The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-03-10
A STOWAWAY.
The Boy Who Proved Himself a
"True Englishman."

GAY, ay, sir; they re smart Seamen
enough, no doubt, them Dalmatians,
and reason good, too, SEEM they man
half the Austrian navy; but they amt
got the seasonin' of an Englishman,
put it how yer will!'
am standing on the upper deck of
the Aurtrian Lloyd steamer, and beside
me, with his elbow on the hand-rail
and his short pipe between his teeth,
lounges the chief engineer, delighted
to get hold of a listener who Gas he
phrases i0 "has been about bit
mo, they amt got an Englishman's
seasonin'," he continues, land, what's
more, they amt got an Englishman's
pluck. neither, when it comes to q real
scrape."
Can no one but an Englishman have
any pluck, thenP" asked 1, laughing.
"Well, 1 won't just go for to say that;
o course man as is man 'ull have
pluck in him all the world over. I've
seed Frencher tackle shark to save
his messmate; and I've seed Rooshan
stand to gun arter every man in the
battery, barrin' himself had been
blowed all to smash. But. if yer come
to that, the pluckiest Teller as ever l
seed warn't q man at ALP"
What was he. then--a woman?"
mo, nor that neither; though, mark
ye, don't 60 for to say as how women
amt got pluck enough, too, some on
'em, at least. But this un as I'm q
talkin' on was little lad, not much
bigger n Tom Thumb, only with q
sperrit OF his own as nd ha' blowed up
a man-owar almost. Would you like
to hear about it?''
/ eagerly assent; and the narrator,
knocking the ashes out of his pipe,
folds his brawny arms upon the top of
the rail, and commences as follows:
Bout three years ago, afore | got
this berth as Tn in now, | was second
engineer aboard a Liverpool steamer
bound for New York. There'd been a
lot of extra cargo sent down just at the
last minute, and we'd had no end of a
Job stowin' it away, and that ran us
late o. startin'; 50 that altogether. as
you may think, the cap'n warn't alto
gether in the sweetest temper in the
world, nor the mate neither AS for
the chief engineer, he was an easy
goin' sort O chap as nothin' on earth
could put out. But on the mornin' of
the third day out from Liverpool, he
cum down to me in a precious hurry
lookin' as if somethin' had put him out
pretty considerably.
"'Tom, says he, what dye think?
Blest if we amt found a stowaway.'
CHATS the name, you know, sir. as We
gives to chaps as hides themselves
aboard outbound vessels, and gets
carried out unbeknown to everybody.
~ didn't wait to hear no more, but
up on deck like a sky-rocket; and there
l did see a sight. and no mistake
Every man-Jack o the crew and what
few passengers we had aboard was all
in ring on the TO castle. and in the
middle stood the first mate lookin' as
black as thunder. Right in front Of
him. loobin' regular mite among all
them big fellers was q little bit o 4 lad
not ten years Outraged as scare
crow, but with bright, curly hair and a
bonnie little face O. his own, if it hadn't
been so woeful thin and pale. But,
bless yer soul! to see the way that little
chap held his head up and looked about
him, you'd ha' thought the whole ship
belonged to him. The mate was a
I,,l1 Id Fo11
with look that 'ud ha' frightened a
horse, and voice fit to make one jump
through keyhole; but the young un
warn't bit afeard-he stood straight
up, and looked him full in the face
with them bright, clear, eyes, O. his n,
for all the world rs if he was Prince
Hatred himself Folk did say after
ward lowering his voice to Whisper
as how he'd come o better blood moi
what he ought, and, for my part, I'm
rayther o that way o thinkin' myself
for never yet seed common stree
Harab Gas they calls 'em now carry i
off like him. You might ha' heard ;
pin drop as the mate spoke.
"Well, you young whelp, said he
in his grimmest voice, what brought
you hercP'
alt was my stcp-father as done it,
says the boy in weak little voice, bu
as steady as could be. Fathers dead
and mothers dead again, and my new
father says rs how he won't have nj
brats about eatin' up his wages; and HI
slowed me away when nobody warn
lookin', and guve me some grub to keel
me goin' for day or two till l got u