The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1906-09-20
Captain Billings SLeepwalker
BY MORGAN ROBERTSON
Author of "Sinfui Peck" "Doun to the Sea" etc.

Jock, stupid, short Of memory, very
cheerful, but with lesser girth. freer
joints and several pounds of fat
turned into solid muscle.
His dumb, patient suffering under
the mates persecution on that long
drift down the lakes need not be en-.
larged upon.
Through It all he was the target
for a running fire of comment and
abuse, the burden Of which was Mr..
Macpherson's disapproval Of his mis-.
taken estimate of Seotchmen. He was
past caring for consequences now
5nIy Infant upon furnishing the man
who had "~slugged" him for being
Scotch,
But there was a dark Nemesis
camped on his trail. Unknown to him,
the cook. who slept in the forecastle,
had questioned the ox-like animal that
tumbled down the ladder for a few
hours rest in the night, and the re-
suit was that he ceased all his sur
prised comment from the galley door,
and waited.
Whatever truth there may have
been in the mates surmise that remi-
n%iscence was what threw Capt. Bill
ings into his past, certain /. is that he
was wrong in his selection of the an
tidote. Hard work did not waken him,
though it did him a world Of physical
good. While still Jock Billings the
little schooner came into port during
the night, and as Jock Billings he
went to sleep, as usual, in the fore
castle, and as Capt. Billings he wax.
ened in the morning before either the
cook or the mate, and came up to
find his schooner moored to the old
familiar dock, her deck bleached
whittier than before, her rigging taut
and tarred, and things generally more
shipshape than he had ever seen them.
Rousing the cook, he went aft, with
many an admiring look around and
aloft, and wakened his treasure of a
mate. And when Mr., Macpherson APP
peared, he greeted him with enthusi.
asm and brotherly love.
You've done WELL Mr.. Macpher-
son. he said, beamingly. I'm proud
of you-that / am. You and I'll get
along. But, by George, I'm in a bad
way myself-in fact, | need just such
a man as you. Walked up in the fore
castle. Been asleep all the way,
haven't II"
Aye" answered the mate, cautious.
ly. An it's to the forecastle We go
when ye want to lie doom an rest"
Funny. ! must see the doctor and
have it tended to. I'm getting
worse" He looked aloft. "Scraped
and tarred down, and everything set
up. And you did it all alone. Well.
we'll have some paint aboard next
trip"
AYE, paint her If ye like, sir, blu;
I'll take my money here, sir, an go.
There's too much work maxim a yacht
cot O. this hooker. have to do it
ALL"
Oats a lie, cappen,' said a dis
gusted voice behind them. He neber
done a single ting but boss de job.
He made you scrape de masts, an
grease dem down, an den you work
like a r~oustabout wild tackles an
ropes, an den you go up an tar down
an you didn't know anything bout
1t, sah."
Hold your evil tongue" roared the
mate. Its a liar we are. Let's have
my money, capt'n. I'm through"
Look at yo' hands, cappen," per.
sisted the cook, indignantly. "Jes'
look at de tar on yo' hands"
The captain looked, and his face
darkened.
rs this SO, Mr.. Macpherson" he
said, that while in my other self
a sailor again-you have worked me
as such aboard my own schooner"
Pay me oil an I'll answer ye,'
said the mate, d~oggedly.
Red in the face, Capt. Billings dart
ed toward him; but Mr.. Macpherson
eluded his grasp, and being the bet
ter runner, gained the dock.
Give me my money" he said
that's all | ask"
You're not on the articles" SAID
the angry captain. you'll get moth
ing for this trick. You have no lega
claim"
II am on the articles" insisted Mr.
Macpherson, ''at a dollar a day. Four
teen dollars we W me, Capt. Billings
Ye can toss it to me, an we can direct
your Senegambian friend to toss m,
bag O. clothes on the dock. In
through wi you"
Capt. Billings went below and in
spected the articles. Then he re
moved his coat, rolled up his sleeves
and Void the cook to throw the mates
bag on the dock.
"Mr. Macpherson" he said, calmly
when he reached the deck, IL find yol
are right, and within the law. Yol
shipped a nan named Jock Billings
and made him work. You're a smar
man. besides being a whole canaan
I'll pay you off at three dollars a day
and sign you on for the season. Blu
you must come aboard and get it,"
Mr.. Macpherson looked at the hug,
muscles he had developed on the can
tain's arms, and picked UP his bal
and slowly moved away.
Copyright, 1906. by Joseph b. Bowles)
Eye Strain a Seat Of Ills.
When the specialist to whom the,
had taken their 16-year-old dauehte or