The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-04
A PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD
BY !. 0. PLUMMER.
fcopyright, 1905, by Daily Story Pub
 fishing Company.)

| (Copyright, 1905, by Daily story Pup' | fishing Company)
 Our bark had crept up the bay petors | A half hearted wind that died away a' | twilight and we dropped anchor off ar | inlet There was a small village at It's mouth and when the darkness grew lights gleamed from the houses Ihe bark of dog came over the water. wondrous homelike sound to men Wno, for three months. had heard nothinB hut inc voices of the sea; It's wind talk when the gale hattened the waves and roared in It's rage: the shriek of the snendthrift as 1t flew over the oecks | and the eternal monotonous moan or the wind in the rigging when these two voices were silent.
 'I'ye A bloomin' fine bull terrior at l 'ome." said a grim visaged sailor, look- ing towards the village. The dog bark had carried his thoughts back to hIs home on the Humber where, the hull terrier and some other things that were dear to him, lived" The night thickened with mist and the lights looked bleared. The water lapped the ships side mournfuliy.
 Ship, ahoyr' came out of the dark
 "Ay. ay," called the mate from the poop, peering over the rail.
 'is there a doctor, or anybody who knows somethin' about doctorin' aboard?" asked the voice:
 "only the skipper" replied the mate. and" looking around to be sure that officer was not on deck, "Gawd heip anyone he doctors"
 There was @ choke in the voice as 1t answered.
 bullet aud she's suffecatin' to death. our doctor s gone to the city and there's ne'er one in fo'ty mile."
 d,t.n through inc sky light and Captain Moody came on
 "H'm afraid HI can't do much for vou. me lad" said he, "IIi'm no doctor, but you're welcome to what's in the medicine ehist." When anything went wrong the skipper could blaspheme In q way that would make your hair stand, but he hadS blooming good heart.
 "Ay, ay," replied the skipper, "Scrag- gy's doctor, let i'm go."
 Two of our crew had deserted at Buenos Ayres and we had shipped two of the best men obtainable in the emergency in their place. One of them was a fair enough sailor, but the other. scraggy, was the worst specimen of a good for-nothing beach comber an of ffcer ever ordered to swab decks. He was so drunk when he was pitched aboard that he dld not soDef up untii we were out of the La Plate and then we had a mind to wish he had died in his drunken fit. He obeyed an order in q shuhfling way that would have made a saint, with halo like cart wheel around his head. swear like a Grlvesend boatman. He was imperti- nent, too, and the mate had knocked him down two or three times, but it did no good. For all that, this dirty, worthless man before the mast had been, somewhere back in his misspent life, a doctor. It came out this way. One of the best men in the crew lost his footing and fell from the rail tab- ping a knife he held in his hand into his arm. The blood spouted up and to save ourselves we couldn't stop 1t shouting. The poor fellow was getting as limp as a t'gallant sail when the ! wind drops and there was nothing for | us but to watch him bleed to death. i Scragey came up out of the -fo'castle