The herald., 1897-08-29
Los ANGELES HERALb!sUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST &c. 1897
mouthed beggar, craik." grunted Mr..

mouthed beggar, Crailx." grunted Mr..
Baker.
He answered, suffering with indig-
nation: Look at em, sorr. The bloom
in dirty images! laughing at chum
going overheard. Call themselves men,
too"
But from the break of the poop the
boat~wain called out, "Come along"
and Belfast scrambled in hurry to
join him. Five men. poised and gaz-
ing over the edge of the poop. looked
for the best way to get forward. The
others. twisting in their lashings. turn
ing painfully, stared with open lips.
The wind screamed loud in sunshine;
columns of spray rose straight up. And
in the glitter of rainbows bursting over
the trembling hull the men went over
cautiously. disappearing from sight
with deliberate movements.
They went swinging from Delaying
pin to cleat above the seas that beat
the half-submerged deck. Their toes
scraped the planks. They hung for
moment on strained arms, with the
breath knocked out of them. and with
closed eyes: then. letting go with one
hand, balanced with lolling heads. try
ing to grab some rope or stanchion
further forward. The long-armed and
athletic boatswain swung quickly.
gripping things with a fist hard as
iron, and remembering suddenly
snatches of the last letter from his
"old woman" Little Belfast scram-
bled rageously. muttering "bloody mig
ger" Wamibo's tongue hung out with
excitement; and Archie. intrepid and
calm, watched his chance to move with
intelligent GOODNESS.
When above the side of the house,
they let go one after another, and fall
ing heavily, sprawled, pressing their
palms to the smooth teak wood.
Round them the backwash of waves
seethed white and kissing. All the
doors had become trap-doors. of course.
The first was the galley door. The
galley extended from side to side. and
| they could hear the sea making hollow
, noises in there. The next door was that
of the carpenters shop. They lifted it,
and looked down. Everything in it had
tumbled on the bulkhead facing the
door, and on the other side Of that
bulkhead there was Jimmy dead or
alive. The bench, a half-inished meat
safe, saws, grindstones, chisels, wire
rods. axes, crowbars, lay in heap be-
sprinkled with loose nails. A sharp
adze stuck up with shining edge that
cleaned dangerously down there like a
wicked smile. Belfast howled Here
goes!' and leaped down, Archie fol-
lowed, cannily catching at shelves that
gave way with him, and cased himself
in great crash Of ripped wood. There
was hardly room for three men to
move. And in the sunshiny blue square
of the door, the boatswains face
bearded and dark, Wamibo's face, wild
and pale, hung over-watching.
Together they shouted, Jimmy!
Jim!" From above the boatswain con-
tributed deep growl: You! Waltz"
In a pause, Belfast entreated, Jimmy
darlin', are we aloive?" The boatswain
said, again. All together. boys!" All
yelled excitedly.
We ceased suddenly. He was alive.
He was screaming and knocking below
us with the hurry of a man premature
ly shut up in coffin. We went to work
We attacked with desperation the
abominable heap of things heavy, of
things sharp, of things clumsy to ham
die. The boatswain adjured us to bear
a hand" and a rope descended. We
made things fast to it and they went
up spinning, never to be seen by man
again. A rage to fling things overheard
possessed us. Jimmy kept UP a dis
tracing row. The agony of his fear
wrung our hearts, so that we longed to
abandon him, to get out of that place,
deep as a we'll and swaying like a tree
to get out of his hearing, back on the
| poop where we could wait passively for
death in Incompatible repose. We
shouted to him to "shut up, for Gods
sake.'
At the bottom the nails lay in a layer
several inches thick. 1t was CHASTITY
Every nail in the world, not driven in
firmly somewhere. seemed to have
found it's way into that carpenters S
shop. There they were, of all kinds. the
remnants of stores from seven voy-
ages. They lay in a solid mass more
forbidding than a hedgehog. Groaning,
we dug our fingers in, and hurt very
much, shook our hands, scattering nails
and drops of blood. We passed up our
hats full of assorted nails to the boat
swain, who, as If performing a mys-
terous and appeasng rite, cast them
wide upon a raging sea.
We got to the bulkhead at last.
| Those were stout planks. They were
the stoutest planks ever put into a
ships bulkhead,-we thought-and then
we perceived that. in our hurry, we had
sent all the tools overheard. Absurd
little Belfast wanted to break it down
with his own weight and with both
feet leaped straight up like a spring.
box. cursing the Clyde shipwrights for
not scamping their work. He managed
by his humping to scare the last rem