El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-12


of Divine wisdom in the order Of the
| heavens, the change of the seasons, the
! flowing of the tides, the operation of
the wind and other elements, the struc-
ture of the human body, the circulation
| of the blood, the instincts of beasts,
| and the growth of plants, is sottishly
| blind and unworthy the name Of man.
"You hear him, Mr.. Rodney" said
Weston; "now he has got both his an
| Choir and topsails a-trip; he can pay
out whole speeches in this fashion, all
at a breath, as fast as the chain-cable
running through the hawse-pipe."
Being fresh from Elton, 1 was not
going to let our learned Scotch mate
have it all his own way, when Wes-
ton resumed:
eff you will listen you shall hear a
strange story in which 1 bore prom
fnent part"
GAS the ghost?" said I.
mo; but you will soon acknowledge
whether or not I had cause for fear"
And after he had replenished his
glass and pipe, Capt. Sam Weston be-
gan in this manner:
About fifteen years ago I found
myself at MatanZas, in Cuba, the same
port we are bound for now-adrift,
without a ship, and almost without
penny In my pocket. among foreigners,
Spaniards and mulattoes. mestees and
quadroons, black, white and yellow.
had gone there as second mate of ship
from Boston, but the tyranny OF our
skipper wellnigh drove me mad. Dur
ing the voyage he had nearly killed
three Of our men for being slow in
sending down the top-gallant yards on
a squally night. He beat them until
they were black and blue with hand
spike, and kept them for forty-eight
hours, lashed to ringbolts in the ice
scupppers, that the sea might break
over them, as he said, and cure their
sores.
when I interfered to save a poor
cabin boy, whom he had hung up by
the heels from the main-boom, and was
scourgfng with heavy colt till his
back was covered with blood, he pro-
duced a bowie knife and revolver.
threading to shoot or rip me up
"Just at that moment we were pass
ing Spanish ship of war which was
at anchor In the bay, about half mile
from US, and had the red and yellow
jack of CASTLE and Leon flying at his
gait peak. One of the poor fellows who
had been so severely beaten was then
in the foretop, so hailed him to make
a signal of distress to the Spaniard."
"In a moment his blue shirt was off
and placed on the lift of the foreyard.
This meant, Mr.. Rodney, that as mer-
chant seamen we appealed to the man
o'-war for protection, and wanted an
heaven
such an appeal is never made in vain
by a poor Jack Of any country to
British man-o'-war, bu- he lubberly
Spaniards never notice. tie signal. or
If so, never needed it,
1.-THE Yankee skipper uttered fierce
laugh.
""Douse that shirt and come down,
you SIR he Numbered out; down in
stantly, or I will shoot you like a
coon.''
But, desperate with fear. the poor
fellow now stood upon the yard. and
while one hand grasped the topping
lift, with the other he waved his shirt
to the Spaniards. 1 heard the crack
of pistol, and next moment he fell
a quivering mass upon the deck, stone
dead. shot by the revolver.
THAT will teach you to make sig
nails from my ship, you varmint, sni-
yelled the merciless skipper, giving the
body kick, and as for you,' he con-
ttnued, addressing me, and ramming
home his words with an oath; but be-
fore he could get further I leveled him
on the deck by a blow from a hand
spike, and tossed his knife and revolver
overheard.
ri~
was great row about all this before
the Alcalde when We got into harbor;
our bell was unshipped and our can
vas unbent by party of Spanish ma
rines; but the captain crossed the AL
calde's hand with silver or gold, and
there was an end of it. There was an
end Of my engagement, too; for the
Yankee weathered me about my salary,
seized my chest, my quadrant, even an
old silver watch which my mother gave
me to make me comfortable, when
first went to sea, and then turned me
out of the ship.
$50 with nothing except a Mexican |
dollar in my pocket, but followed by |
my Newfoundland dog Hector, found |
myself on a wet and dusty evening on
the great quay of Matanzas, which |
faces the bay that opens into the Gulf |
of Florida.
Low aliks in spirits and funds, I |
had to endure being jostled by negro
porters, scowled at by alguazils, or
1ered about by red-cappped and black |
bearded Spanish sentries, who were |
shirtless and tattered, and whose |
brown uniforms and red worsted epau- |
ettes tainted the very sea breeze with |
he odor of garlic and coarse tobacco.
THE sun had set behind clouds as |
red as blood. The bay was all Of a deep |
brown tint, and the shores were black |