The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-06-06
THE SHIPPERS ATONEMENT.

BOY" roared the skipper of the
Vanguard, bring some mugs o. tea,
an cheese an biscuits; put the leg O.
mutton an the taties on, an boil
puddin'. An mind you mix the bak1n'
powder in the dough. an don't sprinkle
| 1t on the puddin' when you've boiled II,
as you did last time. Then bake some
busters an clear the cabin up, you lazy
I little rascal. An be slick about it, If
| you don't want maxim lively WI a
| ropeS-end or marlinspike. But, first
| of all, bring up my oilies an SOU
wester, for the rain'll fall to-day fit to
swamp US, an the wind'll blow strong
enough to rip the mains'l."
| The trembling little cabin-boy, and
general drudge dived below, and stag
gered up the iron ladder, through the
| hooded hole they called a hatch, bear
| ing his masters yellow garments. He
| was clad in ragged trousers and a cot
ton shirt, and the growing wind from
| the east blew keenly on his shivering
| body.
| The skipper. from his seat on the bull
warks, cuffed him playfully on the
head as he took over the oilskinS, and
the boy reeled into the mate, who was
at the tiller. The mate, in turn, pro-
| Jected him, with heavy foot, against
the hatch, and asked him savagely
| what he meant by butting him in the
waistcoat like that.
The boy growled like an injured cub,
and the mate hurled part of a fish
trunk at his head as he dropped into
the cabin without using the ladder
T
young 1 should ha' bin skinned alive
said the skipper. you see wot comes
o eddicatin' kinds above their station.
Eddieation may 'elp a man to read the
| names O. ships, but not to catch more
| fish"
The Vanguard was running home for
week, after two months fishing with
the Short Blue fleet and, in anticipa-
ton of his periodical debauch ashore,
the skipper was in jovial mood. AT
present he had one eye only, but very
soon it was his intention to assume
another, of glass, which he wore when
| in port, or paying calls of extra cere-
| mony in the fleet. He was also intend
! ing to apply soap and water to his
features, for the first time since he last
sailed from home, so that when he
stepped ashore, he should do so hand
somely. Some of his delight found
expression in a little song which he
beloved hoarsely marking time ap-
proximately with a black and almost
stemless pipe of clay:
Sing hoi my lads; We hoi my lads:
The Vanguard sailin' large an free;
From regions far she'll cross the bar,
An leave beind the ragin' sea-
Then cheer, my boys; more beer, my boys
We're Gavin on the mighty main;
NO danger crossed, nor tempest toss'd
Until we sail to sea again.
"ChoruS!" commanded the skipper;
and by way of leading it he sang the
| verses over again, the mate joining
cheerfully in, although he was under
the necessity, being unable to sing at
all, of speaking the lines, which he did
very effectively, in a rumbling and I'M
broken bass
We're the only smack on the North
Sea that's bin made po'try Of" the
| skipper said proudly.
They were wrote by that newspaper
| chap in spectacles that came out wi
us last trip, weren't they?" asked the
mate.
THE very man." replied the skip
| PNA- - "S1o q NICSCI uIl, Z WAS, II
you like. Fancy working the Vanguard
into a pome, like they work 'Alllelu-
jahs into 'ymns''
The skipper put his pipe between his
teeth, bowl downward, and waited for
the mate, who appeared to be reflect
ing, to speak
" could write pomes," observed the
mate after pause, giving the tiller
ropes a gentle pull 'but e couldn't
stand fishin'- smack e told me ed
J bin in gales in every ocean in the
world, an never turned a air; but that
bit of a breeze the first day out rolled
i'm up. E told me that night. as e
wrapped ITSELF in sail on deck be-
coss e couldn't sleep below for fleas
an things, that 'e'd' ad enough O. North
| Sea smacks to last i'm a lifetime; an
Wen l tumbled i'm and is portmanty
aboard the cutter for Billin'sgate. e
| said e thought ed be able to see the
romance o the water a vast deal better
from the shore than ed ever seen it
on it,
E wrote the lines in bed at 'ome."
explained the skipper 'Leastways, so
| e told me in a letter wot e sent, an
wot the mission doctor read for me.
| My goodness! 'ow that doctor LATED
Wen l told i'm O. the mans surprise
Wen e knew there was no forks or
| spoons aboard, an that we didn't use
table-cloths. All the same e was very
clever-an' very 'ardy. You mind 'ow
e used to come on deck them raw
mornin's an get five or six pals o.
| salt water chucked over imam no
| clothes on Oaua mo Sbi,rorc ax,a,,
to watch i'm"
'Ay," the mate admitted, "'e was
tough an plueky-an' free anded, too.
You remember 'ow e came back from
the mission ship, an brought US just
mine left YETI
1T wouldn't be a bad spec to bring
one like m with us every trip" the
skipper said reflectively. ct pays, an
it expands the mind, too. You see. e
| learned a lot about fishin', and I learn
ed that stuff don't walk into a news
paper office an put itself into type, as
l allus thought it did"
Aren't you going to get a reef or two
| in the mains'l?" asked the mate, after
looking care fully at the lowering sky
| It's goin' to blow; there'll be a rare
smart breeze afore long"
Reef be bowed" the skipper an
swered, rising and putting on his oil
skins and sou'wester, for the rain was
now beginning to fall heavily. I'm
jint owner an skipper o. the Vanguard,
an if the canvas goes, so much the
| better for the sailmakers AS for
| losses, there are none for me; an as
for wife or family, chick Or kin, there's
never one o mine. If the canvas
| goes'-the skipper swelled with the