Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-12-05

oStsAAS G
wash? I can rig you out with some
pyjamas from the slop chest
But Cortolvin would not change his
dirt and squalor just then. He had
worn it too long to be affected by it,
land, said he, 81 don't want to ad.
vertise the fact that I'm an Englishman
just at present. II my dear friends down
yonder on the lower deck knew it,
they'd not wait for the engines to be
repaired. They'd fizzle up just like
gunpowder there and then, and the
whole lot Of us white men would be
pulled into tassels before we'd time to
think.
II don't know about that, said Ket-
tie. 'I've faced some of the ugliest
crowds that have foated on the seas be-
fore this, and they thought they were
going to have it all their own way, and
they found when it came to shooting
that could keep my end upvery hand
lily"
He waved his guest to a deck chair,
placeda box of cheroots Hospitality open
on the chart table, and then he went
outside the charthouse and leaned over
the bridge deck rail. The awning above
him threw q clean cut shade which
swung to and fro as the Saigon rolled
over the faint, oily swell, and outside
its shelter the sun s rays fell like molten
brass and the metal work was hot
enough to raise blister. The air was
motionless and stagnant and greasy
with the smell of humanity. The whole
fabric of the steamer shimmered in the
dancing heat
For the dense mass of pilgrims below
the situation approached the intolerable
Left to itself, the, rusted iron deck be-
meath their bare skins would have grown
hot enough to char them. Nothing but
a constant sluicing with water made it
in any way to be endured, and as the
water from alongside came up to them
as warm as tea it did but little to re.
fresh. The African can withstand most
temperatures which are thrown from
above on to the face of this planet, but
even the African can at times die from
heat as glibly as his betters. Even as
Kettle watched one of the pilgrims, a
grizzle headed Hausa from the western
Sudan, was contorted with heat apo
plexy, breathed stertoriously for min
ute or SO and then lay still and imme.
diately became prey to flies innumer-
able. Two of his nearest comrades be-
stirred themselves to look at him, pro-
nounced that life was extinct, stood up
and. with an effort, carried the body
out of the press and heaved it over the
hot iron bulwark into the oily sea be-
meath. 1t is not good that the dead
,, should remain with the quick even for
minutes in circumstances such as those,
and while the bearers carried him away
an old white haired negro from Sokoto
stood upon his feet, swaying to the roll
of the ship, and faced the heat blurred
east with bowed head. Aloud he bore
witness that God was great and that
Mohammed was the prophet OF God and
that of mortals each mans fate was
writ big upon his forehead. and tLen
the rest Of the pilgrims bent their fore
heads to the torturing deck plates and
made profession of the faith, following
his words.
Captain Kettle from his stand against
the rail of tho bridge deck pitied the
heather and thought with complacent
sigh OF certain obscure chapel in
South Shields, but at the same time he
could not avoid being impressed by the
heathens' constanoy. They might die,
, but they forbore to curse God in doing
it, and the omission gave him an in
sight into the workings of fatalism,
which mao. him think more Of what
Cortolvin had said. Every man among
the pilgrims had sword or spear or
mace or rifle within grip of his fist, and
as a fighting force, with fatalism to
back them, he began to realize that
they could make q very ugly company
to maneuver against A regulation Of
the pilgrim trade requires that all
weapons shall be taken from this class
of passengers during the voyage, but
Kettle had omitted to disarm them
through sheer contempt for what they
could do. If they chose to fight among
themselves, that was their own concern.
1t never even occurred to him as they
came off Jeddah quay noisy and odor-
GUS that they would dare to contend
against his imperial will, but now he
sincerely wished that the means Of seri-
GUS offense were not SO handy to their
fingers. 1 do not say that he was afraid,
for, knowing him well, honestly be-
lieve that the little ruffian has never
yet feared man that was born of wom-
an, but the safety Of the Saigon was y
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