Milford chronicle., 1905-02-24

Nv NAUuL AOOhE0 WIS etAAA go - s---s+
nswcomer was Of the size and much
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
single mast, which listed forward; her
lugsail was stretched upon dozens OF
bamboo yards; she drew hardly any
water. Two enormous red eyes were
PAINTED upon either side Of her high
I blunt bow, while just abaft the waist
projected an enormous oar, or sweep
full forty feet in length-longer, in
fact. than the vessel herself. 1t acted
partly as a propeller, partly as a rud-
der.
eThey're heading for u.s." comment
ed Wilbur as Moran took the glass
again.
fright" she answered, adding upon
the moment: "Hohl More Cinnamon.
! The thing is alive with coolies. She's a
Junk"
"oh?' exclaimed Wilbur, recoIecung
some talk of Charles he had over
heard. Il know"
''You know"
s'Yes. These are real beachcombers.
rye heard Of them along this coast
heard our Cinnamon speak of them.
They beach that junk every night and
camp on shore. They're scavengers, as
you might say-pick up what they can
find or plunder along shOre-abalones,
shark fins, pickings of wrecks, old
brass and copper, seals, perhaps; tur-
tie and shell. Between whiles they
fsh for shrimp, and I've heard Kitcheh
tell how they make pearls by dropping
bird shot into oysters. They are Kai-
eingh 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 a few moments she had
hove to alongside But for the enor-
nous red eyes upon her bow she was
Innocent of paint. She was grimed and
sbelIacked with dirt and grease and
smelled abominable. Her crew were
Chinamen, but such Cinnamon! The
coolies of. the Bertha Millner were
pampered Aand effete in comparison.
The beachcOmbers, thirteen in number,
we're a smaller class of men, their
faces almost black with tan and dirt.
Though they still wore the cue, their
heads were not shaven, and mats and
mons of stiff black hair fell over their
ewes from under their broad, basket
shaped hats.
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
portion-.SavNs lips and teeth-salient;
the nostrilg opening at almost right
angles, the eyes tiny and bright, the
forehead scanned and wrinkled, un-
naturally old Their general express
sion was one of simian cunning and a
ferocity that was utterly devoid OF
courage.
aver exclaimed Moran between her
teeth. 'If the devil were a shepherd,
here are his sheep. You don't come
aboard this schooner. my friendsl
want to live as long as l can alid ule
when can't help it. Boat ahoy!' she
called.
An answer in Cantonese singsong
came back from the junk, and the
speaker gestured toward the outside
b ocean.
Then long parleying began. For
inward Of half an hour Moran and
Wilbur listened to a proposition in
broken pigeon English made by the
: beachcombers again and again and yet
again and were in no way enlightened.
tt was impossible % understand. Then
al last they made out that there was
question of a whale. Next it appeared
the whale was dead, and, finally, after
prolonged pantomime of gesturing
and pointing, Moran guessed that the
beacheombers wanted the use Of the
Bertha Millner to trice up the dead
leviathan while the oil and whalebone
were extracted.
"That must be it," she said to Will
bur. That's what they mean by point
ing to our masts and tackle. You see,
they couldn't manage with that stick
OF theirs, and they say they'll give us
third of the loot. Wen do it, mate,
and I'll tell you why. The wind has
fallen, and they can tow us out. If it's
sperm whale they've found there
ought to be thirty or forty barrels of
oil in him, let alone the blubber and
bone. Oil is at $50 now, and sper-
maceti will always bring S10O. Wen
take it on, mate, but Wen keep our
eyes on the rats all the time. l don't
want them aboard at ALL Look at
their belts. Not three out Of the dozen
who aren't carrying those filthy little
hatchets. FaughF' she exclaimed, with
shudder OF disgust. "Such vipers"
What followed proved that Moran
. had guessed correctly. A rope was
passed to the Bertha Millner, the junk
put out its sweep, and to wailing'