St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-09-29
.Now, then. sttr ro,,r st,,nns y. 1,l1

~" ~oio s'oos1fa W play young gentl
man, curse your
That was the beginning, | had BET
shlpped not as a cabin boy, for the
was no place for one, but as a shin
dog, boy who must come az
go at everybody's call, al
who could be kicked and cutfe
by everybody. According to tt
novelist, | should have found
stanch friend in the fo'castle, a .Jac
Bolt Or Ben Brace, who would take N
under his wing and offer to fight til
whole ship in my behalf. but nothin
OF the kind happened. Most Of til
crew We're Dagoes, and no one shove
me the slightest pity. When we ha
been out four days | began to feel yer
anxious about the safety of the shir
The plan was, as / overheard It. t
take to the boats. and it suddenly oc
cured to me that they would refuse t.
take me with them. ] suppose | go
this idea from the men telling me tina
was no good, and that l ought to b,
thrown overheard. and other ex
| presslons intended to upset me, 70,
can guess how green | was by wha
followed, | was in McCoy's watch
and On the night OF the fourth day, as
he seemed to soften up q bit whe1
giving me an order, / made bold tc
say:
"Mr. Mccoy, when you get ready to
have the ship go down, you won't
leave me to drown, will you?"
"W-what!" he gasped as he
staggered back like one shot.
In ten minutes he had it all out of
me, and he stood before me pale-faced
and trembling. When he had made
sure that l had not said any thing to
any OF the crew, he took me aft and
locked me up in stateroom designed
for the supercargo. Next morning /
was taken to the cabin and questioned
by the captain and mate and returned
to my prison. They were not harsh
with me, but, on the contrary, prom
lsed that l should 60 in the captains
own boat, and that I need not work
any more. was made cabin boy, and
was warned that if | dropped one sim
gle word to any person l should be
hung to the sharks at once. They
could trust me. Simple Simon that |
was, cared only to save myself when
the hour came. ! could not realize
that the scuttling OF u ship was any
thing more than a sharp trick. For
Ill | knew it was practiced every day
N the year.
One day when we had been out
lbout two weeks, as near as | can re-
member, l was sent to help the second
nate look for something wanted from
he lazarette. His name was Elder
on, end he was the only one aboard
Who had a friendly look. He had
poken to me kindly two or three
lines. and l felt that he was a friend.
We were scarcely alone when he took
rom his pocket box of sulphur
matches, fishline and several hooks,
nd a large pocket knife. He handed
hem to me and said:
ben, take these and stow them ,
way in your pocket, and on your life
~ nothing to any one! Be sure to
eep them about YOU" I
He turned from me as If he did not !
ant to be questioned, and poeketed i
lie articles without word. was in t
state of wonder. however, and moth t
g was made plain until the next day. b
ten o'clock in the forenoon the ship e
as hove to about a mile from small 5
land, boat ordered lowered. and b
en- all hands We're called aft. When v
ey had assembled the captain said: r
"Men, discovered two days ago 0
at this boy was a leper. He has got A
bad, and is to be pitied My duty in b
is case is plain. He must be ma Il
oned.n II
AYE, aye, STRIP chorused the crew. W
Il shall fit him out and set him d,
nore here" he continued, .and you Ii
my witnesses that it is step nee Il
sary for the safety of ALL Ii
There was a ready assent, and be- h,
re fully understood what was going 70
| was in the boat with Mccoy and
ng pulled toward the island by two be
lors. Even when | knew / was to tn
left | did not raise an objection. Ills
,posed the island to be inhabited, M
'haps there was city there, and |
not sorry for the change. We ran SCI
20 close that could wade ashore, to
the mate handed me several bun tn
which the men supposed contained to
1, clothing and conveniences. AS In
n as | had every thing out of the fai
: the three gave me a curt good pls
, and | sat down on the sand and tire
ched them return. The boat was me
sted up, the Albatross made sail, bu
| was marooned upon an uninhab- loo
island This fact was not fully abb
lied until toward night, and was in
nipple that it was several hours be- Rie
I had figured it out why | had any
! set ashore. / was in Dos In
lon of the plot to scuttle nor
ship, and | must be got ono
u. The captain had called me TIL,
T to justify his action with the SO
I, and it was planned that / should out
i've long ashore. When / came to Ian
the bundles found them to be tole
posed Of empty bottles, oakum, mos
bits OF canvas. There was not a pan
Gle OF food-not an article of YES.
ing nothing but rubbish. 1t was sec,
! realized the kindness of the r
ID mate. He mustiave overheard Alb
plot1lng 70 marsbn me, and he lost
as far as it was safe for him to not