Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-02-08

needed quiet; besides, / was treasured
by the doctors words. now quoted 10
me, and rather offended by the offer or
a bride.
II want none OF your money said
/, but what you owe my rather. III
get you one glass. and no more"
When / brought II to him. he seized
it greedily, and drank ii out.
cay, ay," said he, that's some bet
ter, sure enough. And now, matey, did
that doctor say how long / was TO lie
here In this old berth?"
"A week at least" said /.
Thunder" he cried. "a week! /
can't do that; they'd have a black spot
on me by then. The lubbers is going
about to get the wind of me this
blessed moment; lubbers as couldn't
keep what they got, and want TO nail
what is ~another's. is that seamaniy
behavior, now, / want to know? But
I'm a saving soul. / never wasted good
money OF mine, nor lost 1t, neither; and
I'll trick 'em again. I'm not afraid on
EN-. I'll shake out another reef, matey,
and daddle 'em again"
AS he was thus speaking he had risen
from bed with great difficulty, holding
to my shoulder with a grip that al
most made me cry, and moving his
legs like so much dead weight. His
words, spirited as they were in mean
ing, contrasted sadly with the weak
ness OF the voice in which they were
uttered. He paused when he had got
into a sitting position on the edge.
THAT Doctors done me- he u
INJURED. my ears is singing. Lay me
back"
Before I could do much to help him
he had fallen back again to his former
place, where he lay for awhile silent.
Jim" he said, at length, you saw
that seafaring man tOday?"
BLACK Dog?" l asked.
"Ah! Black Dog" says he. Hes q
bad 'un, but there's worse that put
him On. Now, II | can't get away no
how, and they tip me the black spot,
mind you, it's my old sea-chest they're
after. You get on a horse-you can,
can't you? We'll, then, you get on a
horse, and go towel, yes | will!-to
that eternal doctor swab, and tell him
to pipe all Observation-Disclosures and sich
and he'll lay 'em aboard at the Adj
miral Benbow-all old Flints crew,
man and boy, all on 'em that's left.
was first mate, / was, old Flint's first
mate, and I'm the on'y one as knows
the place. Hegave ii TO meat Savannah,
where he lay a-dying, like as If | was
to now, you see. But vou won't peach
unless they get the black spot on me,
or unless you see that Black Dog
again, or a seafaring man, with n
leg, Jln-nlm ABOVE all.
But what is the black spot cap
tain" | asked.
That's "a summons, mate. I'll tell
you If they get that. But you keep your
weather-eye open, Jim, and I'll share
with you equals, upon my honor
He wandered q little longer, his voice
growing weaker; but soon after ] had
given him his medicine, which he took
like a child, with the remark, IF ever
a seaman wants drugs. it's me-" he fell
at last into a heavy, ~swoon-like sleep in
which l left him. What | should have
done had all zone well l do not know
Probably l should have told the whole
story to the doctor; for ! was in NOR
tai fear lest the captain should repent
Of his confessions and make an end OF
me. But as things fell out, my poor
father died quite suddenly that even
ing, which put all other matters on
one side. Our natural distress, the Wis
it's OF the neighbors, the arranging Of
the funeral, and all the work OF the Inn
to be carried on in the meanwhile, kept
me so busy that | had scarcely time to
think Of the captain, far less to be
afraid OF him..
He got dow stairs next morning, TO
be sure, and had his meals as usual,
though he eat little, and had more, I
am afraid, than his usual supply OF
rum, for he helped himself out of the
bar, scowling and blowing through his
nose, II no one dared TO cross him.
On the night before the funeral he was
as drunk as ever; and II was shocking,
in that house of mourning, TO near him
singing away at his ugly Old sea-song;
but, weak as he was, we were all In fear
Of death for him, and the doctor was
suddenly taken up with a case many
miles away, and was never near the
house after my fathers death. | have
said the captain was weak: and indeed
he seemed rather TO grow weaker IMAM
regain his strength. He clambered up
and down stairs, and went from the
parlor to the bar and back again, and
sometimes put his nose out Of doors 10
smell the sea. holding on TO the walls
MS he went for support, and breathing
hard and fast like q man on a steep
mountain. He never particularly adj
dressed me, and II is my belief he had
as good as forgotten his condolences;
but his temper was more Eighty, and,
allowing for his bodily weakness, more
violent than ever. He had an alarming
way now when he was drunk OF draw
ing his Cutlass and laying it bare be-
fore him on the table. But, with all
that, he minded people less, and seemed
shut up in his own thoughts and rather
wandering. Once, for instance. to our
extreme wonder, he piped up to q diff
ferent air, a kind of country love song,
that he must have learned In his youth
before he had begun to follow the sea.
SO things passed until, the day after
the funeral. and about 3 o'clock or a
bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, l was
standing at the door. for a moment, full
of sad thoughts about my father, when
| saw some one drawing slowly near
along the road. He vas plainly blind,
for he tapepd before him with q stick,
and Nvnrn a prFao \ praan Chndn nNar hic
eyes n nose; and he was hunched, as
If with age or weakness, and wore a
huge old tattered sea-Cloak with a hood
that made him appear positively de-
formed. l never saw in my life a more
dreadful looking figure. He stopped n
little from the inn. and raising his
voice in an odd sing-song, addressed
the air in front OF him
"Will any kind friend inform a poor
blind a who has lost the precious
sight of his eyes in the gracious de-
tense of his native country, England,
and God bless King George!-where or
in what part of this country he may
now be?"
You are at the Admiral Benbow,
Black Hill Cove, my good man" said l.
II hear n voice." said he, "a young
voice. VIII you give me your hand,
kind friend. and lead me in?"
/ held my hand, and the horrible,
soft-spoken. eyeless creature gripped 1t
in a moment like asvise. L was so much
startled that | struggled to withdraw:
but the blind man pulled me close up to
him with a single action of his arm.
"Noy, boy" he said, take me in to
the captain"
Sir" said L, upon. my word l dare
not"
oh" he sneered, that's it, Take
me in straight, or I'll break our arm"
He gave 1T, as he spoke, a wrench that
made me cry out.
"Sir," said I, lit is for yourself /
mean. The captain is not what he used
to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass..
Another gentleman"