ,
ain t everything but when y ou d on t know much

’
,
’
about a man you got to go a lot by his looks .
Y es you sure have And I d seen him before

, .
’
,
joy cru i s i n on the B ar b ary C oast one night with

’
—
a lot of drunken sailors only he wasn t drunk ’
.
—
An d I k new what he was some Chinese blood
in him and the name 0 being a slick one B ut
,
’
.
I didn t say anything about that Gr at u t o u sly

’
.
’
telling a man you d on t like him don t lay you up ’ ’
to wi n d ard any No And we sat down and

’
. .
he explains what h e wante d There was a con .
s i g n me n t of a few b ales of hemp waiting up on
the B ritish Columbia coast and would I run the ,
H a tti e over and slip b ack wi th em ? And we d

’ ’
have to leave right away .
20 3
H o w Th ey G o t t h e Hatt i e R e n n i sh
—
Well I would after a talk
, And with Archie .
Gillis and a few hoboes that called t hemselves

sailors whic h I d picked U p in Jack Downing s
,
’ ’
place in Seattle we put out Archie was mate

, .
and to get two hundred dollars and me five

hundred .
I t was a fine night t h at night and we put

“
, ,
out into the sound and worked our way up

through the islands and the second morning ,
later slips into a little c ove behind some high

—
hills with trees along the banks i n Georgia
Strait . Twenty four hours we lay there and
-
,
then we hears a steamer s whee l but we don t ’
,
’
see her ; only a couple of hours later the owner

comes for me in a big ship s quarter boat and we ’
-
,
work the H atti e over to a little island where we

fin d a lot of ba l es wrappe d in burlap and hi d in
a cook s shack ’
.
“‘ ’
—
That all ? I as k s my new owner D u rk s his
name .
“‘
—
Oh yes there s a couple 0 Chinamen here
,
’ ’
.
—
But let s see where are they ? He looks around
’ ’
.
‘ ’
—
They re not here strolling in the woods some
where We ll take them along too he says
.
’
, ,
’
.
‘
You won t mind that will you ?
’
,
“
Now there was nothing in the contract about
Chinamen and I didn t like the notion of him
,
’
working em ab o ard in that way but I said all

’
,
20 4
H o w Th ey G o t t h e Hatt i e R e n ni sh
He looks at me and shakes his head and says ,
‘
No sabby an d I looks at him and I shakes my
,
’
head and says : Oh y es you do Johnnie Sing ‘

, , , .
I wasn t wearing any whiskers when I used to

’
meet you in Wall Eye Bunsen s place I ve cul -

’
.
’
t i v at e d them for protective purposes only to hide ,
—
my face but not my intelligence so you j ust
overlook them and try and recollect Alec C orning .
Now what d y say ? ’ ’ ’
“ ‘
Halloo Captain C orning ! he says ; an d no
,
’
pretending he was glad to see me

, .
—
I says Bill Whitel y when you ‘
say it out loud What s your trouble Johnnie ?

.
’
,
’
And so you c n al l get it right I ought to say

’
first that Johnnie Sing was a sort of A mericanized

C hinaman who the last time I d seen him was
,
’
inquiring if he couldn t become a real American ’
some way He d been born in L ima on the West

.
’
C oast where there s a big colony o Chinamen

,
’ ’
and he was p art C hinese the rest of him P eru ,
vian Indian A Christian too he was ; which

.
, ,
I m not putting up as being for or against him

’
‘
e x cept so you ll see he had as much right to be

’
a Christian as anything else Hi s mother was .
C hristian and so it wasn t like as if he had turned

,
’
against his own to get on in the world .
“
Johnnie was a good sort and he d made a ,
’
few dollars in the tea business and so maybe ,
ough t to a been happy But he wasn t There

’ ’
.
’
.
206
H o w Th ey G o t t h e H att i e R e nn i sh
was an old C hinaman and not too old either

who d married a Finn wo m
, ,
’
an came off a wrecke d
Norwegian b ark They ran a laundry together .
,
and b y n b y they came on to Frisco and ran a

’ ’
laundry there And Johnnie followed them A . .
good woman and she died leaving a well grown

,
-
little girl and b y n b y the old fellow he figu re s

,
’ ’
he s made en ough and goes b ack to h ave a look

’
at C hina But no sooner there than h e learns

.
he won t live very long an d he writes Johnnie of

’
i t or maybe it was the girl did her and Johnnie

h aving been always about three—
, ,
quarters in love
with each other And Johnnie he cruises over to .
C hina and the old fellow savvying how things

, ,
are says all right marry and they get married

, , , ,
and he gives em his blessing and lays down and

’
dies A goo d old scout Johnnie said and I guess

.
, ,
he was .
“
Well everything s fin e only Johnnie wants to
,
’
c ome b ack and live in the United States and the ,
girl too Sh e was sixteen years old when she left

.
California and a woman s life in the U nited States

,
’
looked a lot better to her than in this land of one

half her ancestors So she and Johnnie takes a .
steamer to Vancouver and they get there all right ; ,
but not till they got there did either of them hap
pen to think that they were foreigners and b arred
as Chinese from coming into the United States .
20 7
H o w Th ey G o t the Hatt i e R e n ni sh
Which was a pity they being pretty white and so
,
strong for everything American Anyway John .

,
nie writes to Trumbull my old boss to see what

, ,
he could do and after ten days or so D a rks

,
happens along and bumps into Johnnie and is

surprised as you please to see him and Johnnie ,
tells him his story and D u rk s tells him not to

,
—
worry about that that he d smuggle him and ’
his wife across in a schooner he d just bought ’

.
They would take a little coast steamer and meet

her a few hours up the coast and then across the ,
—
sound to Seattle twould be the easiest thing
’
ever you see .
“
And there they were Johnnie an d his wife , ,
an d when he got that far in his story Johnnie

stops and looks up at the sky most mournful like - .
Springtime it was mind you and h u e weather

, , ,
with the sun shining and the waters of the inlet

rolling up on the rocks gentle like and the first -
,
of the birds were up from the south and singing

and chirping and I s pose nesting overhead a
, ,
’
— ,
bran new spring day in a piny grove on a pretty

’
-
little island C IT the coast of British Columbia ,
when anybody should a been happy specially ’ ’
,
’
with a new young wife .
,
—
Well what s wrong what you so blue about
’
I asks Johnnie when he d got through squinting ’
up the tree branches to the sky .
20 8
coiled up where a reg l ar Chinaman d have only ’ ’
a black pigtail .
“‘
Don t let on to D u rk s either of you ever saw
’
me in your life I advises em and when it s

,
’ ’
,
‘ ’
time to go aboard the vessel you g o .

’
“
And they went aboard with what D u rk s says
was b ales of hemp ; and we put out th at night in
open water and next day threading inside p as
,
sages so far as we could Another night and .
another morning found u s in P uget Sound and ,
there on a little neck of land on the American

shore we hoisted our load of hemp onto a little
—
,
rough made wooden pier A narrow gauge track

-
.
ran up from the pier and standing on the track ,
was a hand flat car .
says D u r k s I will pay off these men ,

‘
,
so they won t be hanging around and possibly

’
talking too much before we get clear And he .

’
—
did ten dollars to the hands and fift e en to the
cook and a silver dollar all around for car fare
,
- .
And they went ashore he telling them where ,
they would fin d a little branch station about a

mile u p t h e road to take them to Seattle And
'
so we got through with them .
He himself goes ashore after they re out the

“ ’
way and stays an hour or so and when he s

’
, ,
b ack How about paying off me and my mate

,
‘
now ? I asks’
.
2 10
H o w Th ey G o t the H att i e R e nn i sh
“ ‘
Y ou t ake the schooner
a little place west to
of here and then I ll p ay you both he an ’
s we rs .
“
And how about l anding th ose two passen
‘
gers ? I asks’
.
“
No no don t lan d them here he says
‘
, ,
’
,
’
.
‘
Somebody might see them and pounce on u s for
landing them Keep them aboard for a w h ile
.
to the next anchorage .

’
“
And we put out late in t h e morning then an d , ,
there being no wind twas in the middle of the ,

’
afternoon before we came to anchor in a little

harbor about five miles from where we landed
the cargo And we d hardly been there wh en an
.
’
American gunboat comes to anchor j ust off our

hiding— place and Archie and me we looks at each
,
other but don t say anything

,
’
.
“
An d D u rk s ? He s terrib ly surprised at the ’
—
sight of the gunboat terrib ly By and by he .
stops walki ng the deck an d says to me : I have ‘
a plan captain I will go aboar d that gunboat

, .
and fin d out what they want here If they think .
there is anything wrong about u s I will invite ,
them to come aboard and look u s over What .
do you say to that ? ’
“
I didn t say anything to i t but What wil l
’
,
‘
—
become of me and my wife I paid you li ve hun
dred dol l ars for u s ? pipes up Johnnie Sing ’
.
211
H o w Th ey G o t the Hatt i e R e nn i sh
— —
Why and D u rk s smiles that is easy
’ ‘
.
—
You can hide oh where now ? Why of course , , ,
in the lazaretto And your wife in a locker some

.
where that Captain Corning will pick out for her .
They will not look far even if they shall suspect ,
us— they will think we would have fift y or a hun

dred aboard or none at all So they will not .
look into every corner If you both hide away .
somewhere everything will be all right .

’
“
Johnnie is uneasy but I no d s my head to ,
him on the sly and he says all right and goes

,
below with his wife And making sure they are .
below D u rk s turns to me and hands over fiv e

,
hundred to me and to Archie two hundred dol

,
lars And he shows u s another fiv e hundred and

.
says : And this will be for you t wo to divide

‘
as you please when I get Johnnie Sing away from

the ship and the girl is left behind What do .
you say ? ’
“
And I looks over at t h e h y e hun d re d and
says I t looks pretty go o d ; and Archie he looks
,
‘ ’
at me and at t h e extra money and says I t looks ,

‘
pretty good ; and D u rk s laughs and says I t will

’
,
‘
feel pretty good too ; but better put that money

,
—
out of sight hadn t you captain and you too
,
’
, ,
Mr Gillis ? and goes of? in the big quarter boat

’
-
.
the only boat we had aboard by the way

‘
.
,
“
No sooner was he gone than up pops Johnnie
2 12
H o w T h ey G o t the Hatt i e R e n n i sh
And while we re swearing at D u rk s for that
’
back he comes with a young o ffi ce r and four .
armed sailors The o ffice r looks at me and says :

.
‘
You h ave contraband Chinamen aboard here ? ’
“
Well that got me I looks at him and then
, .
, ,
thinking of the phony money I looks at D u rk s , .
And I don t answer ’

.
“
We sha l l have to search the ship says t h e
‘ ’
,
o f
fi ce r .
I says search away ,

‘
.
’
And they went and dropped straight into the

cabin and made for the lazaretto D u rk s waiting ,
and whistling to himself on deck P retty soon .
the o ffice r comes up and reports nobody in the

lazaretto Du rk s goes up in the air Where is
. .
‘
h e ? he says to me
’
.
He ? Who ?
’
Johnnie Sing .
’
What you talkin about ? I asks and at the ’ ’

,
same time Archie carelessly hauls out a hundred

dollar bill and lights a cigarette with i t And .
D u rk s suddenly changes and with the o f fi ce r s

’
permission steps with me into the cabin And .
the first thing he does is to count out seven hun ‘
dred dollars good money and hand it to me I .

‘
took that other from the wrong pile he says and ,

’
smiles but not as if he expects to be believed

,
.
—
An d he h olds out another five hundre d good
2 14
H o w Th ey G o t t he Hatt i e R e n n i sh
—
money and says Where are they ? And I ,
‘ ’
looks wise and says Suppose that C hink gave ,

‘
me a thousand to get em clear ? A thousand ? ’ ’ ‘
,
—
Well here here s a t h ousand when you turn him
’
over to me Where are they ?

.
’
“
And I whispered so the lockers themselves ,
couldn t hear me : They swam ashore and are

’ ‘
hid away T o m o rrow morning I give them the

.
-
signal and they ll come b ack aboard’

.
’
says D u rk s you can get his fiv e ,

‘
h undred and my thousand Will that satisfy you ? .

’
“
And I said I d th ink it over and we went on
’
deck where D u rk s told the o ffi ce r there might

,
be a way to get hold of the contrab and C hina

men yet And the office r eyes u s both and fin ally
.
says : Y ou d better both come with me to the

‘ ’
ship and make it c l ear to the captain He is .
now up the S o un d but wil l be aboard in the ,
morning An d we went leaving Arc h ie to l ook

.
,
after the vessel .
We went aboar d the gunboat not exactly

“
,
under guard but j ust so s to be sure we d be there

,
’ ’
when we were wante d It was now getting on .
toward six o clock and the first thing meal call

’
blew and up steps an old shipmate E d G urney

, , ,
and invites me down to the chief petty o ffice rs ’
mess for supper .
“
E d and me we d been snapper fish i n g to
’
-
215
H o w Th ey G o t t he Hatt i e R e n n i sh
gether in the Gulf 0 Mexico on the Campeche ’
Bank in one of those little short b owsprit schoon

,
ers out o P ensacola and now he was high line

’
,
-
marksman of the ship wore extra marks on his ,
sleeve and got extra money and all that kind 0 ,

’
stuff for his shooting Well Ed always could

.
, .
,
tell an oil tanker from a b anana steamer as far

-
as any man in the Gulf and we talked of those ,
days during supper and after we d had a good ,

’
smoke we walked the d eck together talking of ,
one thing and another and before I got through ,
I told him all about the scrape I was i n .
“
The grab all snake ! says E d And what -
’
.
‘
you goin to do Alec ?

’
,
’
“‘
My name is Bill I answers ; Bill Whitely if ,
’ ‘
there s anybody likely to be in hearing But I

’
.
tell you E d I says I don t like the notion 0

, ,
’
,
‘ ’ ’
little Johnnie Sing an d h is wife getting caught

o r separated
’
.
“
W e were looking over the side then where to ,
the boom was tied a string of small boats our big

—
,
quarter boat to the end .
“‘
What do you know ab out t h is fel l ow Du rk s ,
Ed ?
’
I said after a time , .
Nothing he said except that he s under

,
’
,
‘ ’
suspicion of smuggling opium for a long time .
They say he s money mad and woman mad and

’
- -
,
always was .
’
2 16
H o w Th ey G o t th e Hatt i e R e n n i sh
other way out of i t I d maybe keep scraping the ,
’
paint off you as long as I could .

’
“
Your idea bein to do the right thing by the
‘ ’
Gover ment in the end E d ?

’
,
’
“
That s i t says Ed
‘ ’
,
’
.
Well E d I says i f you should happen to

, ,
’
,
‘
see such a thing as a moving picture of the H at

ti e stealin out to sea and it s up to you to bring
’ ’
h er to say at h y e or six or e l gh t thousand yards

, ,
just scrape the paint with the first two or three ,
will you by way 0 telling me how it s you E d ?

,
’ ’
,
’
All right says E d ,

’
.
And we shook hands over that And maybe .

‘
the Gover ment won t be losing anything at that

’ ’
,
’
I says .
“
After a time E d Gurney left me to go on the
night watch and I was standing by the rail fig
, ,
uring how I was going to get b ack to the H atti e ,
when D u rk s comes looking for me .
Of course says D u r k s you had no idea of

“ ‘ ’ ‘
, ,
i r but I organized this expedition as much to

,
get Johnnie Sing out of the way and separate

him from his wife as to smuggle in the cargo of
hemp .
’
“
The duty on hemp I interrupts must be
‘
,
’
,
‘
very high Mr D u rk s , . .
’
“ —
What ? It is yes he says ,
’
.
And how much i s the duty on hemp ? I asks ’

.
2 18
And he don t know Hemp h u mp h l I says ’

.
‘
,
’
,
‘
how much is the duty on and I stops .
Ou what ? he says
“ ‘ ’
.
Ou whatever s in those b ales ? I answers

’ ’
.
Why what is the duty ? he asks

,
’
.
—
Maybe there s no duty maybe it s against ’ ’
the law to bring it i n no matter what the duty , ,

’
I answers .
“
And he sees I know too much and from out ,
of a pocket inside his vest he draws a p ackage of

money and lets me look to see how much and he ,
says : Five hundred now and fiv e hundred when

‘
—
you turn over to me Johnnie Sing separate from
his wife .
’
I f I could get b ack on the schooner I says

“ ‘ ’
, ,
like I was studying it out b ack on her to night ,

‘
-
,
I d guarantee I d have Johnnie Sing aboard her

’ ’
in the morning .
’
“
But how can you get off this ship ? he says
‘ ’
.
Easy enough I says Nobody here cares ,

’
.
‘
whether I stay aboard or get away and nobody s ,

’
watching me too close You ask the executive .
of fi c e r s permission to go down aboard your quar

’
ter boat swin ging from the boom there by way

-
, ,
of seeing it s all right and you get into it and

’
look it over and the last thing you do before

,
leaving it you unfasten the painter and let her

g adrift
o And in the morning when you see the
.
,
2 19
Johnnie Sing and his wife will be aboard
H a tti e,
—o u her deck in plain sight And the n you come .
and get em But you ll have to come and get

’
.
’
’
—
em yourself and give me five hundred dollars
—
now on account good money mind And he , .
’
—
does good money .
“
And while he s going down over the boom ’
ladder to one side I m climbing down a side lad ’
der on the other and soon standing on the last ,
rung j ust above the water line and waiting And

,
-
, .
pretty soon I see the shadow of our quarter boat -
drifting past her stern and as I do I slips over ,
board and strikes out for her quiet and mostly ,
under water because I had my clothes ou

, .
“
I get aboa rd the quarter boat and I let her -
drift till maybe I am a quarter of a mile away ,
and then I out oars and heads her in for where

I can see the Hatti e s riding light I comes along ’
.
side Archie s shape looms up over the rail

.
’
.
Hi i ! he yells keep It s all right Ar

‘ ’ ‘ ‘ ’
-
, ,
chie I says and he reaches down and takes the

,
’
painter What s doing ? he says

.
‘ ’ ’
.
“ ‘
Where s Johnnie Sing and his wife ?
’ ’
She s asleep in the cabin and he s awake

’ ’
watching her What you going to do ? .

