The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-27
sL0PER, A SHIPS MONKEY.
Character sketch From Life of nm
Amusing Animal with FaiIings
Like "A Humans.
From the Lodon Mail.

From the Lodon Mail.
Sloper is a member OF the ships
company, though he never signed on
the articles. He is. in fact, the ships
monkey, and he came on deck a mo-
ment ago and took his seat on the
tarpaulin- covered main hatch, he took
turn of his tail round himself, and
there he sits now staring at the splen-
did sunrise with dissatisfied air, as
IL he could improve on It.
Frankly, he Is a frightful- looking an
imal; his fur here and there rubbed
and worn like the covering of an old
hair trunk; he looks also patched in
board by chance and Sloper appears,
as he always does on such occasions,
one feels inclined to apologize or at
tempt to explain him away somehow
TILL remembering the adage: "Quie
s'excuse s'accuse," one says nothing
hoping that the visitor will mistake
him for an optical illusion. as did once
a gentleman with brandy-shaken
nerves at pernambueo.
He is not a grass-monkey, or a ring
tailed monkey, or spider monkey; he
seems sort of cocktail compounded
of them all, with hurdy-gurdy mon
key added for flavor. No man knows
where he was born; the carpenter says
he was never born. but that he was
fetched" and not from heaven either.
l am almost inclined toward the car
penter's belief, especially when / re-
member the port where he was bought,
which port, saith tradition, was Port
Said. A pound of tobacco was the
price and the bo-s-un's mate that
bought him let him out to the fo'csle
hands to play with for a bottle of rum
When he had bitten the fo'c'sle all
round they kicked him out and he took
refuge with steward. who taught
him, with a stick how not to bite: then
he finished his education himself. and
made a masterpiece of II.
If one could open minds" says Guy
de Maupassant, Sin the same manner
as one lifts the cover of a saucepan
one would find figures In the brain OF
mathematician; outlines of actors
8esticulating In a playright's head; the
form Of a woman In that of low
er's. and I'm the craniums Of the folk
who come TO Cannes there would be
found coronets of all descriptions float
ing about like vermIcelli In soup" I
cannot lift Slopere saucepan lid and
behold the stew inside. / know not
In what fantastic shape | would find
my reflection there, but OF this / am
assured, that behind all fctions and
fantasies there Hes In sloper's mind
keen sense of the right and wrong
OF things Joined to an unalterable de-
termination 70 eschew the right. For
one thing, he drinks like a fish when
he gets the chance.
Rum from the eask u his fav0rite
tipDle but anything alcoholic viii serve
~ a pinch. Just look a. him this
morning blinking "a the sunrise and
pretending not 20 SEE me. last night 4
caught him w ny cabin with a bottle
~ Inethylated spirits IN his hand. IIe
had drawn the cork and WHs on the
threshold ~ a fenfeone carOuse when
! e0ilefed him, lie Neuf IN lu 3 hun
ana nnW he Non'f speak a. me- Look
when 4 can bin b. stnrfs hunting f0f
iuiHelHafy focf, 0u saturday nlrbfa
~ niHsyH turns ~ Yifh fhe hands fof
hif tof - ffoR. and Nhen ! have a
brandy snd foda I always eye hlls /.
ulimbiefpl. fep nsy rag a. lt efons ~