Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-08-17

] waited a few moments III vain. Then l
turned round and descended. The cabin
door stood open, about four feet from the
foot of the ladder. / entered the cabin.
A man was sitting on the locker that ran
round the little table. He leaned forward,
his chest against the table, his bearded
cheek fiat upon the shabby oilcloth, his
arms spread wide, his hands hanging nerve
lessly over the opposite side of the leaf.
This man was not the mate, but Eric St.
Clair, the master of the ship, he whose sig
nature / wanted to the charter party
| was young at the time. with a flow of
romance in my nature. l remember now
that when the schooner Queen Anne, Eric
St. Clair master, was reported on the way
to Layton, pictured to myself what man
with such name ought in appearance to
be. | had hoped TO find him not unlike
the youthful Raleigh. The man stretched
on the table before me was between 30 and
so years of age, low-sized, stout, coarse
featured, bottle-nosed, with stout, thick,
dirty hands, and long gray beard, whiskers
and mustache. He wore dark, baggy
trousers, the ordinary sailors jersey, and a
tight-ftting sealskin cap, the wings of
which hung loose and united. He was fast
asleep.
l looked into the mates stateroom it
was empty. | could find no trace of the
boy concluded that they were ashore,
and that ! was alone with the master of
the ship. 1 did not care to stay greater
time aboard than necessary. If the man
had been sleeping long, no doubt he would
be able to sign the documents when be
awoke; but l would not wait for him to
rouse himself 1t would be dark in an
hour or two, and it was not pleasant to
stand here in this rolling, pitching, lurch-
ing yawning ship, with this beast lying in
sensible before me.
/ caught him by the shoulder and shook
him briskly a few times. He groaned,
muttered an imprecation and looked up.
"Eh," he said, throwing himself back
against the locker behind him, "Mr. Paul
ton, is that you? | am very glad to see
you. How did you come aboard?7
To my surprise and delight the man was
sober. | answered that l had come in my
own boat, and that she was now alongside
under the accommodation ladder | took
the papers out of my pocket, and, placing
them open on the table beside him, told
him what had brought me there, adding,
will you please sign opposite the word
Master p
"Ah," he said with smile; call right.
Wait a minute" He now motioned me TO
sit down by the table, and, going out of the
cabin, assembled the companion ladder. l
thought he had gone on deck to fetch pen
and ink, which in coasting vessels in port
are often kept in the pinnacle. In less
than three minutes | saw his heels again
on the ladder. He came into the cabin
with nothing in his hand I've made all
snug" he said, with another smile. He
turned round, locked the cabin door, put
the key in his pocket, took square quart
bottle and cup out of locker, poured
some of the Hollands out of the bottle
into the cup, and drank off the spirits
neat. Then he sat down at the table op-
posite me with look of intense satisfae-
ton on his face, and holding the empty
cup in one hand and the bottle of Hol-
lands in the other. "Will you have a
drop? It's tirst-rate stuff First-rate"
" No, thank you Captain, not now. l
must get back at once. Where do you
keep the pen and ink? ! am in hurry.
The Governor wants the charter party
signed at once for the shippers"
"a wee drop" he said, persuasively, "a
tiny drop, toothful, an azimuth, lust
enough to drown a fiy?"
"No, thank you. never drink spirits"
"More fool you. More id fool YOU"
He filled himself out some more and
bolted this neat also. Then he sighed
and looked around him with dim, unseeing
eyes and an expression of pleasant con-
tentment on the rest of his face
By this time | was a great deal more
than uneasy. l felt fairly alarmed. What
did he mean by saying he had made all
snug, and why did he lock the cabin door
and put the key in his pocket? | was sit.
ting on the bottom locker, which, running
around three sides of the immovabIe table,
did duty for dining room chairs. The
cabin was of the usual horseshoe shane,
the door to the companion being at one
cock, the door into the Captains state.
room at the other. Between these two
doors and in the bulkhead was the stove.
and in front of the stove two camp stools.
Between the Captain and me stood the
table, at which six or seven people might
sit. Under the skylght hung barometer
and the lamp, both in gimbals. Beyond
the table, the stools and the barometer
there was no furniture of any kind in the
cabin. | could have touched St. Clair or
he me across the narrow table. The YES
sci was rolling heavily now and plunging
sharply, but | was in no danger of being
thrown so long as sat still and held on
by the table.
really am in a hurry, Captain.
Where may find the pen and ink ? When
you went on deck | thought you'd hging
them down"
My dear lad, he said, with strange
look and a chuckle, " its all right. When
| went on deck | made all snug. The boy
is gone ashore in the boat, and when | left
you a moment ago | cast off the painter of
your boat. So neither you nor | can 90
ashore, and we're going to have rare old
good jolly time, we are"
Cast my boat Off" | cried in dread.
rising to my feet. "What did you do that
for? How dare YOU cast my boat off? III
not stop here minute I'll hail shore
boat"
8 You WON'T" he said, with boisterous
laugh. You can't for two reasons: First,
because" tapping his pocket with play
full smile, Eve locked the cabin door and
the key is here; second, because if YOU
were to shout until you burst all the veins
in your body not a soul could hear you in
such gale. Hal ha ha p
! was standing at the port side of the
cabin on the space in front of the locked
cabin door In my excitement had not
laid hold of anything. The galliot gave
fearful roll, and was sent over headlong
in heap against the starboard side in
front of the Captains stateroom. l strug-
gled to my feet as quickly as could. For
Ia moment | was confused by the fall.
When my attention was again alert |
found myself clinging to the brass handle
lof the stoye-blower, and saw Captain ST.
Clair helping himself TO third dram of
hollands
" Why, where are your sea legs, mess
mate? A bucket couldn't make worse