’
“ ‘
You tell Johnnie here s his five hundred ’
passage money b ack will you Archie ? And , ,
then we ll make ready to skip out of here

’
.
’
2 20
H o w Th ey G o t th e Hatt i e R e nn i sh
We looked around Ou the narrow— gauge rail .
road track we found the little flat hand car and -

,
on that under a tarpaulin were the b ales of hemp

, , .
“
W e crept around to the door of the shack .
By feeling we saw it opened out ; so the two of

u s felt around for big sized stones a hundred -
,
pounds apiece or so and them we piled in front

, ,
of the door fift e e n or twenty of em very softly

,
’
, ,
and then I whispers to Archie to hustle the flat

car along to the pier .
“
And he did but in getting started the car
,
wheels grinded a little and somebody inside yells , ,

‘
What s that ! and again L isten ! and then I
’ ’
,
‘ ’
could hear one of em j umping up and cursing ’
and swearing : What started her ? Next thing‘ ’
somebody rattled the door latch and pushed -

.
—
And pushed again And then bam ! his whole .
weight against the door The top part springs .
out but the bottom half sticks

, .
Then there was a quiet and then somebody

“
,
said something quick a n d I could hear em all ,

’
j umping up and yelling out and they came pi ,
ling bang u p for the door and slammed against

-
i t but the big stones held em Then they stopped ’
, .
,
and one of em says : We re locked in all right

’ ‘ ’
.
’
‘
Yes I calls out and you d better stay locked
,
’
,
‘ ’
i n for the firs t man and the second man and

, , ,
the third man comes out the door he gets his .
2 22
And now men I calls out keep that door cov
, ,
’
,
‘
ered and cut loose if it s knocked open And ’

.
’
then I hurried after Archie s lantern which I see ’
is now to the pier .
I t didn t take u s more than a couple 0 min

“ ’ ’
utes to pitch those little bales off that car tote ,
’
em across the lighter and drop em into our quar ’
ter boat Then we rowed out to our vessel and

-
.
threw them over the rail and let em lay there

“
’
amidships till we could get a chance to rip em ’
open and see what we got .
I t was then two o clock an d s by this time

“ ’ ’
the breeze d m ade a bit I was h 0 ping we d slip

’
,
’
by the gunboat before daylight And we did .
almost ; but not far enough b y Before the sun .
was fair up they saw u s and puts after u s It .
took her a few minutes to get under way and

steam up on her and then she came a belting
,
-
.
Twelve knots she was prob ably steaming but by ,
now the breeze was strong enough for the H a tti e

to hold her own but not to draw away An d
, .
soon the b reeze comes stronger and we begin to ,
lengthen and draw away from the gunboat And .
it breezed up more and the H atti e b alloon and

, ,
s t ay s l on now and taking it over her quarter

’
, ,
was beginning to show the st u H in her

’
Sh e was lifting her forefoot and kicking her

“
way through like she knew what we wanted We .
2 23
W ere walking away from the gunboat and I was ,
wondering wh y she didn t reach out fo r u s with ’
one of her long h y e inch lads But I see wh y -

.
‘
pretty soon In the cle armg light a point of land

.
shows up ahead of u s making out maybe a couple of ,
miles to the windward of our course We couldn t .

’
turn out for here was the main shore and there
,
was the gunboat And a pity too I says to ‘ ’

'
.
, ,
Archie with enough opium aboard to keep u s

,
‘
many a year .
’
“
A r ch i e d most forgot the b ales
’
C ut em
’
.
‘ ’
open I says to him and he did and out they

,
’
, ,
— —
come six or eight pound tins t h e y lo o k e d dozens
of em And Archie looking at the bright shiny
’
.
,
tins said What a pity ! again and we both said

, ,
‘ ’
what a pity it was too for Johnnie Sing and his , ,
wife But don t you worry about em I says ;

.
‘ ’ ’
,
’
‘
Nor you about your wife I says to Johnnie who ,
’
,
was looking heart broken with his arm around her -

,
.
“
All the time we were hopping on toward the
point and if twas anything but a steamer with
,
’
guns was chasing u s we d a squeezed b y and ’ ’ ’
, ,
once b y it was good night to the gunboat or any

,
thing like her in that breeze It looked that way .
even as it was till a shell goes skipping across the,
water ahead of u s In half a minute there came .
another one astern There wasn t any sea on .

’
—
this time inshore this and the water smooth and ,
2 24
twi ce m ore and Alec C orni ng ll be buying you ’
more than one drink next time we meet for I ’
knewthe end was near Ahead of me I see a

,
p assage making an island of the last half mile 0 ’
that point 0 land and it looked like water enough

’
in the passage to l et the H atti e through

‘
I calls out to Arc h ie and tells him to heave

the tins of O pium into the quarter boat and he -
,
did and Now get in t o her I says and pull for

,
‘
,
’
,
‘
the beach And they did me staying aboard the

.
’
,
H atti e to lu fl her for t h em to get away And

’
then I cut the st ay s l free and gave the Hatti e ’
her wheel again and when she was going full tilt
,
-
I jibed her over and she had everything o n and

, ,
it was blowing blue devils and only on e thing

'
you d think could happen after that long main

’
boom went swinging across her deck over the—

side had to go her spars But they didn t A ’
.
—
.
twenty t wo inch fo re m st she carried a great

-
’
stick and when she was away again and going

,
str ai ght for the passage I says to myself : You ll ‘ ’
have to hurry E d Gurney or I ll be beating you

, ,
’
t o i t! For after all when you re put to i t D u rk s

’
,
’
,
—
or no D u rk s there s only on e thing to d o t ry’
and sav e your vessel .
The Hatti e rushes straight for the passage and

I though t m
,
aybe she d make i t when whi ng !

.
whing ! w h ing ! you d think somebody was try ’
2 26
H o w Th ey G o t t h e Hatt i e R e nni sh
t ons of i t tons of i t ! Archie swore he could hear
,
’
E d yelling an d we guessed that would square him

,
for those few wide shots And then they headed .
b ack and went aboard the gunb o at and pretty ,
soon she steamed OH .
“‘
—
Vessel and opium both gone I wonder how
D u rk s is feeling now says Archie ; and we with
’ ‘
,
—
his but how much is it altogether Alec ? And ,
’
that reminded me and I says to Archie Where d

, ,
‘ ’
you leave your two hund red dollars ? and he ’
stops and swears He d left it under his mattress

.
’
in the cabin of the H atti e And I d left my fiv e .

’
hundred hanging up in my coat in the cabin of

the H atti e and there she was in ten fathom of
,
water I broke the news to Archie

. .
“
Archie said he d be damned Then : How ll
’
.
‘ ’
we get out of here ? For we gotta go east after

this Alec
, .
’
“
And Johnnie Sing listening takes the fiv e , ,
h undred I d given him and hands it to me I don t

’
.
’
want to take i t and he says P lenty more see

,
— ,
‘
,
’
and with his j ackknife begins opening the wadding

of his coat and out come bills and bills and bills
,
.
All his property twenty odd thousand dollars

,
-
,
was sewed up there in big bills An d when twas

’
.
all out he oHe rs it to u s telling u s to help our

‘
selves And Archie and me said no the fiv e

.
,
hundred would do u s to pay our way b ack to

228
Gloucester here and meals on the way

, course , 0
’
.
And Johnnie by our advice he comes east too

, , , ,
with his little wife and stepped off in N ew York ;

,
and that s where we left him

’
.
A fine little team Johnnie and his wife And

, .
the H atti e ? If there s any of you never seen her

’
then you ought to when she was a l ive A great .
little vessel the Hatti e Renni sh !

,
”
2 29
K i llo ri n C ar i bb e an D ay s
’
s
EVO LUTIONS ? These days ? In thos e

South American countries ? Sh h boy sh h -
, ,
-
you don t know In t h old gunboat days in

-
’
.
’
t h e C aribbeans we never called it a good week

nle s s we suppressed three or four And at that
’
.
I think we used to miss some .
Believe me son those were the d ays w h en t h ey

, ,
k new how to revolutionize You d turn in of a .

’
night with the Blues or the Reds or Greens i n , ,
and have breakfast maybe in the mo rn i n with the ’
P urples or the Violets and brass bands ce le b r at i n ’
the v i ct ry in the P alace square

’
.
And the first thing every new p arty d i d wh en

they got in was to start up the B ureau of P ri n t i n ’
md E ng r av i n and rol l off a few billion dollars of

’ ’
gover ment money I n Gu ad alq u i q u e the money

’
.
for all parties was the same except each party ,
used to rubber stamp its name across the face

-
.
A n old navy yeoman hit the beach there one

time named Tommie Anderson an d he was made
chief of the Bureau o P ri nt i n n d E n g ravi n by
’ ’ ’ ’
t h e Greens because h e could ma k e a rubber han d

2 33
'
K i llo ri n s C a ri bbea n Days

stamp while they wait e d Some traitor wh o didn t .
’
get his d abs conded with the fici al one Tommie

’ ’
said .
Of course that kind 0 work tends to debilitate

’
the best kind 0 money In Almat ara which was ’

.
,
one o the best little rev olutionary countries ever

’
I struck you could see nigger boot blacks shoot

,
-
i n crap for two or three thousand dollars a throw

’
of a holiday in the market square It used to .
—
cost a thousand dollars for a shine that s a first ’
class shine for a foreigner I mean The natives , .
didn t have to pay that much

’
.
Yes sir son a great old cru i si n ground in the

, ,
’
-
old days the Caribbeans and h u e times there

, , ,
believe me In the old Hi awatha we d be layin

.
’ ’
in to Kingston or Havana or Matanzas or some

, , ,
port along there with big liberty parties ashore ,
every day when word d come from Washington

,
’
tellin u s there was hell to pay over to Guadal

’
quique or Almat ar a or somewhere else and for

, , ,
u s to beat it over there and sit on em before they

’
got going .
The H i awatha she was a good ol d gunboat

ratin four fourteen and two six pounders and
’
-
, ,
bein the handiest thing in the fleet twas always

’
,
’
her they detailed for those little revolutionary

j obs and aboard her we got so after a while we
, , ,
d i d n t mind the report of a new revolution any

’
2 34
'

It was all over with the Reds in an p ri n t i n new ,
’ ’
money and postage stamps and makin a b lu fi to ’ ’
collect customs fin e as could be when we got there .
There was nothin to keep u s there but it was ’
a fruitful lookin country and the skipper he

-
’
thought he might s well get a little fresh grub ’
for his mess and he sends me ashore to do the,
buyin And I goes And the first grocery store

’
. .
I come to I says to the man behind the counter :

How much for a ham ? And he says quick ”
,
and brisk Four thousand dollars and I was

, ,
”
most stunned but I manages to slap a five dollar ,

-
gold piece down on the counter and I says quick ,
and brisk too : I n God s name gimme a bite out

“ ’
of i t ! A n I had to hire two coolies to wheel

” ’
the change b ack to the ship .
Well the money values of that T ang ari n e place

,
had me mesmerized and when my time ran out ,
a few weeks later I settles up with the paymaster

and stands by to go over the side with my b ag .
The skipper he says : Killorin I ll be over he e “

,
’
r
b y n b y and take you of And you ll be glad

'
’
I
’ ’
.
to come I ll wager And I says Thank you

,
’ “
.
”
, ,
sir but this is the d olse e far manity country for

,
me With the number 0 gold pieces I got in my

.
’
p ants pocket I oughter be able to pass the rest

0
’
my days here and with my big ticket and ,
”
my b ag I hit the beach in T an g ari n e i n t e n d i n to ,

’
2 36
C a r i bbea n Day s
’
K i llo ri n s
g o straight to the pala ce and get chummy with

the new P reside nt first thing .
But I never got so far as the palace Not that .
time About a quarter mile up from the beach

.
-
was a joyous lookin hotel with shaded verandas

’
-
all round and a banana grove in the yard and

’
on a second look a canti n a shinin with mirrors ’
and glasses and colored bottles on the ground

floor and on another look spacious lookin suites
,
-
’
0
’
ro oms such as were b e fit t i n to s efi orr of wealth ’
and leisure on the floor above And over these .
premises I cast one sailor like view and through -

,
the fo r ard gangway of that glass mounted cau

’
-
ti u a I hove my clothes b ag and myself followed -
after There was also a roulette wheel which

.
,
didn t hurt the looks of the place either

’
.
I felt so right to home that I anchore d right

—
there oh three or four or h y e or six days ; maybe
,
—
it was two weeks ; but anyway all that don t ’
—
matter when I steadied down so s to reason like ’
the man 0 sense my skipper always used to say

’
I was at bottom I was down on the beach and

,
it was early in the mo rn i n and I was wat ch i n ’
,
’
a lemon colored sun trying to rise out of the

-
smooth Caribbean sea and I was won d e ri n where ,

’
it was I d mislaid my clothes b ag I could ac

’
-
.
count for e ve ry t hi n but my clothes b ag But that

’
-
.
don t matter either now I never saw it again

’
. .
2 37
’

And while I sat there not fe eli n j ust like a ,
’
high score gun captain after target practice I

- - -
,
hears a light step behind me and pretty soon I ,
could feel an eye looking me over and b y n b y ,

’ ’
a voice said : A ver ry fin e good morning sir

“
-
, .
Is i t ? I says and I looks up to see who the

“ ”
cheerful party is And there was a good —

,
lookin.
’
well dressed young dark complected chap with a

-
, ,
-
,
little bamboo cane which he kept st i c k i n into the ’
sand .
And he looks at me again and says plainly ,
pleased and yet a little sad too : The Blues are ,
in . And I says : T hat so ? Since when ? And

” “ ”
he says : Since last nigh i t You did not hear

“
-
.
,
the re v oloo— shee onn ? -

”
And I says : I didn t I must a been takin

“ ’
-
’ ’ ’
a nap But I guessed it was a good thing ; least

.
”
ways they couldn t be any worse than the Reds ’
-
o r was it the Yellow chaps were in last ?
No Yellow in T an g ari n e he says

“
,
”
.
H a ha l I says an authority
” ”
.
,
—
No Yell ow Blues and Reds only And as .
,
—
for the Reds b ah ! But the Blues good v e r ry ,
-
good and he pulls the cane out of the sand

,
”
,
lunges at the air comes to a present and says , ,
“
I salute you sir And I said : And I al so
“
, .
”
-
salute you se n or And he says : Americano ?

, .
” ”
And I said : You betcher

“
And he said : Of
“
2 38
'
K i llo r i n s C a ri bbea n Days

we shall perceive other ships the same wh o shall ,
display the Red fl g we shall display suddenly a a ,
Blue flag on our ship and captu e them r .
And loot em
“
? ’ ”
P ar don sir says h e but what is that

-
, , ,
loo t e m ?
“
Why whatever s in the ships we capture
,
’
.
Don t we get e v e ry t h i n we c n fin d in em ?
’ ’ ’ ’ ”
“
Oh sir of a surely ab so lu t e ly It is the ar
, , ,
-
.
—
ti e le of war But h e holds up a fi u ger warnin
.
” ’
—
like as commander of the expedition I shall re
“
serve to myself one article of any kind which

s h all be captured On e chest one table even .
, ,
—h e looked at me to see if I got this part

even one prisoner if I shall so desire , .
”
“
Well that s all right too I said ; for I
,
’
, ,
”
s pose you re payin for the o u t fit t i n 0 this e p e

’ ’ ’ ’ ’
x
dition ? And he says he was

” “
Then it s a .
’
g o ,
I”
says ; for I don t see but I might s well ’ ’
be p ri v at e e ri n an pickin up a little loose loot

’ ’ ’
as lyin around on the beach won d e ri n where my

’ ’
eats are comin from f r the next few weeks ’ ’

.
”
So he b rings me around and shows me a little

brigantine he d chartered and with three dusky
,
’
lads for a crew and some grub and two big chests
on her quarter deck we sail out And the first -
.
thing I says when we we e clear 0 the harbor r

’
was : What s them chests for ? And he opens

“ ’ ”
2 40
'

up one of em and says : Behold se fio r your ’ “
, ,
uniform ! ”
And I looks and there s fiy e gold stripes on the ’
sleeve of the coat to begin with And draws it .
all out pants and all and I see it s an admiral s

, ,
’ ’
special full dress uniform ! -
“
For me ? I says ”
.
Certain ly he says You se n or shall be

-
,
.
, ,
an admiral Why not ? .

”
“
Well I says I don know wh y not either
“
,
”
,
’
only it s some rank to start with But what ll

’
.
’
you b e ? And at that he opens up the other

”
chest and hauls out another uniform and holds

it up f r me to look at and p o i nt i n to the i n si g
’
, ,
’
nia he asks : What rank shall such b e ?

,
“ ”
It was a general s uniform and I tells him so ’

, .
So ? he says Then bowing to me : Then I

“ ” “
.
,
se fio if you do not obj ect shall be a ge n r al ’ ”
—
r, , .
Sure why not se n or ? I says And there s

“ “ ” ’
, .
ce rt n ly some c lass to the quarter deck 0

’
this -
’
brigantine L et s get into em And we got into

.
’ ’
.
”
’
em an gorgeous oh gorgeous they were A n
,
’
, , ,
.
’
r e me mb e ri n the market price 0 hams when I

’ ’
was buyin hams I fig u re d they must a cost

’ ’ ’
ten or fift e e n million dollars apiece And I hadn t .

’
—
been an hour in mine solid gold almost and a ,
gol d mounted sh ap p o and a gold belt and a daz

-
—
zlin swor d before I begins to appreciate what
’
2 41
'

it was to be an admiral and to respect every ad
—
miral ever I d sailed under except m aybe two or
’
—
three for bein good enough to look at me at ’
all while they were standing round deck in their

uniforms A n f r the next hour I kept that
.
’ ’
crew hoppin from one end of the brigantine to’
the other j ust to see em hop when I gives an

,
’
order with my admiral s uniform on ’

.
But after I got so I could take of? my sh ap p o

and draw my sword and look down at myself
without swe lli n u p I says to the ge n r al What ’ “
,
’
d y s ay s e fio r ge n r a to a little action and ”

l
’ ’ ’
?
, ,
points to a lad q u art e ri n down the wind toward ’
u s with a Red flag u p It s plain I says h e

“ “ ’ ”
.
, ,
don t know the Blues is i n What d y s ay if we

’
.
’ ’
shake him up same as a real privateer send a hot

‘
-
shot across his forefoot and make him haul his

wind ? ”
“
No no an d the ge n r al shakes his head
, ,
’
.
And soon there came another fellow inbound

and with a Red flag u p but again the ge n r al said ,
’
P ay sh e e o n s p ay sh e e o n s s e ii o r admiral and
“ ”
, , ,
raises one hand to restrain my impulsive motions .
And four or five more passed all fl y i n the Red ,

’
flag But no word from the g e n r al until toward

.
’
the middle of the aft e rn o on an d a hot afternoon fl
it was The g e n r l with the glasses to his eyes

.
’
a , ,
bounces into the air Ah h ! and again Ah h ! .

“
-
”
,
-
”
2 42
'

A B
. .
’
But when we did fire the noise and the
s .
,
splash of water the b all threw up waswar enough

fo r the enemy Sh e was about a 1 00 ton t r ad i n
’
.
-
schooner and she came into the wind

, .
“
H aul down your fl ag ! hollers the ge n r al in
” ’
the T an g ari n e language and one of their crew ,
was goin to haul it down only for a stout little

’
chap W h o came ru n ni n up out of her cabin and ’
put his glasses on the ge n r al and then rushes ’
over and grabs the signal halyards from the man

wh o was goin to lower em and hits him a clip
’ ’
—
in the neck at the same time a scrappy chap he
looked .
“ —
He is there i t is h e e mse lf says the ge n r al
’
, ,
excitedly But to me very courteous he said

.
, ,
Se n or admiral shall you man oeuvre the ship to

“
,
approach the enemy if you please ? ,

”
Ay ay sir ! I says cheerily and puts the

”
, , ,
brigantine alongside and the pair of u s in our , ,
gorgeous uniforms we leaps aboard , .
Surrender ! orders the ge n r al in a com

“ ” ’
mandin voice but the scrappy little man he

’
wouldn t He yelled so me t h i n at his crew and

’
.
’
they got behind him And there were four of .
them against me an the ge n ral for our briga m ’ ’
tine started to drift away soon as we left her ,
and our sp i ggi t y crew couldn t get her alongside ’
again .
244
'
K i llo ri n s C a r i bbea n Days

There we were u s two heroes marooned on the , ,
enemy s deck in the most magni fic e n t uniforms

’
, ,
but not another blessed thing to figh t with except

a couple 0 gold plated swords But the little cap
’
-
.
tain and his crew had only what loose things they
— —
could grab in a hurry oars deck swabs marlin , ,
spikes and one thing or another ; but with them

, ,
without wast i n any fl ou ri sh e s they came at me ’
an the g e n r al and we draws our swords

’ ’
.
,
“
What d y say will we have at em ge n r al ?
’ ’
,
’
,
’
I says .
“
As you say se fio r admiral have at em ! , ,
’
answers the ge n r al and we haves at em ’
,
’
.
But I soon begin to see we wasn t h av i n at ’ ’
’
em in any great shape Our swords had two .
b acks but no edge It was like hittin em with .

