The morning call., 1893-03-26
CHAPTER xxi.
SHE SEES HER SWEETHEART

not have exchanged them for nv own soft
bed and linen at home. was now sleeping
as Tom did; was on board a convict ship
as he was, and some of the company l
should be forced to keep were scarcely less
rough than the fel0ns below; | should be
doing work by day almost as hard perhaps
as Tom would be put to; l was therefore
not only hand in hand with my love in the
sympathy of suffering, was bearing almost
as heavy burden as weighed upon him;
and even his degradation was as much mine
as though l too were convict, for he was
my sweetheart and one day, God willing,
will be my husband. and whatever touched
him touched me as though we had been one.
These were my thoughts as [ pulled the
convict blankets over me and put my head
upon the little, hard convict pillow. and lay
for while listening to the torrent of foam
that thuudered past the portfolio. ] then
fell asleep and my sleep was deep and
dTeamless as death. so exhausted was l {;
and when l awoke the cabin was glimmer-
ing out OF the newly broken morning, ana
beheld the young man Frank standing be-
side me.
He told me it was time to turn out; the
steward was calling for me; there was the
cabin deck TO scrub and the cuddy to be got
ready for breakfast.
'Pll follow you in an Instant" said l.
DO you know" said be, going to the
door, dot you vhas very good-looking? 1t
yhas lucky you hov goodt teeth, you show
them even in your sleep. l sometimes be-
lief l must hov seen your sister. But hov
you sister?"
NO" said l. rubbing my eyes and trou-
bled by these questions ana wishing he
would 60.
Veil. l vhas waiter for two or three
months at der Brunswick Hotel in der East
India docks and l remember handsome
young lady dot came in once or twice in dot
time. She vhas so much like you she might
easily hov been your sister"
He went cut when be had said this. l
had no time to reflect, but certainly l had
found 10 air of suspicion In his manner
Il took me but a minute to plunge my face
Ia cold water and 20 out, having lain down
for warmth, fully dressed, save my hat and
shoes. On my showing myself the steward
told me 10 get bucket and 20 on the poop
and fetch water from the pump, which the
apprentices and some ordinary seamen were
washing down the deck by.
l mounted the companion ladder and
found the morning Frightening into sun
shine, the sea "a the east was radiant with
sliding hills of silver the sky was a deli
cate azure, high with small feather-shaped
clouds, linked like lacework. Passing us at
the distance of a mile was a large ship with
flags flying. She was bowling the sea some
what heavily, and made noble picture as
she crushed the brine into snow under her
massive forefoOt yielding to the surge till
the line OF her green copper showed with
long wet flash, while the soft whiteness OF
her canvas ran trembling in shadows to her
trucks with her tossing where it blended
with the feather-shaped clouds so that you
could scarce tell one from another.
Our own ship was clothed with sail to the
royal yards, with dark lines OF damp where
the reefs had been lately shaken out. l was
too far off to see the main-deck. Smoke
from the chimneys of the two gaIleYs blew
black and brisk over the bow, showing that
the wind nearly followed us. The sailors
were washing down, the head pump was
going and buckets were being handed along
from the fOrecastle, where stood the sentry
in gray coat with his DayOneI cleaning
like silver. The first person l saw on the poop
was my cousin VIII. He and several others
were scrubbing the deck hard with brushes
while a broad-shouldeTed apprentice flung
pailful5 of water along the plaDks. VIII
turned his head and saw me, but took no
further notice. Mr. Bates, the chief mate,
stood near the wheel, and | observed that
be watched me while filled my bucket at
the little puuip that was kept a-gushing by
an active young seaman. Il was a strange
real picture of shipb0ard life on the high
seas. The cold of the night was still in the
wind, and not yet had the sun extiuguished
the melancholy of the gray dawn In the dis
tant Tecesses of the west.
l saw no convict, but W hen I returned to
the cuddy with my bucketful of water, on
looking through the windows which CON-
manded a view of the main deck, l OBJ
served number of the felons all hard at
Work, brushing, sWabbing and cleaning.
For an hour l worked with Frank, scrub
btng the cuddy deck, drying ii, re placing
the lengths OF carpet and so on. The
steward then told me to get hoOk-pot
from the pantry and 90 TO the galley for
some hot coffee for Frank and myself. [
found a hook-pot and stepped onto the
quarterback, meaning to walk forward by
the narrow gangway, but number of sea-
men on some job there blocked il, so l went
past the sentry at the barrcade gate.
was trembling and felt myself pale.
There we're many convicts about, and any
one at a moment might turn and prove to
be Tom. Some were coiliug ropes away
some slapped the deck with swabs, some
were cleaning tile paintwoTk; they were all
lTOned. The decks, dark with brine, were
greasy, tile motions of the ship quick and
uncomfortable, and the irons robbing the
limbs of all elasticity caused many of the
unhappy wretches to slide and stagger as
they moved about, for which they would be
sharply and sometimes brutaliy yelled at by
the conyicts who Oyerseered them. The
pTiZefghter was savagely swabbng near the
main hatch; he struck the deck as though
he would split it. / was obliged to pass him
close; he saw me and nodded and said in a
low, thick sarcastic voice, Nice work to
put gentlebud to-"
ATTEND to what you're about thereV
roaTsd man on the other side Of the deck
| pushed on. a convict stood at the
ships side, cniling rope over pin. His
face was averted; but as 1 neared him he
moved his head to look in the direction of
the poop. 1t was Tom. Our eyes met. He
did not know me and turned his gaze away
then looked again, then stared as IL paral-
yZed; his hands were arrested as though he
had been struck dead his face whitened to
the complexion of death. l brushed past
him close. saying in a low voice but dis
tinctly, TON, dearest 1t is Marion. We
are together aud shall vet be happy, and so
saying l went on without again looking
and entered the ships galley.
But the sudden encounter, the seeing him
in irons, so affected me that 1 could scarce
ly draw my breath. noticed with pang
of exquisite distress that he looked i'll; his
{ complexion SO unhealthy white, his cheeks
sunk, his eyes hollow and laden. When l
was in the galley | stood struggling to get
my breath before attempting to speak. then
l heard cOmmotion outside. The stout
cook pushed past me. and putting his head
through the galley door cried, after staring
few moments. "Blowed If IL don't look as
il The poor chap was dyingW
] spranR through the door and saw Tom
supported by two or three convicts; he lay
in their arms in the posture of a man
a minute or two he struggled and stood
erect. and l heard him say: There, lads. /
thank you. Just passing faintness. Take
no more heed OF me, and picking up the
rope he continued In his task of coiling it
over the pin. / watched him coil a second
rope away and then re-entered the galley
81 wonder them coYes aint a-fainting
every hour" said the cook, as he filed my
hook pot with not coffee. 'NO grog and no
baccyi Think of that; and a Vindier diet
than fo'c'sle allowance. Burgoo may be
good eating for them as thinks the bagpipes
good music, but you may take 1t from me-
my lad, that It amt the sort OF stuff for a
grownup man to 90 TO bed on. There's too
much sop a-gong in prison fare. gent
who's brought himself up for years on
champagne, salmon and the best of eating
signs the wrong name TO bit Of paper and's