The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-07-10
and spluttered, and at length ro.fed

mate.
aChuck her-nol Great sakes
Bring her aftl" roared the Captain.
So the mste returned to the groul
forr'ard, and presently returned, lead
ing by the hand a fair-haired, blue-eyet
child of about eleven.
Well" said Bartlett, after he hal
slowly surveyed her from head to foo
and from foot back again to head, ant
noted that she was apparently of q yer,
superior order of stowaway, her clothe,
being good, and her physical appear
ance that Off c,ssild well looked after
who are y0uY
Mary Jane Johnsworth," was til,
ready reply.
MARY Jane Johnsworth," repeated
the skipper; "wall, and what The tar
nal does Mary Jane Johnsworth wan,
hidin' Of herself aboard a craft as dom
belong to herr"
II don't know" was the answer.
"You don't know. Got father anG
mother ?" asked Bartlett.
Yes sir" answered the child.
Then what are yer %a-slopin' from
home fur 2"
I'm not. Tn going home"
HHThen you'rea Br,tisher. / reckon ,
Mary Jane is my name; England is M,
nation,
Birkenhead is my dwelling place, andn-
said the child.
Captain Bartlett filled up the rhyme
with something which was not ~"salva-
ton, then took a turn or two along the
bridge, keeping his eye on the child ali
the time, as if she was some rare zoolor.
ical specimen.
.Wall."he said, stopping suddenly,
II you wur a man, or a boy, do you
know what I should do with you"
Ask me if l could eat anything ?"
was the reply"
Captain Bartlett took his cigar from
his mouth, and looked at her with in
creased amazement.
Great Scottw he calculated, "you We
got sass anyway. Mr.. Slope, take her
ferr'ard and see that she Las something
to eat, and-Mr Slope, send a hand
aloft, and report the hearings of the
"Ceckney."
The report presently came that the
"Cockney" was out of sight.
"Brandy's O derned fool" chuckled
the skipper.
In half an hour Mr.. Slope reappeared
on the bridge.
"She's a queer 'un, that ther kid,
sir" he said; II left her with a couple
o. pounds O. beef, and a loaf O bread,
al potaters, an %fixins', and I'm blessed
II she hadn't slowed it away in a quar-
ter Of an hour. She's proper stow
away, she is sir"
aPoor little cuss!" said Bartlett II
reckon I should like to have o ten
minutes talk with her skunk of 9
father, or whoever her friend is.
Thar's one thing, Brandy's hundred
ponndW pay for her passage, an that's
o fact"
Three days passed, three days o.
glorious weather and calm sea, and the
"P'cayune" made her twelve knot:
regularly every hour. Mary Jane
~Johnsworth in this time established
herself as a general favorite with officers
and crew, and particularly with the
skipper. She could sing any amount
Of old sea songs, could initiate to the
life the noise made by the men as they
ran round the capstan to the shanty OF
Johnny Franswaw" or the "Shanan-
dore.' She could dance, and with all
she had such pretty, piquant ways,
that there was not a man on board who
would not have done anything to please
her, from the skipper to the stewards
boy. Her appetite continued huge;
with ease she put away twice the ration
OF an ordinary seaman, although she
had q whim Of preferring to have her
meals alone at all sorts of odd times.
On the fifth day out, Marcus, the
black cook, came aft with long face to
the skipper.
PLEASE. sab" he said, " 1 nebber
seed such a ting in all my horned days,
nebber!n
What is it, you vagabond?" demand
ed Bartlett.
why, sah," replied the cook, "de
steward he glib me beef, an mutton, an
pork, an m'lasses. an, flour, an biscuit,
cherry mornin', and it go!"
1What dye mean, it go? of course,
1t 60" said the Captain, eyer don't
reckon ships stores amt made to 60"
Oats ies'what / seq to myself, seq L.
replied Marcus. "Ship's stores is
meant to go, but dey isn't meant to hy.'
"Wher do they fly to, you black-liv.
cred skunk ?" asked the skipper angrily.
Oats ies' the oder ting I asks my
self" replied the cook, wher does they
fly to? Steward he glib me over lowance.
Dat amt no good worth q cent"
Il reckon some of the boys rob you
Marcus" said Bartlett; Jest you keel
that weather eye O. yourn open, an i
you ketch any skunk prowlin' around
the galley when you amt thar, jes'fetct
him ove the head with anything handy
and then tell me. You can bet your
bottom dollar he won't do it a SECOND
time"
Marcus took all possible precautions
After nightfall he would prowl abou'
the galley with a marling-spike in hand
ready to pounce upon any hungry foc'sl'
hand or fireman who should be tempted
to tap the provision store in the galley
He and Mary Jane were the very best o
friends, and in return for little delicacie
he made her, she would offer to kee,
watch whilst he snoozed or joined tn,
hands in sky-larking.
Still, the provisions went, and tn
rum went, and the shippers whisk,
went, and neither Marcus nor Mar,
Jane, nor any one else could imagin'
how. Bartlett waxed furious, and hell
= consultation with his first mate; tn,
result was that all hands were pipet
forward Of the bridge, and the skippe
addressed them as follows:
Nov, look yer, boys, I recken, takin
you all rOun'. re as smart q lot a
ever shipped, but thar's q derned THE
amongst you, a lowminded cuss. wha
can't content hisself with the regulation
skinful. but must go sneakin' an prov
lin around like a coyote, and freezin
to things AS don't belong to him.
don't suspect nary a man in partikler