’ ’
b arrel staves Fine grand echoes but the echoes

-
.
,
wasn t knockin em down And the gold mounted

’ ’ ’
.
-
—
uniforms were in the way too i n my way any , ,
way My gold mounted collar was gettin so tight

’
-
.
after I d warmed up to the work that I most

’ ’
choked .
“
H ave at e m l the g e n r al cried again but
’ ” ’
,
have great care for the old gentleman .

”
I was j ust goin to welt the little captain a good ’
one when I heard that “

Not hurt him ! I says .
”
.
“
A hell of a b attle this where we have to play
fav ri t e s among t h enemy And wh y won t I
’ ’ ’
.
2 45
'

h urt him , se f
i or g e n r
’
al, an
’
h im t h e best scrapper
o the lot ?
’ ”
“
You must not No 110 ! He is the father of .
,
the lady .
”
So that s i t ? And w h ere s the fair lady ?

“ ’ ’
I asks .
“
I know not I trust she is on this ship but .
,
I know not B ut have at em as you say se ii o r .

’
, ,
admiral once more and possibly we s h all dis

, ,
cover .
”
“
All right but let s h ave at em right I says ,
’ ’
, ,
and down on the deck I throws my grand sword ,
and with it the very fin e scabbard which I d been ’
boldin with one hand to keep from givin myself

’ ’
the leg And I sheds the gold embroidered coat

.
-
on top of i t I kept we ari n the gold mounted .

’
-
s h ap p o because the sun was hot but the rest of ,
me was stripped to the waist And I felt better .

,
and then I says : Come ou g e n r al unhook

“
,
’
that golden armor an d be free an easy in y ur ’ ’
motions like me .
”
“
No no se fi o r admiral I shall wear my uni
, , .
form even though it is to d ie in i t he answers

,
”
,
b ack .
“
All right se n or ge n r al I says have your ,
’
, ,
own way It s the privilege of your rank but

.
’
for me a little looser motions and a heavier arma

ment and I picks up what looks like a b ase
,
”
2 46
'

now I picks him up and holds him while the gen
’
ral ties his arms and then first clamp i n down , ,
’
the fo re h at ch e s on the captured crew we lowers ,
him into the cabin whilst we take a look around .
It was me for loot the ge n r al for the fair lady ,

’
.
But not a thing could I h n d and him no fair ,
lady In the hold topside between decks every

.
, , ,
where ; but nothin besides cocoanuts and other ’
fruit and some hogsheads o rum The rum was ’

.
an e n cou r agi n item but not what you d call loot

’
,
’
.
So we came b ack to the cabin an d untied the

captain who begins at once to go rollin ciga
,
’
re t t e s and shootin green eyes at the pair of u s ’

.
The ge n r al takes a seat opposite him and argues

’
b e se e ch i n ly but not one soft look from the little

’
man .
The ge n ral discouraged turns to me

’
, Se f
i or , .
admiral what do you say for him ? Is it not a

,
hard heart ? I love his daughter but h e ,
Sh e no lofe you ! snaps the little man

“ ”
.
Ah h but how can you say th at truly ? says

-
,
”
the ge n ral and turns to me and says : Is it not

’
,
“
j ust se n or admiral that I should have one o p p or

, ,
tuni t y to see her ?

-
”
By this time I d fille d a little j ug with some rum

’
and there was lemons and b rown sugar and a little

ice and I thought twas kind 0 rough on him
,
’ ’
,
and so I says : Y es I think y o u gh t e r specially

“
,
’
,
’
2 48
C a r i bbea n Days
'
K i llo ri n s
W h ile y ou go t t h at uniform ou . But wh ere is

she ? ”
“
Ah h t h at is
-
, w h ere is s h e ? On t h is s h ip
it,
I h ave thought but evident ly not so ,
-
.
”
“
Maybe s h e s h ere at that hidden somewhere
’
, ,
I says and if she is believe me ge n r al I ll fin d

“
, , ,
’
,
’
h er an d le avi n a lemon swizzle to cool I begins

,
’
to searc h the schooner again An d this time I .
takes a goo d look into the little captain s state ’
room I d idn t h n d the fair lady but p acked

.
’
cutely away un d er the old fellow s bunk was ’
about a c o r d 0 m oney ! N othing l ess than a

’
thousan d do l lar bill but fiv e and ten thousan d

-
,
-
d o ll ar bills most ly an d all new L or d knows how

, .
m uc h there was there but I h auled a bushel or ,
s o of it o u t on the cabin floor by way of a samp l e .
An d the litt l e man never stirred when he saw i t ;

and as for the ge n r al B ah ! he sai d
“ — ’“
Re d ,
”
moneys ! ”
I was t h i nki n I d d one a fin e stroke and th at

’ ’
,
ma d e me feel k in d 0 put out “

I l l h n d that ’
.
’
girl if she s on t h e s h ip I says then and I steps

’
, ,
over to a corner of the cabin where there d been ’
a fresh b o arding u p of the bulkhead -

.
I ga z es steady at i t An d I coul d alm ost feel .
the little man s eyes borin into my b ack ! And

’ ’
—
I whirls aroun d quick ; t h ere he was p aying no
attenti on to the ge n r al but starin at me And ’
,
’
.
2 49
’
K i llo ri n s C a ri bbea n Day s

to myself I says : If losi n all th at money in his ’
room don t j ar him it must be so me t hi n good

’
,
’
behind that bulkhead for him to worry over .
And with that in my mind I looks again at the

old fellow and now I know what it is and the
, ,
old man knew I knew and into his eyes came ,
such a look that I stopped dead Y ou mustn t .

’
forg et that I was a big loose rangy 1 80 pounder , ,

-
,
—
and standin there I can see it now ; I didn t
’ ’
—
then but me standin there with the heat of ’
warm exercise and three West Indian rum swiz

z le s o oz mg out of me on that tropic afternoon ,
I c n see now I wasn t any winged angel to look at

’ ’
.
But I had no notion of that then only that I ,
was b e gi nn i n to like the little captain ; and with

’
that new fe e li n I spoke to the g e n r al ’ “

Here
’
.
,
I says let s step on deck for a minute

,
“ ’
And
we went u p leaving the old fellow below with
,
his hands tied while we were gone And up on .
deck I says quick and sharp : L ook here mate

, , ,
what s this about you and the old chap s d au gh

’ ’
ter ? Is it all straight ? ”
Straight ? repeats the ge n r al puzzled like

“ ” ’
, .
—
Straight ? Ah h listen my friend -
and he , ,
”
pours out on me what I wasn t huntin for his — ’ ’
au t o b i e o g r ap h y
-
It was her father who had kept
.
them apart so Her father he did not lOVe his

.
,
— the e n r al s— father A n old family quarrel

’ ’
g .
,
2 50
K i llo ri n
’
s C a ri bbea n Days
afternoons we used to walk up and sit on the
lumber piles on that same railroad wharf and
watch the yellow river flowi n g by and dream 0 ‘
’
things that never did happen an never could ’
not for her and me And now aboard the little .

,
Caribbean trader the moon was b e gi nni n to poke

,
’
over our starboard rail and the first little white

stars were p e e k i n out over t h e foretopsail and’
the gen r al was still talking And when he d

’
.
’
done he laid his hand on my shoulder and said :

Straight my brave American frien d ? As straight
,
” —
as a tall palm tree And all this h e pulls on
-
.
the end of a couple of cords on his gold mounted -
coat I thought it would look well in her eyes .
And he stops .
“
But you are of the North he says after a ,
little while ; you think that foolish p ossibly ?

“
,
”
“
We do I says “
We unanimously d o and
,
”
.
,
as I sai d it I got t o t h i n ki n of how when I was ’
a boy I used to wal k on my han d s and stand on ,
my head and throw fli p fl ap s or st op to knock

,
-
,
—
the head off some passin kid i f I was able ’
a ny t h i n so a red ginghamed pop eyed little girl

’
-
,
-
sittin on the door step across the street would

’
-
take notice “
W e do those things when we are
.
boys says I aloud

,
”
.
Ah h ! So you think
-
says the ge n r al ’
.
Ver ry good and starts to throw of? his um

-
,
form .
2 52
’

No no I says ,
Keep that on It becomes
, . .
you And besides I d on t know s I m so sure we

.
, ,
’ ’ ’
ought all to grow u p And come below come ! — .

”
I thought I hear d the ol d fellow s voice below an d ’
I j umped down and there he was the little cap , ,
tain h u rry i n away from the bulkhead

,
’
.
An d now I examines the bulkhead carefully ,
and I goes up on deck and resumes my full ad

mi ral s coat and buckles on the fine gold mounted
’
-
belt and sword and sets my sh ap p o just a little

to one side I was wi sh i n I had my shoes but
.
’
,
they were on the brigantine an d she was a q uar

ter mile away an d still d ri ft i n And b ack in the
-
’
.
cabin aga n I picks up t h e h ammer an d d raws

i ,
from the bu l kh ea d p lan ki n h alf a d oz en nails ’

,
an d in t wo minutes it s d one an d o u t un d er the ’
,
’
—
lights 0 t h e cabin l amp steps O t h e prettiest , ,
slimmest l itt l e d ar k eye d girl j ust a match for -

,
the gen ral B ut t h e first thing she sees is me

’
Killorin Ah h . she says in a long sigh with

-
,
her mout h a litt l e open and I tosses t h e hammer ,
an d nails int o a corner an d straightens up and

takes a ful l breath ; and let me tell you son in , ,
those d ays the worst lookin fl at foot ever climbed -

’
over a gunboat s side wasn t me Killorin bosun s

’ ’ ’
mate secon d cl ass o r was I first class then ? No

, ,
,
— - -
matter ; I was in a full dress a d miral s uniform -

’
then and from me cocked h at to me b are to es I

,
was s o me class —
I knew I was even wit h out .
2 53
'

my shoes And when again she looks at me and
.
when again she sighs Ah h “

with her little ,
-
red lips apart I says to myself : Killorin son

“
, , ,
you re makin one big hit

’
And just then her
’
.
”
eyes looked past me and again she said Ah h“

,
-
and down among my lower ribs somewhere

dropped my quick firi n h eart and Killorin I
“
-
’
, ,
”
“
whispers to myself she loves you not — For , .
”
that l ast ah h and sigh h for the ge n r al was

- -
’
seven times deeper an d longer than the one she

hove up at sight of me .
An d while they were gazin ra p turous at each ’
other the little captain s eyes met mine And ’

.
with a memory 0 the last time I d been up b e ’ ’
fore a summary court martial I t akes charge of -

,
the case An d Si r I says i t appears to me

“
.
“
, ,
like I d have to be j u d ge here Y ou sir are a

’
.
, ,
prisoner 0 war And to be more explicit all

’
.
, ,
aboard here are prisoners 0 war B ut no gen ’

.
t le man and I say gentleman a d visedly is goin

’
, ,
to include a woman in the loot without her own

consent even if her father d id hide her away and
,
deny the same which is against all art i cle s o war

'
’
, ,
besi d es bein most disrespectfu l of service regula

’
tions But in consideration of your previous

.
good conduct we will not mention that now .

”
I turns to the g e n r al “
You se fio r g e n r al ’
.
,
’
,
do you believe me an honest man ? And with ”
2 54
'

wife What h ave you to say to this c h arge ? Do
.
you love him or do you not ? T ake your time

in
And I stood to one side S h e was sti l l lookin .
’
at the ge n r al and him at h er Just once she

’
.
looked at her father an d once at me and I —

—
winked by way of encouragement and she looked
at h er ge n r al again and looked and looked till
’
, ,
all at once the gen r al j ust n ach ally stepped across

’
the cabin floor and t ook her in his arms .
“
L ook here boy I says stern l ike ain t that
, ,
“
”
,
-
,
’
kind 0 rus h in things ? Have you a steady job

’ ’
—outside 0 p ri v at e e ri n
’ ’
“
I do not work I have money h e says over
.
,
her shoulder .
“
Real money ? Or this kin d ? an d I points to
”
the b ales of new bills in the l ittle captain s room ’

.
“
I have go ld in the b ank an d muc h sugar
plantations .
“
Then ore r p ro nobis s h e is yours I says an d
, , , ,
waves my arms b ene ficen t like over the p air of -
them “
An d y ou and me I says t o the old ,
”
man as I d on t see h ow we c n he l p i r what

,
’ ’
,
d ye say if we two ca ll t h e war off an d h ave a

’
few lem on swi zzl es wit h we n em ? i

’ ”
And I d r aws a j ug o S antiago rum an d there ’

,
was lemons an sugar an d a little ice and we fore

’
,
gathers like a couple of old shipmates after a for

2 56
C a r i bbea n Day s
'
K i llo ri n s
e i gncruise And when in the morni n from out

.
,
’
of the smooth C aribbean Sea the rosy sun came

swimmin we was right there j oy ous as a li b erty
’
,
party on p ay d ay t o greet i t An d the gen ral

-
, .
’
and the se n orita a l so sa l ute d t h e go dd es s o t h e ’
mo rni n and after breakfast we all went as h ore

’
, ,
and that night I d anced a t ar ant e lle r at t h e wed

din And be l ieve me there s c l ass t o a g oo d
’
.
, ,
’
t ar an t elle r dancer .
And likewise that night wi t h t h e si l ver m oo n ,
r i si n like a goddess o wis d om above the smooth

’ ’
C aribbean and me an d the little ca p tain mi xi n

,
’
lemon swi zz les on the veran d a of t h e gen r al s ’ ’
plantation h aci end a the l itt l e ca p tain says to ,
me : I l o ve y ou as one son Y ou sha l l be cap

“
.
tain of my s h i p A n d as a sort ofwe dd in l egacy

”
.
’
he be q ueat h es t o me al l t h e m oney was in t h e

schooner wh en the ge n r al an d me capture d h er ’
.
And ne x t morni n I too k u p my q uarters on ’
the schooner wi t h t h e crews oft h e sc h ooner an d

,
the brigantine for b od y servants A n d I h a d -

.
one good time Th ere was a b asket there a .

—
b asket about the size of a goo d size d wash b asket - -
and every morn i n I d s h ove l a l ot of money ’ ’
into t h at Oh I d on kn ow h ow much maybe

.
,
’
t wo or three or four or h y e or si x h un d re d thou
sand d ollars an d I d say to t h e cook o r maybe

,
’
o n e o f t h e d ec k force :
“
Here you Fernando go , ,
2 57
'

on up now an hurry b ack And they weren t
’
.
’
b ad traders at all In a couple of h ours they d .

’
come hustling b ack with the full 0 the b asket 0 ’ ’
chickens eggs butter cheese b ologny and fruit

, , , , ,
—everyt h ing a man d want for breakfast—i n ’
place 0 the money Fifty thousand dollars a

’
.
day apiece I paid the crew and good and plenty ,
—
for them a lot 0 lazy loafers It used to take ’
.
three of em to buckle me into my uniform of a

’
h ot morning .
I never knew how much money was in that

pile but three or four or maybe h y e or six hun
, ,
dred million dollars And maybe I didn t live .

’
on t h e fat 0 the lan d with i t for eight weeks ! It

’
,
woul d a lasted l ong er only it was the d i vil

’ ’
t ry i n t o be thrifty with my admiral s uniform

’ ’
on , and then one morni n the H i awath a came to ’
—
port an d With wh at I had left forty or fifty
,
—
million or whatever it was I gave a farewell
,
p arty that night at the hotel where the b anana

grove was in the yard I wore my a d miral s .
’
uniform for the last time th at night an d maybe ,
that ma d e em charge me a little more but no

’
,
matter tha t I n the morni n I didn t h ave hardly

.
’ ’
enough to tip the waiters t h ree or four hundred ,
—
thousand dollars maybe but whatever it was I , , ,
t ps em with i t and goes d own to the beach to

i
’
,
w h ere t h e litt l e old home l y Hi awatha was lay

, ,
2 58
T H E BATT L E C R U I SE OF THE
S VE N D FOYN
B att l e Cru i se o f t h e
-
S ve n d P o yu
air veranda in front and a glassed i n conservatory -
on the side and aft of the house a garden with a

,
waterfall mode l led after something he had left

behind him in No rway He designed the water .
fall himself and over the gr an d p i an o in the front

,
room looking out on the plaza was an oil painting -
—
of i t a whale of a p ainting done by a stranded ,
Scandinavian wh o told Mr Amundsen he d seen .

’
that identical waterfall in Norway many a time ,
which perhaps he had .
We didn t like Mr Amundsen any the less b e

’
.
cause of his collection of old sagas which he used

to spin out for hours on end Whoppers some .
,
of them were but we his whaling and sealing

, ,
captains we d sit there an d never let on eating

,
’
thin Norwegian bread and goats cheese and dried ’
chips of ptarmigan with Trondhj em beer and

, ,
none of u s but would have sat longer any time ,
so that after he got through there was a chance

to hear his daughter Hilda play the gr an d p i ano
— and sing maybe while she played And I tell
, , .
you the thought of that fine old Norwegian and

,
Hilda after months of b anging around to the west

’
ard of C ape Horn in a little whaling steamer i t —
was surely like coming home t o be home boun d —
then .
No rwegian songs were t h ey and I American , ,
born and on ly half Scandinavian by blood was

, ,
2 64
B att l e C r ui se o f t h e
-
Svend Fo y n
probably the one man coming to Amundsen s wh o ’
didn t know every word of them by heart But

’
.
not much of the sentiment of them I missed at

that because in other days I d cruise d off Nor
,
’
way too and knew the p l aces the songs told

, ,
—
about the high running fj ords and the little
-
white lighthouses ; the fish drying on t h e rocks

and the night sun fl o at i n g j ust above the edge of
the gray sea ; and again the l ong black night of
, ,
winter and the dead piled up to wait till they

could be buried when the snow went in the spring .
But shore time in P unta renas was holiday ’
time Wet days hard days at sea h ave their

.
,
time too ; and Mr Amundsen and Hilda and

, .
P unta renas were a long way behind me I was

’
.
whaling and sealing l n the South P aci fic and had ,
been doing pretty well but nothing record break

,
-
ing till one day I picked up a lot of ambergris .
Now I cou l d h ave stocked a million dollars in a

regular way and nobody pay any great attention ;
but t h e tale of that find went through half the
South P aci fic A dozen whaling and sealing mas
.
ters boarded me in one month to see if it was s o ,
and after I d told them the story of it about

’
forty h y e times I b e g an t o see myself telling it

-
,
'
to old Amundsen and Hilda in the big front room

looking out on the plaza her father and I having ,
a late supper of flat bread an d the goats cheese ’
265
B att l e Crui se o f t h e
-
Sve n d Fo yn
an d the dried ptarmigan chips with Trondhjem ,
beer and Hilda playing softly on t h e piano with

,
an eye and an ear maybe sidewise now and again

to me .
And now we were truly homeward bound in old

Magellan Straits with the hills b ack of P unta
,
’
renas in sight from our masthead W hen we spied ,
a Norwegian b ark with a deckload of lumber

ashore on the spit of P o u v e ni r B ay which is on ,
— —
the southerly the Terra del Fuego shore of the
straits He r ensign was upside down in her rig
.
ging and I headed in to see if we cou l d help her

,
out I thought it was queer no one showed up

.
aboard her to answer when I hailed but no mat ,
—
ter I moored my steamer j ust inside the spit
a n d put o ff with ha l f a dozen men in a boat and
went aboard .
Nobody on her deck nobody in her below for

