Evening star., 1897-02-06

coal there from Norfolk. Va, or else Welsh
steam coal from Cardiff or Newport"
1T seems not This contract was placed
lcng before ship was asked for to snug
gle out the arms.
Well it looks fishy, anyway"
Il can't nelp that" said Gedge, irritably.
I'm telling you the naked truth, and If
truth as usual looks unlikely, it's not my
fault Now. have you got any more objec-
ions to maker?
NO. sir, said Capt. Kettle; none that
can See at present.
Very well. then" said Gedge. DO you
care to sign on as master for this cruise, or
are you going to cry off,
They'll hang me If I'm caught, said
Kettle.
Not they. They'll only talk big. and the
British consul will get you clear. You bet
they daren't hang an Englishman for mere
smuggling in Cuba. And, besides. aren't
1 offering to raise your screw from IL
pound a month to IA, so as to cover the
risk? However, you won't get caught.
You'll find everything ready for you; you'll
slip the rifles ashore. and then you'll steam
on to Havana and discharge your coal in
the ordinary humdrum way of business.
And there's 10 pound bonus II you pull
the thing off successfully. Now. then, cap
tain, quick; you go or you don't?
II CO." said Kettle, gloomily. I'm poor
nan. with a wife and family, Mr.. Gedge.
and 1 can't afford TO lose berth. But It's
that coal / can't swallow. l quite believe
doesn't look natural And it's my belief
the coal Will trip us up somewhere before
we're done. and bring about trouble"
Which. of course, you are quite strang-
er to-" said Gedge. slyly-
Don't taunt me with 1t, SIR, said Capt.
Kettle. Il quite well know the kind of
brute 1 am; trouble with crew or any
other set of living men at sea Is just meat
and drink to me. and I'm bitterly ashamed
of the taste Every time i sit underneath
our minister in the chapel here in South
Shields / grow more ashamed. And if you
heard the beautiful poetical way that man
talks of peace. and green fields, and golden
harps, you'd understand.
Yes. yes" said Gedge, but don't want
any OF your excellent minister's sermons
at second hand just now. captain, or any
Of your own poetry, thanks I'm very busy.
Good morning. Help yourself to a cigar.
You haul alongside the coal shutes to get
YOUR carxo at o'clock. and I'll be on board
to see you at 9. Good morning." And Mr..
Gedge rang for the clerk, and was buslly
debating letters before Kettle was clear
of the office.
The little sailor went down the grimy
stairs and into the street. and made to-
ward the smelling Tyne. The black cigar
rested unlit in an angle of his mouth, and
he gnawed savagely at the butt with his
eyeteeth. He cursed the Fates as he
walked Why did they use him SO evilly
that he was forced into berths Ike these?
As a bachelor, he told himself with a sneer.
It. As the partner of Mrs Kettle and the
father of her children he could have shud-
dered when he threw his eye over the fu-
ture. For a week or so she could draw his
half-pay and live sumptuously at the rate
of seventy pounds month. But afterward,
II he got caught by some angry Spanish
war steamer with the smuggled rifles under
his matches. and shot, or hanged. or i'm
prisoned otherwise debarred from earn
Ing income al his craft. where would Mrs.
Kettle be then? Would Gedge 20 anything
for her? He drew the Gig. from his lips,
and spat contenptuous,y at the bare idea
With the morality of the affair he trou-
bled not one jot. The Spanish government
and the Cuban rebels We're two rival firms
who offered different rates of freight ac-
cording to the risk, and he was employed
as carrier by those who paid the higher
price. If there was any right or wrong
about the question it was purely private
matter between Mr.. GeGge and his God
He, Owen Kettle, was as impersonal in the
business as the ancient Sultan OF Borneo
herself: ne was a mere cog in some COM
pick machinery; and II he was earning
heaven, it was by piety inside the chapel
ashore. and not by professional exertions
Tin the interests OF an earthly employer
elsewhere.
He took ferry across the filthy Tyne, and
walked down alleys and squalid streets
where coal dust formed the mud and the
air was sour with foreign vapors. And as
he walked he champed still! at the unlii
cigar and brooded over the angularity OF
his fate. But when he passed between the
gates of the dock company's premises and
exchanged words with the policeman or
guard, a change came over him. He threw
away the cigar stump, ughtened his lips
and left all thoughts of personal matters
outside the door sill He was Mr. Gedge':
hired servant: his brain was devoted tC
furthering Gedge's interests. and all the
acid of his tongue was ready to spur or
those who did the manual work on Gedge's
ship.
Within a minute on his arrival on hel
decks, the Sultan Of Borneo was being un
moored from the bollards on the quay
within ten, her winches were clatterin,
and bucking as they warped her across {,
the black straddling coal shoots at tn,
other side of the dock: and within half al
hour, the cargo was roaring down he
matches as fast as the railway wagon.
on the grimy trestle overhead could dis
gorge. The halo of coal dust made day in
TO dusk; the grit OF IL filed every Granny
and settled as an amorphous scum on IN
water Of the dock: and laborers hired b,
the hour toiled at piece-work pace through
sheer terror NJ their employer Ii his othe