The independent., 1907-03-14

pulled at them like men who want to
stifie hunger.
was wondering why they had been
rejected. OF course I had an idea.
Bills mate, through hard and
harsh and somewhat inhuman life had
been made old before his time, been
made old at forty. He was thin and
paler and weak in the legs
AS for Bill himself, he said: 'T ne'er
bin the same, gunner, since the smash
on the -" and he mentioned a ships
name. eyer never heard o. the smash,
gunner? Yer see, there were six ov
us workin on the deck, when the main
jib ov crane CAV way, an drop
slap bang on six on us. Michael
O'Flaherty was knocked to the bottom
o the hold, sir. An they brought him
up dead-ah, Mike was dead as the
jib itself, he was, was Mike
And Bills mate nodded in assent.
and said: He was, Bill"
Eyes, Mike was dead repeated Bill.
He was dead, and ovid Bill Barley,
what keeps the 'Dockers' Spit'-well,
Mike was dead an he owed Billy two
an -four for nights spree. an his
pals paid it awf in memory O. Mike
what was dead-as dead as the lib
itself, guvner!'
He was, Bill" again said Bills
mate.
We'll, yer see, gunner, was car
ried to the big place there''-pointing
to the hospital-"an' l lay there for
eight weeks with all my inneras aWry
never been the same bloke since,
guvner-cant do a days work the
same; an these Notwithstanding the
steyedores and knows it;
they knows it, guvner"
And Bill re-lit his pipe and scratched
his chin with the uncharred end of the
match. He re-lt his pipe, drawing at
it as if he wanted to suppress the
hunger which was driving him not to
tears, but to profanity and desperate
thoughts
An "AII-in" Fight.
He struck another of my matches.
and as the light glowed in his hard,
Wrlnkled, thick-skinned face, those who
had been selected for the job filed past
US, towards the incoming ship, filed
past us laughing, jesting and caring
not al nearly said a damn-WeI not
caring the snap of the finger for the
uncertain outlook of the rejected.
They knew that it was all in the
night. They knew that they might be
hurled at one side on the morrow. They
knew that it was no use being in the
dumps about what was inevitable.
And Bill said, Don't care that much
for miseif, guvner!" and he waved his
dirty knarled fingers in the air. Don't
care that much for miself, gunner! /
knows, an my mate knows, wheer we
can pinch meal. We mebbe cop't-
but waat odds! Don't chre for miself,
guvner-its the wife at 'ome, and the
kids at 'ome!"
And Bill paused. Afterwards he ex-
claimed, my Cord, gunner, what'H
they do when / goes 'ome an tells 'em
as I've had no luck agen? Do yo' think
| can face it sober? Blast 'em! They
wfnnat have me now-the stev-dores.
But before the smash told yo' about
the smash, guvner-I were wo'th three
or four o these divvils"-and he
pointed toward the weird procession
the Jolly Beggars" and
winding towards the expected cotton
ship.
Il could make my six bob day
then, guvner-an' never be short ov
job, never! But like my mate-what's
called Bill like miself-I don't earn six
bob wik now!"
And Bill stepped on one side to let
4 Hurry pass heavily laden with foreign
goods
But what about getting something
toeat ?" I asked.
"Ah, well now" said Bill. "Ah well
now,' he repeated. "Thar's somethin',
o. course, that nun be done. But
there's only three ways, gunner
either take stinking charity, steal, or
send the missus-send the missus
out!' Then in a whisper: do yo'
know what that means, guvner?'
I was too dumfounded at the mo-
ment to say anything. The suggestion
was not new to me. A few weeks
Investigation into the social and do
mestic conditions of dockers had
opend my eyes to the meaning before.
But never before had ] heard 1t from
the lips OF man who confessed that
he had done IL,
Since the smash.
Bill had been made hard-as hard as |
nails--by rough experience. And since |
the "smash" there appeared no ordin~ |