,
’
ard I went aft and dropped into her cabin my
.
,
men behind me and we were peeking here and

,
there to see what it was could be wrong when ,
slap ! on goes the cabin hatch over our heads .
Then we hear the padlock slipped on and the

lock sprung We are prisoners without even a
.
,
peek at wh o it was did i t .
We heard them going ofi Without waiting

’
any longer I began slashing away with my pocket

,
k nife the only knife among u s and by and by I

, ,
266
-
Sve nd Fo yn
except they heard the noise of the hurrying of

our cargo out of the hold and then the sound of ,
a steamer making fast alongside and of shifting

our cargo to her deck and of her moving away .
And then all q uiet till we came b ack .
We l l whoever did it must have had u s timed

,
pretty well They must have had a gang hid in

.
the lumber b ark and a steamer hid somewhe re in

the straits near by waiting for u s It loo ked as .
if there was n othing for u s to d o but take our

loss and keep on for P unta renas but first I went ’
,
to the masthead and had a look out .
Op p osite P ou ve n i r B ay the Straits of Magellan

are at their widest From the crow s nest there
.
’
-
was a good stretch of sea to look at To the .
we st ard was a touch of smoke which might be

’
the steamer which looted u s ; surely she d idn t ’
g o to the e as t ar
’
d for
, there it was open water
With nothing in sight To the northward toward
’
.
,
P at ago n l a of course she would not go because

, , ,
P unta renas was there But I had a loo k that

’
.
way and as I looked I could see what looked like

,
an open boat h e ad i ng o u r way ; and I won d ered

wh o she would be and what she would be after
in a place like Terra del Fuego .
They came skipping on at a great clip for an

open boat T hey were running her to a long
.
main sheet but keeping a tight hand on the sheet

-
,
.
268
T he r r
st ange s ou t wi t h re v lv
o b ack my me n i nt o t h e
e rs ,
and loc k t h e m i n
.
B att l e C rui se o f t h e
-
S ve n d Fo yn
thought that kind of shooting was too easy for ,
p art of them went off int o the bru sh and the

oth ers came back to the spit of beach and with ,
some kindlings from their boat and some drift

wood and brush started a fire It was a north
, .
(
wind and I could smell the ducks cooking and

,
the cofi e e making and I couldn t hold off any

,
’
longer I rowed myself over in our second boat

. .
The senior line o ffice r of the party a lieutenant , ,
invited me to join them which I did and pretty

, ,
soon I was eating broiled duck and drinking real

American coHe e with bac on an d eggs and forget
, ,
ting my troubles .
After supper we sat around an d talke d and ,
they told me what had happened to the lumber

b ark Sh e had been lured inshore by false lights
the night before and boarded by a gang under
Red Dick wh o had cleaned her out of stores and
,
what money they had and had driven the crew

,
off in the morning after beating up most of them

by way of diverting h mself Then the bark s i .
’
c aptain and his crew rowed across the Straits of

P unta Arenas in their quarter boat looking for -
,
satisfaction Nobody there could do anything

.
for them because nothing less than a wa r ship

,
-
could have overcome Red Dick and there was ,
no Chilean war ship nearer than Valparaiso and

-
,
that was si x days steaming away’

.
2 70
-
S ve n d Fo yn
“
But how did that lumber captain know it
was Red Dick ? I asked at this point
”
.
“
He didn t kn ow
’
answered the o ffi ce r wh o d
,
” ’
been talking But when he described him every

.
body in P unta Arenas said it was Red Dick B ut .
aren t you an American ?

’
I said I was and told them my e x perience and ,
they all said what a pity my ship wasn t under ’
the American flag so they could put it up to their

captain and be sure he would send a party after
Red Dick And they would all like nothing bet
.
ter t h an to join that p arty and an easy matter ,
all round as their ship was to be h anging aroun d

’
,
the straits for another week .
By this time the others of the party who d

’
gone into the brush for wil d geese were coming ,
b ack They didn t get any geese because geese

.
’
, ,
wil d geese anyway aren t near so foolish as a

, ,
’
l ot of people think They were hungry an d sat

.
right down to supper .
Among them as I looke d was one I knew for

, ,
P eter L awson an old shipmate A warrant o f

, .
fice r I saw he was now but when I knew him ,
h e was a chief carpenter s mate on the old Mi sm

’
la ma . We kept eying each other and by and by ,
he remembered and we stood up and shook h ands

,
across t he fire In half a minute we were talking

.
of old days in the navy .
2 71
-
S ve n d Fo y n
By this time it was late day with the sun ,
going d own below the hills on the other side of

P ou v e ni r B ay
. I remember it went down red as
the heart of the fire we were Sl t t mg b y Through .
the little thin wh i fi s of the smoke of the fire it

'
—
looked like that all hot color and no flame .
Nothing to that of course only pictures like that

, ,
do start your brain to going The little b ay was .
there at our feet and the wide straits off to our e l

bow and the water of that b ay was smooth green
,
where it shoaled on the pebbly spit ; but the straits ,
as far as we could see them were one long roll ,
of tossing ridges and scooping hollows and they ,
were all black except where the williwaws cutting ,
across the tide would whip the ridges to a marble

,
white .
I saw the sun set red through the thin blue

smoke of the fire and almost in line with the sun
,
and the smoke was the stranded b ark with her

deck load of lumber A little farther off was my
-
.
own little S ven d F oy u It was coming on dark

.
by then and I could see them making ready the

anchor light on the S ven d F oyn And it was .
coming col der too for the broa d warm north

, , ,
wind had change d to a thin l ittle icy wind from

the south .
And now the h ery re d re fle ct i on of the sun was

-
gone from above the hills across the b ay and when ,
2 72
-
Svend Fo y n
We had a good sleep that night sleeping till ,
sunrise on the pebbly beach with the mainsail

of the sailing cutter for a tent over u s And in .
the morning the first thing after breakfast I pulled

the lumber b ark of? the beach and moored her in
the b ay That was so she wouldn t break up
.
’
and go to pieces the first gale of wind came along ;

and as after that service I fig u re d her owners
,
Wouldn t call it stealing I helped myself to a few

’
thousand feet of lumber of? her deck and we all ,
set to work t o make the S v nd F oyu over into e
what her builder back in Norway certainly never

intended her for .
First we built up her topsides to make a super

,
structure and then added the other things a first

,
class b attle ship ought to have The S v n d F oyu

-
. e
had two masts and one smoke stack The two -

.
masts were all right We had only to set figh t

.
ing—tops around them but she would be a poor ,
class of a battle— ship wi th only one smoke stack -

.
So we gave her two more We painted her lower .
sides white and her topsides yellow brown and -

,
for turrets we had one to each end with what was

intended for 1 2 inch gun muzzles sticking out of
-
them And we allowed the ends of what looked

.
like twelve 7 inch black boys to peek through

-
the sides of what we called her gun deck T wo -

.
of those 7 inch mu z zles were real muzzles that is

-
, ,
2 74
-
S ve n d Fo y n
black tarred wood like the others but t h ey we re
-
,
~
hollow so we could train a bomb lance wh aling -
gun through them one to each side When we

,
.
got that far they said I would have to name her ,
and I called her the Cap e Hor n and there being ,
no flag that any of u s had ever heard of for Terra

del Fuego we made one for her out of three
,
pieces of green red and purp l e cloth an d br o ke

, , ,
it out t oher main peak

i
-
.
And when that little roun d bowed fat sterned -

,
-
whaler waddled out o f P ou v e ni r B ay that after

-
noon there wasn t a thing that one lieutenant

’
one ensign one doctor a warrant carpenter and

, , ,
sixteen enlisted men of the United States Navy

could see she was shy o f except a wireless o u t fit , ,
and we soon fix e d that by stringing a stretch of

old wire between her masts with half a dozen old ,
b arrel hoops for a W reless plant and for fear

i ,
there was anybo d y of Red Dick s party wh o knew ’
b attle ships only from pictures I had the stokers

-
,
keep feeding her fire s with whale oil After that -

.
,
with the clouds of smoke belching out of her I ,
—
felt sure nobody could doubt u s especially at a
distance .
We gave three whist l es and dippe d the ensign

to our navy friends and for the rest of that day
,
and night and all next day and night we steamed

, ,
t h rough the straits toward the P aci fic And on .
2 75
-
Svend P o yu
the sec ond morning we turned north and ran in
a mong the islands 0 5 the Chilean coast ; and
pretty soon we ran into the place I was bound
—
for a bottle shaped passage with a narrow inlet
-
to each end and the shadow of the Andes Moun

tains darkening all And laying to moorings there.
, ,
wa s a cargo steamer of perhaps fift e e n hundred

t ons Even if she wasn t too big a st e ame r to be
.
’ '
lo a fin g there I knew her of old

, Red Dick was .
handy I took a look around to the north ard

(
’
.
,
and at the other end of the passage and j am in

'
to the high rocks was a whaling steamer about

1
our own tonnage I also knew her of old . .
I might as well say now that Red Dick and I

weren t strangers We used to be sort of friends
’
.
,
but not since the day we walked up the long

,
timber pier in P u nta renas together and met

’
Hild a with her father Sh e was straight fro m

‘
sch ool in Norway then and twas the first time ,

’
we d seen her We looked out together on the

’
.
wonderful straits and twas me she walked home

,
’
with .
But that was a year b ack and it was other ,
business now I had now to make an i mp re ssmn

.
,
and right away t o b ack u p o u r b attle ship lo oks

‘
-
.
,
So we cut loose and gave them port and star ,
board one after the other twenty one whaling

, ,
-
bombs in good regulation style They made, .
2 76
B att l e Crui se
-
o ft h e Svend Fo y n
a terrible racket against the Andes Mountains ,
which come down here to the water s edge ’

.
And Red Dick s gang must have thought we

’
were some awful power for there was soon great

,
doings on the deck of the whaling steamer Smoke .
began to come out of her and pretty soon she ,
began to move ; but when we bore down with a ,
great white wave ahead of u s and rolls of smoke

over u s they quit Two boats dropped over her
, .
side and headed for a bit of beach and twenty ,
men scurried off and lost themselves in holes b e

tween the rocks We shot a few bombs over
.
their heads j ust to let them know we were a rich

nation with ammunition to sp are The echoes .
coming b ack sounde d like a b attle fl ee t sal uting -
port in foreign waters .
We boarded Red Dick s steamer an d there’
were our sealskins and ambergris There were .
also four or five thousand other fin e sealskins

which weren t ours but which we took along
’
, ,
knowing they weren t Red Dick s And with

’ ’
.
Red Dick s steamer in charge of six of my crew

’
behind u s we started b ack the way we came

, .
In steaming past the cargo steamer we counted

four long glasses levelled at u s .
The first likely place we came to we hauled to

and shifted Red Dick s cargo to the S vend F oyu
'
.
By this time with the ambergris b ack an d fiv e

,
2 77
-
S ve n d P o yu
thousan d extra sealskins be l ow all hands were ,
willing to take a moderate chance on almost any

thing We swung away for the stra ts but n o t
. i ,
making great headway The little old S ven d F oyu

.
was never any wonder for steaming A t her best .
she could do perhaps ten miles an hour Now .

,
With all her b attle ship t o p g e ar and with the wind

-
ahead she was doing perhaps six

, .
It began to breeze u p but nothing for u s t o ,
worry over until we saw a steamer s smoke coming ’
up astern We were then clear of the coast islan d s

.
and into the straits with wind and sea figh t i n g

,
each other .
I had another good look at the steamer coming

up astern and took my prize crew 0 5 Red Dick s
,
’
whaler and turned her adrift I hated to Not . .
alone the prize money but to see a good ship go

,
to loss any time is b ad I did it in hopes that .
the cargo steamer coming upon u s would stop to

get her and while they were getting her what
,
—
—
with the gale and the dark coming we would be
able to slip away But they didn t stop P er
.
’
.
haps the little whaler was too close in to the cli ffs
for the big steamer to h ave a chance in the tide
that was running They let her pile up against
.
the cli ffs and came on and ranged up abreast of

,
us. Red Dick was on her bridge Sh e came so .
close to u s that I could almost h ave jumped

2 78
B att l e Crui se o f th e -
S ve n d Fo y n
“
What s it for ? he mimics ’
What d y ”
.
’ ’
think it s for ? ’
I shake my head I could never guess . .
Well you will soon You know me ?

, .
”
I do And you know me

.
?
I know you and I ll take no chances with you

,
’
.
I m going to heave you a line and take you in

’
tow .
“
I don t remember flying any signals for a tow
’
.
No ? Well I think you d be better C IT for a

,
’
tow Take my line

. .
”
“
W e don t want your line ’
.
Take my line or I ll blow a few holes in you ’
and while you re on your way to the bottom of’
— —
the straits all han d s of you I l l ram you to ’
make sure .
You re foolish to sink u s I says ti l l you

“ ’
, ,
take ofl the ambergris and the sealskins

’
He began to get mad Take my line or take

“
.
a shell from this gun Which is i t ? he yells .

”
.
Hi s gun was trained on our midship topsi d es .
I couldn t see where he was going to sink u s

’
leastwise not with one shot so Come aboard

“
, ,
with your shell ! I called out and he did I ”

,
.
didn t look to see wh at damage the shell did in

’
p assing but it went clear through our pine top

,
sides one side and out the other .
I d already passed the word to my mate and

’
2 80
B att l e Cru i se o f t h e
-
Sve n d Fo y u
wh r oo l went the four and a half foot bomb lance

- - - - - - -
from the inside of one of our make believe seven -
inch ri fl e s The lance tore through j ust above

.
the water line of Red Dick s steamer The bomb

-
’
.
exploded inside her hull Through the hold the .
sea rushed and from her deck below came whoops

,
of surprise .
I rolled the little fat S ven d F oyu around Sh e .
near capsized in turning especially as Red Dick ,
—
let me h ave two more from his needle gun while
we were coming aro und One of them burst i n .
side but didn t kill anybo d y Around came the

,
’
.
S ven d F oyu .
“
water line ! I ye ll e d and we l et her have
He r -
”
,
it
. And again we gave it to her They both .
went home .
Red Dick quit l aughing He ran down from .
the bridge and out of sight below P retty soon .

,
t h rough her sides as we hear him and his gang

,
yelling came the ends of blankets and mattresses

, ,
to keep the sea out of the holes we d made ’

.
A n d while they are at that we give them an

other And that settled i t Five minutes before
. .
,
I had an idea we might have to go to the bottom

— s sst ! like that And now Red Dick and his
-
.
cargo steamer were belting through the tide rips

toward the Terra del F n ego shore to find a b ay , ,
I suppose and a bit of a beach to h aul up and

,
281
-
Sve nd P o yu
patch things And I couldn t help thinking as he
.
’
went that he d lost a desperate reputation about

’
as easy as any ever I heard o f; but I might as

well also say now that I d been shipmates with ’
Red Dick and I always did believe he was a

,
good deal of a bluff But my crew didn t think .

’
that There was great rejoicing among them and

.
,
I let them rejoice so long as they didn t stop set ’
ting things to rights .
—
We were shook up some ou r b ri d ge l oosened
up, our wireless hoops hanging droopy our two ,
fake smoke stacks lying over on their sides and

-
,
the fo r a rd turret with some dents in i t ; but

’
bow first and in peace and quiet we steamed ou

, , .
And we were still steaming in peace and q uiet

when we made P unta Arenas .
And steaming i n I thought I might as well d o

, ,
it in style Here we were a V ictorious b attle

.
,
ship ente ing a foreign port and so I hoisted our

r ,
—
international code spelling it out that we were
the Cap e H or n of the Terra del Fu e g an navy and ,
asking permission to anchor T h e captain of the .
American b attle ship was standing on his bri d ge

-
as we steamed down the line with a man in our ,
chains heaving the lead my mate on the fore ,
bridge and myself on the after bridge a quarter -

,
master to the wheel and the second mate spying, ,
busy as coul d b e through a long glass ; and not

,
282
B att l e -
Crui se o f t h e S ve nd P o yu
old sagas fin i sh i n g up in the big front room with
,
flat bread and goats cheese and dried ptarmigan

’
chips and Trondhjem beer .
By and by I got a chance to tell it to Hilda

— that and a little more while I was telling i t .
The band a fin e b and too was playing their

, , ,
Sunday night concert out in the plaza I remem

-
.
ber how the music made pictures in my brain

W hile I talked though I never could remember
,
W hat they played .
However that s no matter Hilda says I told

’
, .
the story right that night And I ve told it many .

’
—
a time since to her and the children when I m ’
home from sea They are good children wh o b e

.
,
—
lieve everythin g that is told them even the sagas
of their grandfather .
2 84
T H E LA S T P A SS E N G E R
Th e L ast Passe n ge r
—
Nope alone .
Thank G od ! And where is she ?

Oh she s nicely enthroned thank you in an
,
’
, ,
angle of the lou n ge ro o m with that sixty million -
aire coal baron D ri ssle r , .

”
“
It s b ath tubs and he s only got twenty mil
’
-
,
’
lions .
“
The poor beggar ! Well Meade if ever she , ,
gets within shelling distance of his little twenty

millions they ll melt like a d obey house in the
’
rain .
”
“
—
No doubt of that I gu e ss A nd yet and yet
i
, .
up to late this afternoon at least she appeared , ,
to be delighting in the presence of C adogan ”

.
“
Sh e surely di d
”
—
B ut Major Crupp eyed .
—
Meade quizz ically what are you worrying
“
about ?
I m afrai d she hasn t really shook him I
“ ’ ’
.
know too much about her The twenty millions .
woul d be nice to draw upon but her one u n ,
quenchab l e p assion is man and in build looks , , ,
age an d temperament Ca d ogan is j ust one rich

,
prize B ut how do you account for C adogan ?

.
He s certain l y bright enough in other matters

’ ”
.
C rupp proj ected three smoke rings across the

table at Meade I was stationed in the wilds
.
of the P hilippines one time The native women .
where I was were unwashed bow legged black ,

-
,
288
Th e Last Passe n ge r
creatures about four feet high After three years .
of it I returned home in a government transport .
I landed in S an Francisco A t firs t I t h o u gh t it .
was a dream .
”
“
Thought what was a dream Major ? ,
The women going b y I posted myself on .
the co m er of two streets and there I stood trans ,
fix e d exce p t every ten minutes or so when I d

’
, ,
run into the h otel b ar behind me and have an

other drink An d I d come out again and I d
.
’
,
’
take another l ook at those big beautiful u p , ,
stan d ing creatures fl o at i n g b y h osts and hosts of ,

’
em and I d whisper to myself : C ru p p i e you re
,
’ ‘
,
’
dea d Y ou ve been boloed on outpost and gone

.
’
to heaven and you d on t know i t And googoo

,
’
.
’
eyed I kept staring at em investing every l ast ’

,
one of em with a double halo till a long sp l ay

’
, ,
foote d thin necked hombre in a policeman s uni

,
-
’
form came along and says : Here you I ve been ‘

, ,
’
p p n you of
i i l for about four hours now About
’ ’
time you moved on ain t i t ? L ord and not one ,

’ ’
of em that couldn t have married me on the

’ ’
spot I held em in such respect

‘
,
’
.
”
“
Thick wasn t h e ?
,
” ’
—
I thought s o then But I won d er if C addie .
would think we were thick too if we told him , ,
to move on ? He s j ust b ack remember from ’
, ,
two years in the j ungle and her eyes h aven t ,

’
289
Th e L ast P asse n ge r
changed color an d her hair still shines like a new
—
gold shoulder knot at dress parade Sh e is still .
—
beautiful and clever .
“
C lever ? S h e s surely th at ; but he s only a
’ ’
boy Major
, .
—
M m twenty six
- -
What s twenty six ? He s still a dreaming boy

’
-
’
.
I d like to say what I really thought of her

’
.
Don t T hey d be h aving a squa d of stew

’
.
’
ards in here to po l ice the p l ace after y ou got

through .
“
Why d on t y ou give him a hint ?
’
—
Hu h ! No no Mister Meade I m sti l l young
, ,
’
and fair You break it t o him Who knows

. .
,
your age may save y ou fro m being proj ected

through the nearest e mb rasu re l C rupp crushed ”
the smoking end of his cigarette against t h e ash

tray .
“
I ll have to run a l ong now
’
.
”
“
Back soon ? ”
After I ve said good night to two or three

’
d ear old ladies in the lou nge roo m before they

g o below .
“
And two or three d ear young ladies wh o
won t be going below
’
.
”
“
Don t b e saucy Meade Y ou l ook out of
’
, .
uniform wh en y ou try to be saucy Exactness .
as to fact an d luminosity of l anguage that s— ’
you if you please

, .
”
2 90
other people about some particular thing and ,
then get it out of them What about this ocean

.
—
line r travelling of to day is it perfectly safe
- ? ”
“
The safest mode of trave l ever devised o r —
should b e .
”
“
But lives are lost ?
Surely And prob ably will b e B ut they
. .
— —
should not b e not on the high sea except in a
collision an d then prob ably one ship or the other
,
is to b l ame Even inshore if t h ey keep their

.
,
lead an d foghorn going an d steam up to kick

,
her ofl nothing will happen either unless h e

’
,
— ,
”
—
shrugge d his shou l ders they ve gone foolish or
“ ’
something else on the bridge .

