St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-02-21
f. CLOUD SrBARNS CO, MINNESOTA THURSDAY FEBR

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tho mate with his mouth pursed into a
oval hole, perfectly aghast at this insc
lence, md almost wondering whether b
had heard Alright. w. :,
"You Internal rascal, be howlcd, spring
ing to his feet the next instant, purpl
with rage, "do you dare to apply such a,
epitlct to me-? Iou-to me?
".1'o you?" thundcred the seaman, in
voice that made Mr.. Atkins drop into hi
chair as If he was shot. ITO YOU? An,
who are you? You damned lubberly
purse-proud aristocrat, do you want M,
TO take you by the heels aud throw you ou
Of that window? Call me that nam.
again, and I'll do it rs soon as I'd eat
You. indeed? You're the Lord Hlgf
Brown, aint you? You're the Lore
Knows Who. you blasted old money
grubber, amt you? You, indeed!" i
In all his life, Mr. Atkins had neve,
been so spoken to. He sat in sort o.
horror, gazing with open mouth and CLASSY
eyes at the sturdy face Of the seaman, on
which brown flush had burned out, and
the firm, lit eyes Of which held him spell.
bound. Banghau,, too-horror stricken,
wonder-stricken ,thunder-stricken-sat sta
ring at Jones for a minute, then burst in.
to short, ,attling laugh. and jumping to
his feet, cried, "Oh, he's mad, he's mad,
hos mad, he's got a cal2nturc, he's got a
calentare, he's mad as a March hare" Ca
pering and hopping and prancing mean
while, in his narrow con6ne, as if he would
jump out of his skin. ..4.. .
"You, too, Bangham," said the mate,
making step toward him, with Il menaciny
gesture, q: which the captain stopped ca
pering, and shrank, while Mr. Atkins
slightly started in his chair, ''you just clap
a stopper on that ugly mug Of yours, and
stop your monkey capers, or you'll have
me afoul OF you I haven't forgot your
didoes with the men on board the Soil:
man. Just you say another word nov, and
Ill put in complaint that'll lay you by
the heels in the State Prison, where you
ought to have been long ago, you ugly pi-
rate, you! :"
= The captain evidently WINGED under
this threat, which Mr.. Jones delivered
with ,ominous gravity, slowly shaking,
meanwhile, his clepched fist at him
''And now look here, you brace Of
bloody buccaneers" continued the irrever-
en-. seaman, "short words are best words
with such as you. l united that poor old
moke Of niger last Light, and ruwcd
him asl ore. What ere ye going to do
about it p
Evidently question hard to answer
Merchant and captain, stupefed and sta
ring, gave him no reply.
"Hark you, now, Atkins" he went on.
1--WE found that man half dead in the
hold when we were three days out-a
sight to make ones flesh crawl: The
bloody old pirate he'd run away from had
put a spiked collar on his neck, just as if
he was brute, with no soul to be saved.
I'm an old sea-dog, am; and Eve seen
men i'll treated in my time, but Pm damn
ed if l ever seen nan i'll treated like
that God forsaken nigger. He'd run
away, and no blame to him for running
away. He'd been livin' in swamps with
snakes and allieators, and If he hadn't no
right to his freedom, he'd earned one fifty
times over, and it's my opinion that a man
vino goes through what he did has more
right to his freedom, than two beggars like
you, who never done the first thing to de-
serve it. Mind that now, both Of yev'
The mate paused a, moment, hitching
uf his trousers, aud rolling his tobacco
from one side of his tvitchiry mouth to
the other, and then, with his face flushed,
and his blue eye cleaning savayely, went
on.
whats the first thing that brute there
did to him? Kicked him, and he lynn
half dead. Then, in day or two, when
the poor devil got his tongue, he. told how
he'd got away, and the sort of pirate he'd
got Az ay froo. God! when we all a'most
blubberod like babes, what did that curse
there do? Knocked tie man down, and
beat bis head on the deck, till we felt like
mutiny and murder, every man of us -
And then, when we'd got the poor devil
below, sorter comfortable, down. co mes
Bangham, and hauIs him off to stick him
into u nasty hole under the matches, and
there be KEEP; him the whole passage, half
starved, among the rats and cocEroaches.
Scarce day Of his life aboard, that he did
not go down and kick and maui him. He
couldn't keep. his hands of him no, he
coulln't. When,l took the man ashore
in the dead 9 night, he was notbip' but a
bundle o bones and nasty rags, and he
made me SO sick, I couldr',t touch him.
That's the state he. was in. .. Now, then,
look here -. 49, ,.,s :. .....,
he mate paused again for a moment,
turning g; his Is auid, with his. FACE working,
'und 1.v,n0 ,Lo f;nrora of b;a r;rbt End =,