The news & observer., 1904-09-11
Mats Monkey
By FRANK T. BULLEN.
Copyright by Mcclure, Phillips & Co.,

y, y.
the British ship Belle. solemnly an
nounced his intention Of investing il
q monkey the next time old Daddy
the bumboat mar, came alongside
there was a breathleSS hush, some
thing like CONSERVATION, among nj:
shipmates. 1t was in Bombay ane
eventide, and all we of the foremas
hands were quietly engaged upon oul
supper (tea is the name for the cor
responding meal ashore), with grea
content resting upon us, for bananas
rooties, duck eggs and similar bum
boat-bought luxuries abounded among
us. So that the chunk of indurateo
buffalo that had resisted all assaults
upon it at dinner-time lay unmoiestec
at the bottom of the beef-kid, no one
feeling sufficiently interested to be-
stow q swear on 1t.
For some time after Mats pro-
nouncement nobody spoke. The coo
breeze whispered under the 10 c sic
awning the Bramley kites wheeled
around whistling hungrily and casting
their envious watchful eyes upon oul
plates, and somewhere in the distance
Il dinghy-wallah intoned an lnternlLn-
able legend to his fellow sufferers tha'
sounded like the high-pitched dront
OF bees ON a sultry afternoon amohs
the flowers. Then up and spake Johi
de Baptiss:
"Waffor, Nat? Wah we ben dween
t'yo? Fob de Lawd sakes. sab, eff yeW
gwain bring Macaque 'bord dis sheel
you'se stockin' trubble 'nougn ter III
er mighty long hole"
"'Sides," argued Cockney Jein
"'tain't S if we amt got monkey
Few wornt any monkey tricks playeo
or us wot price tn kid ere ana ne
pointed to me.
"Naow jess yew hole on hair I
mint" drawled Nat, "'relse yeW Il
lose your place. Djer ever know m,
ter make trubble sense / ben abore
thishyer limejuice dog-basket! Nav
I've a learnt manner, L heV, IL uoli
never go stickin' my gibbie in another
mans hash, / don't. But in kase t1ll
kermunity sh'd feel anyways hurt
my perpoSal, lemme 'splaln. post
| ain't singler in bein' ruther tired
these blame hogs forrad here. HOG.
is all right, ez hogs, but they don
make parler pet Wuth q cent. n wen f.
finds one biggern porpuss wallerln
round my bunk n rootin' 'mong Tn,
clean straw my beds stuffed with, ii.
kiender bore in erpon me that fresl
pork fer dinners wut l ben plnln lei
o long time. Naow, | know thet l KID
teach a monkey in about teW days
'nough ter make him scare the very
ch.dlins er them hogs inter sossldge
meat if they KUN investigatin Where
he's on dooty. N SO L calkerlate u
be a sorter bennyfactor ter my snip.
mates, though it seems slf yeW am
overnabove grateful. .
nv this time the faces of Mats audi
ence had lost the look of apprehen-
sion they had worn at first. Every
body had an account to settle WITH
those pigs, which sWarmed homseleSs-
Iy about the fore part of the deck ano
never missed an opportunity Oh eiIei
ing our domicile during our absence
doing such acts and deeds there as
pigs are wont to perform. AS tney
were a particular hobby OF the SKIP
per's we were loath to deal with then
after their iniquities, the more SO az
she was a particularly comtortapie
ship. And if Mats idea should turn
out to be q good one we would all pe
gamers
Consequently when Daddy appeared
in the morning Nat greeted him a,
once with the question, "Yew got
monkey?" Promptly came the
stereotyped answer: mo, Sahlp.
Eberything got. Monkey no got,
Mclean war make monkey berry dear.
However, as soon as Daddy was per
suaded that a monkey really was de-
sired he undertook to supply one,
and. sure enough, next morning ne
brought one with him, sinister-look-
ing beast about as large as a toz
terrier. He was secured by leathern
collar and a dog chain to the f1e-
rail of the foremast for the time, anu
one or two of the men amused them
selves by teasing him until he was
almost frantic. Presently L came
round where he was lurking, forget
ting for the time all about his pres
ence Seeing his opportunity n
sprang on to my shoulder ana DIT lle
so severely that l carry his MARKS
now. Smarting with the pain, L pick
ed up a small piece of coal and nuns
if at him with all the strength
could muster. Unfortunately for me
il hit him on the head and made i
bleed, for which crime / got wei
ropes ended by Nat And besides
that l made an enemy of that monkey
for the rest of him time on board
many months-an enemy VINO never
lost q chance of doing me AN i'll turn
He took to his master at once, ano
was also on nodding terms with one
or two of the other men, but with the
naiority he was at open war. Ma
kept him chained up near his punk
only taking him out for an airing a
intervals. and at once commenced u
train him to go for the pigs. But one
day Nat laid in a stock OF pigs ano
fruit, slowing them as usual on the
shelf in his bunk. We were very busy
all the morning on deck, SO that
believe hardly a chance was obtained
by any one of getting below Tor {
smoke. When dinner time came Ma
went straight to his bunk to greet hls
pet, but he was nowhere to be seen
The state of that bed, though, wa.
something to remember. Jocko nae
been amusing himself by trying u
make an omelette and the debris o
two dozen eggs was streWn ana pas
tered over the bunk, intermingled VIII
crushed bananas, torn up DOCKS
feathers out of Mats swell pillow, ano
several other things. While Nat wa
ransacking his memory for some Ian
guage appropriate to the occasion 2
yell arose from the other side of the
forecastle where Paddy Finn, Liver
pool Irishman of parts, had just dis,
covered his weeks whack of sugar
and the contents of a slushpot pervad-
ing all the contents of his chest. 9th
er voices soon joined in the chorus as
further atrocities were discovered, un-
til the fo'c's'le was like bedlam broken
loose.
pigs is it ye'd be afther complainin'
of, ye blatherin' ould omadhaun. The
divil a pig that iver lived I'D be aftheI
maxim sich helFs delight ov a mans
dunnage as this. Not blasted