The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-04-30
Copyright. 1893. by The Author.l

CHAPTER lat THE FIGHTING TEMER-
ARE.
remember it all. lads, as If it had been
yesterday. old as l be. and gone as is the
right good ssrvice now.
The dark nights when we ran over from
Gravelines. or CALAIS, or Dunkirk. OF
Ostend. or may be. even st. Valorv and
Hayre. as the track might chance. with
our three or four score tubs aboard. each
holding their four gallons of brandy which
needed half and half water with it afore
even a smugsler could swallow it without
choking.
Bill Cannon, there. our landlord oan
bring me up il l stretch a point in the plain
yarn i am goin to give to ye abou them
olden lines. for We wor boys together, and
downright good mates in most of these
trips across the channel, as we'll as in the
strange adventures we went through after
ward In other seas.
We were always together, Bill Cannon
and myself, from the time we went shrimp
ing or gathering cookies on the Whit
stable sands to the time be took The Tenn
eraire" with his savings. and l brought to
anchor as his lodger, and please God SO we
will be until we rest together upon she hill
side.
was master. By reason that my father
had left me the iugger in which we did our
business, and which 1 rechristened the
Dark-Eyed Darling. after the gal whom
Bill and / courted. and fell out about often;
the gal who afterwards went and throwed
herself away upon q dilikate flandshark.
Lor. Bill. To think on that gal throwing
herself away on a blessed penman. with
bis chalky face, arter having the choice
D the like of us bold smuggler
boys, who could run the cutter
with the best of them. and bring lace and
silks enough to fit out a duchess; but there,
gals always like to fling themselves away
on dilikate objects. they're 80 pitifal in
their natures that if they can't get q sick
kitten or q NANCY dog to nuss mp they'll
take anything that's like 'em in brooches.
and give the lusty lads the go-by. at least,
such line gals as was Nancy Weston, our
dark-ey ed darling.
Dye call that ERE swipes brandy Lor.
Bill can tell ye that when we were young
wed have chucked that sort of wash over
board to pbysi the fishes if We had come
upon any thing like 1t, but we never did,
and now drink fourpenny beer by pref
erence to having the old taste spoiit by
doctored brandy; so here's to ye all afore
begin.
There wos eight of us altogether in that
ere iugger on the last trip we made across
TO France, myself as master. Bill Cannon
as mate. the others were Jack Wilson.
Nancy's brother. Sam Goulden. Jamie
Wood and Ted Kemp. all SIX of Whitstable
natives; the other two were furriners. hav-
ang but lately come To the place. one being
a Scotsman. called Roger Harding, and the
other. l think. a Cornish man. called Amen
Noss.
Now though we don't like furriners as O
rule. yet these two had proved themselves
20 be good mates, and both were up to the
trade. particularly on the French side;
they knew the best houses to deal with for
good liquor. with other stuff. and got US
better bargains than we could have made
by ourselves. besides they were M to all
the tricks. and reckless about their own
skins, and SO lucky to us that never a
blockade had dropped on Us In all the trips
since they had been aboard. and so We bore
with them and excused them as best We
coIldfor being furriDers.
Roger Harding was a powerful, broad.
shouldered black visaged man. of nearly
ss many inches as Bill Cannon there; be
he had been In foreign service. and was
BunburDt like a piece of cow-bide, with
outs and scars over what could be seen OF
his natural complexion, the like as / never
paw except IN a battered old tigger head.
DE had a slit In his jaw which made him
look as If he was always GriDning In an
ngly way; one eye was gone. while the
Dther bleZed ont like alive coal. and what
with another deep cut on the forehead and
p broken nose. with the lobe or both ears
torn away. he warnt no beauty, excepting
DO far as manly strength ano n fine figure
went TO make amends for that cutlash-
carved face.
The other one. Amen Moss. was a slight
built man as thin and active as an eel. with
o palish face below the s~un-tan. clean
Bhaven. and eyes OF a cold, light blue. his
brown hair was turning brindled. although
plentiful and curly. and he had q soft way
about him, and a nice voice for singing a
sentimental song, so that any one might
have taken him for a s0fty only for the
grit that was in him; he could patter
French like a native and was of vast use
to us when taking IN our cargo.
Bill Cannon, you can see him for your
selves, when he was twenty. there wasn't
bigger. nor "A stronger. nor a better-looking
young fellow on the coast of England-slX
feet SIX, and broad in proportion, with "a
pipe which could bs heard from Reculvers
10 HerDe Bay. when he used It's full power
and the wind WAS that way, and Il fist that
could fell q bullock at one bash; We was
ruddy-c op nlexioned men, with sandy hair,
and almost like brothers IN appearance,
OILY that Bill beat me by four inches In
height. l was only six feet two in my
stockings. yet. barring Bill Cannon, not
many men could stand up to me. Brett
Maxted, in O fair tussle when / was a young
fellow.
The other four of our crew were all likely
boys. and about our own age. with the ex-
oeption of Nancy's brother Jack. We took
HIM with Us because he was her brother,
and because he was q smart boy tor his
Years.
In age he was eleven years. dark. like his
sister. ana as pretty as they make them,
fne-featured and bold III his expression.
with big, Ginning brown eyes that were
likely TO make the gals hearts beat wien he
grew up. and as trichsy a young scrub as
ever | wor tormented with. OF could bear to
let out of my sight, for he had the winning
way OF Nancy when he wanted something
out OF me-, and was SO like her that Bill and
j used TO fancy her with us when he sat
opposite us n the cabin after we had q glass
or 80 o. 0rog In US.
As1 have told You already. since the
shipping OF these two furrIners, we had
never had an accident, missed a run. or
lost q single Tub. We had good friends
ashore, of course, even amongst the block
ades. who were always ready TO give us the
warning II strangers vor about. GOOD
and respectable friends too. at Canter-
bury and Eavcrsham, who Kept our secrets
as We kept theirs. even when they had to re-
primand and punish us from the bench Tor
what they would rave helped Us away
with II they could havedonelt safely. for. OF
course. there IS nothing wrong II getting
good stuff into the country as cheap as pos
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