The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-06-05
STORY OF A SLAYER.
It's Mates Regrets and Self-Con-
CALCULATIONS.

-l NJt-t I .tt.1 flf tIItf ~ '--- ifif p y -
He was leaning against pile of lum-
Der, the sunshine dropping its warm
blessings upon him and the breezes of
the bay kissing his ruddy face, which
was fringed with silver whiskers. He
was an ancient tar, too old now for
work, but not too aged for reminiscent
reverie. His keen eyes were fixed upon
the dancing waters before him, upon
the lazy ships that lay at anchor. here
and there, and upon the distant hill
sides. He was perfect picture of
contentment, and it was quite obvious
that, like all old men who have passed
a life of hard work and usefulness, he
was living now in the past. 1t seemed
almost sacrilege to disturb him, but
the pleasant features which shone from
beneath the tarpaulin, which he still
insisted upon wearing, as if out of re-
spect for days gone by, assured the re-
porter that the old man would not
resent an abrupt intrusion upon his
self-communings So he advanced and
saluted him with ''good day."
'And the same to you, young man,
the same to you. This is fine day,
sir, and alters love to creep down by
the water when the sun shines like it
does Today and the winds come in
brisk and clipper. I don't mind the
hit o. chill that's in 'em, either, for old
rs am / don't feel the cold nigh as
much as do the young 'uns who've
10 ~
After chatting pleasantly with the
old sailor for a short time, the scribe
noticed that he kept his gaze almost
iconstantly on ship that was riding at
anchor not far distant. Finally curl
iosity prompted the question as to why
he seemed so particularly interested in
the vessel, which resulted in the recital
of a story that proved to be deeply in
<eresting. s,ifN 5.iigA Dht t.fr'l
a well, my boy" he began, .sthat
there ship recalls many things that l
love to think of now. l made three
passages around the Horn in her and
crossed from New York to Liverpool
twice on her decks. But it isn't par
ticularly of the voyages Think of when
/ look at her, although they had their
ups and their downs, their sunshine
and their shadow but Iookin' on that
ship makes me think O. one o. the best
masters that ever walked a quarter
deck and one o. the best sailors that
ever gave a command. He was alters
a stickler for dis pline, but he never
bullied sailor man, nor turned his
back on him whenever he had anything
to say. / don't think there was any
thing in his life he regretted save one
thing '
And what was thatP' inquired the
reporter s"i''.<l 'i'i ilnlid-;' s''ias
g ..WeIl, it's a long yarn, but II you
want to hear it IN tell it. 1t was away
back in so, just before the war broke
out, that L shipped aboard a rakish
little craft that was billeted for the
Indies. The shippers name was Cor
don-a dapper little fellow, full Of
pluck and nerve and a. first-rate sailor
His first mate'ssname shan't tell, be-
cause, as you will see, / took an oath
to myself once that wouldn't. But he
was the man who ,afterward COM
manded that there ship out there, that
you see me lookin' at, Well, i. we
cleared from New York in due time, on
the vessel / was speakin''. about Just
now, but instead O. goin' to the Indies
we headed straight for the coast O.
Africa. Though I was young
Teller, knowed we'll enough
what that meant, but o. course,
as we were all in for it, couldn't
say anything, and didn't We dropped
anchor in the quiet little bay O. some
town whose name forgot 1T WASH {
much o place, for there was nothin'
there but lot o. matched huts, with
niggers hangin' around EN- There
was one hut that was bigger'n the rest.
and afterwards learned that the Cow
ernor Of the place lived in it. The day
after we anchored Skipper Gordon
went ashore and was gone three or four
days, leaving the first mate in charge
of the vessel. One day while 1 was
loafin' aft trying to catch a breath O.
fresh air, for it was hotter'n a furnace
on that coast, the mate came along and
SAYS to me: Tom, how do you like the
Indiesp' There was smile on his face
as he spoke, so said; %, pretty well.
and gave him wink. He didn't say
anything more, but walked for ard as
If thinkin' hard about somethin'. 1t
set me to thinkin'. too, for I knowed
we was there to take on a cargo of mig
gers, and i thought about what might
come if we should get oyerhauled by a
United States cutter on the high seas
goin' back. But there was no use
kickin' against things then, or thinkin'
about the future. Matters couldn't be
mended nohow, and so quit mopin' ,
and settled down to take the chances.
.e'.On the fourth day Skipper Gordon
came on board. Shortly after we seen
awhole lot o. niggers come down to
the shore. They was all as black as
coal, and hadn't much O. anything on
to cover their nakedness. Pretty soon