The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-04-03

- perr, care American consul. lie
M longer perspired so protuseiy, hut
tre,nhled from the reaction OF leellht
which followed the safe dtsposai o. Tho
body. 4 glass of spirits from ,he cap
,,ir,s stock remedied this, ana, going
-, aeck he bawled out in his mos
am;cer-l;kc tone. who's on watch' Lay
IS. here. Martin obeyed. and met HIM
at the mainmast.
Here's a letter I got from the con-
sui at Callao-for you. Forgot all about
it,"
Thank you. sir" answered Martin. go
no took the letter. / 'spect its from
| my sister in shore here. Curious. sir
| that come back TO TompkinsV.ilc 'a
read it,"
Never mind about Tompkinsville. Who
| stands watch tonight?
.Only three of us. sir. We greed 70
| let the rest have all night in. Tom re-
| lievcs me at 'leven. and George relieve
him at 5. / came on at s, sir, as YOU or
| dered at supper time
That's all right. Let Gorge come on
at II. and let Tom take the mornins
watch. The harbor's quiet at midnisht
and river thieves work late. Let Tom
take the last watch. Understand
Yes. sir. I'll call George at leven."
"And keep your watch on the poop
pass the word along. Make that idiot
understandable stand watch on the poop.
But don't disturb the captain. He's sick.
If he feels better / may go ashore in the
dingey."
An right. sir. May l read my letter
forrard. sir?"
Go ahead-get it off your mind"
Martin disappeared in the direction of
the forecastle. and when Mr. Arbuck.t
saw him emerge a little later he went
below.
Got to make sure" he said. Got 10
have the idiot on deck. and | cant dis
turb the watches any more. Make EN-
SUSPICIOUS. Ill wait till lcven o'clock
when the skipper feels better
He waited. passing the time as h"
could. and when the cabin clock struck
Il went on deck. first fortifying himself
with a glass of whiskey. George ana
Martin were coming aft. the older man
earnestly explaining the orders to the
younger. Mr.. Arbuckle. fully as earnest
ly, repeated them. cnjoining George 10
stand watch on the poop, and to net
disturb Captain Hawkins, who was feel
ing better.
And I'm going ashore he said to
Martin. back about midnight. Fore
you turn in bring the dingey up to the
gangway."
Martin answered respectfully, ana
obeyed him, while the smiling idiot
watched the operation. Then Mr.. Ar
buckle descended the side-ladder, slack
ing himself carefully down by the man
J ropes. These were two short. fancifully
covered ropes, leading from brass stan
, chiors to the rail, one each side of tho
ladder. to within a foot OF the water.
They were covered with ice and hard to
/ hold. vet he paused halfway down to
S repeat the to stand watch on
the poop
l Yes, sir" answered the old sailor.
4 as he climbed the rail with a pump
d brake in his hand. The boyll do that
:, all right, but l want to say something
n first. You're going George Arbuckle.
: You've got your money and discharge.
end this is the last We'll see O you. /
know the trick. You're not takin' your
g clothes, cause you have none worth TAX
/ in. Well have to wait three days fore
t We get our money, and then we can't find
t you. You'll lay low and ship again to
:. cripple more men. But I've got this TO
! sand, you chew it over, too-you just
remember that | had the satisfaction OF
tellin' you. Hold on, there (Mr. Ar
d buckle had moved his hands upward.
e Don't you come up, or you'll go down hy
the run. III brain you, you devil. if you
S climb that ladder. You stay there ana
listen. You've pretty near killed this
= crew. You've hammered and dubbed US
e TO the last ndn-,dnu enc Oh us you
q drove insane-this boy here. Look at
him, YOU brute. He's your own son. Do
n you hear? Your own son-the little boy
that we ali thought died of starvation.
e He didn't die-ncr the mother, either, at
the time. She came back to Tompkins-
q Vile since this brig sailed from New
York, and she died here, eight months
ago. She fooled you. The letter l got
tells of it. And the boy was a Salvation
nro1 - $40 onl l:-~~ - I;- .yAr11l Oh
told that, but she didn't know that he
Il was to meet his father and be driven in
= sane. Look at your work."
Mr.. Arbuckle descended quickly. The
\ ropes and steps were very slippery, but
this may not have been the reason of his
hurry. The demented youth looked down
and gibbered. The man in the boat said
nothing. When Martin cast off the paint
er, he shipped the oars and pulled shore
: ward.
He was not back at midnight; he came
at l o'clock, when the food tide had
gathered force, and the vessel was failing
:, up the harbor with the side ladders on
the off shore side. He hailed as he ap-
IL preached, but the anchor watch, locking
" down from the poop rail, did not answer
1 the order to take the painter, so he pull
ed to the steps and esayed to climb them
- with the painter in his hand. But steps
H. and man ropes were still icy. He slipped,
- scrambled, lost the painter, and as the
er boat had fioated sternward, found himself
10 in the water. holding on to the end of the
after man rope, with the side ladder
II. tantalizingly close, but not within reach.
rs The tide was strong and held him away
ID from the ladder. The water was icy cold
TO and his teeth chartered. Uttering an an
u. cry curse, he pulled himself up-high and
= with less of his body immersed, ne swung
"a toward the ladder, but strong man though
he was, he could not support so much
ne of his weight and water-soaked clothing
with one hand, even to catch the ladder
es with the other. With fi~nger-nails scrap
Ell ing the coveted steps, he slid down the