Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-27

I legs in the sunshine, toast1ng his tiny
toes IN 1t, and looking at his fingers and
talking 10 himself. He made the bark
more human than ever | thought vessel
| could be rendered. He begot a strong
home feeling in us all, and you'd see the
moving fancies he'd put into the men as
they'd creep aft-and l never pretended
TO notice them-tO have g look at the little
/ 'um. Many a stream of tobacco Juice
I've seen them squirt overheard FROM
the quarterback after watching tne baby,
as if their hearts were too full to suffer
'em to wait until they got forward to eX-
pectOrate.
But one day, sir, there came an end
I to this. 1t must have been the cutting oil
/ tooth, / think. He had a tit, but pulled
/ through it, and we thought him all right,
! and | left him sleeping and looking com
! Portable enough in my bunk while went
I on deck. We were then in latitude 2sde-
/ grees south, in the tail of the trade
wind.
Il had been on deck two hours, when
/ the steward came up through the COM
panion, and, approaching me slowly and
speaking very sOlemnly, he saws:
Mr.. ROband,' he says, little Jimmy
that was the name he went by-.lit-
tie Jimmy he says, has gone to join his
mother
Il started and said: what's that YOU
say? He answered:
"Our little 'un's dead. sir
Il ran below and found the Captain in
my cabin looking at the baby that lay a
corpse in my bunk. had grown wonder
fully fond of the BARN, sir. and the sight
broke me down, and one or two heaying
sobs came from me. no more to be helped
by me than the tightness in my throat
Oh, sir, it was as if a beautiful little In
n I'D
looked after had died of the Cape cold, in
spite of your love. Only this was an i'm
mortal being, fellow creature, little
baby that we had plucked from the very
brink or an ocean grave into which his
mothers dead embrace was dragging him;
and we had learned to love him.
He has gone said Captain Blacket
IT'S Gods will, Mr.. Roland. We did
our duty by him-we could not have done
more
1--WE may take it, sir, that his mother
wanted him. says the steward.
- Ay, steward, and her entreaty has
been answered, says the Captain, with a
glance alOft.
Il could not take any hand in equip
ping the little mite for his funeral. L
was too much upset, sir. The sailmaker
made tiny hammock Tor him, and they
put his hands together, and smoothed the
little Wreaths of yellow hair upon his
head and dressed him in clean
things, and, before he was stitched up,
all hands lay aft to say good-by, ne'er a
man among them had entered the cabin
but stopped to give the little cold face a
kiss before leaving. We kept him till
next day, and buried him after eight bells
had been made.
ut was a green, windy, glistening
morning; the emerald seas ran at us,
melting in frOth as they came; and the
shadows of the men gathered around the
gangway, swayed at our feet as the bar
que rolled over the surges, and the dane
ing sun darted beams like spears of light
from the clouds through which he swung
oh, sir, the contrast Of that little ham
mock upon the grating with the huge
grave that was 10 receive i'll The service
was almost more than some of US could
bear; I'd see the men turn their heads
away, and look down, and when at last
it came TO the passage that's a signal at
sea tor the fitting of the body into the
water, we all let our breath out in a sob
as the tiny hammock sped like a snow
flake over the side and vanished in the
slant OF sea whose breaking summit
flashed a rainbow over the spOt."-LOi-
don IeLc1rdDh.