Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1902-01-09
ON DIFFERENT TACKS.

Jane, ana William hOOlhson, shlpPeI
of the three masted schooner Sally,
sat very snugly in the Indian King,
on the Yarmouth quay. They pulled
their long churchwardens and dis
cussed two topics Of unending inter-
est-the merits of their respective
vessels and the mutinous character of
their crews.
II tell you, furnished apartments
in the garden O Eden wouldn't salts
fly EN-, said James Forster "Blowed
if they wouldn't want somethink more.
Sailors O today are the dirtiest, mu-
finest lot O scallywags on the face o
the earth.
"The sea sarvice is not what it used
to be, replied his friend. "If a man
or boy set up his lip to the cap'n in
my prentice days, why, that man or
boy carried remembrancer O it to
his grave. Now, the other week on
the homeward v'y'ge l had to hit a
man with handspike, and what does
the bloomin skunk do but summon
me, and the tule O the magistrate
fines me G5 and said as how l had no
business to hit a man with hand
spike. l says to him, Your worship,
there was nothink else handy to hit
him with. But, no; the pigheaded
old fule wouldn't bulge an inch. You
Just pay the fine, he says, or seven
days. Fancy threatenin a skipper
with seven days choky Pah!" And
he struck match viciouslY and re-
lighted his pipe.
"Yes, things is goiu to the dogs
with vengeance. Before long We
shall have to provide the men for'ard
with feather beds, scented soaps, tur-
tie soup and fancy biscuits. That's
what things is comm to, but it's the
fault of the board Of trade
Its my honest opinion you might
give my crew toasted angels and then
they ID grumble, replied Robinson.
"Well, for the sake o peace and qui-
etness I always gives EN- delicacy
now and again. You see, I'm not so
young as l was, and fghtin EN- takes
it out o me and upsets the owners"
What do you mean by delica-
cy?" demanded his friend.
"Why, for example, here in Var
mouth | always lays in cask of her
rims whenever | comes 1t pleases
EN-, and it saves the stores. At the
same time l gets the credit o bein' a
better skipper than most And he
laughed at the idea. "For about 8
or 4 shillin's you can get barrel OF
red herrin's, but you save quite &3 or
"a on the victuals for the wy 'ge."
Il don't mind buyin' EN- twenty
barrels of herrin if the beggars would
only be grateful-only be satisfied for
once in their dirty lives.
"Ah," said the other, you'll never
get that. Gratefulness is thing
quite unbeknown to EN-. "
"Well, I'll try the herrin' dodge
and see how it answers. Where can
l get emp"
Look here. I'll be orderin mine
tomorrow, so I'll order yours at the
same time, and we can settle up when
we meets in Sun erland. The night
tide, I suppose?"
Eyes. If the wind holds, we hope
to get away then. Come. one more
glass. and then I'm of.
Half an hour later the two men
rolled out of the inn and took their
way along the quay to their resPec
tive ships. a number of vessels,
much alike, lay in tiers, but special
Providence seemed to guide these two
men to their several charges. Save
for an occasional sprawl over warp
here or a post there they managed to
make their way without mishap.
Captain Forster's ship was lying
outside that commanded by Robin
son, but the latter stood by until he
heard Alright" which announced
that his friend was safely aboard his
own vessel. Then he went below.
For few minutes he sat on locker
in the evil, close-smelling cabin, that
reeked of tobacco and rum, looking
vacantly into the FIRE, wondering
whether he could drink another glass
of spirits and still be able to get into
his bunk without calling the mate.
With sigh he came to the conclusion
that to take more would mean the
loss of steerage way; so with many
grunts he managed to get of his elias
tic side boots and then with satls-