Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-03-03
CHAPTER X-Continued.

Seymour vented his JOY and con.
sealed his triumph in song. The
temptation to celebrate in drink was
strong, but his repentance was sin
cere and his determination to reform
was earnest. So he sang. AS a vo-
calist, Mr.. Seymour was handicapped
by the circumstance that he knew
neither the words nor the tune to
any song. What he lacked in tech
nique was recompensed in energy.
His first effort, as expressed in
words, was about as follows:
"Yo no, my lads. the wind blows free;
"A pleasant gale is on the se-a-a,
And here We rumte de tie tum.
Ra lie dada. tie DUN, dunn, DUN,
And ere we part from England's shore
tonight,
a song We'll sing to home da rumty digit
Then here's TO the sailor,
Here's to his heart so true (sing there,
BenderD
au-u-u-ue.
tAfl together.)
%s'iitnr, smiling, over the mountain main:
And tNaiy Il stormy wind shall blow ere
Jack comes home again.
Sailing. sailing, der rumty, dun de dain,
And many a stormy wind shall
~ blo-o-o-o-ow
The negro cook stood in the com
p~anion-way and joined in the chorus
with a deep baritone, which did
much to neutraliZe the rather harsh
tenor of the eager Seymour, and the
uncertain bass of Mr.. Dick Bender.
Capt. Parker did not sing, but was
liberal in his applause.
"Naouw that ] think on it," he said,
ss.yer friend Mister Hestor was er
mighty fine singer. He ulster sing er
song erbout an ole geezer that had
er wooden leg and was always hard
up for terbaccer. / don't rightly re-
member the words, but they was
thrillin,' and Mister Hestor ulster sing
EN- and dance at Their same time. He
was singer EN- one time in N'Orleans,
an he fell out through ther passage
way in went kerplunk inter the Mis-
sissip'. Haw, haw, haw, ha! / thought
] would die a%-laughin.' He didn't
care a cash ding. He swum round er
while and then we pulled him out.
Mighty lively Teller; that Hestor.
He just didn't care nothin' at all err
bout money. When we was a loadin'
the lumber for that air house of
his'n, he would STAN araound erbaout
Their schooner and raise Cain with
Their dock WALLPAPERS, and he gin each
n on 'em ten dollars apiece ter
drink his good health. They didn't
show up ergain fer er week. lister
hire all Their niggers ter sing an
dance fer him, an thar war so many
of them c~avoorting along the levee,
that it looked like a niger minstrel
convention. Mister Hestor would sit
on the bridge of the Shark and
niger over to a place with a $40
bill to get broke, SO he could hev
more coins ter throw, an the blamed
darkey never did come back. Mister
Hestor thought that a big joke.
Mighty easy man ter get along with,
that Mister Hestor. But he was pc
culiar-mighty peculiar"
The drowsy Bender was aroused,
and bidding Capt. Parker good night
they retired. In spite of the fact
that they had slept all day, it was
six o'clock the following morning be-
fore they tumbled out of their hunks
and appeared on deck. The sky was
overcast and the wind had whipped
into the southeast and was blowing
half a gale. Capt. Parker was roaring
orders to the sailors, who were
clawing at the canvas and half reef
ing the sails. The big topsails had
vanished. The foam-capped waves
dashed spitefully against the port
side Of the schooner. and scattered
spray across the piles of lumber.
There was theYfeel of rain in the air.
TO the north, the smoke of a liner
was just d~iscernible through the
thickening mist.
NASTY weather." said Mr.. Seymour
rs the captain approached.