Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1878-06-27
THE STOWAWAY.

ycI WAL.
am standing on the upper deck Of
the Austrian Lloyd steamer, and beside
me, with his elbow n the hand-rail and
his short pipe between his teeth, lounged
the stalwart chief engineer, delighted to
get hold of listner who, as he phrases
It, ''has been about btu g ':&>' a"
+ "No; they amt got an Englilhman's
seasonin'," he continues, land what's
more, they ain't got an ,Englishman's
plalck neither, not when it comes to a real
scrape."
"Can no one but an Englishman have
any pluck, them" said I, laughing.
"Well, won't go for to say that, o
course q man. as Is man 'ull have pluck
in him all the world over. I've seen q
Frencher tackle shark to save his mess
mate; and I've seed Rooshan stand to
his gun arter every man in the battery,
barrin' himself; had been blown I'LL to
smash. But, if yer come to-. that, the
pluckiest Teller as ever seed warn't a
man at allr'
"What was he then?-a woman?"
I '."No, nor that neither; though, mark ye.
1'don't 90 for to say as how women amt
got pluck enough too, some of EN- at
least. But this I'm as I'm talkin' on
was little lad, not much bigger N Tom
Thumb, only with speerit of his own as
nd ha, hlowed up a9man-o'-war almost.
Woald. yerlike to hear about hiu 2''zs q
l eagerly assent; and the narrators
KNOCKING the ashes out of his pipe, fold
his brawny arms upon the top of sfhe
rail, and commences as follows:
"'Bout three years ago afore got this
birth as I'm in now, I was second engin-
F}eeE aboard 4 Liverpool steamer boand
for New, Y9rk.Thsre'd beensa LOTT of
extra cargo sent down just at the last
minute, and we'd had no end of job
stowin' it away, and that ran us late
o. startin', so that, although, as. you
may think, the: cap'n warn't alto
-gether in the sweetest temper. in the
world; nor the mare neither; as for the
chief engineer, he was an easy. goin' sort
o., chap as nothin' on earth could put out.
But on the morni' of the third day out
from, Liverpoof, he cum down to me in a
precious hurry, lookin' as if sonlethi,.'
had put him out pretty considerably.
: Tom," says he '':'what dive .think2
Blest it we amt found stowaway."
Chats the name, you know, sir, jas we
give to chaps as hide themselves aboard
outward bound vessels, and gets carried
out unbeknoN n to everybody T..
|: i: 1.-THE dickens you have!' says I. 'Who
is he, and where did yer find him9" a..
." Wen, we found him slowed away
among the casks for ard, and ten to one
we'd never ha' twigged him at all ii, the
shippers dog hadn't shifted him out and
begun barkin'. Sich a little mite as he
is, tool! I could Almost; put him In my
baccy. pouch, poor little beggar!. But he
looks to be good plucky un for all
that" ~"i - - ...is.s.. -a's-' I,
II didn't wait to hear no more, but pp
on deck like q ssi2y:rocket; and ,%tkete II
did see a sight and no mistake. Every
man-Jack O. the crew, and what few: pas
sengers we had: aboard; was all in a: ring
on the fo'c'stle, and in the middle stood
the first mate, lookin' as black as thun.
der. Right in front of him, lookin,s q
regular mite among all them big feilers,
/ was little BIT o. lad not ten year old
ragged IS . seaTscroY, bit With bright
curly hair, and a bonnie little face o'ahia
own, if it hadn't been so woful thin and
pale. But. bless yer soul ! to- see the way
that little chap held his head up Ind
looked about him, you'd ha' thought. the
Whole ship belonged to him. Tie mate
was great, hulkin' blackbearded Teller,
with q look. that nd :, ha', frightened a
horse, and aveice fitltoj mak6 lone iumu
drought ,key-hole; but the, young un
warn't a bit afeard- he stood straight up
and looked him full in the face with
world as f he vas PrjnSsaei HaiifTsd Il fim ii,
self. Folk did say afterwards Towering
| his voice to aiwhisper) iAasIhow be- coined
O better blood nor what he ought !. and
for my part, I'm rayther o. that way 10
thinkin' myself; for I never, YET seed I
common street Harab las they Is sails 'em
h he PHI dfeb IS G Rase spoRe se' n"
swell, you young whelp,Y says he in
his gfimmest Voice, a" what's br9aeh1
lit wss lily step father! Il dom Il, SAY,
the boy III aweak little voice. but as'stead1
as could be-. Fathers dead and mother
married again, and my new father:says a.
T'ea III 1JbGay 1a Ell BdRiD, and FL. sI 6;
some grub to keep me goin' for dax. pl
.tSI tilslH6e t6t& sHesS4yi TINT 9oac
Adht Jane Al, Halifax, and here's her "a
dress. ''s<ss'S4. sssss5,st 81 - ,S ;',ss 18Th
az M..And with that. he slips his hand lite
the breast Of his shirt, and out with . scrar
O'p3peY,. awful dirty; and crNmbled mr.