The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-17

/ work rose In blisters, and the pitch bup-
bled In the deck seams.
4 1T was the second morning after the
| old Celestial had been headed UP In the
/ beef cask, that the doctor, coming along
the port alley way found Mc1lroy as us
ual standing wrapped IN contemplate 10
Of the pickled Chinan1ar. The scotsc Z; IN
had become quito fascinated by his hands,
| work until he could hardly keep away
i from 1t. & gl
1Ie patted It's fat stolid exterior, he
drtmrled on IT. lie caressed 1t with a low
ling hand. lie cooetl to 1t; and blew kisses
Ito the scandalsed old Celestial sitting
erect and stately within.
ButHthis morning he merely gazed az
| III with his hards thrust deep into his
gpoclsets, and tho least bit OF a wrinkle
| a sill gilt look Of concern In Mc1lroy's{ eyes.
land as he approached he became aware
lot a faint strange odor. @ (, SRI e 5i /;
Corpse beginning TO get a bit fruity,''
Tho said In his cold brutal way.
# Not a bit Of IT." cried the other We.
|hemently. "Tfe old gentleman's smelling
as sweet as you or I. It's only some
Igmuok lying around here from the gallery:
the bosun did not wash down here this
worning. Unjust speak to him about t..
strikes me those seams are starting
Ito bubble a bit
ooh, that's nothing, that's Just natural
this weatherit's hot enough to raise blis-
tiers on n block os Ice"
AS the day progressed, the strange
odor began TO be more and moro pro-
nounccd in the alley way, and the en-
tEgIneers who berthed there complained OF
|itS to the doctor who craftly laid tho
blame on their cargo of long tails
~ gu ought to know the smellSof China
hof Nv n said to
| tho chief engineer. 4f $5i .s
E"Deed this gang are 'muckle worse
than any I've srnclt afore. I" growlcd tho
chief. NJ
The following morning the four corpse
picklers stood round the beef cask with
something like dismay on their faces
| Seems to Whit quite a bltthl morn
M ha znrded the bosun. tt8 4
| ~ IN afraid there must have been some
thing wrong with your brine, Mac, = OBJ
served the doctor. ..the old 9un's certainly
beginning to make his presence felt. "'sy5,s
'.The top seems a. bulgin out. too, sir"
put in Chips. u
Gwen. there's only three days more.
i reckon he'll hang on TIL then. rather
than let him go now Id tow him astern,''
declaredtth mate. .ss III
| But by eight bells mattersShsd become
so bad. that the old man called up the
two leading conspirators.
That corpse OF yours is getting bit
too strong" began the captain with Q
twinkle fin$his eye. I'm afraid he'll have
Ito go overheard III {si$ "a
.,Very5 sorry, SIR replied the mate
II can't understand it, We made that
pickle strong enough to turn him into a.
pillar of salt like Lots wife..,,'
n II suppose you've picked beef before
now?'' enquired the skipper. slowly.
8 "Ccrtainly slr''8 u,
3',.. 20 you always head up the cnsk d.
rcctly you've picked It z" 81
Then 1t struck Mc1loy what he had
done. and lie almost collapsed on the
deck, whilst the old man broke out into
4roars$ OF laughter He had carefully had
the cask made air tight. and inside the
gas had gone on forming until twas a
wonder the barrel had not burst.
The two conspirators retired angry and
crest-fallen. as , St,3
"Whyf didn't you remind me not to head
1t up" roared the angry mate at the
bosun. You've picked beef often enough
to know. ss5fg $ y sss
faye. sir, d We picked beef before but
sSAt four bells in the middle watch that
,night.IIth the four conspra tors had their.
last meeting.
n It was a perfect night, calm and placid.
and far down on the horizon me coast
line near sai lyon could be seen clean cut
against the bright starred sky. 5}}3s
Sadly and In silence the meat cask was
|3lifted TO the rail- and dropped overheard.
and went bobbing &astern floating half out
OF the water.
Scattered about on the still water were
several becalmed coasting junks. These
craft are always on the look out for float
Ing ID erelict: and without doubt the pick
led Chinaman was picked up by one OF
them. The CONSERVATION OF the long
tails on discovering the contents Of thei,
ysalyed beef cask must have been well
worth seeing. $s
TO asa M cIlroy. nov Ca plain a1cIlroy,i
5if he is fond OF pickles is still liable to
cause one considerable bodily harm.
ext week !: Slave Trading and Treas
ure Hunting on tile High Seas by
Icommande p. Hamilton Currey, r. n. il
L