”
Meade questione d further And Cadogan an .
swe re d b ri e fly ,
—
abstractedly until Meade grow ,
—
ing more cunning an d subtl e h e was le d into
citing one e x perience after another from out of
his own life in proof of this or that si d e of an
argument .
C adogan had begun in short sna p py sentences , ,
an d in a tense rather high keye d voice ; but once

,
-
warmed up he swung along in roun d e d a l most ,
classic perio d s ; and his voice deepene d and soft

ene d an d as he became yet more abs orbe d in his
,
subject grew rhythmical musical a l most the

, , ,
while his words took on added color and glow .
Once in full swing it was not d i ffi cu lt for Meade

2 92
to get him to run o n ; an d he ran on for an hour ,
and would have gone on i n d e fin i t e ly only sud ,
d e n ly coming to himself an d looking around he ,
discovered that half the ro o m had gathere d in a

semicircle behind his chair He flushed cut his .
,
story short and said no more The crow d dis

, .
p e rs e d to their various seats .
P resently Mea d e observe d : How d i d you

ever fin d time in your young life for the h alf of
—
i t ? An d how you d o suggest things possibili
ties that try a man s spirit even to contemplate !
’ ”
Cadogan di d not respon d ; but from L avis the ,

“
man on the transom came : And now you are
,
suggesting the really great a d venturing ! ”
Meade turned in surprise “

What is th at ?
.
“
Isn t it in the spirit we h ave the real ly great
’
adventures
Meade studie d him curiously You mean .
that the most thrilling adventures are th ose we

only dream about but which never happen ?
,
”
“
I didn t mean exactly that for they d o hap
’
pen What I meant was that to try your body

.
—
was nothing but to try your sou l try it to the
,
—
utmost there would be something .
”
“
To risk it or try i t ? asked Meade
”
.
Oh to try it only T o risk i t would not th at

, .
,
be sinful ? ”
C adogan s instinctive liking for L avis h a d led

’
2 93
him from the beginning of the voyage to ta k e a
keen interest in whatever he might do or say ;
'
but until to night he had found him a most u n

-
obtrusive and taciturn man He had a feeling that .
this man wh o befo re to night had b arely said

,
- ‘
more than good morning and good night to him ,
understood him much better than did Meade the ,
professional observer wh o was forever question

,
ing him The answer to Meade s last question

.
’
stirred him particularly because he felt that it,
was meant not for Meade but for himself

, , .
Thinking of Meade who was a famous author

,
and journalist Cadogan said hesitatingly and

,
shyly : I v e often thought I d like to be a writer

“ ’ ’
.
He meant that for L avis but it was Meade wh o ,
took it to himself to ask him why .
I f I were a writer I d have hope right now

“ ’
of taking part in one of the greatest adventures

that could befall a man .
“
Where C adogan ?
,
”
Right aboard this ship How ? Here we are .
tearing through the iceberg country trying to

make a record If ever we piled up head on to
.
one of those icebergs where would we b e ?

,
”
“
But it is a clear night An d the lookouts . .
—
Never mind the clear night o r the lookouts
if they are not looking out .
”
“
B ut this ship can t sink ’
.
2 94
Th e Last P asse n ge r
The numbness soon creeps up to your heart and ,
then
“
But how could a man do it and live ?
Why sir do you insist that he should live ?
, ,
It was L avis wh o had spoken .
Meade s eyebrows rose above the tops of his

’
horn glasses “
Eh ! Cadogan too stared at
.
”
, ,
L avis .
“
To live after 1t would be only to half com
p l e t e the adventure We began
. by speaking of
an adventure in the spirit To make a real a .
,
great adventure of i t should not the man die ?

,
”
Meade now smiled with obvious tolerance .
But a man dead an d buried in the depths of

the sea ! ”
“
That would only be his body and we were ,
speaking of an adventure of the spirit o f the—

soul The man should experience every physical
.
dread every nervous fear every emotional horror

, ,
of those last few minutes share the bitterness of ,
the disillusionment inevitable when three or four

thousand ordinary every day human beings are
,
-
dying in despair because as they would j udge

, ,
i t dying so needlessly
, T o get the full measure
.
of i t and to share also in the sweetness and r e si g

,
nation of great souls in the hour of death would ,
not his mortal body have to meet d eath even as ,
the others ? ”
2 96
Meade readjusted his horned spectac l es He .
would have to revise his notes of the man th at ,
was plain Forty or forty h y e possibly he was

.
,
-
, .
Tall and large framed but spare thin cheeked

-
, ,
-
,
and hollow templed with white streaks among

-
,
the close clipped very black and very thick hair

-
, ,
which showed from under his cap A worn .
,
—
looking man a student M m h e had him .
-
—
now a teacher of the classics in some college ,
possibly a young women s college ’

.
“
To get b ack to our steamer and your e x t r ao r
d i n ary proposition suggested Meade ; you say
“ ”
,
that the man should actually die ? ”
“
Surely die And he should face d eath even
.
as our highly vitalized young friend here faces

life Mr Cadogan coming b ack to u s from peril
. .
,
ous experiences makes u s share with him in every

,
tremor e very dread every thought he himself

,
'
felt in his adventure And how does he manage .
to do that ? Isn t it because in the perilous mo

’
ment his soul remains tranquil ? If death comes ,
—
well and good i t cannot be helped ; if not then ,
a glorious adventure He meets danger with .
every faculty keyed up to the highest Now if .

,
a man would meet his death as this steamer went ,
down in the same mood would he not march

, ,
into the shadows with a soul ennobled

“
And then what ? ”
2 97
Then ? If we are heirs in spirit even as in
body will God ever allow a great spirit to become
extinct ?
Meade ab andoned his young ladies teacher -
’
-
supposition He speared the man with another

.
glance .
“
P ardon me you are not a scientist ?
,
”
—
L avis smiled for the fi rst time “
Do I talk .
like one ? ”
“
You do not believe t h en in prese n t d ay sci e n
, ,
-
ti h e methods ? ”
“
I believe in any constructive method but ,
—
he betrayed a shadow of impatience why limit “
our beliefs to what can be proved with a surgeon s ’
knife ?”
Meade thought he remembered that Roman

Catholic priests were on special occasions allowed
to travel without the outer garb of their calling ;
but would a priest talk so freely to a s t range r P .
And yet “
Y ou must h ave had a religi ous
training at some t 1me in your life ?
L avis smiled again but more slowly Y ou
, .
are persistent Mr Meade

, . .
”
“
I beg your pardon It is the journalist s i n
.
’
t e r vi e wi n g habit And I thought I recalled

.
,
also
L a vis seemed to be waiting for Meade to fin
ish but Meade who suddenly realized to what
, ,
he was leading did not h u ish ; and L avis turned

,
2
98
then smiling at himself
, :
“ ’
—
That s a good one I
took it seriously .
“
Take it seriously please , .
Cadogan instantly sobe ed But I m not r .

’
aching to die And the L ord never intended me

.
for a martyr .
”
“
Are you sure you know what the L ord i n
tended you for ? You have done great deeds in
one way You could do great deeds in ano t her
.
way A great deed is never more than a great

.
thought in action You need but the great .
thought to give the great deed birth .
“
But I never originated a great thought in
my life .
What man ever did ? The seeds of great

thoughts are born in u s which means that they ,
come from God But great deeds are man s .

’
.
And if it should come to pass in your ad ve nt u r

ous life that you go to a calamitous death it ,
may not be altogether a pity If your heart re .
mains pure as now it surely would not b e You , .
have every q u alificat i on if you could but be born ,
again .
”
“
Why wouldn t you yourself be the man for
’
such a thing ? It was Meade eying the man

”
,
from under contracted eyebrows who put this ,
question .
“
Thanks ! L avi s s smile was alm ost percep
” ’
tible .
300
I did not mean
No harm It would req u ire the creative gen
.
ius I am no longer creative

. .
”
“
But you have an intellect .
Meaning that I have a well developed muscle -
in the brain The man wh o lifts heavy weights

?
in the circus has also a well developed muscle in -
his arm or b ack or legs but what does he teach

, , ,
u s that is for the betterment of the race ? But

Mr Cadogan here has the flaming soul And the
. .
last passenger on this ship should be such as h e ,
a strong man with the innocence of the child He

turned from the older to the younger man You .
are creative in thought powerful direct tireless

, , ,
in action Mr Cadogan Every new experience

, . .
still comes to you with the dew of the morning

on i t You should die hard with your eyes open
.
,
to the last Nothing would escape you And

. .
you would know what dying was because for ,
you to give up life would be a great renunci a

tion .
”
Cadogan shook his head Even if a l l the.
rest of it were true I h ave nothing in life to

,
renounce .
How can y ou know t h at P Y ou would be re

“
n o u n c i n g a limitless capacity for enjoyment if ,
nothing more L avis rose to his feet

.
” “
I hope .
I haven t bored you too much I think I will

’
?
g o out and get some fresh air H e bowe d and .
30 1
smiled t o Meade smiled more warmly on C ado ,
gan wrappe d his top coat over his evening clothes

,
-
,
and went out on deck .
Meade saw that C a d ogan was gazing thought

fully on the seat whic h L avis had vacated .
“
What do you make of him C a d ogan ? ,
Cadogan s face when he swung his chair around

’
, ,
was flushed his dark blue eyes more glowing than

,
-
usual “
I don t know except that he had me
.
’
thinking He made me feel that he was reading

.
my mind and before he left I was saying to my

,
self When I grow older I ll be something like

,
‘ ’
him on ly of course wit h l ess brains t h an h e s

,
’
, ,
’
f
’
g o t
“
You ll have b rains enough d on t fear
’
,
’
. He
made me think of the head of a religious order
wh o went wrong some years ago But that was .
before I knew much of the inside of C ontinental

affairs A woman as I recall i t However he s
.
, .
,
’
—
gone h e made my head ache trying to follow him ,
—
and but there is the major and Vogel passing
the port hole I ll call them in and we ll have
- .
’ ’
our litt l e rubber .
T hey sat in t o their l ittle rub b er an d whi l e ,
they playe d a p assenger of importance wa auc s
t i ni ng f the pool on the ship s run for t h e next

’
o f o
day .
30 2
for the high fie ld The gentleman who shall be
.
fortunate enough to win this pool will have some

thing to brag about in future days Come now .
, ,
how much for the high fie ld ? Seventy fiv e ? -
Good ! G entlemen I am ofl e re d
'
,
“
What s the high field worth C a d ogan ?
’
asked Vogel .
“
All you want to bid if nothing goes wrong , .
But with ship s o ffice rs spending more time with

’
distinguished passengers than on the bridge I ,
wouldn t give a nickel for i t

’
.
”
“
I won t bid then
’
, .
The voice of the man on the table was i ncre as

ing in volume Eighty five pounds I am offered
.
-
for the high field It is not enough not enough

.
,
by far ge n t le me n e h ! Eh I say
,
fl
, .
”
The ship heaved not violently ; gently rather , ,
under them There was an easy slight roll to

.
,
port a dull almost noiseless bumping a slow

, , , ,
heavy resistance a s of a heavy object being

,
forced over a stubbornly yielding surface .
To either side of him and in the mirrors C ado

gan could see a d ozen men peer inquiringly up
over cards or b ooks or glasses Meade stared .
around the room “

What the devil s that ? he
.
’ ”
asked and held a card high with eyes directed

, ,
to the nearest deck door .
There was a recoil of t h e ship wh ic h s l owly ,
3 4
0
Th e L a st P asse n ge r
and gently but surely and almost comically to
, ,
Cadogan s way of thinking urged the stout waist

’
of Meade against the edge of the table .
Cadogan waited his last turn to play laid down ,
his card and scooped in the trick

,
“
Forty on .
points eight on honors M ajor he said and set

, , ,
”
,
it down “
I f nobody minds I ll step out on
.
,
’
deck and see what stopped her .
Stopped ! Is she stopped ? exclaimed Vogel

“ ”
.
Sh e is Cadogan strolled out of the smoking

”
.
room Three or four had preceded him ; half a

.
dozen wh o had nothing else to do strolled out

, ,
after him .
In a few minutes those wh o had gone out were

beginning to return “
Well what do you know
.
,
about that ? whooped the first one ” “

Hit a
lump of ice ! L ucky for the ice we didn t hit it ’
fair with this forty h y e thousand tonner going

,
- - -
along at twenty five or six knots an hour like

she is ! ”
Several laughed at th at and Major C rupp who , ,
was p atiently ri fll i n g the cards called out to the ,
last speaker : Did you see Mr C adogan out

“
.
there ? ”
“
I saw him going toward the bow of the ship ,
M ajor was the answer

,
”
.
“
Investigating I suppose Well suppose we
, .
,
— —
p l ay d ummy wh at d o you a l l say ? till C addie -
3 5
0
comes b ack He s possessed of a demon for find
.
’
ing out things Your deal Mr Vogel .

, . .
”
A steward steppe d in from the deck Major .
Crupp sir ?
,
“
Yes .
”
Mr Cadogan told me t o say not t o wait till

.
h e came back sir but to go on with the game sir

, , , .
Vogel picked up his cards “

How l ong will we .
be delayed steward ? ,
”
“
Oh not more than an h our or t wo t h ey say
, , ,
Hmm
- — Vogel stared-
at the re fl e ct i vely
— “
table I ll have to buy Cadogan a good smoke
’
when he comes b ack He saved me ninety or a .
hundred pounds on that high fie ld ”

.
Th ey resume d play .
II
L avis was pacing the wi d e promena d e deck
and sn i fii n g the air as he paced It was as if a .
—
breath of the north were on them and yet hav ,
ing reached the uncovered p art of the deck astern

he looked up to observe the steamer s smoke ’
the W l n d was not from the north .
Such passengers as were still making their

rounds were doing so determinedly in sweaters
or top coats Without halting in their rapid w
,
-
. alk
30 6
night there were those wh o were also having a
,
warming drink with the bite or without i t , .
It was growing late The deck was now almost .
deserted L avis took a last look over the rail a

.
,
last gulp of the cooling air and went into the ,
lo u n ge roo m Here he got from the steward p a

.
per and envelopes sat down and wrote : ,
Now see h a t t y ou m ake no a emp

tt t to l r e hi m back
u .
There was no address no signature He sealed , .
the envelope and went below to where at the ,
end of a p assageway he found a stewardess on ,
watch Miss Huttle hasn t come down yet

.
’
Hannah ?
“
No sir Mr L avis
, , . .
No ? Well there is a party in Mr D ri ssle r s

, .
’
suite.
”
“
Mr D ri ssle r sir ?
.
,
T he wealthy man in t h e roya l suite .
Oh yes sir , , .
Miss Huttle is there Y ou take this note to .
her there and let me know that it has been de

,
l ivered please , .
L avis went to his room got out a long loose , ,
linen duster from his wardrobe removed his top ,
coat pulled the duster over his evening clothes

, ,
found an old cloth cap and waited for the return ,
of the stewardess .
30 8
She came presently I gave it to Miss .
“
tle Mr L avis Into her own han d sir

,
. .
, .
”
“
T hank you Hannah ”
, .
L avis left his room and descended deep d own

into the ship to where a man in dungarees but
, ,
with an o ffice r s cap of authority was perched on

’
,
a horizontal grating poring over the speed regis

ter Over his shoulder L avis watched the nu
.
—
me r als shift seven eight nine thirty One , , , .
,
t wo — eight nine forty Click click click click

, , .
, , ,
— h e watched them until the o fii ce r turned and

saw him .
“
Ho I was beginning to think you d given me
’
,
the go b y for to night

-
They shook hands -
.
”
.
“
Isn t it the most beautiful mechanism ever
’
made by the hand of man ! exclaimed the o f ”
“
h e er . A watch is nothing to i t And what .
you see here cost more than twenty thousand

—
watches twenty thousand of em and every ’
d anged watch in a gold case .

”
He drew out his own gun metal stop watch - -

.
“
I ll time her now for a hundred revolutions
’
.
”
He caught the time set it down in a little note ,
book and from it slowly but surely reckoned her

,
speed G rand grand ! he sai d softly

.
“ “
,Will ”
.
you come along ? Goo d !

They descen d e d and ascen d e d many narrow
3 9
0
iron ladders and made their way through many
narrow grimy passageways Oilers stokers coal
, .
, ,
passers wat e r tenders straightened up to give

,
J-
them a greeting as they passed In one boiler .
room a stoker was scooping a dipper through the

water pail at his feet as they entered
-
l
.
“
Are we holding our own this watch Mr L in , .
nell ? He held the dipper respectfully in sus

” '
pense for the answer .
Holding i t ? Yes and more

“
, .
Hi h i ! an that gang went of f watch before

’
,
u s M r L innell
, .
— an I fancy they rate themselves
’
—
a competent watch among themselves sir they — ,
threw it at u s as how we d do mighty well to hold ’
our own By this time his chief had p assed

”
on ,but L avis lingering saw the stoker gulp a

, ,
mouthful of water hold it a moment and squirt , ,
it 5 5 2
,
!-
contemptuously into a heap of hot ashes
-
.
L innell continued his rounds sparing a nod here , ,
a nod there almost a full smile at times and at

, ,
times too a sharp snap of criticism L avis in

, , .
his rear caught the pursuing comment He was .
the kind was the chief to soon let you know

, ,
where you stood And right he was And no . .
one would begrudge him what he could make of

the passage if so be he could make a bit more of
,
reputation out of i t for surely his heart was in ,
his work Never one to loaf by all reports but

.
, ,
3 1 0
blue dungarees was standing silent watch Be .
fore him was a row of levers and beside him a

dial on which were words in very black letters :
F U L L SP E E D HA L F SP E E D and so ou To one
, , .
side was a disk around which two colored arrows ,
one red and one green were racing A gong was , .
at the man s ear A t his feet was a pit into

’
.
which a great mass of highly polished steel was

driving in and out in and out up and down , ,
ceaselessly
L innell studied the colored arrows as they sped
around the disk P ort engine a bit the best of
.
He had to speak into the man s ear to make

”
it ?
’
himself heard .
The man in dungarees nodded A wee bit .

