The record-union., 1898-11-09

them the night before in the cardroom
and around decks. Funny game, that,
funny game. They We're all pretty nice
chaps, too-most of 'em New York
drummers setting out for their fall
campaigns in the Southwestern Terri
tory. We had three high ones, the
whole bunch, right off, and the voyage
down to Galveston began to strike me
as heap of a good job. Along toward
afternoon I took it into my head to
climb the foremast rope ladder leading
up to the main yard. 1 climbed it, and
started to swing joyously from the yard
by my hands. There was big swell
on, and the Comal was listing over
about 33 degrees to starboard and to
port in the swell and when 1 looked
down to the deck I saw all hands look
ing up with white mugs. I decided to
descend then, and when I got down I
found the skipper with a pair Of irons
in his hand.
If you try that on again. said he
to me- I'll clap these on to your wrists
Don't take it to heart So, says / to
him, and then 1 went and had few
more with the commercial travellers.
well, that trip is kind O. hazy in my
mind until we got down to Key West
and tied up there for twelve hours.
remember that the beer was warm in
Key West, because the ice steamer was
a week behind schedule time. We
couldn't hit up warm beer, so we did
the other thing. We tore Key West
apart some, but don't remember getting
aboard the Comal again. / found my
self aboard the next morning, though,
and on that morning I started in to
play poker with couple O. Maiden lane
diamond drummers. They took it off
me so fast that 1 felt myself catching
cold. Same the next day. Same, also,
the day after that. On the night we
got off the Galveston bar, to wait there
until morning for high tide to let
us into the harbor, / counted over my
bundle. had Sc.
That amt much to begin life anew
$500 miles from New York I thought,
but it's got to go. I've got the front
meaning my layout of togs-left any
how
II went ashore with the gang the
next morning, and the blank begins
here for another twenty-four hours. l
guess / must ha' gone around some
with those commercial travellers. The
next morning, when / woke up, the
low monotone of the sea was in my
ears; also, there was wet sand in my
hair, and the sun was shining hard in
my face. / sat up. The Gulf of
Mexico was right in front of me. I
looked behind. There was a big hotel
there 1t looked something like the
Oriental Hotel down at Manhattan
Beach. There was sign on it, Beach
Hotel I dug into'my pockets, looking
for the necessary dime. 1t wasn't there.
I was lying on the sands of the Gulf of
Mexico in front of the Beach Hotel,
broke, without even the price of
ride into Galveston on one of the dinky
mule hauled street cars. That's why,
as said at the outset, looked at the
Beach hotel SO dsapprovingly on this
occasion.
"I busted the sand off my clothes and
front of the hotel and took a drink of
water. Yes, water! 1t was hard, but
it had to go. Then I hunted around
for the street car track Galveston was
two miles away, but I had to make
Galveston. There wasn't any car in
sight, so I took the track. / didn't
have the price of fare, anyhow. The
track was under water, from floods,
most of the way in. / walked through
brackish gulf water full of tadpoles and
softsheH crabs all the way in. / didn't
have anything particular in view when
II struck Galveston, but wanted to