The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-02-03
LOVE IN PINAFORES.
An Old Sailors Yarn.

"Now, whether it were-'' said the
old sailor, handbag his beer-mug to the
boy to be refilled- -" whether it were in
the Columbus, with Captain Cole, or in
the Yorkshire, with Captain Dave Bal
ley, | don't jist remember; but she
were a Black-baller anyhow. Jist hold
on a minute, sir, till | OverhaulS range
of my recollection, and then I'll pay it
out 10 you straight.
Here's to you, sir; and many hap
py returns. All, now / have it, It's
wonderful what freshener of the mem
ory is beer. Now | sees; itwere in the
Yorkshire, cause it were the same
v'yage what she took out such a lot of
swells-tifty-three in all-cabiR passen-
gers. That were "A bic lot in them
days, for this were in 1914, if / don't
diSremember, and there wern't no
steamers then, and folks didn't 90 to
Europe much unless they had business
to call 'em there.
"This here time we had Colonel Polk
aboard. He were a heavy swell, and
the brother of the President of the
United States, and he were gOin' out to
be a minister to some court or other,
blowed if don't forget which. Then
there were the Hon. NJ. MillistOn and
his two darterS, nice lOokin' gals they
was, too. Then there were Scotch
doctor, and there were talk through the
ship, which are Il awful place for scan
dal, that the very elegant woman what
were with him wern't his wife at all,
but were only one he'd borrowed from
friend
but here | am a-neanderin' along,
like ship tryin' to beat agin a two
knot current-She sails a lot, but don't
never make no headway. | didn't set
out for to tell you about these Old skip
pers, nor yet the ships, nor yet the pas
sengers what we had on the trip out
ward, cause what | were goin' to tell
happened comm home, only it were
the outward crowd as brought it to my
recollection, and that's the way know
it were the Yorkshire | know we left
Liverpool in the summer time, goin'
right out of dock and to sea without
stoppin' in the river, and afore dark we
discharged our pilot off the Nor'west
light-ship, and away we went down
channel flyin'.
/" | reckon it might have been some
where about the fourth day out, and
we'd had dreadful fine weather all the
time. that | were busy in the forenoon
watch a prickin' up a lot of sinnate, and
all of a sudden takes notice of a couple
of youngsters, boy and gal, as was
a-watchin' me and a-seemin' very much
interested in my proceedin's. They was
a funny-loOkin' couple; the boy bein'
about ten years old and the gal maybe
eight. The young fellow were a dread
full old-fashioned chap, and the way he
struued up and down, with the gal
a-hangin' onto his arm, and the way he
talked when he spoke to you, would a
made YOU think he were forty if a day.
''Seein' him so interested | jist give
him the ball of sinnate and show'd him
how for to turn it SO as to keep it al
ways the proper shape, but afOre he
would take it he leads the young gal to
the side and sits her down on a spare
spar, sayin' to her with a full forty-year-
old manner, Now, my dear, sit down
here for bit, while the man shows me
how to make this pretty ball. Well,
sits down bv her and | asks her now
old she were, and she said Eight and
how old were her brother here? and she
said Coin on eleven;' and were her
parents aboard? and she said NO, no.
body but Nancy and who were Nancy
and she said Nancy were her big sister;
and 10y this time the young chaps arms
had got tired and he Civ me the ball of
sinnate, and tuckin' his sister under his /.
arm he sailed away aft, and rs | look |
ed at him | couldn't help thinkin',
Hes forty, if he's a day
We'll, sir, dogs and children was /
always fond of me, and so | soon got |
mighty thick with this here couple, and |
the weather continuin' terrible fine, |
a'meSt every day, in the dog-watches, |
this here two would find me out, and
got to Spinuin' 'em some of the most
almighty twysterS that ever were heard
Of These here yarns what | spins YOU
is of course all true; but, Lord love you,
what | used for to tell these here chill
dren was the most awful whopperS about
phantom ships, and great fish with tre-
mendious wings, rs come out of the
water and flew at the ships, breakin' I.
their SparS all to pieces; and wonderful .
bic whales as would come up under
ships and lift 'em clean out of water;
and these kids, bless you, would take .
'em all in, and would never Git tired of
hearin' of 'em, except sometimes of a F.
night the little gal would 90 off to sleep, /.
LAWN her little head down onto my lap, F.
while the youngster, as wide awake as .
n black-iiSh, would continually keep 1
aSkin' for more of 'em, till were clean .
beat out inventin' of 'em. What both /
cred me were to make out how these .
here two could be of the same family as
the older cal. She were as Irish as the /
pigs in Drogheda, while no one in the |
world would have ever said that they .
come of the same stock; and as for .
brogue, they hadn't bit of it.
1t were all PLAIN TO me, hOwSever,
one night, when we had got to the .
weSt'ard nigh up with tn. fiftieS, and .
arter had been a spinnin' twysters to
these youngsters, and they had gone /
down below to bed, this here old gal, I
which, of course, l had got well ac-
duainted with, comes up agin and sits /
down by me and says she, Tom, I'm I.
greatly worried about them bits of chill |
der, poor things!'
".As how, marm?' says l.
" And then she turns TO and reels off
the whole warn to me. 1t seemed that |
She had been liyin' as nursemaid with
a English family away somewheres in
Yorkshire and there was a bit of a
bov.' rs she called him, as were the
gardener at the same place, and she
and this gardener got very sweet on 10
one another. but they couldn't get sphe-
ed. YOU see, cause this chap hadn't got
no money, and so arter while, hearin'