Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-03-08
CHAPTER X.
THE VOYAGE.

CHAPTER X.
THE VOYAGE.
All thai night we were in a great
hustle getting things slowed in their
place, and boatfuls of the Squire's
friends, Mr.. Blandly and the like, com
ing off to wish him a good voyage and
a safe return. We never had a night
at the Admiral Benbow when l had
half the work; and / was dog-tired
when, a little before dawn, the boat
swain sounded his pipe, and the crew
began to man the capstan bars. l might
have been twice as weary, yet | would
not have left the deck; all was so new
and interesting to me-the brief COM
mands, the shrill notes OF the whistle,
the men busting TO their places In the
glimmer of the ships lanterns.
Now, Barbecue, tip us a staVe,
cried n voice.
LAY. ay mates" said Long John,
who was standing by, with his crutch
lnder his arm, and at once broke out
In the air and words j knew so wen:.
'The old one" cried another.
Fifteen men on the dead mans chest
And then the whole crew bore chor
us.
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
And at the third no" drove the bars
before them with a Will.
Even at hat exciting moment 1t car
ried me back to the old Admiral Ben
bow in a second; and / seemed TO hear
the voice OF the captain piping In he
chorus. But soon the anchor was snort
up; soon II was hanging dripping at
the bows: soon the sails began to draw,
and the land and shipping to fit by on
either side; and before / could lie down
TO snatch an hour of slumber the His
PAMELA" had begun her voyage to the
Isle Of Treasure.
/ am not going to relate the Voy-
age in detail. 1t was fairly prosperous.
The ship proved to be n good ship, the
crew were capable seamen, and the
captain thoroughly understood his
business. But before we came the
length of Treasure Island, w or three
things had happened which require TO
be known.
Mr.. Arrow, first Of all, turned out
even worse than the captain had feared.
He had no command among the men,
and people did what they pleased with
linn. But that was by no means the
worst OF it: for after a day or two at
sea he began to appear on deck with
hazy eye, red cheeks, suffering
tongue, and other marks of drunken
ness. Time after time he was ordered
below in disgrace. Sometimes he fell
and cut himself; sometimes he lay all
day long In his little bunk at one side
OF the companion; sometimes for n day
or two he would be almost sober and
attend to his work at least passably.
In the meantime, we could never
make out where he got the drink. That
was the ships mystery. Watch him as
we pleased, we could do nothing to solve
II; and when we asked him to his face,
he would only laugh, If he were drunk,
and if he were sober, deny solemnly
that he never tasted anything but
water.
He was not only useless as an officer,
and a bad influence amongst the men,
but il was plain hat at this rate he
must soon kill himself outright; SO
nobody was much surprised, nor very
sorry when one dark night, with a
head sea, he disappeared entirely and
vas seen no more.
Overheard" said the captain. well.
gentlemen, that saves the trouble of
putting him In irons"
But there we Were, without n mate,
and IT was necessary, of course, to adj
vance one OF the men. The boatswain,
Job Anderson, was the likeliest man
aboard, and, though he kept his old
title, he served in a way as mate. Mr.,
Trelawney had followed the sea, and
his knowledge made him very useful,
for he often took a watch himself In
easy weather. And the c~ockswain, Is
rael Hands, was a careful, willy, old, eX-
perienced seaman, who could be trusted
at II pinch with almost anything.
He was q great confidant of Long
John Silver, and so the mention OF his
name leads me to speak OF u ships
cook, Barbecue, as the men called him
- -1.. L.. ., .-gal Lla .A,.t,l, l.,
a lanyard round his neck, to have both
hands as free as possible. 1t was some
thing to see him wedge the foot OF the
crutch against a bulkhead, and, propped
against 1t, yielding to every movement
of the ship, get on with his cooking like
some one safe ashore. Still more
strange was 1t to see him In the heavi.
est of weather cross the deck. He had q
line or two rugged up to help him
across the widest spaces-Long Johns
earrings, they were called; and he
would hand himself from one place tC
another, now using the crutch, now
trailing 1t alongside by the lanyard, as
quickly as another nan could walk. Yet
some Of the men who had sailed with
him before expressed their pity to see
him so reduced.
He's no common man, Barbecue
said the cockswain to me. "He had
good schooling In his young days, and
can speak like a book when so minded
and braVe-lion'S nothing alongside o
Long John! ! see him grapple four and
knock their heads together-him un'
armed
All Of the crew respected and ever
obeyed him. He had a way Of talking
to each and doing everybody some par
ticular service. TO me he was un
| YEARLY kind. and always glad to SEE
me in the galley, which he kept as clear
las a new pin: the dishes hanging VI
FURNISHED and his parrot In a cage il
the corner.
Come away, Hawkins" he woult
say: come and have a yarn with John
! Nobody more welcome han yourself
my son. Sit you down and hear tn,
news. Here's Cap'n Flint calls mn
parrot Cap'n Flint, after the famous
buccaneer-here's Cap'n Flint-predict
ing success to our wage. Wasn't you
cap'n?"
And the parrot would say, with grea
rapidity: pieces of eight! pieces o
eight! pieces of eight till you won
dered that It was not out of breath, o.
till John threw his handkerchief owe
the cage.
Now, that bird" he would say, lis
MA bt, @UU Ntdlo Olu, lldW III
they live forever mostly; and If any
body's seen more ~wickedness. 1t mus
be the devil himself. She's sailed will
England-the great Captain England
the pirate. She's been at Madagascar
and at Malabar and Surinam, anC
Providence. and Portobello. She wa
at the fishing up of the wrecked plat
ships. It's there she learned Pieces o
eight and little wonder; $780, 900 o
'em, Hawkins! She was at the board
ing of the 'Viceroy of the Indies GU
of Goa. she was; and to look at he
you would think she was a babby. Blu
you smelled powder didn't you
cap'n?"
STAND by to go about" the parro
would scream.
"Ah, she's a handsome craft, h is,
the cook would say. and give her suga
from his pocket, and then the hirt
would neck at the bars and SWea