, 1880-12-24

stars in the flag, and the sweetest little
face-kisses iuR sticking out all over it!
But wasn't she the sickest little mortal
that ever set foot on deck? | tell you,
she was all green and yellow, and oo'ed
half starved. l do not believe she'd
kept down quarter Of dinner for q
month past ."..". q H..
Hullo. jack said l; whats the
matter? And | gave the lady u seat on
u lounge in my cabin. The poor little
thing could't sit up straight, so l Just
hoistod her feet up and made her com
Portable among the pillows. .''.' .''
Captain, said he, II want you to
marry me to this young lady
Marry you? said l. What do you
mean? She's too sick to be married,
mani" She can'tstand up. If you and
sho want to be married, why don't you
wait till YOU get ashor6?p gn ...t
I" You see, ladies', we talked out free
before her, for she couldn't understand
word of English. ... p..a ....
'''If we wait till then said he, you
and III be goin' to her funeral instead of
her wedding We've got to'be married,
and right away, and you have got to
marry u.s. ~ . .".nNI '.
"You see again, ladies, we were very
great friends outside the ship, and when
we were alone together we dropped all
ceremony" ..
What in thunder are you in such y
hurry for? said 1, Why can't you
wait till you're ashore?' Where arc TIE
lady's friends?" '..' '...
"'Her stepfather's aboard my ship
he said.
81 thought 80, said l. and 1 won't
have anything to do with it, ,'4
He Just turned and winked at me
out of the tail of his eye. and | then re-
in moment Of misplaced
had told him some little
in regard to my own mar
riage. ..,....... ..... .....
"Hemr said he, grinning like mon
key, L think they're sometime iustitiable.
Now, just look here, Cap; listen, and I'll
tell you all about it, That little girl has
no relations, nothing but a stepfather,
and she's dependent on him for support.
Well, the old coot's doctor, and crazy
ut that; or, if he isn't, he's the meanest
cuss on earth. He's taken it into his
added old head to discover a sure cure
foa sea-sickness, and because just the
name of ship sets poor little Dolores to
casting up accounts, he's been taking her
on all sorts of long voyages, and trying
his various decoctions on her. so l
want to marry her to get her out OF his
way. OF course I'm in love with her,
md all that said he, looking kind Of
foolish, but if that was all, I'd wait till
we got ashore. OF course l can't make
him let her alone unless she's my wife,
and if he has control Of her much longer
she'll never see port again.
"'Do you mean to say said |, staring
ut him in surprise, that he tries expert
ments on her--gives her things that
mint incidence"
"'I do, said he; and I mean to say
that the last thing he gave her was bot
tie of bed d.bug poison, and 1t most killed
her,
"'By the Flying Dutchmanr said I,
L should think it would! Where's the
old coot now?'
L" In irons. 1 told him l wouldn't
have any such doing aboard my ship,
and he slapped my face. SO Iput him
in irons and came off to you. .....
"Well, ladies, I just went over to the
sofa where the little girl was rolling her
big black eyes at us, and wondering
what in thunder we were saying. I'm
's'How old are you, my dear! l
asked in Spanish. .-.# ~l|r
''You see, I'd been -rnvrried more'n
two years, and thought I'd a sorter
right to be paternal. ,t. .1......t..
'' Eighteen, Senor Captain, said she,
in the softest voice in the wor Id.
"Said /:
"'Do you love this man and want to
marry him? You needn't if you don't,
because III see to it your steptather
doesn't bother you any more
II didn't dare look round ut Jack, for
I knew he'd be looking ,blacker'n thun-
der at me jdst then. And, indeed, he
took a step toward us; but I made him
keep off till she should have answered
for herself, q 2 sa X ~ sMs
"Well, She flushed very prettily, and
hesitated for a0seeopl, then answered
very swcotly that if the Seaor Captain
didn't mind the trouble, she should
marry the Senior First OAioer- That the
Senor First Officer had been her only
friend; that, although she had taken
many voyages and seen many people,
she had never before found any one who
cared to interfere N her behalf; that she
felt very grateful to the Senor First OH
cor, and had now become attached to
him, and with the Senor Captains per-
mission would gladly become his wife.
GAS she said this, Jack got out OF sight
behind the door, pnt his thumb to his
nose, and twirled his fingers at me in the
most disrespectful manner. | had a
great mind to put him in irons for
mutiny--but no matter,,a III
"Of course there was nothing TO he
done except marry them; she was over
eighteen, and at sea the captain S us
good as parsor, you know.
80 | called up the passengers and the
officers: and the ladies dressed her up in
their own finery, and we had Il wedding