,
s 1r
.
3,
How s all else ?

“ ’
Couldn t be better sir

’
He had to yell to
, .
make himself heard “

Are we holding our own
.
,
sir ? ”
“
A full revolut on better than any watch since
i
we left port
”
.
The man nodded as if he had been expecting i t ,
but presently chuckled and swung one foot play

fully toward the glittering gray cross head as it -
went driving down into the pit “

A full revo .
”
lu t i o n ! —
he echoed t t t — and spat with ob
“
- -
”
v i o u s si g ni fican ce into the pit .
3 1 2
T -t -t mimicked L innell and slapped him ,
lightly on t h e shoulder before he turned to L avis .
Will you go farther or wait here ?

“
I ll wait here if you don t min d an d stan d
’
,
’
p art of the watch with Andie .

”
“
Very good ! I ll pick you up later ’
.
L avis stan d ing beside Andie and ga z ing into

,
t h e pit p ointed to the great cross head driving b y

,
-
.
I f th at were to fl y out and g o through the bot

“
t o m of t h e ship Andie would it sink her ?

”
, ,
An d ie projected h i s lower lip “

I t mi ght sink .
her sir though it don t seem possible like But

, ,
’
-
.
if it d i d sink her twould be a bou t the only way

,
’
to sink h er sir
”
, .
L avis let his eyes ro am above and about

him Andie observe d the direction of his gaze
. .
A wonderful sight aren t t he commented

i ?
,
’ ”
.
What wi so many polished rods an shafts all

’ ’
whity gray an all them many beams an b ars

-
,
’ ’
so beautiful green an red p ai nt e d l ’

-
”
L avis still interested in the wonderful mac h in

,
ery felt the deck lifted the least bit under him
, .
It was as if the ship had risen to a rolling head

sea He laid hold of a handy stanchion to steady
.
himself but he saw Andie unsupported g o sli

, , ,
ding easily gently irresistibly to the bulkhead b e

, ,
hind them L avis saw Andie b race his legs and

.
,
then remin d ful an d resentful b oun d b ack to h i s

, ,
1
3 3
station and set a hand to each of t wo levers .
The iron deck beneath them was still rolling eas

ily ; from beneath the deck came a ch afing noise ,
a slow heavy grinding

, .
L avis saw that with hands t o levers eyes on ,
indicator and ears to gong the man in dunga

, ,
rees had become oblivious to all but the expected

order from the bridge I t came after a time .
the warning clang an d the needle pointing to

A ST E R N SL ow .
Andie shifted his l evers Ro d s an d shafts re . '
versed Andie eyes set on the b ridge dial

.
, ,
waited .
L avis could hear L innell s voice sharp ly hailing ’
—
somebody in the boiler room passage P resently .
he saw him running by the bulkhead d oor ; and

then from the far end of the passage his voice
, ,
cracking out like a whip : B ack I say ! B ack

“
, ,
you dogs b ack to y our stations ! I ll tell you

,
’
when you re to go ’
.
”
He came bounding in an d past L avis and

Andie up the narrow iron ladder up the wider
, ,
one above i t Again L avis heard him : You

.
“
—
thought to forelay me eh and breed p anic ,
above ? You misbegotten spawn I d kill you as ,

’
’
—
I d kill a cockroach and every last one of you ,
—
if you force me Y ou dogs go b ack !
.
”
Cri es and oaths then the thud of a heavy

,
3 4
1
L avis saw Andie pout his lower lip and with a ,
T -
t -t shift his gaze to the pit The blind .
“
b ats ! burst from him and he spat into the pit ;

”
,
Se e there sir ! he called out to L avis

”
,
L avis nodded He had already noticed i t

. .
There was a foot or so of water in the pit .
“
How the devil came it there ? Andie stooped
and scooped a handful of i t tasted i t and , ,
held it up for L avis to V iew S alt ! A nd cold .

“
.
T t t
- -
Andie let his breath whistle softly
through his parted teeth .
The water was rising By and by it was over .
the top of the pit and crawling across t h e s h iny

deck Andie looked about for relief
. .
“
I ll tell him volu nteered L avis
’
,
”
.
Thank you sir A n you might say sir

, .
’
, ,
there must be some t h i n wrong wi the bulkhead ’ ’
doors They aren t closed yet

.
’
.
”
L avis met L innell returning in the p assageway .
Buttons in place of eyes in their heads aloft ! ”
he was muttering An for all 0 forty mechanics

“
.
’ ’
brought specially to set things right they can t ,

’
clos e the doors below .

”
Together they waded in to where Andie was

now to his knees in water “
L et be your levers ,
Andie an take a spell o rest for yourself com

,
’ ’
man d e d L innell .
Andie slowly relaxed his finge rs pulled a bunch ,
3 1 6
of waste from his hip pocket and wipe d his ,
hands .
She s hard hit said L innell to L avis though

“ ’
, ,
there s few know it yet And won t in a hurry

’
.
’
“
Then I d better be going above ?
’ ”
That s right do Will you be b ack this way

’
, .
again ? ”
L avis let his hand rest lightly on Andie s head ’

.
I m not sure He extended his hand to L in

“ ’
.
nell “
I f I don t see you again good b y
’
,
-
.
”
Good b y Mr L avis
-
The engineer stepped
, . .
”
c l oser and whispered : I fany honest chance offers

“
to leave the ship leave her ”

, .
L avis found his way through the crew s quar ’
ters to the lowest sleeping deck of steerage Here .
a few old people and some children too discour ,
aged too i ndi fferent or too helpless were cling

, , ,
ing to their bunks Ou the next deck he found a .
gathering in the open space surrounding a freight

hatch One whom he knew for a P olish woman
.
,
with her b aby at her breast was on the edge of ,
the crowd and like most of the others glancing

, , ,
up to see what was doing on the higher decks .
The P olish woman was too concerned with her

b aby to see exactly what they were doing on that
high d eck where all the boats were but another ,
woman was telling her how it was .
3 7
1
L avis steppe d closer and listened She was .
telling the tall one how there were many men

, ,
—
running about excitedly ship s men with only ’
shirts above their trousers some and others with ,
coats buttoned u p And they were pulling and.
hauling and knocking away blocks Such a clear .
—
night one could see them see their forms and—
hear too their blows and shouts The woman
, ,
.
with the baby nodded Without lo oking up she .
could hear the blows And now the electric light .
had come resumed the tall one ; she could see

,
that many women had gathered there and some ,
were pushing forward and others pushing b ack ,
— —
and now women yes and a man were being ,
put into a boat .
“
And now the b o at is l owered resumed the ,
tall one .
I can hear them said t h e young mother , .
And now it is rowing away from the ship in the

dark.
”
“
And there is an other informe d the ta l l one ,
by and b y .
I can hear that t oo rowing away in the d ark

, , .
—
And from the water do you hear i t too b aby , ,
—such a lonesome cry in the darkness ? ”
A t that moment L avis spoke to her in her own

language The young mother greeted him warmly
. .
“
Ah h b aby she said here is the good gen
-
, ,
”
,
3 1 8
I would like to get to the upper deck inter ,
rup t e d L avis .
“
You would like to get to the upper deck ,
would you ? And wh o may I ask do you take , ,
yourself for a trying to speak like a toll ? The

,
-
”
man turned his back to L avis “

Swine ! he t e .
”
p e at e d to his mate .
L avis glanced down at himself He had over .
looked the effect of the old linen duster and the

old cap .
When he gets to arbor of course there will ’

,
be tugboat visitors and customs o ffice rs ars k i n ’
for i m won t they ?

’
,
’ ”
The other cast half an eye on L avis When .
the clarss will look down on the tops 0 their ’
heads and remark : What a mob of em there ! ‘ ’
How many of em did you cart along this time’

,
Captain ? I fancy he ll have only to cock his

’ ’
ear up to hear em ’
.
“
Bloody foreigners most of em ,
’
.
L avis returned to the P olish mother Come .

,
he said.
“
There is another way out of here .
”
“
, ,
—
P lease sir the big jolly Irisher what is she ,
saying ? ”
L avis listened to the big jolly Irish girl wh o , , ,
however was not now so jolly L avis had seen

,
.
a thousand like her gathering kelp on the west

—
Irish coast tall deep bosomed b arefooted girls,
-
,
wit h black hair to the waist and glorious dark ,
3 20
eyes S h e was stan d ing on the covered hatch
.
,
and pointing at the moment to one of the ship s ’
men wh o had passed .
“
Wet to his knees Where is it he shoul d be
.
getting wet to his knees ? And another one .
And where is it they are going ? An d is it we

—
that has to stay here till that kind she pointe d
to the two stewards on guard at the steerage
—
gate are p l eased to let u s out ? H aven t we as
“ ’
much right to our lives as them that lives higher

up ? Five h undred of u s here women and child ,
ther and which of t hem above cares whether we

,
live or die ? ”
Sh e pointe d to a woman W ith her br ood c l ing

ing to her hands and skirts “
L ook at that poor .
woman with her h y e c h i ld t h e r And that poor .
little thing she indicated the P olish woman

” -
“
th at has a husb and waiting for herself and her
b aby in New York And that other one and
.
,
that one and that one God in heaven mothers

, .
,
with their children to their breasts an d not to ,
be given a chance to live at all ! If tis a mother ’
I was and a child to my breast it s not images

, ,
’
of men in uniforms would hinder me from saving

my b aby this night ! And myself with my b aby ,
if my b aby was in need of me an I coul d ,

’
.
The t wo ship s men on guard were gazing not

’
at the steerage but up at the higher decks

, ,
3 2 1
when a do z en or more of the steerage women
swept across the deck “
G rand work for strong .
men the Irish girl cried p re ve nt i n poor women

,
“
,
’
and ch i ld t h e r from looking out for themselves .
It s not even shadows of men y e are ! and with

’ ”
that bowled the near one over ; and her c o mpan

ions sweeping up behind her bowled the other
, ,
one over The two stewards had a look up and

.
a look down and then with an outraged look at

, ,
each other they flew after the disappearing steer

,
age women .
“
Come now L avis to o k t h e P o l ish mother s
, .
’
hand .
Sh h ! she warned He is sleeping

“ ”
-
. .
L avis nodding that he saw helped her carefully

, ,
to her feet and led her through the now unguarded

,
gate and by way of several ladders to that high

, ,
deck where the boats were .
A boat was all but ready for l owering The .
last woman had been crowded into i t The P olish .
woman removed her sh awl and wrapped it around

her b aby “
B aby ! L avis could hear her saying
.
”
over and over again in P olish “

Oh my baby ! .
,
my b aby boy ! but softly so as not to waken ”

,
him Sh e stepped into the circle of light which sur

.
rounded the boat and the ship s people “

S a av e
’
.
-
beb b y she said in English and held shawl and

-
, ,
b aby up at the end of her ou t stretched arms .
A rough hand gr pped her by the sh oulder i .
3 2 2
below the promenade deck nothing disturbing ,
h ad happened When such passengers as were .
about to turn in became aware of that slow lurch

and easy stoppage they had stepped out into the ,
p assageways and asked each other what was the

,
matter ; which question was answered almost

immediately by ship s people wh o came hurrying ’
among them with reassuring words “

It s noth .
’
ing ladies and gentlemen If you will go b ack

, .
—
to your rooms ladies and gentlemen it s noth ’
ing .And they had gone b ack to their rooms

”
.
C adogan turned on the light in his room and ,
hauled out his suit— case He found a pad of .
p aper found also a fountain pen shook the pen

, ,
to make sure the re was ink in i t let down the

,
covering of the wash b asin for a desk laid thereon -

,
a small photograph of a beautiful face and head

e u p r ofile and began to write He set down
, .
“
Dear and paused He smiled faintly wrote
, .
,
Helen after i t and went un h esitatingly on ,
Thi s a f e rn n ve rt oo ,as I c n cl u de d
o fm
o u r t e a, o on e o y
al m s e n dless m n l g u es
o t
‘
m re m e mb e r sa i dy ou ay y o u
Y u d be e r w a c h will be h a vin g
o o o , ,
“ ’
tt s me d t out or o ay you
d I h h i h h
o
ur las a v
t e n ur e W ellt a v e ad i N w i s t ot t t
ship I
y o , .
—
.
no, n o M las ad v e n ur e w as a d r ea m f
y t t o y ou
w as h d ck ab u b a rd a s ea me r f S u h A me ri ca
. .
on t t to o t or o t
w h e n I sa w s e p A n d I ca m e ab a r d
e o , o ,
you f ur cabt ou t o y o so o
h e re I m glad I ca me
.
b ru s h ed m e in p ass in g as I s d bes ide h ga n g

. a .
Y t oo t e
k i did k h
ou ,
p la n ry n
t g s a r e
n ot t o b y t at n wy ou ;a ut ou no t o t t
3 4
2
-
di d y ou
—al h u g h f a n i n s a n I h u g h
t o or t t t o t y o u did It
c n ce i f y u h h a h ug h
.
w as the o t o o t , t t t o t .
C adogan hel d up his pen

The sound of h ur .
ry i n g feet from the passageway the noise of h sts ,
pounding on doors of high pitched voices asking ,

-
and answering questions broke on his ears He ,

.
listened stared at the air port for a moment an d

,
-
,
resumed his writing

Ab u hi s i m e a s ew a r d i s p un d i n g y ur d r a n d
o t t t t o on o oo
h i f mi g y
n or h a y a re g d eck a n d be ready
n ou t t to o on to
g in N h in g se r i u s h e i s p r bably say in g
ou
o h b a s
to t t ot o o
Th e p r m a n wh ells y I m s ure d es s u s p ec
e o .
, .
oo o t o u so , a o no t t,
w h ev e r ld h i m ca rry h a m essage k n e w be e r
,
b ut o to to t t tt
P e r h a p s i i s j u s as w ell h e d es s u s p ec
.
t t o no t t
W h e n h s ea me r s pp ed h a i me i w as b eca u se s h e
.
t e t to t t t t
s ru ck h s u b me rge d s h el f f a n i ceb e rg I n h r ee h ur s
,
t on t e o t o
— less—s h e wi ll g d wn a n d all wh h a pp e n
.
or beo o o to on
b a rd will g wi h h e r Th ey s h u ld be able s w a h u
,
o o t o to to t o
sa n d w me n a n d c h ild re n in h b a s a n d h ese s h u l d be
.
o t e o t t o
p i cke d u p s n a f e r day l igh if h sea s ay s s m h a n d

,
oo t t, t e t oo t
h w ea h e r clea r T ni g h s i n d i ca i n s w e r e clea r w ea h e r
’
t e t o- t t o t
a n d a cal m sea f leas a n h e r d y h a will be all
.
o r at t ot so t t
ri g h
a ,
will be i n f h b a s a n d sa fe I w u ld be
.
Y ou on e o t e o t -
t o
l i ke y w n g I f I h ea r h a y d h en
, .
o u not t o t to t t ou o n ot , t
wi ll see h a y d g B I s h all
a o .
s meo one t be b yt ou o o ut not
w h e n y lea v e h sh i p f I d rea d
.
y ou ou wan y t e or o no t t ou t o
in y ace h a I kn w I m —
,
m f t tsee y aga n o not t o ou nor t o
b h e r y i n y w y I s h all be l k in g as y lea v e
a i
ot ou an a oo on ou
a n d w h a y sa i d nig h wi ll hen m a er A s y
.
,
t ou t o- t no t t tt ou
ve r h s i d e my p r ay e r will g wi h y
.
g o o t e o t ou .
There came a sharp knock on the door .
“
C ome ! he calle d It was his own steward
”
.
,
3 5
2
Th e L ast P as s e n ge r
wh othrust his head past the do o r s edge Sa l oon ’
.
passengers are t o go on d eck Mr C adogan ”

, . .
“
I ave no idea sir Orders sir I was to hin
’
, .
, .
form the saloon passengers as how they were to

g o on deck and women an d children into b oats
”
, .
“
All ri ght Th an k you And Hames . .
, .
Yes sir ? ,
You hunt up Miss Hut t le s mai d an d have ’
her tell Miss Huttle to be sure to wrap up warm .
—
Be sure s h e gets t h at right to wrap up warm .
Two sets o f everything al l round Got t h at .
right ? ”
“ —
T wo sets yes sir ,
That s all Hames ’
, .
“
K y ou sir
’
, .
He resume d writing
A n d i h as c m e wri e h a di e u whi ch I w u l d d rea d

so t o to t t e o
to h a v e s p eak F ur day s n ly h a v e I k n wn y b
to o o o o u, ut
a m a n m y b ui l d hi s l i fe a n ew i n f ur d ay s a n d h i s las
.
a o t t
ad v e n ure fmin e h as bee n s u ch as i n my vi s i n a ry b y h d
,
t o o oo
day s I u se d ma r k f my sel fi n r sy d rea ms

o
to out or o
I h a v e h l i le s n a p s h y gav e m e y es e rd ay I wi ll
.
t tt ot ou t
h a v e i wi h m e h en d a n d y ur face i n i will be h
e .
t t to t e o t t e
las h in g I k i ss h i s s id e f e e rni y A n d g d by d ea r
,
t t t o t t so oo -
h ea r a n d d n w rry f m e Wh l i ves by h sw rd
.
,
’
t, o t o or o t e o et
ce e r a I h a d c m e s m e s u c h e n d in g I s u pp se
.
,
t t to o to o o
h ug h r a h e r a j k e i s n i be l s a n cea n l i n e r
.
, ,
’
t o t o t t, to o t on o
c r ss in g h A la n i c i n h ese day s ?
,
o t e t t t
T d y wi h y I saw h s un g d wn wi p urp le ba rs ’
o- a t ou t e o o t xt
a n d wh a i s h l i le m a e r f dy i n g h a ? A n d i i s
,
t t e tt tt o to t t t a
3 2 6
Cadogan sought the upper deck by way of the
second cabin quarters On the wide staircase he
-
.
overtook an old coup l e wh o at sight of him , ,
began talking volubly She was a l ittle old lady .
with a con fid i ng smile and he a bent an d round ,
b acke d man with a long forked beard , .
“
Vot you t ink Mr C adogan ? He te ll me I
’
, .
shell go in d er b o ad s .
”
“
And wh y not Mrs W e i scop f ?
, .
Un d vere shell he g o ?
”
—
A man of Mr We i scop fs age t h ey may let .
’
him go with you .

”
“
I go in d er b o ad s ? T he old man tried t o
”
straighten u p I she ll not go in der b oad s I

. .
,
mit ch i ld ru n un d g ran d ch i ld ru n to go in der ,
—
b o ad s ? It is d er foo l ishness all der foolishness
dose b o ad s .
W h y t h en shell I go in d er b o ad s Simon ?
,
~
, ,
For mens I say der foolishness All der . .
womans go in d er b o ad s Meemie , .
”
“
I shell n ot go in d er b o ad s mi t ou t you Si ,
mon .
”
Go in the b o at and take him with you if

“
, ,
you can Mrs We i scop f whispered Cadogan

, .
, ,
and hurried ou .
He came onto the boat deck in the rear of the -
saloon passengers already gathered there The .
firs t b o at was clear A n o ffi ce r stood at the .
3 2 8
stern of i t Women and children ! he was call
.
”
ing out and there was a rush to fill i t

, .
I don t see many children said a voice

’
, .
—
Do you ever i n saloon ? retorted another ”
.
C a d ogan recognizing the second voice as

,
M eade s and seeing that he was also in the rear

’
of the crowd stepped over beside him , .
T he boat was fille d and l owere d in j umps and ,
jerks The p assengers move d to the next boat

. .
Half a d ozen ship s men and an o ffice r stood by ’
“
Th ey re taking enough of the crew along
’
,
observe d Meade .
“
Not much gets by you commented C a d ogan , .
I t s my business I ll h ave to write a story

’
.
’ ’
about this later .

