El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-07

boat up Mississippi river to city called
New Orleans, or have they induced the
other watch to go below and give them
spell?''
"Guid God, sir, dinna jestr" replied the
chief. Eye remember what yon scoundrel
said on Liverpool dock wall? Weel, he's
been as guild as his words, sir. we've
found an internal machine Already
..Well3'' drawled Kettle.
"Man. we may be blown to the sea floor
any minute
'.Sea whisky Sea grandmother
''Man, sir, see with your own cen. by
Gods guild mercy the donkeyman picked
it from among the Goals, or we'd be with
him this moment-or. with the deev1l.
'.Hand it up here the skipper COM
manded shortly.
The burly donkeyman, half grinning,
half afraid, came up the iron steps ana
handed the captain box painted to look
like a knob of coal 1t was ticking when
1 picked it up, SIR he said, "but when L
handled it the ticking stopped.
The captain took the thing in his hand.
1t started on a fresh cluck, cluck, and the
grimy men the iron decks below
bumped their shoulders as though to bet
ter receive a blow and began to shuttle
away toward the bows. ''Oh, it may be
something dangerous. said Captain ket-
tie and hove his burden over the side,
to brighten flats. There's only one man
with the pluck of roach among you, and
here's half crown for him."
The donkeyman's black forefinger knuc-
killed. his greasy cap
GAS for the rest, your mothers must
have sucked you pigeon milk and
then sent you to girls school to dry
nurse. You pack of beauties! Oh, you
white livered bobby hunted gems! If the
thing was found-well, found it was, and
the donkeyman brought it ON deck. What
do you want to foul the clean air for with
your foul, sinking carcasses before your
watch was out? I'll log every man of you
for this-yes, Mr.. McFee and Mr.. Second
and Mr.. Third, I'll dirty your tickets for
you as well, or if you give me another
ounce of bother I'll take care you none of
you ever get another berth long the
universe holds water to carry shipping.
You cowardly hounds! Oh, you trust mel"
The men skunk back into the slleyway
again out of shot of the shippers tongue,
and the engineers, pluckiDg up courage
first, led the way below. Some one clat
tered a shovel on firebar Instinct made
the trimmers obey the signal, and they
went to the bunkers. The fremen fol-
lowed, and the steam gauge remounted
before it had received any appreciate
check. 1t was all an affair of five minutes.
Kettle passed forefnger round the in
with Cambel to where the deck chairs
straddled in the shade.
They're holy crew, aren't they?"
said the master of the Port Edes.
Il think they're what we want. We
should be rather out of it with a plucky
lot who insisted on standing by us at
pinch
"Oh, don't you make any error about
that replied Kettle They'd have been
shaky anyway, but this bogus clockwork
devil of yours fixes them to a nicely. It'll
be every Jack for himself when the scare
comes, and Davy Jones take the steamer
and the others. oh, they'll run like
warren of rabbits. The brutes!''
Kettle broke of abruptly and stared
moodily over the gulf stream. A flying
fish got out of the blue water and ran
across the ripples like a silver rat. A
school of porpoises snorted leisurely up
from asterD and passed the steamer as
though she had been at anchor. And the
tangles of gulf weed fioated past like reefs
of tawny coral.
do you ever read poetry?' the skipper
suddenly asked.
Cambel slowed round his head and
stared. The idea of this vinegar mouthed
little savage talking of poetry very nearly
made him break into wild laughter. With
effort he steadied his face and said
quietly, Sometimes
I'm glad OF that. somehow L hadn Z
dared ask you before, but now know
Mr.. Cambel, like you all the better 1t
gives US something in common we can
talk about without being ashamed. We
can't very well discuss the other matter
which binds us together and respect our
selves at the same time
Quite right. You and I, captain, are
shouldered to common piracy by the force
of circumstances, but always kick myself
-hn,, 7 i,,ly alN -, r1,
of romance about our intended villainy
or the way it's being led up to-
Not a bit. Byron wrote about piracy,
but Byron was no seaman, and he didn't
know what hazing a crew meant. A
thiefs dirty scoundrel all The world over
and always has been, and thief, hav-
ing the scum of the earth to handle, has
to make himself the cruelest brute on
earth if he wants to succeed. think it's
that which put me out of liking with
Byron and all those poets who We written
about movement at sea. They give a
wrong idea of mems motives and actions,
and when they get talking on shop they're
that inaccurate. and absurd they make one
tired. No, Mr.. Cambel, give me land
poet, who talks about farms and prim-
roses and tinkling brooks and things he
understands, and with that man 1 can sit
through two watches on end. Reading
him may make me feel low, but it doesn't
do a man harm to be that way sometimes.
You see, Mr.. Cambel, a scuffle row
with mutinous crew is just meat and
drink to me. Yes, sir, that's the kind of
brute ann
They chatted and basked during the rest
of the afternoon, while the two mates off
watch painted ironwork, and the crew off
duty grumbled and smoked and slept in
the stuffy forecastle. The cabin tea came.
Kettle at the head of the table preserved
sour silence, and Cambel and the mates
among them a strained civility. And then