The Wichita daily eagle., 1898-01-04
In Care of the Captain.
F,rom Chambers Journal. In Thre
Parts.)

In Care of the Captain.
F'rom Chambers Journal In Three
Parts.)
PART l.
Among the saloon passengers of the Hi
mani, ere she was fortnight out, little
Miss Agnew had become quite pet She
was such dear-so natural. so really
CHIEF" said the ladies; while the men en-
loved to the full her utter or assumed lack
of conventionalfty. She was a fresh-col-
ored girl Of about eighteen, handsome
enough after robust, dairy-maid fashion,
with full red lips, white teeth ard black
eyes, under a shock OF curly hair, that
shrank from no mans gaze.
Mss Agnew had come on board al, the
very last moment, with an uncle and aunt
to see her off; also note from The owners
commerding her TO the Captains care
Popularly It was known that she was
rich squatter's daughter returning home
after a long visit to England. Her sole oc-
cupat:on of one of the best berths in the
ship. as well as the possession Of plenty
of spare cash, gave some reason to the ru-
NOR of wealth 1t was also whispered that
she had been expelled from more than one
fashionable school But nobody seemed to
think much the worse OF her for that.
This trip the Illimani happened 10 have
a rather aristocraic passerger-list for Aus
traha. Besides poor young Badegge, who
was nobody's enemy but his own, there
were an Incoming governor and his coun-
tess; another couple of stray peers and
paeresses; q rich baronet and his wife; and
several gentlemen, n:ddle-aged and elder
iy, making the round voyage for Their
healtn's sake-that as, the sake OF a long
and uninterrupted steady drinking. And
with these, at times, nothing 10th, Dolly,
as she was called out of court would smoke
a cigarette and toss of a glass champagne,
being looked upon with lenient eye by
her female friends, not only on the plea of
her being an Australian tomboy," but
for the sake of the little scandalous titbits
she was able TO retail TO them afterwards
in the privacy Of their cabins.
At Naples, among others, there came on
board for the second saloon a young
Frenchman, apparently pretty i'll with asth-
ma; so much SO, indeed, that ne seemed
able to do nothing else but lie in his deck
chair all day long covered up with rugs.
Quite a curiosity, too, was th.s deck-chair.
massive but light, folding up into a COM
pact compass, cur:ously carved, and made
of neither cane nor canvas. but of stout
olive-wood, with big bulging arms and
thick curved back. And Monsieur Des-
champs seemed to set great store by 1t,
for, always when the day was over, and
he walked feebly to his berth, the quarter
master carefully folded up the chair and
carried it to its owner. At first people
laughed. But "cranks'' and "eccentrics"
are so plentiful on such ships as the Hi
mani that far more outre things ceased to
attract attention, and Deschamps and his
chair soon became part and parcel of the
daily and weekly monotony.
Curiously enough, among all the passen-
gers was not one with a sufficient knowl-
edge of French TO interpret between the
sick passenger and the Illimani's doctor,
or the stewards, or anybody. And this was
awkward. fer Monsieur Deschamps was
unable to speak a word of any language
hut his own. This matter presently coming
to Dolly's ears, she volunteered to have
a co. az was" she said, "a couple of
years at school az Rouen; and if L can't
patter their lingo, reckon I'm due for
the leatherest medal on board this canoe"
So, tripping across the bridge that separat-
ed the two classes, Dolly went up to the
invalid and began-much TO everybody 5
adm.ration-to discourse with eloquent vol
ubility and gesture. Listening a minute,
the Frenchman, appearing to recognize the
real thing al last, sat up and waved his
hands ard shrugged his shoulders. and
smiled with a delight and qualification
beautiful TO witness. And after this. near
y every day, Dolly went along and cheered
the poor fellow up, interpreting his symp-
toms to the doctor and his wants to the
stewards.