The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-02
Tbe Ships NdDenfure.
CLARK RUSSELL Copyright 1898, ,bys. Mocu. co1

| 2 glass Of sTTc,s5, iissa enjoyed ms chat
with the little boy, whose charming face
and sweet. ingenious, yet manly, prattle
delighted him: he was comfortable, and
the captain inspired no feeling of restraint
or sense of intrusion, so he sat on
The fog Is as thick as mud In a
wine glass;" exclaimed Capt Layard
Some go fast and some so slow through
these smothers. The fast man holds that
a ship is under more immediate control
when travelling; 1 am a slow man when
1 can't see. In fact" he continued, with
a look Of exaltation, with smile Of pro-
found self-complacency. "I claim to
know my business. There Is no man
afoat who is going to teach me what
to do when thing is to be DONE and
done properly"
"H all ships would heave to, said
Hardy. witnessing the captains mind
| in the expression which subtly inter.
preted it, then 1t would be the right
! thing in a fog to stop your engines, OF
back your topsail. But it's the other
fellow you can't see that makes the fear"
He Immediately added, Your dog is ex-
traordinarily sagacious, sir"
1T amused me to train him." replied
the captain, smoothing Johnnys little
hand as 1t lay upon the table. There
Is no fog-horn which equals the screams
Of an irritated SOW. A sow once saved
me from collision by causing dog,
In an invisible ship close aboard on the
starboard bow, to bark. That put the
idea into my head. Sailor has the voice
of trombone, and he didn't need much
training either; he Is now perched be-
tween the knight heads with more
searching eyes and clearer ears than
the whole ships company could put to-
gether if they made their heads into
one"
/ Hardy lauehed
Don't forget Sailors supper, father"
said Johnny
I'll not forget" answered the cap
tain.
AS he spoke the words the man who
waited on the cabin came down the
steps
rs it still very thick?" asked the
| captain
"Blinding, SIR" was the answer.
Get the dogs supper and take it to
him on the fox 'sle," said Capt Lay
ard. ''See that he was water; it may be
an all-night job for him. Pearson was
a very humane man." he went on, ad-
| dressing Hardy. 81 might guess that
| by the medicine chest he's left me.
overhauled 1t before we sailed, and won
| dered at the quantity Of sleeping and
| death stuffs it contained. I found out
that in one Of his passages home from
| Calcutta several men died of cholera,
| drugs.
Ships bound to India should always carry
| a surgeon; they would-they must, If
| there are passengers. But glauber salts
/ are good things for Jack; tbs an all
| round physic, as good for smallpox as
| for indigestion" He laughed somewhat
| heartily, and continued: 'Pearson's men
might have died to man, for his medi-
cine chest showed badly like the end Of
| long voyage. Fortunately half Of
them took 1t into their heads to live, and
| they got the ship home. After this Pear
son never went to sea without plenty of
drink for cholera. He's left some doc
tors handbook on the diseases of sailors,
and there's a volume on poisons full of
pencil marks. His humanity was un-
wearying, but he got the sack all the
same. Johnny, my darling, it's time for
bed. Come along, my lamb"
He took the boy by the hand, and
they went into the captains cabin, the
child crying as his father opened the
door, Good night. Mr.. Hardy"
1t was half past z; Hardy went into his
berth TO smoke a pipe before relieving
the deck The captains cabin glowed
with the soft illumination of an oil lamp
to bulkhead, and swinging in its brack-
! ct to the heave. 1t was a fine large cab
/ In, equipped with a table covered with
green baize, on which were writing ma
| terials, nautical instruments and such
tain and a brass cot at the foot of the
bunk, safely secured to the deck, for
Johnny. 1t was comfortable with a car
pet, chairs, a short sofa, a chest of
drawers and washstand. Close beside
Johnny's cot on the deck was the boys
drum.
The captain began to undress the little
fellow, who talked to him of Mr.. Hardy
he said he wished Mr.. Hardy could sleep
| with them. No mother ever used ten
derer hand in putting her child to bed
! than did this strange sea captain, mad or
not mad. His eyes were tender; twice
| he kissed the boys fair brow; he seemed
| reluctant to make an end of this un-
dressing, as though he loved to have his
hands upon the child, to have his face
| close to him.
Now your prayer, Johnny" said he
| And the boy knelt by his cot and in
| words he had learnt frem his father
! prayed that his mother would look down
| and watch over them both, and that God
| would bless his father and himself.
The captain stood by in devout posture
| and whispered the words which the child
| uttered, then hoisted the little fellow
! into bed, covered him up and kissed him.
"Mayn't Mr.. Hardy come and see me
in bed2" said the child
"Ay," answered the captain, and he
stepped to the door and called the chief
officer by name.
Hardy instantly came out. leaving his
pipe behind him.
Come and see my boy in bed" said
| the captain.
Hardy, not knowing that this was due
to the child and not to the father, was
! secretly astonished, for, though he had
always lived on very good terms with
the captains he had sailed with, he had
never met any commander who treated
| him just as though they occupied the
| same platform.
He followed him into his cabin, and the
boy with his bright hair on the pillow
smiled a greeting.
1T is a beautlGSl bed, Johnny" said
the mate, stepping Close to the cot and
| looking at him with the asFection which
| such child as this will e1cite in "a
sailors heart at sea, moved by thoughts
of home and of the fair land he ha%
left, of his own childhood perhaps and
visited by that mute sense of solitude,
peril and the holy and brooding presence
of the Great Spirit, which is the impulse
| of the deep and understood by those
| In the constant recession of it's horizon,
Is an interpretabIe face. He turned to
| the captain and exclaimed
IF your boy ever dreams sir, 1t is OF
| the angels who guard his bed
He kissed the little chap and was go
| ing.
"A moment, Mr.. Hardy" exclaimed the
| captain, who did not seem to have caught
| or noticed what the mate said. This is
| an example Of old Pearson's forethought
and humanity"
He stepped, followed by Hardy, to a
corner of the cabin. in which stood