Evening journal., 1904-05-28


the same shape as a caravel Of the
fifteenth century-high as TO bow and
stern. and TO all appearances as sea-
worthy as a soup tureen. Never but
in the old prints had wilbur seen such |
an extraordinary boat She carried n |
single mast. which listed forward: her
lugsan was stretched upon dozens of |
bamboo yards; she drew hardly any
water. Two enormous red eyes were
painted upon either side OF her high. !
blunt bow while just abaft the waist
projected an enormous oar, or sweep, |
fun forty feet IN length-longer. i'm !
fact, than the vessel herself. 1t acted
partly as propeller. partly as a rud-
der
"They're heading for u.s." comment
ed Wilbur as Moran took the glass
again
Fright" she answered. adding upon
thc moment. "Hoh. More Cinnamon
Tho thing is alive with coolies she's a
junk"
"Ohr exclaimed Wilbur. recollccting
some talk Of Charles he had over
heard. Il know"
"Nou know"
"Ncs. These are real beachcombers.
I've heard Of them along this coast
heard our Cinnamon speak Of them.
They beach thnt junk every night and
camp on shore They're scavengcrs, as
you might say-pick mp what they can
lind or plumber along shore -abalones,
shark fins piczines of wrecks, old
brass and copper seals perhaps; tur-
tle aud she'll Between whiles they
fish for shrimp. and I've heard Kltchcn
tell how they make pearls by dropping
bird shot into oysters. They are Kai-
gingh TO a man, and, according TO
-Kitchell. the wickedest breed of cats
that ever cut teeth"
The junk bore slowly down upon the
schooner, In few moments she had
hove to alongside But for the enor-
nous red eyes upon her how she was
innocent of paint. She was grimed ~ a
shellacked with dirt and grease and
smelled abominable. Her crew were
Cinnamon, bat such ChinaPeni The
coolies of the Bertha fnllner were
pampercd and effete IN comparison.
The beaehcomhors. 'hirteen IN number,
We're n smaller class OF men. their
faces almost eack with tan and dirt
Though thcySstill wore the cue. theli
heads were not shaven. and mats and
mons Of stihi black hair fell over their
ewes ffCm under their broad, basket
-s.-Yre,i' HITS
They were barefoot. None OF them
wore more than two garments. the
jeans and the blouse. They were the
lowest type Of men Wilbur had ever
seen. The faces were those Of higher
order of anthropoid apes; the lower
porton-iaws, lips and teeth -salienti
the nostrils opening nc almost right
angles, the eyes tiny and bright. the
forehead scanned and wrinsled. un.
naturally Old Their general expires.
sion was one Of simian cunning and q
fcrocity that was utterly devoid OF
courage
aver exclaimed Moran between her
teeth. III the devil We're shepherd
here are his sheep. You don't come
aboard this schooner. my friends.
want TO live as long as I can and die
when ] can't help it. Boat ahoy" she
called
An answer in Cantonese singsone
came bacl, from the junk. and the
speaker gestured toward the outside
ocean,
Then a long parleying began. Fol
upward Of half an hour Moran ant
Wilbur listened to a proposition II
broken pigeon English made by tbs
beachcombers again and again and ye
again and were in no way enlightened
1t was impossible to understand. Their
at last they made out that there wal
question Of a whale NeSt it appeared
the whale was dead, and, finally. aftel
a prolonged pantomime OF gesturins
and pointing, Moran guessed that the
beachccmbers wanted the use Of thr
Bertha Millner TO trice up the dea,
leyiathan while the oil and whalabon'
We're extracted.
''That must he IT," she said to VII
bur. "rhars what they mean by poiat
ing TO our masts and tackle. You sec
they couldn't manage with that stiol
CT theirs. and they say they'll give u
a third Of the loot. Wen DO IL. mate
and III tell you why. The wind ha
fallen. and they can tow us out. II 81
sperm whale they've found tier
ought 10 be thirty or forty barrels o
oil in him, let alone the blubber anl
bone. Oh Is at $50 now. and sper
maceu will always bring 500. Wei
take it on, mate, but Wen keep on
eyes on the rats all the time. / don
want them aboard at all. Look q
their belts. Not three out Of the dozcr
who aren't carrying those filthy lltu
hatchets. Faughw she exclaimed. Wit
shudder Of disgust. "Such vlpcrs.r
What followed proved that Nora
had guessed correctly. A rope wa
Inc ttc0 stood there facing each other
passed to the Bertha AInlner. the jun
put out its sweep, and to wailin,
edritch chanting the schooner wa
towed out OF the bay.
Il wonder what Charlie and on
China boys viii think Of this:' sal
Wilbur, looking shorcward. whore III
dcscrtcrs co1la be seem gathered &
gether in a silent. observing group
We're well shut Of them.0 growlC
aioran, her thumbs in her belt "On
now wen never know what was q
matter with the schooner these IN
few nights. "lIoh" she exclaimed "a
der her breath. her scoNl thickcnin
ssSofnrtirses dcu'f v.ondor tho hcaS