Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-14

another spell at those internal pumps"
/ The list was of less account now, and the
vessel was once more under command of
,her canvas. IL was thu leak which gave
! them most -causa3@for2 anxiety Likely
enough il was CAUSED by The mere wrench
ing away of a couple of rivets. But the
steady inpour of water through the holes
would soon have made thu ship grow I'M
manageable and founder If it was not con-
stantly attended to. Where the leak was
they had not notion. Probable it was
deep down under the cargo Of grain and
quite ungettable, but anyway, 1t demand
a constant service at the pumps TO keep it
in check; and this the bone-weary crew
were but feebly competent to give.
The dreaded bay, tickle as usual, saw fit
to receive than al first with a smiling face
During the afternoon they rose the brown
sails of Portuguese fishing schooner, and
Kettle headed toward har.
Let his crew be willing as they would
thsre was no doubt that this murderous
work at the pumps could not he kept up
for voyage to England. If he could not
get further reinforcem nts he would have
to take the ship into the nearest foreign
port to barely save her from sinking. And
then, where would, be his sighed-for sal
wage? Woefully thinnad, he thought, or
| more probably whisked away altogether
Capt. Kettle had a vast oistrust for the
| shore foreigner over questions of law pro-
ceedings and money matters. SO he made
for the schooner, hove his own vessel to,
and signaled that he wished to speak.
A boat was stopped into the water from
| the schooner's deck and ten Swarthy, rag
| ged Portuguese fishermen crammel into
her. Two or three of them had a working
| knowledge of English; their captain spoke
| it with fluent inaccuracy, and before any
of them had gone aft to Kettle, who stood
| at the wheel, they had heard the whole
story of the ship being found derelict, ard
| very naturally were anxious enough by
| some means or another to finger share Of
the salvage. Even ragged Portuguese
! baccalhao maker can have his ambitions
| for prosperity like other people.
Their leader made his proposal at once
| "All right-a captain. l see how you want
/ We take charge now, and take-a you into
| Ferrol without you being at more trouble
Nothing of the kind said Kettle I'm
| Just wanting the loan of two or three
| hands to give my fellows a spell two at
| that purip. We're bit short-handed, that's
all But otherwise were quite comfort
able I'll pay A. BIS wages on Liverpool
scale, and that's a lot more than you dagos
give among yourselves, and if the men
work well, I'll throw in dash besides for
'bacca money.
| "Ta-ta-ta'' said the Portuguese, with a
wave of his yellow fist. 1T cannot be
! done, and will not land you men. It shall
! be as | say. We take-a you into Ferrol. Do
| not fear-a, captain; you shall have money
| for iinding sheep; you shall have some Of
our salvage"
| Dayton-Philipps. who was standing near,
| and knew the little sailors views, looked
r.
/ in and still spoke of the man civilly.
| That's good English you talk he said.
| DO all your crowd understand the Ian
guage?' .u AM. .
| Mo- said the fellow, readily enough,
| that man does not. nor does he, nor him.
"Right-O," said Kettle. Then as these
| three men can't kick up Robbery at the
| other end, they've just got to stay here and
| help work this vessel home. AS for the
/ rest of you filthy, sinking. scale-covered
! cousins of apes, over the side of the vessel
| you go before you're put. Thought you
| were going to steal my lawful salvage, did
| you you crawling, syellowfaced-ah!'
! The hot-temperede Portuguese was not a
| man to stand this TRADE tas Kettle antici-
| pated) unmoved. Hiasfngers made a venge-
| full snatch toward the knife in his belt, but
Kettle was ready for this, and caught it
first and flung it oyerboard. Then, with a
| clever heave, he picked up the man and
sent him after tue knife. He tripped up one
| of the Portuguese who couldn't speak Eng
| lish dragged him to the cabin companion
| and toppled him down the ladder. Dayton
| Philips (surprised at himself for abetting
| such lawlessneSs) captured second in like
| fashion, and the English fireman and coal
| trimmer picked up the third and dropped
| him down an open hatchway into the grain
| in the hold beneath.
| But there were six of the fishermen left
| upon the deck, and these did not look upon
! the proceedings annioved. They had been
! slow to act at first but when the initial
surprise was over they were blazing with
| rage and eager to de murder The Italian
| and the Sierra Leone negro ran out of their
| way on to the fofecastIe head, and they
| came on, vainglofious in numbers, and
| armed with their deadly knives But
| the two English reughs, the English
| gentleman and the little English sailor
were all of them well accustomed to take
care of their own skins; the behaving pins