The herald., 1893-08-01
THE STOWAWAYS.

ILL OIOW NV A 1O.
Suppose" suggested Tommy Hilton,
bright and early one Saturday morning,
''that we go down to the dock on the
East river and see if we can't find some
ship that will take us away to the other
end Of the world"
This proposition made a favorable i'm
preston on Charley Wines, who was
also Of an adventurous turn Of mind,
and 30 the two little boys decided to en-
bark without delay, and to take no bag
gage but q dark lantern and q large
package of sandwiches and cake, which
they begged from the cook.
So early did they start that 1t was not
much after o'clock when they appeared
on the dock and looked about them for
. vessel suitable for the proposed trip.
"Iwish. said Tommy, "that there was
. good pirate ship in the harbor now
one Of those long, low, rakish looking
craft such as we read about in The Pi-
rates Bride and which are always rae
ing up and down along the coast of China
ON the lookout for rich merchantmen"
II don't believe there's pirate ship
here, said Charley, "but there's brig
antine that sails for Cuba today for a
cargo Of oranges and bananas. If we
were to ship aboard her, we'd get lots Of
good things to eat and have no end Of
fun"
"Of course we would" chimed In
Tommy approvingly. II am glad to see
you coming round to my ideas. Why,
Fatty, there's not only oranges and ba-
nanas and cocoanuts down there. but
there's guava jelly and yams and sugar
cane and pineapples and an elegant
beach to go swimming on and monkeys
and parrots in the trees and everything
else till you can't rest. Now, I'll tell you
what we'll do. If we like the looks of
the captain and mate-particularly the
mate-for he's the one, don't you know,
who is always cruel to the sailor boys in
The stories, and If we like the ship her.
self we'll just sail in her today. Maybe
we could find a place in the cargo that
we could fit up for ourselves, as that boy
In the Mayne Reid story did, bring in
food enough to last through the voyage
and not show ourselves till we felt like
It,"
Fatty had always had weakness for
sweet things, and the prospect of going
TO land productive of every known
delicacy fired his imagination and drove
cut from his mind for the moment all
thoughts of the brilliant career of ad-
venture that he had often planned for
himself as scout and slayer of Indians.
Aboard the brigantine, which was called
the Mary Jane, they found themselves
IN the midst of the hustle and excite
ment incident to the lading of large
cargo. The sailors were hoisting a num-
Der Of boxes from the dock and lowering
them into the vessels hold by means Of
an apparatus rugged to the msinmast,
while the officers Of the ship were so
busy that they paid no attention to the
two well dressed little boys who were
roaming about the ship, now peeping
into the cooks galley and now appear
ing in tho forecastle, running about the
deck and making themselves thoroughly
at home after the fashion of young Amer
ican boys generally.
It was not long before they contrived
to slip away into the vessels hold, where
the sailors were slowing away the boxes
and barrels as fast as they were lowered
from the deck. They grouped around
among the different casks and big cases
until at once they came upon an open
space between two enormous boxes,
which was just big enough to accom-
modate them both and reminded them
instantly of the place in which the stow
away In Mayne Reid's romance had made
his famous voyage.
"Eurekai" cried Fatty, who knew the
Greek alphabet and was proud Of his
classical attanments, "all we have to do
now is to hide here until the ship is well
out to sea and then show ourselves on
deck"
And 80 1t happened that when the lad
ing Of the cargo was finished two small
boys with no other equipment but dark
lantern and q package of sandwiches
were snugly slowed away in little open
space among the big cases and hogsheads.
It was not cold down in the ships
hold, and there was smell Of sugar,
which was not at all disagreeable. They
could hear the water dashing against the
dock outside, and then something shut
out the few rays Of light that had pene-
trated their hiding place. The captain
ordered the cover put over the hold and
fastened down. Whether 1t would be
reopened the next morning or whether
they would be kept there until the ship
reached Havana they did not know. An
awful fear came over Fatty Wines, and
be said in voice that trembled in spite
bf himself:
"we're in for it now, Tommy, sure
popr
"well," said Tommy, I'VE might as
well make the best Of it here, and not let
these rats frighten us to death. Well
have to keep stiff upper lip now that
we are out for life Of adventure"
They. were "in for 1t" and no mistake,
but they did not lose heart. For awhile
they lay listening to the scampering of
rats and the sound of waves dashing
against the vessels side Before long
their eyes began to droop, and they fell
into dead sleep, from which they were
awakened by the jolting of the ship,