The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-03-07

strange was it to see him in the heavi-
est Of weather cross the deck. Tie had a,
line or two rugged up to help him
across the widest spaces-Long ohn's
earrings, they We're 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 sailed with
him before expressed their pity to see
him so reduced.
Hes 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 Of
Long John! I 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 UNI
YEARLY kind, and always glad to seq
me in the galley, which he kept as clean
as a new pin: the dishes hanging up
FURNISHED and HIS parrot in a cage in
the corner.
Come away, Hawkins" he would
say; come and hav a yarn with john
Nobody more welcome than yourself,
my son. Sit you down and hear the
news. here 5 zap IL fllll-l CaiiS my
parrot Cap'n Flint, after the famous
buccaneer-here's Cap'n Flint-predict-'
ing success to u wage. Wasn't you,,
cap'n?"
And the parrot would say, with great!
rapidity: pieces of eight! pieces or
eight! pieces of eight till you won-t
dered that It was not out of breath, or
till John threw his handkerchief over
the age
Nov, that Bird he would say, u.s.,
maybe, 200 years old. Hawkins
they live forever mostly; and If any,
body's seen more wickedness, 1t must
be the devil himself. She's sailed with
~England-the great Captain England,
the pirate. She's been at Madagascar.
and at Malabar and SurinaIn, and1
Providence, and Portobello. She was
at the fishing up of the wrecked plate
ships. It's there she learned Pieces Of
sight and little wonder; $4,000 of
'em, Hawkins. She was at the board-
ing of the 'Viceroy of the Indies out
of Goa. she was; and to look at her
you would think she was a babby. But
you Smelled powder = didn't your
cap'n?"
.Stand by to go about" the parrot
would scream
"Ah. she's a handsome craft, she is,H
the cook YOU say. and give her Sugar
from his pocket. and then the birdl
would peck at the bars and sweart
straight on, passing belief for wicked
ness. There" John would add, you
. can touch pitch and not be mucked.i
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 a manner
of speaking. before the chaplain And
: John would touch his forelock with a.
: solemn way he had. that made me think
he was the best of men.
Tn the meantime. the squire and Cap
, tain Smollett were still on pretty dist
ant terms with one another. The squire
made no bones about the matter; he
despised the captain. The captain, on
his part. never spoke but when he was
spoken to, and then sharp and shorC
: and dry, and not word wasted. He
owned, when driven into a corner, that
he seemed to have been wrong about
the crew, that some of them were as
brisk as he wanted to see, and all had
behaved fairly we'll. AS for the ship, he
mad taken d downright fancy to her.
"She'll lie a point nearer the wind than
a man has a right to expect of his own
married wife, sir. But" he would add.
'all l say is, we're not home again, and
: 1 don't like the cruise"
+ The squire, at this, would turn away
and march up and down the deck, chin
I in air.
"a trine more Of that man." he
', would say, and l should explode"
II We had some heavy weather which
n only proved the qualities Of the
"~Bispaniola." Every man on board
le seemed well content, and they
must have been hard to please
If they had been otherwise; for
$. it is my belief there was never a ships
lie company so spoiled since Noah put tC
le sea. Double grog was going on the
Is least excuse: there was duff on ode
he days, as for instance. If the squire
9a | hon ~ 4 + VIZ, +, e. , no hirfh1a W. q mr.
to always a barrel Of apples standing
preached in the waist, for anyone tt
1T help himself that had a fancy"
d. Never knew good to come of it yet
n, the captain said to DR.. Livesey. "Spoi
tn fok's'le hands, max. devils. That's my
ne belief"
at But good did come of the apple bar
tn rel. as you shall hear; for If it had no
lg been for that, we should have had M
n note of warning and might all hav'
ed persisted by the hand of treachery.
ell This is how 1t came about
We had run up the trades to get tn,
de WING Of the island we were after-I an
ay not allowed to be more plain-and nov
nd we were running down for 1t with
bright lookout day and night. 1t wa
er about the last day Of our outward voy
at age, by the largest computation; som
as time that night, or, at latest, befor
We noon of the morrow, We should sigh
&c, the Treasure island. We were headin
TX, S. S. w, and had a steady breez
lily abeam and a quiet sea. The "Hispan
ut lola" rolled steadily, dipping her bow
spirit now and then with a Whit c
er, spray. All was drawing allow and aloft
IN, every one was in the braves spirit.
he because We were now so near an en-
so of the first part Of our adventure.
Now, just after SHUTDOWN, when a
a my work was over, and 1 was on m
way to my berth, it occurred to m
that I should like an apple. l ran 0