The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-06-30
A YARN WITHOUT A MORAL.
b. MORGAN ROBERTSON.

By MORGAN ROBERTSON.
Copyright. 1859. by Morgan Robertson.l
It was in the early days Of lake
traffic, when vessels were small, dis
cipline lax, and when each forecastle
might contain one or more part owners.
Dunkirk Sam, Bill Tubbs and Starboard
Jack, composing the crew of the little
schooner Alma, held no such dual rela-
tions with their captain. They drew
wages, not profits. But, as their captain
was old Long Tom Tucker of their own
town. whom they loved and "sassed'
and advised and obeyed as they pleased,
their treatment of him was in no way
calculated to impress strangers with
any other belief than that they owned
the whole vessel-and Captain Tom too.
At Kingston, after discharging cargo.
they had put on their shore clothes and
selfshly gone to the theater, leaving
Captain Tom to keep chip or go ashore
with himself or the cook as he liked.
The mate. newly shipped, lived in
Kingston. and early in the evening had
fled to the bosom Of his family. The
captain sulked for awhile under the
slight put upon him by his ''boys,"
went ashore alone, met his agent, then
hunted up his mate and sent him
aboard. for the agent had secured him
load from, Port Hope to Oswego. Then
he HE'D himself to the one theater of
the town, bought ticket, went in and
vainly coaxed the three unregenerates
to heed the call Of duty. Useless en-
deavorl They were kind to him-asked
him to sit with them, but would not
bulge until the performance ended.
Captain Tom coaxed, ordered, fumed
and finally swore; then was collared by
scandalized fat policeman and cast
forth into outer darkness, followed by
the heartless threat of the three to tell
his wife and the minister when they
got home, for Captain Tucker was a
sturdy pillar of the church.
Filled to the brim with ssaggrava-
tion," he returned to the wharf where
his vessel lay and helped the mate loose
the canvas, vowing to pay off the three
s'sogers" at the first American port.
The three left the theater at II o. clock
and leisurely made their way to the
vessel. Had they seen arestaurant they
would have satisfied their slight hunger
before putting themselves under Cap
tain Toms domination-not that they
anticipated increased peril from the
weakness attending empty stomachs,
but they knew that the cook, as indif-
ferent to nautical etiquette as them
selves, had turned in for the night /;
hence, there would be no night lunch
prepared-and it was long time until
breakfast.
Discussing the matter made them
hungrier. Starboard Jack suggested the
advisability Of turning back and hunt
ing for an eating house, '.for, he said.
ssthe skipper won't turn the cook out
for us tonight, but he'll get his own
nibble from the galley" They agreed
to this, and Captain Toms prospective
se1fishness condoned their own mutinotls
behavior, giving the balance Of injury
to them. They became outrageously
hungry and halted when rooster,
aroused by their voices. arose to full
stature, cluttered at them and settled
down again. Fatal mistake.
Starboard Jack testified later that
visions Of a chicken potpie, partaken
Of at home, entered his brain, and the
savory odor seemed to be in his nostrils.
Bill Tubbs admits that his hayward
thoughts serenely reviewed an oft re-
GREETED early dissipation, in which he
had disgracefully attended cockfight.
Dunkirk Sam never committed himself,
but it is on record that Dunkirk Sam
was the first to sneak.
mighty fine rooster Shanghai, too, ;"
he said.
Nice and fat, remarked Bill Tubbs,
turning square the other way. thus put
ting temptation behind him.
Why discuss the devious course of
criminal thoughts through the doubts
and fears of noncriminal brains? Ten
tarry digits closed around the neck of
the drowsy bird, sitting the indignant
cutlery; five were later removed to the
struggling claws, threatening to ruin
Starboard Jacks new ego ashore" coat,
and three guilty marauders fed through
the darkness.
1t was blind, illogical crime for
CRIMES sake alone. Their hunger may
have suggested the abduction; the alb
duction could in no way satisfy their
hunger. But this did not occur to them.
Guilty fear possessed their souls, ex-
Guiding other thoughts, even of their
empty stomachs.
With the rooster snugly imprisoned
under Starboard Jack s arm, they tum-
bled over the Alma's rail and down the
forecastle stairs, unheeding the TRADE
Of reproach launched at them by Cap
tain Tom. Here hurried confab re-
suited in the raising of the trapdoor
and the unceremonious bundling of the
nearly choked fowl into the inky dark
ness of the fore peak. One protesting
squeak arose from the depths. Then
they changed their clothes, went up
and made sail, meekly taking the scold-
ing they had earned, but Captain Toms
wrath finally gave way to establishment
dor, se,%a cd