”
“
Women and children ! calle d the o ffice r
”
.
The boat was fille d e x cept for a sp ace for ,
ship s men and the o ffice r in charge wh o stepped

’
quick ly i n This boat went down likewise in

.
jumps and jerks .
In the next boat t wo men passengers j umped

in at the last moment The o ffi ce r in ch arge .
seeme d not to see them The crew sai d nothing . .
“
Must h ave friends at court muttered Meade ,
”
.
Though why anybody should choose the staying

out all night h alf frozen in those boats I don t
, ,
’
—
understand do you ? But look there s the M ajor
,
’
marshalling his b attalions Old ladies and young .

,
3 9
2
—
pretty and otherwise instinctively gallant the ,
Major observed Meade

,
”
.
“
We ll remember your friends in New York
’
Major ! two of the younger ones chorussed

”
.
Be sure you do ! he retorted And pay

“ ” “
.
your bet with a box of candy when you re b ack ’
aboard in the morning But take care you keep

.
those rugs around your feet in the meantime .
He waved them smilingly down the side of the

ship but he was not smiling when he had turned
,
his b ack to the ship s side and made his way into
’
,
the crowd of passengers .
Cadogan shrank b ack of Meade It was Miss .
Huttle wh o had stepped into the light with Dris ,
s le r in attendance And not alon e D ri ssle r Sh e

'
. .
was fully dressed with heavy furs in addition

,
.
He r smile was not less frequent and apparently ,
her tongue no less ready than usual when she ,
replied to the sallies of her escorts ‘
The blocks were kn ocked away clumsily the ,
falls overhauled bunglingly for the next boat .
Cadogan ached to jump in and show them how

to do i t .
“
The worst of standing here Meade Major — ,
Crupp had taken his position by the side of the

—
journalist is th at no matter how matters are
“
h andled we can no more interfere than if we

,
were chil d ren in steerage And yet some of .
33°
go with her into the boat He was taking note .
of the women wh o went reluctantly from the S des i
of their men folk and those wh o could hardly be

-
,
held b ack until their turn came He studied the .
faces of the men who by some mysterious d i sp e n

sation were allowed to go into the boats Some .
,
as t h e y st e p p e d under the cluster of electric lights

'
betrayed to him that they knew Some one in .
authority had told them o r like h imself they , , ,
had found out for themselves .
It was then th at he saw L avis A woman .
with a baby in the sh awl had with a sublime ,
gesture ab andoned her b aby to a woman already

,
l n the boat ,so that it might be saved L avis .
was standing behind her when she did i t and as ,
she lost herself l n the crowd L avis had looked ,
after her with such an expression of pity that

Cadogan s attention was attracted anew to him
’
.
When L avis turne d to the circle of light again ,
his eyes met C adogan s “

An d you too know
’
.
, , ,
”
thought C adogan L avis came over to him

. .
“
I was wishing I could give that poor woman
this big coat of mine began C adogan ; i t might
,
” “
make things a little less miserable for her .

”
L av i s s eyes thanked him I will h n d her and

’ “
.
give it to her Cadogan took it off

” “
I will .
see you again said L avis and went off with

, ,
the coat .
33 2
—
Cadogan turned in time to see and it thrille d
—
him old Mrs We i scop f refusing to go when her
.
turn came She pointe d to the o ld man

. No .
“
,
no was the impatient answer from the ofii c e r

,
”
.
“
B ut h e iss so old she p l ea d e d again ; Sh e
,
”
was ro ughly told to hurry up and get into the

boat or stay behind Sh e marched b ack to her
.
old husb and and gripped him tightly by the arm

,
.
The boat l eft wit h out her .
C a d ogan saw t h ese things an d a hundred ,
ot h ers without e ve r losi ng sight of Miss Huttle

, ‘
.
On t h e other si d e of t h e ship he knew that a

gang of ship s men were figh t i n g for the posses
’
sion of a boat for t h emselves He coul d hear .
—
them hal f sm ot h ere d murmurs cries blows He
-
, , .
thought of going t o h is room and getting his ,
automatic pisto l an d j umping in among them

, .
But what goo d woul d it do ? was his next thought .
It would be only to substitute one set of dead

men for another ; an d doing i t he would lose , ,
sight of her .
A t last she wa l ke d over to where the boat was

ready to lower Before she stepped in she cast
.
a long look above the hea d s of the crow d The .
thought that she might be l ooking for him set

Cadogan to trembling Sh e was p ale He d rew . .
farther b ack into the shadows He saw her face .
peering out again from the crowded hats toques , ,
3 33
an d hoods of the close—packed women as the boat
was lowered .
Sh e appeared to be still searching for some o ne

in the crowd as the boat disappeared below the
deck rail Cadogan forced his way to the rail to
.
watch i t It was rolled from side to side bumped

.
,
against the ship s side swung in and out as it

’
descended While yet some distance above the

.
water it stuck Cadogan could j ust make it out

,
. .
The falls had fouled With a j erk the stern .
dropped several feet on the run and the boat ,
hung again in air now with bow up and stern ,
down There were screams and shouts Cado

. .
gan was at the rail ready to leap when the bow , ,
unexpectedly dropped T he boat was level again . .
It was in the water and fl o at i n g She was safe .
away .
C adogan remained by the rail tracing the ,
course of the little boat on the sea When he .
could no longer see t h e shadow of i r nor hear ,
the voices from i t he still stayed pursuing in , ,
his imagination her course and position out there

on the waters .
When he faced inboard al l the boats were ,
away and Meade and Crupp were no longer on

,
deck He guessed they had gone into the smo

.
—
king room .
334
Ca d ogan to the assertive man at the farther
corner and b ack to Cadogan Wha t d y o u make
“
.
’
of him Cadogan ?
,
”
Cadogan shrugged his shoul d ers It is faith .
like his that builds empires And stupidity like .
h is that loses them ”

.
The man with the booklet h ad not ab ated the

fervor of his rea d ing announcements ; but those
wh o were listening were listening without com
ment Thus far no one in the room had spoken
.
aloud of danger except the man with the book

let The ee ct of his l oud insistence was to i n
.
crease the unvoice d uneasiness .
A steward W ith a face int o wh ich a white

,
frost seemed to h ave bitten burst into the smo ,
—
king room revolve d rapidly once in the middle of
,
the room an d vanished through the door by

,
which he came .
Everybody turned towar d the d oor t h rough

which he disappeared and then every head ,
seemed to turn towar d every other The V oice .
of the man with the booklet was lowered P res .
ently he ceased reading .
One man stood up an d went silently out The .
door close d behind him Another stood u p . .
One t wo three men followed him to the door

, ,
.
Several got up together Another group was on

.
its way when suddenly there was a rush for the

336
door The man with the booklet whiskered fat
.
, , ,
and red necked stared down at his printed p age

-
,
in ama z e He gulped blinked heaved himself

.
, ,
up , and lumbered after the others Only the .
four gathered around the corner table remained

in the smoking room - .
Crupp with his thumbs hooke d into his trousers

,
pockets was staring down between his knees On

,
.
C ru p p s left was Vogel the millionaire of the r ai l

’
roads He was a tall slope shouldere d man of

.
,
-
fift y five b ald at the top of his hea d

-
, His fore .
hea d s l ope d b ack from speculative eyes “

Hi .
,
wake up t h ere M ajor ! h e b awled most u nex

,
”
,
p e c t e d ly
“
That
. stewar d wh o came running in
that time you d think he thought the ship was
,
’ '
going d own W h at d y imagine he wante d

.
’ ’
,
M aj or ? ”
C rupp raised his head and stared abstractedly

at Vogel “
Hu h
. repeated Vogel what was he
,
”
,
after Major ?
,
”
“ —
L ord knows C rupp su dd en ly smi l e d per
h aps it was a tip .
Ou the table was a siphon o f s o d a an d s o me

empty glasses C rupp selecte d one that h ad not
.
been used an d carefully gauging poure d about

, , ,
an inc h of so d a into the glass T he ship going .
down Mr Vogel ? Heroes then we d h ave to

, .
’
be
”
— h e g l ance d at each in turn over the rim of
3 37
his glass whether we liked it or not wouldn t ,
’
we ? What did you learn that time you went

forward Cadogan ? ,
”
Cadogan also helped himself to some soda

water rolled it around in his mouth swallowed
, ,
i t an d set down his glass As if he had not

'
heard C rupp he drew out his cigar—

, .
case an d o f
,
fe re d it to the soldier .
Crupp nodded his thanks took a cigar bit off , ,
the end and without looking away from C ado

, ,
gan lit u p Vogel took one but as if by way of

, .
,
courtesy only for he indicated no desire to light

,
it. Meade waving Cadogan away lit a cigarette

, ,
of his own rolling Shortening my life smoking .
cigars he explained
,
”
.
The door opened I t was L avis With a pause . .
and a bow as if t o ask their permission he took

, ,
the corner seat on the transom Cadogan wait .

,
ing until he saw L avis seated tendere d him the

‘
—
,
cigar case L avis shook his head . .
I f you re afrai d it s my last suggested

“ ’ ’
C adogan .
“
It s years since I ve smoked
’ ’
.
That saves me for it i s my l ast With t h e , .
word C adogan threw the empty c1g ar case on the -
table .
Meade picked up the case a gun metal one ,

-
,
with Cadogan s mon ogram in thin flat silver let ’
33 8
hold his cigar while he blew rings of smoke to
ward the air port He blew them now o nce
-
.
-
,
twice three times

,
“
I don t know any healthy
.
’
men wh o are eager to die do you ? he said half ,

”
,
smiling presently
, .
“
Meaning you d on t want to go yourself ? ’
Just that And yet if I had to go any time

.
, ,
now I don t see where I could have any kick

,
’
coming Somewhere sometime it had to come

.
, , .
And yet I was wondering only to night queerly ,

-
,
enough Between the first two fin ge rs and

thumb of his right hand he was somers aulting
the gun metal cigar case against the table top
- - -
.
— — —
T ap tap tap one end then the o t h e r tap ,
fi
tap — tap — i t went .
While Cadogan pause d Meade was making

mental notes of him How wide and powerful .
the shoulders loome d how trim the waist the , ,
grace of the long white finge rs the smooth curves ,
of the strong face all brown below the eyes and

,
all white above ! What a figh t you could put

“
”
up ! thought Meade “
A nd what a pity if any
.
thing should happen to you before you should

h ave had your chance ! ”
Cadogan ceased somersaulting the cigar cas e -

.
Wouldn t it be queer now I was thinking

’
, ,
here I ve drawn lots with Death a hundred times

’
—
a few more or less and then to think of h im
34°
coming along and grabbing a fel l ow off the d eck
of an ocean liner !
“
That wou ld be a joke commente d Meade ,
.
Wouldn t i t ? ’
C adogan carefully knocked
”
h is cigar ashes ont o t h e tray His eyes and

-
.
C ru p p s met
’
.
With his eyes n ow focussed on the as h tray -

,
C adogan continue d : If I have l eft anybo d y

worrying o r guessing I can tell him wh ere ther e
, ,
is a collapsible l ife b o at whic h wil l be safe in smoot h

-
water .
”
“
There are women still aboar d said C rupp , .
Eh what s that ? M eade sat straight u p

,
’ ”
.
—
Yes Cadogan s response was directe d t o
” ’
C rupp there are many women aboar d B ut

—
.
when th at life boat is launche d there is going to ,
be a grand figh t to see wh o will get on i t A .
half dozen arme d men could hold it for them

-
,
—
selves but not for anybody e l se women o r men .
What do you say Major ? Would you be for ,
that kind of a figh t in the event of her sinking ? ”
Crupp shook his head firmly “

I d better
’
—
shoot myself o r any other army or navy ofli ce r
—than be saved where a ship load of women went -
down .
”
“
What do you say Mr Vogel ? , .
Vogel smiled uneasily You gent l emen of the

.
swor d an d pen how you do try ou r nerve at

,
341
times ! But in my circle neither do men honor
the craven With many women still aboard
.
,
would I get into a boat and leave the ship ? Why ,
no.
”
“
—
Do you mean C adogan all was silence,
when Meade spoke u p — “

do you mean there is a
possibility th at this ship will founder ? ”
—
Cadogan n o d d e d t wi ce slowlyfi
But for God s sake when ?

’
,
”
Se e —h e pointed to the deck at their feet

”
the slant Her bow is settling now

. .
No one spoke and only Meade move d and he

, ,
to interlock his fin ge rs and pressing his hands ,
together to rest them on the edge of the table

, ,
and lower for a moment his head

, , .
Only C adogan seemed to remember that L avis

was on the transom seat During all the time .
th at he was speaking and actin g C adogan knew ,
that L avis had never ceased to study him .
Cadogan addressed him directly The raft ? .
asked Ca d ogan L avis shook his head i n di fi e r

'
ently .
The soldier dropped the butt of his cigar straight

down between his knees Meade laid the ends of .
his h u gers on the edge of the table and stared at ,
his nails .
Vogel sat a little higher in his chair Well .

,
t h ere s one thing For three generati ons now

’
.
342
pered said I was to give you this When there
, .
was nobody about she said sir I ve been trying , , .

’
ever since sir to h n d you alone , , .
C adogan stepped to the light of a smoking

room air port hel d the sheet c l ose u p to the-
,
glass and read ,
w as all a mi s ake a f e r di nn e r n ig h I wi ll e p la in
It t t t o- t
wh en n e w e m ee i f e ve r w e d m ee B y mu s see
x
—
.
xt t t ut t
h a we d m ee Y mu s Th e p asse
o . ou
t t o n ge rs d t kn w ou t o no t o
e v e n y m y k n w b i i s ru e h s h i p i s g i n g
—
. .
,
ou no t ut t t t to
s in k I m fri g h e n e d—d rea d fu l h ug h s—i f y we r e n ly

a o , e o
. a t t o t ou o
n ea r !
Y mu s sa v e y ur el f Y ca n i f y wi ll Y ca n
ou t o s ou ou ou
h i mp ss i b le h a ve d n e i bef re i n p lay D i
.
, .
d o t e Y o ou o t o o t
nig h f h w ma n wh l ves y
. .
t o- t or t e o o o ou
I kn w y will n eve r g in h b a s b a f e r h ey a re
.
o ou o to t e o t ut t t
g n e wh e n y ca n l n ge r h el p a n h e r I ask y
,
o , ou sa v e no o ot ou t o
—
,
y ur sel f sa v e y ur sel f
o f y ur sel f b f me o not or o ut or
— sa i d i y ursel f h e r s
—
, .
A w m a n wh l v es r e m e m be r y
o o o t o
i s h call h a m a n h as h ch i ce ofrefu s in g A w m a n
ou
t e t t no t o o
a n d wh se l v e i s all f y will be call in g

e .
wh l v es y
o o ou o o or ou,
call in g call in g as y rea d h i s fr m h d a r k sea ou t o ou t o n t e
C m e c me c me 0 B el v e d
, , , .
o o m h las I fy
o o to e at t e t ou
m e I s h all bel i e v e al way s h a y d i d

, , , , .
d o not co ca re t t ou not
I k n w y will c m e m e
.
,
B ut o ou HE E o to . L N .
Cadogan stared at the sea about him at the sky ,
above him He rubbed his forehead “

C ome . .
,
come oh he murmured He drove his

, , .
clinched fist against the air port “

I ll come ! -
.
’
I ll come !
’ ”
Mr Cadogan ? I t was the steward

.
”
.
What is i t ? ”
344
Th e L a s t P asse n ge r
Th ere s q ueer talk going about between d ecks
’
,
sir There will be d e sp rat e work doing to

.
’
night if what they say is true sir I ve a family

, , .
’
in Southampton sir and I always tried to d o my , ,
duty sir , .
”
“
I never knew a better stewar d Hames L is , .
you sir Yes sir ?

K , .
,
—
Ou the boat deck fo r ar d port si d e get t h at
’
,
right now .
”
P ort side fo r ard sir Y es sir Believe me ’

, .
, .
,
sir I won t fo rge t su ch directions as you are

i
please d to give sir , .
“
There s a collapsible l ife boat there un d er a
’
-
tarpaulin Somebody is saving that for the fin

.
—
ish for a favored few .
”
I believe you sir , .

”
Stand by i t and when they l aunch it j um p on

, .
But they will have spanners and wrenches ,
and such weapons sir , .

”
They surely will In the steamer trunk in .
my room you will h n d a magazine pistol .

”
Y es sir K you sir

, .
’
, .
”
But you must hurt nob od y mind except , ,
those wh o try to hurt you .

”
“
I ll promise sir An I ll remember also I
’
, .
’ ’
’
ave a missus an three ki dd ies in Southampton ’
,
99
Sl l
'
345
And don t forget you have them either
’
, .
No sir K you sir But I nev er an d le d a

, .
’
, .
’
magazine one Any complications sir ?.

,
”
“
Not many Y ou fin d the trigger curl your
.
,
fin g e r around i r put the muzzle to the man s

’
,
head wh o means you harm and if he persists , , ,
pull the trigger It s very simple .

’
.
”
“
! uite s o sir , .
G ood luck to you An d don t fo rget y ou— .

’
keep pressing the trigger as long as you want to

—
keep shooting An d how old are the kiddies ?
.
”
“
Five and three and the baby one A gran d
, , , .
little chap the baby sir

, , .
“
Is he now ? Isn t that fine ! Cadogan drew ’
from his hip pocket the wallet with the packet of

-
bills P ut this in the b ank for the kiddies and

.
“ -
.
missus .
“
It s a h awfu l kin d ness to em sir
’ ’
, .
All right G ood luck to you

. .
”
Good luck to you I s y sir He vanis h e d

” ’
, , . .
From his seat on the trans om L avis had caught ,
sight of the face of C adogan as he read the sheet

of paper held up to the air port Hi s chin came -
.
downon his chest remained there a moment and , ,
then he st ood u p and slowly went ou t on deck ,
346
Do you ? ”
—the restless one halte d
I d on t ’
.
How long were you marrie d ?

”
“
Four months .
”
Oh h ! We were only ten weeks

-
With .
short quick steps he resumed his striding

, .
L avis leaned beside the young man at the rail .
I think I see the light you were lo oking for

there .He pointed
”
.
“ —
Yes yes that s i t See here ! He turned
,
’
.
”
to address the pacing man Why he s gone ! .

,
’
He peered into L avi s s face There were ten of ’

.
u s you see
, with our wives returning from our
, ,
wedding trips We were going to have a supper

.
together when we reached New Yor k .

