Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-03-30
CREDIT AT THE BAR.

CREDIT AT THE BAR.
"He had been refused credit at the
bar
Nothing could be more blighting
to mans business reputation i'll the
community of Turbot Town than the
circulation Of the above made state
,nent Had he been black balled Ivy
secret society; expelled from local
troop of horse; defeated as a candl-
date for Hayward or hung in gro
tesque effigy. his reputation might
have withstood one. if lot all, of
these humilations, but Il refusal Of
credit at the bar was simply and
irrevocably loss of character Thus
we see that the commercial standard
was very elevated in the whaling and
coasting community Of Turbot Town.
where everything smelt of fish and
oil, and everybody of tobacco and
spirits. SO long as Il man had credit
at the bar tha; length of time he was
solvent and reputable, and the capac
ity at moments notice to treat Il
crowd was sufficient to consecrate Il
mans name III the hearts of his
Turbot Town countrymen. Turbot
Town respected such a man, and
humbly touched its tarpaulin to him
Francis Torrent, the luckless NOR
tai who had been shorn of his good
name by simply the negative shake
of the bar tenders head. had col
lapsed into an obscure corner. and
was moodily contemplating through
the window the mixed prospect of
land and sea. Even for prosperous
man it Was dreary prospect. The
cold. sIirly sea. wrapped in its gray
mantle of mist and cnlivened only
by :he struggling flight of a sea fowl;
Norwegian barque in quarantine,
with yellow flag lanSuidly flying; ii
lighthouse. with unextinguished Ian :
tern looming whitley through the
early morning fog, like giant som
nambulist. with burning lamp. and
advancing noiselessly; and ashore Il
burial lot for unidentified mariners.
with little wooden crosses upon the
uncouth mounds. as If some day in
those parts it had rained daggers.
Nine years ago Francis Torrent
abandoned his home for voyage to
Greenland. He spent his first and
second years earnings frivolously in
foreign ports, reshipped, and after
four years more Of sailors fare re-
tilrued home with a weather sheathed
cheek, d light heart and pocket
jingling with gold pieces, to find,
however, as many a gay rover has
found before him, that the hungriest
of all rodents, Time, had destroyed or
effaced everything that his boyish
fancy had clung to. After much and
varied suffering, his aged parents
had sought rest from the cares of
earth beneath the churchyard cypress
sleeping within the sound of the
sea that bore their wayward boy
upon its stormy bosom; his school
mates were scattered, as the wind
separateth and scattereth the fleets Of
the home fishermen, and his sweet
heart had married his boastful rival
Surely, thought the disappointed
sailor, there are cups OF drink deep
enough to drown the memory of all
this: and therefore Francis Torrent
roamed about, throwing away his
pieces of gold among sharking men
and unprincipled women as heed
lessly as the summer stroller plucks
the yellow dandelion heads and losses
them to the passing breezes. The
result of this prodigality was the
positive shake of the bartender's
imperial head.
As Torrent gaZed disconsolately
upon the dreary scene without. he felt
that he would like to fling himself
from the black cliff out there into the
sea and let his life end. as he had
ended his hopes, in bubble and foam;
but without his wonted stimulant.
he lacked the physical nerve to do it.
The early bar room birds were gath
ering upon their perches-the sturdy
topper with stomach of brass, who
drank his undiluted tipple without a
shudder, and with a crack of the lips
like the explosion of pod of tram
pied rock-weed. and the tremulous,
two-handed inebfiate, whose head
shook in remorseful rhythm with his
shaking hands. Suddenly there en-
tiers with great tumult Captain Caleb
Rudge, bringing in with him the
fused odors of pipe, grog and herring.
The captain was a veritable marine
monster. or monster marine "a human
cetacean of the cachalot species.
moist, breathful and bluhbery clad
III a stark. pilot cloth garment, with
nakefui. white bone buttons, very
wide and very blue trousers, and a
glazed. sun cracked CAP of cxtraor-
dinary dimonsity.
"Shipmates." roared the captain,
III speaking trumpet tones, as if ad
dressing men at the mast head. lets
all hands splice the main brace
Now, i'll Turbot Town. a general
invitation TO drink was like the beat
OF the reveille-drum to .lisciplined
soldier. Every man sprang to lis
feet. but one, and he was Francis
Torrent
tome. young man. exhorted the
ruddy captain, take suthin' and
cheer mp. You look too heavily loaded
forard"
Excuse me, with thanks, Captain"
was the courteous reply.
Eagerly athirst as We're many of the
captains bibulous beneticiaries. and
as proXlmate as We're their glasses to
their lbs, vet no ono vanturoJ ~
indulgence, for Turbot Town had It's
exacted statutes up3n the subject Of
drinking, and at no time were thnse