The times., 1901-05-26

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/ MexiCsn dollar 10 his name. An I had
was the fare, ne added, and now 1 am
at your mercy. When / questioned him
| he could make no promises of pay even
at the next port I have no friends
| there. he said. Now while / felt sorry
for him, business is business at sea as
well as ashore. and then too, owners ara
owners, and | could not see my way clear
to letting even a grandee dine at the cab
IN table and eat two or three American
dollars worth a day of grub The upshOt
OF It was that | explained as well I
could that he would have 10 work his
way. He took it well enough and went
forward. where the mate put him at lub-
bers tasks
In due time we reached Panama. A
second edition OF the port officer at La
Libertad came aboard. though l reckon
he had the best of 1t in gold lace. Maybe
his sword was an inch or so longer also
Soon as he clapped his eye on the pas
| seuger list he spied Don Jose's name,
which We had forgotten to erase. Don
Jose de Silveras. he read. though Of
course, that isn't his real handle This
Don Jose he continued, he is of the tall
and dark complexion. is he not, senior
captain, with the scar in red on the left
face? That fitted the man. and 1 as
sented My government. replied the
cOmmandante, rising and bowling; my
government, with great emphasis on the
word that stood for his little two BY six
country, cannot permit Don Jose to be
harbored. He may not go ashore. 1t Is
his exceIlencys order With that he fin
lshed the bottle had opened aand bowed
himself out, and l went forward to find
Don Jose, patriot. exile, and deckhand. I
was getting a bit worried.
Look here, / said. I'm sorry for you.
sSS- ! can't carry you around as long a.
this ship floats. When we get to port
you We got to get a hustle on and go
ashore If you have to swim for it He
looked rather blue at the prospect, but
only bowed and apologized for causing me
Inconvenience
Il don't want this yarn to last clear
through the watch, said the chief. so
on down to a little port in Papagayo Bay,
and he got blacklisted again j began to
think had botten hold of an old man Of
the sea; like Captain Marryat tells about
- Come or. chafred Mac. ''Marryat
be bowed; that In Eesops fables. Amt
~. Door The doctor grinued and nodded.
Con on, chief, don't mind the kid he
Well. It don't matter ropes end who
wrote it, but L was getting worried about
my suDerhuous deckhand He had al
ready gotten about 500 worth Of travel
ana mighty little work for It. and be-
sides L was nervous about getting into
trouble with some of those touchy little
Governments. l told him plainly hs
would have to get off the ship, and hea
replied that II was a little moist Just thar
which was true enough. as we were abcsit
200 miles of shore. However. he did not
get ashore. At every port the OBJ 6cfais
back to San Jose my friend. the COM
mandante, came alongside with a war
rant for Don Jose. and catching the tip
gave him in wink. the purser slid out Of
the cabin and tipped Don Jose. ! gavs
h1m time enough to hide and then grave
ly assured the cOmmandante that Don
Jose had gone ashore Surreptitiously at
Lfbertad. | added few regrets that
was sorry had not known he was want
ed. or l would have ironed him and a few
more pleasantrfes which the command
ante.
When we got the ship out into clear
water | sent forward and had Done Jose
brought into the cabin and laid down the
law OF that ship In pretty plain language.
He had to get ashore somehow. The
thing was getting serious and | preferred
Don Jose should Ianguish In a Central
American calaboOse rather than myself.
Besides, he was now on MS second round
trip at the cOmpany's expense. ami ne
had an able sedmaH's appetite. too. Don
Jose took it with Spanish ccolneSs- He
shrugged his shoulders and remarked: It
is the fate. senior captain It is for my
country that l suffer Some day L shall
the reparation to you make. told him
reDaration was good enough in its way.
but nv owners wanted cash that summer.
'fOf I.ibertad we hit nasty little blow
and ] had my hands and mind too full OF
my ship to bother about Don Jose Ii
calIned down toward morning and 3e lay
to about a mile off shore waiting for the
tide to serve to take US over the bar,
when all of a sudden l thought Of Don
purpose of giving him some sailoriy ad-
vice But Don Jose had disappeared. NO
one saw him leave the ship and a tnor-
ough search from the small boats to the
bilge gave no trace of him L cOneiuded
he had made desperate attempt to SWIM
ION the next trip was called back to
Frisco by the house to take out new
shin She was a beauty, right from the
yards and with saloon fui! OF gllding
and chrome panels and the geegaws that
catch the Central American trade was
proud of her and when brought her 70
anchor in the harbOr of San Jose l put
on my best blouse chockful Of gold braid
and a gold-lace cap and waited 70 give
the commandante treat. Pretty soon
saw him put off in his barge with twelve
oars and a cox'n and watched him
sweep along side. / soon saw it was not
my old friend, but new commandante
and made up my mind there had been a
change in administration. as they call IL
down there. l stepped down the gangway
to meet him and my jaw dropped in spite
of my brass bindings 1t was my friend
Don Jose. my passenger and deckhand-
All senior captain he said cordially,
we meet again and this time the honor Is
mine I saw he did not bear any grudges
on the old score and shook hands with
him and led him to my quarters We nad
an ice machine aboard the new snip ana
a cold bottle was flZZfng Just as soon as
the steward could break the wire Don
Jose was now cOnmmandante OF the port.
and when I finally brought out my papers
he waved them aside. Not TO my frtneds,
he said Such things are not for you,
nv cal ptain. The port is yours my house
is yours You are my great and good
American friend. Also. you are the friend
of his exceIIency. the resident. OF you to
him have spoken. and it is his gracious
command that you dine with MIN tonight
That was pretty square and so I put a
feeler out to find out about the former
commandante He is IN Chile, / think,
was the answer. He escaped when We
shot the former Government
80 you see," concluded the chief, as
seven bells rang wildly out from the
forward bridge, at pays to be decent even
to stowaways In Central America. You
want to remember that, Mac, my boy
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