The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-08-07
JACK AND THE BARNARD.

A seamy-faced old salt with tiny
gold rings in his ears and bushy hair
hanging well down overlthe back of
his neck was sitting astride the string
piece of the Old Slip pier watching a
gang of men discharging a cargo of
pineapples from a neat little three
masted schooner. It was busy and.
on the whole, cheerful scene, for the
men were not only hard at work hoist
ing and sorting the fruit, but they were
at frequent intervals actively engaged
In heading off half-dozen laughing
boys who were bent on getting a good
pineapple, in place of the rejected ones
to which they were welcome. But the
old salt frowned and pulled vigorously
at his pipe while he watched the scene,
and so attracted the attention of
sitter of rumors, who happened along.
II say, Jack, you seem to have some
thing unpleasant on your mind" said
the sitter, "and that isn't right How
would a change of tobacco do as a med
icine, under the circumstance? and
the sitter offered the old salt cigar.
"Thank'ee, sonny" said Jack, as the
crinkles deepened about his eyes and
the droop in the corners of his mouth
became somewhat less marked.
"Thank'ee. I was a trifie under the
weather, an it's all along o. SEEM them
ere pineapples. Never heered Of a
ship O. that name, did We, sonny?"
"What, Pineapple2 No."
"That's what thought. 1t was afore
your time by nigh hard to 20 year that
the gallusest packets atwiXt Liverpool
an New York was in the tropical line,
which they all had names like Pine
apple an Lemon an Orange an
Banana. Huh! In them days / was
jest CROWN the first hair on my face
an thinkin' 1 was some pumpkins fer
looks, but the way 1 got the starch took
outen me when l shipped into the Pine
apple out O. Liverpool so as 1 could be
in the same ship along with a right
pretty barmaid as I'd made the ac-
quaintance of some time afore an what
had determined to emigrate in hopes
of betterin' of herself-huh! Say, SON
ny, when 1 think o. that ere wage it's
more'n 1 can say rightly whether or
not 1 died an have been a animated
corpse ever since or not. Leastwise, if
1 didn't die all hands an the crazy skip
per thought did, an they buried me
in some'at uncommon fashion, or else
this ere wonderment o. mine had ended
then an thar"
cit was all along of Dink Sturgess,
a bloomin' old crimp, gettin' the job
to furnish crew for the SNOWFALL
clipper, what was in the opposition
line. 1 didn't suspect anything when
he happens along an he says: I say,
Jack, do we want ship?' So says to
him in fashionable language:
"'An if I did, do We fancy I'd let
bloody old thief like yerself draw the
advance for me?'
with that he laughed somethin' bois
ferrous an give me wink an said there
was no pullin' the wool over the eyes
of Yankee, an then he says:
Jack he says, you'll be after COM
in ito my house yit,' he says, so come
away an have drink
"An' there was me that young an
green 1 must needs go an have a drinl;
with him. So we had drop of Scotch
an then he says:
"'Jack, what ship have you signed
into?' An says: into the Pineapple
An he says: What ever did we sign
into her for when the SNOWFALL III make
the passage in 20 days an give we
a months pay for ity An Isays: It's
none of yer business
with that he laughs most uproari-
GUS an gives me another wink, an says
to the barmaid: Another Scotch, my
DEAR an then he says to me, he says:
"'Jack, yer sorry dog. Don't I
know that Nell Blyeston is sweet on We,
Jack? An don't know that she's to
sail in the Pineapple, Jack? An fancy
Jack is sweet on Nell an Is layin' his
course for to bring to alongside o. Nell
when it's his watch below an she's
a-sittin' ON the combin' of the main
hatch
with that had to acknowledge that
I was sweet on Nell, for I was tickled
to hear that she was sweet on me,
which I'd had my doubts about, because
of the prime attentions the second mate
Of the Pineapple was payin' of her.
I was calculatin' that was as likely
a lad as there was in the trade, but /
knowed that women was powerful took
with rank, and there the second mate
had the start of M. / reckon that
thief of a crimp knowed about the Sec
ond mate, too, for he gives me another
wink and he says: Let's have another
to the decentralization of all rivals ne
says, an when we'd had it we had one
to the health of the lass an another
to her brown eyes an another to some
thin can't remember an another an
that's all I know till found myself
afloat on that ere SNOWFALL instead of
the Pineapple, an my mates was
sayin' we'd got away tide ahead of
the opposition, but somethin' had to be
wrong on board because the skipper
had ordered grog served twice day
with dried apple duff an soft bread for
every dinner.
II say, sonny, that was gallus grub
an the ruination of all hands-least-
wise of me, for sized him up as n
softy when 1 should ha' known he was
crazy, an so lay for to make trouble
sudden. Why, he was that crazy he
hung himself in his cabin before the end
Of the wage; but that's neither here
ner there-wait till tell yc what he did