Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-06-26

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length of Treasure Island, two 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
him. But that was by no means the
worst of It; for after day or two at
sea he began to appear on deck with
hazy eye, red cheeks, suffering tongue,
and other marks Of drunkenness. Time
after time he was ordered below In dis
grace. Sometimes he fell and cut him
self; sometimes he lay all day long
in his little bunk at one side of the
companions; sometimes for q day or
two he would be almost sober and at
tend 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 donothing to solve
it; and when we asked him to hts face,
he would only laugh, IL he were drunk.
and if he were SOBER deny solemnly
that he ever tasted anything but
water.
He was not only useless as an officer,
and bad influence amongst the men,
but it was plain that at this rate he
must soon kill himself outright; so
nobody was much surprised, nor very
sorry, when one dark night, with
head sea, he disappeared entirely and
was seen no more.
"Overboard!" said the captain. well,
gentlemen, that saves the trouble of
putting him in irons"
But there we were, without q mate,
and il was necessary, of course, 10 ad
vance one of the men. The boa tswain,
Job Anderson. was the likelfest 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 watch himself in
easy weather. And the cockswain, Is
rael Hands, was a careful, willy. old, ex-
perienced seaman. who could be trusted
at pinch with almost anything.
He was a great contidant of Long
John Silver, and so the mention of his
name leads me on to speak Of our ships
cook, Barbecue, as the men called him.
Aboard ship he carried his crutch by
lanyard round his neck, to have both
han as free as possible. 1t was some
thing to see him wedge the foot of the
crutch against a bulkhead, and, propped
against it, yielding to every movement
of the ship, get on with his cooking like
some one safe ashore. Still more
strange was it to see him in the heaviest
of weather cross the deck. lie had
line or two rugged up to help him across
the widest spaces-Long Johns ear
rings, they were called; and he would
hand himself from one place to another,
now using the crutch, now trailing it.
alongside by the lanyard, as quickly as
another man could walk. Yet some of
the men who had sailedwith him before
expressed their pity to see him SO re-
duced.
Hes no common man, Barbecue"
said the cockswain to me. "He had
good schooling in his young days, and
can speak like book when so minded;
and brave--lion's nothing alongside Of
Long John! see him grapple four and
knock their heads together-him un-
armed"
All of the crew respected and even
obeyed him. He had a way of talking
to each and doing everybody some par
ticular service. To me he was I'M
weariedly kind, and always glad to see
me in the galley, which he kept as clean
as new pin; the dishes hanging up
FURNISHED and his parrot in a cage in
the corner.
Come away, Hawkins" he would
say; "come and have yarn with John.
son. Sit you down and hear the news.
Here's Cap'n Flint calls my parrot
Cap'n Flint, after the famous buc-
caneer-here's Capn Flint predicting
success to our wage. Wasn't you,
cap'n?"
And the parrot would say, with great
rapidity: "Pieces of eight! pieces of
eight pieces of eight" till you Won
dered that it was not out of breath, or
till John threw his handkerchief over
the cage.
snow, that bird" he would say, SIS,
maybe, 200 years old, Hawkins
they live forever mostly; and if any
body's seen more wickedness, it must
be the devil himself She's sailed with
England-the great Capt. England,
the pirate. She's been at Madagascar,
and at Mala bar and Surinam, and
Providence, and Portobello. She was
at the fishing up of the wrecked plate
ships. It's there she learned Pieces OF
eight and little wonder; 100000 OF
EN-, Hawkins! She was at the board
ing of the 'Viceroy of the Indies out
of Goa. she was; and to look at hei
you would think she was babby. Blu,
you smelled powder didn't you
cap'n?"
stand by to go about" the parrot
would scream.
"Ah, she's handsome craft, she is, "
the cook would say, and give her sugar
from his pocket, and then the bird
would peck at the bars and swear
straight on, passing belief for wicked
ness. There" John would add, you
can't touch pitch and not be mucked
lad. Here's this poor old innocent
bird of mine swearing blue fire, and
none the wiser, you may lay to that
She would swear the same, in manner
of speaking, before the chaplain" And
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