New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-04-24
Z YOUNG HERO.


| enough, no doubt, them Dalmatians, and
reason good, too, seem they man half the
Austrian navy; but they amt got the sea-
sonin' of an Englishman, put it how yer
will"
was stanslng on the upper deck of the
Austrian Lloyd steamer, looking last upon
pyramidal .!ait, rs it rises up in terrace after
terrace of stern gray masonry against the
lGstrOus evening sky, with the foam tip;,ed
breakers ut its feet. Beside me, with his
elbow on the hand-rail, and his short pipe
between his teeth, lounges the stawart chief
engineer. as thorough an Englishman as if
he had not spent two-thir,ls of his life abroad.
and delighted 50 get hold of a listener who
Gas he phrases it) has been about bit"
No; they amt got an Enslshman's
seasonin'," he continues, pursuing his cri,-
cism Of the Dalmatian seamcn; and what's
more, they amt got an Englishman's pluci
neither, not when it comes to a real scrape."
Can no one but an Engishman have any
pluck, then:' asked |, laughing.
well, | won't just 90 for to say that :;
O. course man as IS man 'ull have pluck
in him all the world over. I've secn n
Frenchcr tackle a shark to save his mess
mate; and I've seed Il Rooshan stand 10 his
gun arter every man IN the battery, barrin'
himself, had been blowca all to smash Bat,
if yer come to that, the pluckiest Teller as
ever seed warn't u man at all :"
"What was he, then "a womano"
$40, nor that neither; though, mark We, I
don't go for to say rs how women amt got
pluck enough too-some of EN-, at least. NV
old 'ooman, now, saved NE once from 4 luh-
Der OF Il PurtiScc as was just a-goiu' to stick
knife into ne, when she cracked his nut
with handspike. (Iou can hear her spin
the yarn yourself, if you like to pay Us visit
when we set to Constantinople.) But this
un as I'm a-talkin' on was a little lad not
much bigser'n Tom Thumb, only with sper-
rit of his own as I'D ha' blowed up man-o'-
war almost. Would yer like to hear about
ito"
/ eagerly assent; and the narrator, knock
ing the ashes out of his pipe, folds his brawny
arms upon the top of the rail. and COM
mences as follows:
bout three years ago, afore got this
berth as I'm in now, was second engineer
aboard Liverpool steamer bound for New
York. There'd been lot of extra cargo
sent down just at the last minute, and we'd
had no end of a job stowin' it away, and that
ran us late o. startin'; 50 that altogether, az
you may think, the capn warn't altogether
in the sweetest temper in the world, nor the
mate neither; as for the chief engineer. he
was an easy-gOin' sort o chap, as nothin' on
earth could put out. But on the mornn' of
the third day out from Liverpool, he cum
down to me in precious hurry, l0okin' as if
somethia' had put him out pretty consider
ably.
"'Tom,' says he, what dye think BEST
il we amt found stowaway.' Chats the
name, you know, sir, as we give to chaps as
hide themselves aboard outwardbound ves-
sells, and gets carried out unbeknown to
everybody
1.-THE dickens you have y says /. 'Who
is he, and where did yer find him?'
"'Well we found him slowed away among
the casks for'ard and ten to one we Il never
ha' twigged him at all, if the shippers dog
! hadn't shifted him out and began barkin ,
Stitch little mite as he is, too. could
almost put him in my baccy-pounch, poor
little beggar! but he looks TO be a good
| plucked un for all that
II didn't wait to hear no more, but up on
deck like sky-rocket; and there dill see n
| sight, and no mistake. Every man-Jack OF
the crew, and what few passengers we had
aboard, was all in ring on the foe site, and
in the middle stood the iurst-matc, lDOl;in'
as black as thunder. Right in front of him.
| lookin' a reg'lar mite among all them biz
| fellows, was little bit of a lad not ten wears
| Outraged as a scare crow, but with bright
curly hair, and bonnie little face % his own l.,
if he hadn't been so wOful thin and pale
| But, bless your soul! to see the way that
| little chap held his head up and looked about
| him, you'd ha' thought the whole ship be-
| lOnged to him. The mate was a great, hulk
| in black-bearded Teller, with look that 'ud
| ha' frighten-a horse, and voice fit to make
one jump through a key-hole; but the young
I'm warn't bit afeared-he stood straight
| up, and looked him full in the face with them
| bright clear eyes o. hisn, for all the world as
| if he was Prince Hatred himself Folks did
say afterwards lowering his voice to a whis-
| per- as how he coined o'better blood nor
what he ought; and, for my part, I'm rayther
/ o that way o thinkin' myself; for / never
| yet seen a common street IIarab Gas they
call EN- now carry it off like hun. You
might ha' hcerd Il pin drop as the mate
| spoke.
"'Well young whelp,' says he in his
| grimmest voice, whats brought y,a here p
| 49, Ii was my step-fathcr as done it, saws
the boy in weak little voice, but as steady
as could be. Fathers dead, and mothers
married again, and my new flthcr SAYS as
/ how he won't have no brats about eatin' vi
/ his wages; and he slowed me away when no.
/ body want loOkin', and guy Inc some grul
/ to keep me gOin' for day or two till | got t.
sea. He says I'm to 20 TO Aunt Jane al
/ Halifax; and here's her address,
And with that, lac slips his hand INTO the
/ breast Of his shirt, and out with "a scrap o
/ paper, awful dirty and crumpled up, but with
/ the address on il right enough.
- We all believed every word ont, even
without the paper; for his look, aud hi,
voice, and the way hc spoke, was enough {,
show that there warn't ha' perth - lyin
in his whole skin. But the mate didn't -eeu
to swaller the warn al all he only shrugge,
his shoulders with kind o grin, az much al
to say: / am too Old bird to be caugh
with that kind Of char and then he says {,
him Look here, my lad, that's all very fine
but it won't do here-some Of these men o
mine are in the secret, and / mean 10 have
out of 'em. Now, you just pint out the maj
as slowed you away and fed you, this yer
minute if you don't i'm be the worse 70
your
1.-THE boy looked up in his bright, fearles
way, Git did my heart good TO look at him, tn
brave little chap. > and says, quite quietly
i've told you the truth; amt got no NOR
TO saw
1.-THE mate says nOthin', but looks at hif
for minute al II he'd see clean through him
/ and then he faced round 10 the men, lookir
blacker than ever. Reeve q rope 70 III
yard" he sings out loud enough 10 raise III
/, dead; smart, now
The men all looked at each other, q
much as to say; What On earth's a-comiu
now? But aboard ship, o. sourss, whs