”
“
But you are not afraid ?
I am And I wish I c o uld h ave gone in the
.
boat too But l ook there ! He pointed to the

.
”
hundreds of steerage p assengers wh o were still

crowded t ogether three decks below “
What .
chance did they give t h ose women to night ? -
what chance do they ever get ? And my old

mother came over steerage And she is still alive . .
And she would stand me up before her and she d ’
—
say I know how she would say i t : Dannie boy ‘
, ,
d o you tell me you came away from a sinking

ship and women and children behind you ?
,
’
“
But you are not sorry ? ”
God man no ! But only the night before l ast

, ,
348
my wife a l l at once came close to me and said
‘
Dannie we re going to have a little b aby And
,
’
.
’
nothing more for a long time me holding her And ,

.
then she whispers : And I hope he ll be a boy ‘ ’
and grow u p to be a man like you Dannie she , ,

’
said .
“
And Go d he l p me ! Al rea d y I h a d him grown
”
up and was taking him out to see the Giants play .
“
God help u s all ! said L avis ; and gripped the
”
other s hand swiftly and passed on to the lowest

’
open deck where by way of the long gangway

, , ,
he might reach the after end of the ship Already .
the deck was taking on a more noticeable forward

slant He s aw a man lashing together some ch airs
. .
He paused long enough to see th at it was Cadogan ,
but without discovering h imself h e p assed on to

, ,
where an isolated man in dungarees leaned with

fol d ed arms across the rail .
It was Andie with his chin resting on h is arms

, ,
and his face turned toward the placid sea Once .
he lifted his head to gaze up at the sky .
L avis touched him on the arm “

How did .
you leave Mr L innell An d ie ? .

,
”
Andie unfolded his arms an d face d aroun d .
Eh ? Oh ! How do you d o sir ? He comes to ,
me Mr L avis an twas so met h i n beyond the

, .
-
’ ’ ’
—
fear 0 death was in his eyes an he says : Andie
’ ’ ‘
,
you r work s done Twas her death b l ow they

’
.
’
-
349
give her ah she ll not live much longer now
,
’ ’
.
G o above you now Andie he says and I ll stay

’ ‘ ’
, , ,
here I fyou don t mind I ll stay with you sir

.
’ ‘ ’
,
’
, ,
’
I says Don t be foolish Andie he says

.
‘ ’
, ,
’
.
‘
There s small reputation goes with eight pounds
’
in the month There s none will be lookin in .

’ ’
the papers to see did you desert your post but ,
there s many will be sayin what a gran d fool you

’ ’
was you didn t go when you could ’

.
’
I know you mean that sir for the wh arf rats

“ ‘
-
, ,
that ships an shirks for one voyage and stays ’
drunk ashore for three more I says I ve no ,

’
.
‘ ’
call to leave this ship while one passenger is aboard

of her A n more Mister L innell many an
.
’
, ,
’
many s the watch I ve stood under you an less

’ ’
,
’
,
’
you forbids i t I ll stand this last watch wi you ,

’ ’
.
Only if you won t forbid me sir I ll g o up on

’ ’
, , ,
deck at the last an have a look at God s own ,

’ ’
sky before she

An d what did he say to that Andie ? ,
He said naught to that sir e x ce p t o shake

’
, ,
hands W i me I was that emb arrassed wi the

’
.
’
grup o the hand he gave I takes out my pipe an

’ ’
,
’
b accy from the locker where the sea wasn t yet ’
reached to a n I cuts myself a pipeful an lights

,
’ ’
A n he says s mi li n like Andie is it the

’ ’ ‘
- °
up .
, ,
same old Buccaneer bran d you re An

’ ’
I says : The same sir Well says h e I ve

‘
, .
’ ‘
,
’
,
‘ ’
35°
Th e L ast P as s e n ge r
tuppence each for the two of u s at t h e gate comin ’
in . But you wasn t ever t h i n ki n o gettin mar

‘ ’ ’ ’ ’
rit yourself Mr L innell ? I says

, .
’
.
Maybe you noticed a large photogra p h ,
Andie above my desk whenever you come t o

,
my room ? he asks I said as how I did A n d

’
. .
‘
you had no suspicions ? he says Well sir I ’

.
‘
, ,
’
says I did make suspici on it wasn t altoget h er

,
‘ ’
by way of e xe rci si n 0 your muscles you dusted ’ ’
the gold frame of it so frequent .

’
“
I was only
‘
he says ti l l I d ma d e a ,
‘ ’
bit more reputation and only to night it was ,

-
,
me makin my rounds that I was t h i n k i n a t last

’
,
’
I had made i t And he stop there an lets his

.
’
,
’
pipe go out the while he looks down at his beau

tiful engines an then he has the loan of an
,
’
other match of me an he says : Andie but it ,

’ ‘
,
does seem hard that your life an mine must be ’
smashed through the misbehavior of others A n .

’ ’
I thought myself it was without meanin to cast ,

’
blame sir on others

, , .
A n we fin i sh e d our pipeful together an he

“ ’ ’
,
stands up an says Good luck to you Andie lad

’
,
‘
, , ,
’
and I knew he was wishful to be alone A n so .

’
,
‘
Good luck to you Mister L innell I says an we , ,
’
,
’
gave each other another long grup o the hand ’

.
I was wan t i n to tell him he was the best chief

’
ever I worked under but he wasn t ever the kind ,

’
,
352
y o u see sir t o be p rai si n to his face An at
, ,
’
.
’
the top of the l adder I looks down an there ,

’
he was wi his arms fol d ed across t h e shiny brass

’
r ai li n
’
an
, he l o o kin d own aweary like at his
’ ’
,
-
,
engines .
”
L avis too k An d ie s hand “

A good man A n
’
.
,
die And a good man yourself An d ie Goo d b y

.
, .
-
,
an d God b l ess you ! ”
“
T hank you sir Goo d b y sir A nd the same
, .
-
, .
t o you Andie turned to the rail and with folded

”
.
arms set his face to the impassive sea .
L avis p assed on t o where from a t arp auli n e d

hatc h a Catholic priest was saying a litany while ,
around him a bo d y of kneeling men an d women

were responding He had donned his cassock .
,
and a shining silver cruci fi x was on his breast ,
an d his biretta at his feet His voice was even .
and unhurrie d his features comp o sed, .
L amb of Go d W h o ta k est away t h e sins o f

,
t h e worl d
“
Sp ar e u s 0 L or d !
”
came the response
, .
L amb of Go d Who takest away the sins of,
the world
“ ”
Gr aci ous ly h ear us, 0 L ord !
L amb of God Who takest away t h e sins of
,
t h e world
“ ”
H a ve mer cy on u r l
P ray for u s, 0 Holy Mother of God

3 53
T hat we may be mad e wor thy o f the p mi ro
s e: of
Chr i st !
The priest rose from his knees And bear in .
mind my children that no matter what sin you

, ,
may have committed God will forgive you No , .
one born into this world of sin but has sinned

at some time so do not despair Offer up your
, .
prayers your heart to God He will hear you

, , . .
He could save u s any one of u s or every one of

, ,
u s even now if he so willed

, If he does not it .
,
is because it is better so But merely to be saved .
l n the body
— wh at is th at ? A p assing moment
,
—
here but the next world for eternity It is your .
soul not your body which is to live in eternity

, , .
P repare your soul for that And now our time is .
growing short compose your minds and your

,
hearts and all kneel and say with me an act of

,
contrition : O my God
“
0 my God came from t h em l ike a c h anted
hymn .
“
I am most heartily sorry for all my sins
I u m mos t hear ti ly s or ry f or a ll my s i n:
L avis knelt and prayed also When he rose .
from his knees it was to go to the side of the

P olish woman wh o was also kneeling at the edge
,
of the crowd He found her weeping

. .
“
Why do you weep ? Do you fear d eath so
very much ? ”
3 54
He set the table top on his head A man
stood in the doorway Cadogan m
.
otioned him
.
out of the way “

Where yuh goin with that ?
.
’ ”
snarled the man Cadogan set the end of his

.
plank against the man s chest walked straight ’
ahead and stepped over the man s body In the

,
’
.
passageway some one sei z ed his table from behind .
Cadogan let go entirely wheeled sharply caught , ,
the man by the collar and trousers smashed him ,
against the bulkhead and as the other dro p ped

, ,
his hold of the table top threw him a dozen feet ,
down the p assage The man rising to his feet

.
, ,
ran the other way C adogan picked up his plank

.
and resumed his way .
A t a place where a boat falls dropped past the -
ship s rail Cadogan laid down his burden T his

’
.
was on the lowest open deck where not many ,
people would be coming to bother him ; but to ,
reduce the chance of loss he set his table top up ,
on edge in the shadow of the rail while he went ,
0 5 for an armful of steamer chairs .
He needed lashings for his chairs A trans .
verse passageway opened on to the deck near b y .
Staterooms opened off either side of the p assage .
The door of the nearest room was locked Bright .
people he muttered wh o didn t intend any

,
” “
,
’
body should steal anything while they were gone ! ”
—
He set one foot under the door k n ob reste d his ,
356
Th e L a s t P a ss e n ge r
b ack against the bulkhea d across the narrow aisle ,
and straightened his leg The lock gave way ; the

.
door swung open “

When they return I h 0 pe
.
you won t miss the fine bed sheets he mur

’
,
”
—
mured and swis h ed them one two from the
,
— ,
berths with the blankets and one pillow He

,
.
slit the hemmed edges of the sheets and tore

them into strips lengthwise With these strips .
he lashed his chairs compactly together The .
chairs in turn he lashed to the heavy plank .
Cadogan had taken of dinner coat waistcoat , ,
col l ar tie and linen shirt to work more freely Now

, , .
he looked about for the coat All the while he had .
been working he was not unaware that forms of

men h ad fl i t t e d by him and that more than one
,
h ad stopped as if curious to know what he was

at. He knew t h at more than one of these were
now prowling within leaping distance and that
from them were coming mu fll e d words of com
ment Also he was not unaware that the ship
.
was nearing her end He could detect the firs t

.
pitching of her hull the settling of the deck under

,
his feet even as he could hear the h alf tones of

,
-
the menacing voices from out of the shadows .
He was aware too th at a despairing multitude

, ,
were massing on the decks above him .
Up there he knew they were prep aring to

, ,
meet t h e en d in a hundre d di fferent fashions .
3 57
Th e Last P as s e n ge r
Up there would be those wh o smiled and those
wh o cried those wh o joked or moaned wh o
, ,
praye d or blasphemed those wh o were going ,
with pity in their hearts and consumed with bit

termess others ; forgiving whoever it was that had
brought it ou or wishing the others that they
, , ,
had the negligent ones to coldly and calmly wring

their necks before they went themselves .
C adogan having found his coat laid it on a

, ,
bitt near by while he should launch his little

raft He b alanced it on the rail inserted a hook
.
,
under one of his lashings at each end folded his ,
blankets on top and a b o at falls in each hand

, ,
-
,
paid out carefully slowly He could not have

, .
lowered a human body more tenderly Easily .

,
gently he felt it settle on the bosom of the sea

, .
He took a turn of his falls around the bitt and , ,
always with one eye peeping sidewise into the

shadows reached for his c oat In the pocket of
, .
that coat was the photograph o f his beloved .
“
You ve everything fixe d nicely have you
’
, ,
matie ? ”
C a d ogan had had his eye out for him and was ,
expecting some such salutation ; and the revolver

within t wo feet of his head was also not u n ex
p e c t e.d A man could not atten d to everything
at once .
“
Everything nice yes respon d ed C a d ogan
, , ,
n ow wi t h h is coat in his hand .
358
wrist The revolver dropped overboard Cado
. .
gan took a fresh hold of him spun around with ,
him and let hi m fly He went where the revolver

, .
went .
Cadogan arrived b ack at his raft found a man

, ,
standing by the falls and calling down to some

body below : How is it now ?
“ ”
There was n o answer The man by the falls .
repeated his question Only silence from below . .
C adogan was l ooking for his coat when the ,
man graspe d the falls and swift ly lowered him

self over the side C adogan l et be his coat and .
slid down the falls after him His feet fetched up .
against the man s h u gers He pressed with all’

.
his weight The man cursed softly let go his

.
,
hold and fell into the sea Cadogan dropped

, .
after him When the man came up C adogan

.
gripped him by the throat and held him under

vvat e r .
The dim outline of another fellow was standing

erect on the end of the little raft “
Norrie me .
,
lad he was saying in a cold voice it s a tidy

,
” “
,
’
little fl o at e r with nice warm blankets but it will ,
never hold up two Cadogan could see a long .

”
spanner or b ar held ready on the shoulder of the

, ,
man on the raft The man in the water was now

.
twining his legs about him whereupon still cling , ,
ing t o h is man C a d o g an dived porpoise like head

, ,
-
,
360
down into the sea When he felt his feet under
.
he kicked once twice t h ree times powerfully

, ,
.
Deep down he went .
He came up alone .
He clung to one of the hooks of the fal l s t o get

his breath A cap fl o at e d up to him Smiling
. .
grimly he set it on his head The man on the

,
.
end of the raft poised himself above him and

aimed the long spanner at the cap Cadogan di .
verted the blow with his free forearm and before ,
the other could recover wrenche d the sp anner

from him and dropped it into the sea
Oh h o ! that s how it is is i t Norrie m
.
e la d ?
“ ’
, , , ,
He swung one foot viciously at C adogan s h and

’
where it was gripped aroun d the h ook C adogan .
swooped again with his free h and caught the man ,
by the swin ging ankle an d h auled him off the

,
raft He released his grip of the man s ankle

.
’
,
only to shift it to his throat T he man sei z ed .
C adogan s free wrist wi th both hands C ado

’
.
gan hanging to the hook with one h and and

,
gripping the man s throat with the other con

’
tin n ed to squeeze the man s throat The man s ’

.
’
legs kicked convulsively Cadogan continued to .
squeeze When the legs stopped kicking Cado

.
,
gan forced the head under water and eased up

on his grip Bubbles rose up and burst on the
.
surface Cadogan placed his ear close to t h e wa

.
3 6 1
ter to hear When he could no longer hear the
.
bubbles he loosed his grip .
With hands to the falls and feet against the

ship s side Cadogan climbed to the deck where
’
he had left his coat He found it kicked to one .
side and trampled upon But the little photo .
—
graph was still there i n the inside pocket .
He took o ff his cap the cap of the drowned ,
man while he kissed the little photograph

, .
“
Coming coming oh coming ! he murmured
, , ,
”
.
H ave you room for a passenger ? came in a

“ ”
man s voice from the dark

’
.
Cadogan whirled “
P assenger ? P assenger !
.
I ve fought and schemed and

’
Oh !
It was L avis and clinging to his hand was
, , ,
somebody in a man s long ulster ’

.
“ —
It s the woman you remember her ? who
’
—
p assed her b aby boy into the boat so that he
would be saved .
Cadogan said nothing .
“
A few minu t es ago I found her She was .
weeping for her b aby I asked her why she should .
be weeping now that her b aby was safe and ,
she answered me : But wh o will be there to give

‘
him the breast when he wakes ?

C adogan rested his left hand with the fin ge rs ,
c l inched around the cap on the ship s rail ,

’
.
I f C hrist on earth were to be with u s once

“
3 6 2
OP E N W ATER
A c llec ti n f n e w s t r i es f th e m e typ e—b r ee y
o o o o o sa z
i g r u s —as th se in h i ea l i e r b ks
,
fr es h , V o o o s r oo .
S m e a r e f G l u ce t e r fi h m
o o s m f th m e n
o s s er en , o e o e
o f th n y e m e f th s mu ggle r s —i all s u c h i s th e
av so o e n
s m ack fth alt lade win d th e r attle a n d c r eak f

,
o e s -
n o
s h i p s t ckle ; th e d u ll b m f p un d in g ur f th e
’
a oo o o s or
h i ss in g c r h f th e b r eak r s B ut th e r e th e
,
as o e ar e
t h e r s t ri es d ad v e n t ur as h r e f w hi c h
.
o f s p rt
o o o an e o o
M C nn ll y h as s h wn h i c m p let e m a ste y
r . o o o s o r .
T H E C R ES T E D S E A S
T ale a r i n g a n d r eckles d ee d w hi c h m a k th
s ofd s s e e
bl d oo
q ui cke r a n d b rin g a n ad mir a t i n f
ru n th o or e
h a r d y G l u ces te r m e n wh take th e i r l iv e i n th e ir
o o s
h a n ds n ea r l y e v e ry tri p th e y m ake T h e r e ar e
on
M a r tin C a rr a n d W esle y M a rr d T mm y C la n c y
.
s an o
a n d th e r s f th e b r a v e c r e w th at C nn ll y l v e t
,
o o o o o s o
write ab u t Cfi g P t o .
” -
'
zea o os .
Th e a th r k n w s h wt m a k e th e m r eal d h w
u o o o o an o
to ca rr y th e m th r u g h m v i n g a n d th r i ll i n g ce n e
o o s s
w i th un c n sc i u s h e ro i s m d fte n wi th qu all y
o o an o e
un c n sc i u s d y d r lle ry — I Z O tl k
o o r o .
”
e u oo .
W I D E C OU R S E S
I l l u s tr a ted . n et . By ma i l
He h lds
a tte n ti n wi th th ese e i g ht n e w s t ri es
o our o o
o f h i s h lds i t in l i g h te r m
,
o d as w ell as in th d r a oo e
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sa il in g wi th n e v e r a d u ll m m e nt N w Y k T i h m o .
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OUT OF GLOUCESTER
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T H S B OOK I S D U E ON T HE L A S T D A T E
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“

HE man Wit h the go ld h eade d cane h a d been -

headed for the cottage but espying the boy ,

at the water s edge h e change d hi s course He

crept to W ithin a few pace s of t h e l ad before he

Th e boy l ooke d casua lly around Seeing th at .

it was a stranger he faced about and stood re

you got there ? ”

The boy h eld up the toy steamer W ith W hi c h

Th e boy l oo ke d s i d ewi s e out to Wh ere in the b ay

We l l if ever you do little man I ll bet you ll

be a game one too I s your p apa home ? , .

And i s Aunt Marie busy d o you think ? ,

I d on t know si r but s h e s making a b att l e

That so ? I think I W i ll ca ll on Aunt Marie

Swinging hi s cane an d a d vancing leisurely the ,

stranger headed for the screene d verand a door .

Marie W e lk i e because of having to keep an eye,

on her nephew from the veranda could not avoid ,

noticing the stranger The clothing the j ewelry .

the air of assurance had disturbe d an d half amused ,

pat of hi s head were more p l easing She an ,

ern good evening in the middle of the afternoon

likewise pleased her

I m Mr Necker From a gold mounted case

he drew out a card .

won t you step i n Mr Necker from out of the

Then it must be h ot h ere w h en it i s h ot I t .

wasn t so b a d out in the Gu l f I j u st got i n

from Key West Not many p assengers come here

if I go a h ead with this ensign for my nephew Mr , .

Necker ? S h e he l d up a p artly ﬁni she d Ameri

can ensign Ab ove the top of it t h e V isitor could

see p art of the very w h ite forehea d and a front of

for my nephew surely by morning an d after my ,

brother gets h ome there prob ably won t be much ’

spare time B ut were you the on ly p assenger for

fo rt i ﬁc at i on l an d ing Twenty nine or t h irty per

Hi s voice was casual but hi s gaze was keen ,

enough It never left her face

came running down to meet h im he resumed , .

He hesitated a moment Mr B alfe yes

that was t Th e captain or was it the captain ?

—said t h at there was a Mr B alfe who went on .

s pecia l missions for t h e government but whether

this was the Mr B a l fe or not he c ould not say

She sewed serenely on “

steamer captain i s developing into a great gossip .

Ou r Mr Balfe i s my brother s dearest friend and

This time Miss Welk i e l oo k ed u p and Necker ,

smiled with h er Also he peered smilingly through

the veran d a vine “

out there ? We l l well ! An d a ﬁn e boy too ! A , ,

beautifully s h aped hea d B right I ll bet ? ” ’

l aying great plans t o assure his future ?

happy here she added after a moment and still

ﬂushing resumed her needle

P resently he pointed his cane at the boy on the

born all over ”

a great man some day But I ll be running along .

now Miss We lki e

see you I know , .

under that sun al l day is no time for a friend to