Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-16

but men who deal with things dare not
relax for an instant. "And that's the very
chat the James and Mary is the safest
part OF the river" and he put the big black
Bandoorah that draws twenty-five feet
through the eastern gate, with a turban OF
screw beating as steadily as his own heart.
If Jim could not get away to the river
there was always the big, cool port off1ce,
where the soundings were calculated and
where he could lie In long chair and listen
to the talk about the Hugh; and there was
the library, where, II you had money, you
could buy charts and books Of directions
against the time that you actually steamed
over the places themselves. 1t was ex-
ceedingly hard for Jim to hold the list OF
Jewish kings in his head, and he was more
than uncertain as to the end of the verb
"audio' il you followed 1t far enough down
the page. but he could keep the soundings
of three channels distinct in his head and,
what is more confusing, the changes In the
buoys from Garden Reach down to Saugor,
as we'll as the greater part Of the Calcutta
Telegraph. the only paper he ever read.
Unluckily, you cannot peruse about the
Hugh without money, even though you are
the son of the best-known pilot on the
river, and soon as Trevor understood
how his son was spending his time ne
cut down his pocket money; and Jim had
very generous allowance. In his ex-
tremity he took counsel with Pedro. the
And Pedro was bad man. He introduced
Jim to Chinaman in Machuatellah,
nasty place in itself, and the Chlnaman'
who answered to the name Of Erh-IZe,
when he was not smoking opium talked
pigeon English to jim for an hour.
"S'pose you take. Can do?" he said at
last.
Jim considered the chances. A junk he
knew would draw about eleven feet, and
the regular fee for qualified pilot out
ward would be 200 rupees. On the other
hand, he was not qualified, so he could not
ask more than half. But, or the other
hand, he was fully certain Of thrashing
from his father for plotting without license.
So he asked 1I5 rupees, and Erh-Tze peat
him down to 100. and that was like China
man all over. The cargo of his junk was
worth anything from $4,000 to 100000 rupees
and Erh-Tze was getting enormous freight
on the collins Of thirty or forty dead China
men whom he was taking to be buried IN
their native country. Rich Cinnamon Will
pay fancy prices for their services, and
they have a superstition that the iron of
steamships Is bad for the health of their
dead. Erh-Tze's junk had crept up from
Singapore, via Penang and Rangoon, to
Calcutta, where Erh-Tze had been stag
gered by the pilot dues. This time he was
going out at a reduction with Jim. who,
Pedro said. was just as good as a pilot.
CHAPTER II.
Jim knew something of the outside of
junks. but he was not prepared, when he
went down tGat night with his charts. for
the confusion Of cargo and coolies and cof-
fins and day-cooking places and other
things that Uttered the decks. Jim had
sense enough to haul the rudder up few
feet; he knew that a junk's rudder goes
far below the bottom and he allowed
foot extra to Erh-Tze's estimate of the
ships depth. Then they staggered out into
midstream very early, and never had the
city of his birth looked 50 beautiful to Jim
as when he feared he would not come back
to see it. Going down Garden Reach he
discovered that the junk would answer to
her helm II you put 1t over enough and
that she had fair. though Chinese. notion
of sailing. He took charge Of the tiller by
stationing three Chinese on each side Of 1t,
and standing a little forward. gathered
their pigtails into his hands, three right
and three left, as though they had been
the yoke lines of a rowboat. Erh-Tze al
most smiled ut this. He felt he was get
ting good care for his money, and took
a neat polished bamboo to keep the men
attentive. for he said this was no time to
teach the crew pigeon English. The moro
way they could get on the junk the better
would she steer, and as soon as he felt a