Evening star., 1898-07-30


with triple expansions and new boilers
see You appear to know a lot about
the snip, captain, more than / do myself
M Idct. l. Know you're small tin saint
When your within hail of that Ebenezer
or Bethel or whatever you call it here
ashore, but at sea you've got the name
Tor not being over particular
Al sea. said the little sailor with a
sign am what l have to be. But /
couiont do that I'm a poor man sir I'm
pretty nearly desperate man. but there
are some kind of things that are beyond
me- L know it's done often enough but
you IL nave to excuse me. l can't lose
her for you.''
Who's asking your" said Gedge cheer
NY 4 m not Don't jump at conclusions,
man. | don't want the Sultan of Iabuan
lost Shes not my best ship, I'll grant
but L can run her at profit for all that
and even If l couldn't I'm not the sort of
man to try and make my dividends out of
Lloyds'- No, not by any means, captain;
Eve got my name to keep up"
Captain Kettle brought up a sigh of re-
lief Glad to her it, sir: m glad to hear
1t. But l thought it best to have 1t out
with you. That beastly letter upset me-
Gedge laughed silly. We'll. if you want
to know who wrote the letter, 1 did my
SELF
Kettle stared. He was obviously incrad-
ulous.
We'll, to be accurate, 1 did it by deputy
You hae yer doots, Ell? Hang it, man,
what unbelieving Jew you are He
pressed one of the electric pushes by the
side of his desk, and the shorthand writer
came in and stood at the doorway. Miss
Payne, you typed this letter card, didn't
yes"
Thank you. That'n do Well Kettle,
l hope you're satisfied now? / sent this
blessed card because 1 wanted to see how
deep this shore-going honesty cf yours
went, which I've heard so much about; and
now L know, and you may take it from me
that you'll Profit by it financially in the
very near future. The ship masters I've
had to do with have been mostly rogues.
and when l get hold of a straight man, l
know how to appreciate him. Now good
bye, captain, and a prosperous voyage to
you. If you catch the midnight mail to-
night from here you'll just get down to
Newport tomorrow in time to see her come
into dock. Take her over at once, you
know; We can't have any time wasted
Here. goodbye. I'm frantically busy"
But. busy though he might be, Mr.. Gedge
did not Immediately return to signing his
letters after Captain Kettles departure.
Instead. he took out a handkerchief and
wiped his forehead and wiped his hands,
which for some reason seemed to have
grown unaccountably clammy and for
awhile he lay back in his writing chair
like a man who feels physically sick.
Captain Kettle, however, went his ways
humming a cheerful air. and as the Il
O'Clock mail roared out that night across
the high level bridge, he settled himself
TO sleep in his corner of third-class car
riage and to dream the dreams of man
who, after many vicissitudes, has at last
found righteous employment 1t was new
experience for him. and he permitted him.
self the luxury of enjoying it to the full
train clattered him into Monmouth
shire some twelve hours later. and he step
ped out on Newport platform into fog
raw and fresh from the Bristol channel.
His small, worn portmanteau he could easi-
ly have carried in his hand. but there is
etiquette about these matters which even
the hard-up ship masters to whom a shi-
ling is a financial rarity must observe and
so he took a four-wheeler down to the
agents office and made himself known.
The Sultan of Labuan, 1t seemed, had come
up the Usk and gone into dock barely an
hour before, and so Kettle, obedent to his
orders, went down at once to take her
over.
II was not pleasant operation. this GUST
ing another man from his livelihood. and
as Kettle had been supplanted a weary
number of times himself. he thought he
knew pretty well the feelings of the nan
whom he had come to replace, His recep-
ton, however, surprised him. Williams
the former master of the Sultan of Labuan
handed over his charge with an air of OBJ
vious and sincere relief, and Kettle felt
that he was being eyed with a certain en-
barrassing curiosity. The man was not
disposed to be verbally communicative
You look knocked up said Kettle
Might well be-" retorted Captain Will
i maven ndO d DleSSed wink of
sleep since ! pulled my anchors out of
Thames mud"
Not had bad weather, have you?"
No. weather's been right enough. Bit
thickish. that's ALL"
What's kept you from having a watch
below, them"
Fraid of losing the ship, captain.
never been up before the board of trade
like"
oh said Kettle, with sigh, ITS hor-
rible; they're brutes 1 know. have been
there"
80 ! might have guessed ;, said William.
dryly.
Look here said Kettle, what are you
driving at?'
No offense. captain. no offense. I'll just
ing too much already. Result of being
overtired, / suppose. Let's get on with the
ships papers. They're all in this tin box"
But I'd rather you said out what you
got to say
Thanks. captain, but no. This is the
first time we've met. think"
so far as L remember"
We'll, there you are then; personally you
no doubt are very nice, pleasant gentle
man, but still there's no getting over the
fact that you're a stranger to me; and
anyway. you're in Gedge's employ and I'm
not; and there's law of libel in this coun-
try which gets up and hits you whether
you are talking truth or lies
English laws are beastly and that's a
fact"
Reading about them In the papers quite
enough for me. Now, captain, suppose we
go ashore with these papers and / can sign
of and you can sign on. Afterward well
have drop of whisky together IL you like
just to show there's no ill-will.'
You are very polite. captain" said Ket-
tie. I'm sure l don't like the notion of
stepping in to take away your employment
But If it hadn't been me he'd have got
some one else"
The other turned on him quickly
Don't think you're doing me a bad turn.
captain, because you aren't. / was never
so pleased TO step out of a chart house in
my life. Only thing is / hope / aren't do
Ing you bad turn by letting you step in
by James" said Kettle, do speak plain,
captain; don't go on limiting like this
Il am maundering on too much captain
and that's a fact Result of being about
tired out. suppose. But you must excuse
me speaking further: there's that blasted
libel law to think about Now, captain.
here's the key of the chart house door, and
II you'll let me I'll go out first and you can
lock ii behind you. You'll find one of the
tumblers beside the water bottle broken; 1t
fell out of my hand this morning just after
I'd docked her. but all the rest is accord
ing TO the inventory: and I'll knock off
threepence for the tumbler when we square
up"
They DIunoed straiehtway into tbo arid