The record-union., 1898-11-13

me then that the room / was in was
pretty small; also, that it swayed
good deal. I sat up and looked around,
and then, burned if I didn't hear1the
chug-chug Of the propeller. It's boat,
all right I thought, but what kind
Of boat? I guess / must ha' waded
aboard one of the lower bay fishing
steamers yesterday afternoon and got
screwed up and they put me TO bunk.
Yet when I looked around again. the
blamed stateroom didn't look like
fishing steamer stateroom. Moreover
there was no sea in the lower bay like
the long swell this craft seemed to be
blowing through. Well, / thought,
I'm just taking little voyage to Ed
rope for my health. That must be it
The mystery of the thing was worse
than the head, which was bad enough
I jumped out of the bunk and did the
old act-went through my clothes TO see
if had as much as 30 cents or so lett.
I went through all the regular pockets
mot a sou-marquee. This is nice, /
thought. can't do the continent, II
that's where I'm bound, on my face
Moreover, / need a drink pretty bad
right now. AS a last resort, l reached
into my inside vest pockt, where | had
never put money. My hand struck the
wad. ] pulled it out-brown and green
cnes still there I counted it. Five
hundred and eighty-four dollars! -
Talk about your chaps getting pick
ed off life RATS in midocean! OF course,
l couldn't figure it out how I had hung
on to it. / haven't figured it out yet.
Neither have I figured out how my
trunk happened to- be underneath my
bunk. / opened it up. 1t was all nicely
packed and I had not left anything
behind. I thought it was all dream
and I wondered why I didn't wake up.
I saw button on the wall and I gave
it a shove, just to see who'd show
up and to find out whittier bound, and
so on A darky with a clean white
coat on answered the button. I yelled
at him to come in, and in he came, 7
asked him to tell me, on the level,
where happened to be.
g 1 know I'm on a boat said I, but
what boat?' "a
'Yo' all sut'nly was cheeahful las
night, suh-sut'nly cheeahful,'' said the
darky TO me, grinning.
That's all right about the cheer
fulness,' said I, but what I want to
know is, what kind of a packet is this,
and where's she going?'
why said the darky, dis yeah
steamuhs de Comal of de Mallory line,
an she's boun' fo' Galveston. We dun
got unduh way las evenin', sull--an'
yo' all was out on deck singin' ontil
o'clock dis mawnin'.'
g No: I'm damned if / was says
to the darky but | knew he was telling
the truth all the same, but wasn't go
ing to make any damaging admissions.
"Well, / had the man bring me three
high ones, to sort o. get me around to
a deep water way of thinking. After
I got the three high ones down 1 had
things Strengthened out in my head.
Why not the ComaI? What was the
matter with the Comal? What was the
matter with Galveston? Might as well
be on my Way~to Galveston as any
other old place So I touched the but
ton again, had the barber come and
shave me in my bunk, dressed, took
three more high ones and got out of
the stateroom.
"Say, there were about three dozen
fellows lounging around the decks, and
dinged if every one of 'em didn't say to
me when I showed up on deck: Hello,
there pall' or How are you, Bill?'. or
How're you making it this morning,
chum?' or something like that. I didn't
know a one of 'em from my aunt in
Maine that never saw, but they were
thicker'n thieves with me. And it ap-
peared that / had been the same with
them the night before in the cardroom