Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-10-01

"B1oys, fergtUe me. Tn, an, i7aposl,ter."
and jealousy eyes the company of mis-
CRADLES like himself, as if in each one
he saw a potential snatcher from him
of his last hope Of berth.
Outward Founders have little to say
to each other in the chain locker. They
wait, not like honest laborers seeking
legitimate employment, but like half
tried prisoners awaiting sentence. This
characteristic is SO universal that, al
though we who bided the coming Of
the Gareth's skipper had all got our
sure or her, we had not exchanged half
dozen words among the fourteen Of
us.
But there suddenly appeared in our
midst square built, rugged faced man
of middle height, whose gray eyes
twinkled across his ruined nose and
whose mouth had that droll droop of
the lower lip that shows readiness
not only to laugh in and out of season,
but almost pathetically invites the be-
holder to laugh too. He it was who
broke the stony silence by saying in
the richest brogue, us it all ay us
bhoys that does be goin' in the wan
ship, wondherY Even the most mo-
rose among us felt an inclination to
smile, we hardly knew why, but just
then the swing door Of the engaging
office burst open and hoarse voice
shouted, Grew O. the Gareth herew
The words, like some irresistible CEN
tripetal force, sucked in from the re.
hottest corner of the large area every
man, and in moment all of us, who
had, as we thought, secured our chances
by lodging our discharges beforehand,
were seized with something of a panic
lest we should lose the ship after all.
Heavens, how we thrust and tore our
way into the office pnst the burly po-
liceman who held every one Of us at
the pinch of the door until he was sat
isfied Of our right to enter! Once with
in we felt safe and stood nervously
lingering our caps while the clerk Cab
bled over the usual formula, to which
none of us gave the slightest heed
Signing on began and psoceeded apace.
to the accompaniment of running fire
of questions as to age, nationality, last
ship, etc., to which answers, if not
promptly Forthcoming, were, am
afraid, supplied by the questioner.
There was a subdued chuckle, and the
man who had spoken outside stood at
the counter
what name" snapped the clerk.
"Alphonso McGinty, yer amer" was
the answer. No exquisite witticism ever
raised more wholesome burst OF
laughter 1t positively frightened that
dull hole like a ray of sea sunshine.
How old?" said the clerk in n voice
still tremulous.
"God befri'nd me, forget. Say t'irty-
five, sor."
"Your discharge says twenty-five"
returned the clerk.
"Ah, yes, yer amer, but it's said that
FER the last t'irty years."
Isn't 1t time It was altered, then?"
retorted the clerk, magisterial again,
as he entered fifty-fve on the articles.
The old fellows quaint speech, added
to an indefinable aureole of good hui
NOR about him, had completely chang
ed the sullen aspect of our crowd, SO
that for the moment we quite forgot
that but fourteen of us were engaged
to take the four thousand ton ship Ga
reth to New Zealand first and then to
any other part of the world, VOYAGE
not to exceed three years.
So, with even the Dutchmen laugh
ing and chuckling in sympathy with
the fun they felt, but didn't under
stand, we all dispersed with our ad-
vance notes to get such discount as
fate and the sharks would allow. In
good time we We're all aboard, for ships
were scarce and oil of us anxious to
get away, but when we saw the vast,
gaunt hull well down to plimsolls mark
and the four towering steel giants of
masts, with their immense spreading
branches, and thought of the handful
we were to manage them we felt
colder chill than even the biting edge
of the bitter east wind had given us.
We mustered in the dark, iron barn
of the folls'l and began selecting hunks
until we were picked for
Watches, when our attention was ar