Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-14

have not known her under Capt. Ezra Sc
lover She was the cleanest ship l ever
saw Don't know how re accomplished it.
with a crew of four and the cook; but he
did. The deck looked though it had
been holystoned every morning by crew
of jackies; 1.-The stays were whipped and
AIRED, the mast new-slushed. and every
foot of running gear coiled down shipshape
iand Bristol fashion There was good deal
Vi brass about her; it shone like gold. and
don't believe she owned inch of paint
that wasn't either fresh or new-scrubbed.
| gazed for some time at this marvel. It's
unusual enough anywhere but aboard a
California hooker ii is little short Of mirac-
ulous. The crew had all turned up, appar-
emily and swarm of stevedores were hus-
Ting every sort of provisions, supplies,
stock. spars. lines and canvas down into
the hold. 1t was rush job. and that mate
was having his hands full. | didn't wonder
at his language nor at his looks. both of
which were somewhat mussed up TIL u
almost at my elbow l heard that shrll
falsetto squeal, and turned just in time to
see the captain ascend the after gangplan nix.
He was probably the most disheveled. and
untidy man ] ever laid my eyes on. His
hair and beard were not only long, but tan
gled and unkempt. and grew so far toward
each other barely to expose a strip Of
dirty brown skin. His shoulders were
bowed and enormous His arms hung like
a gorilla's. palms turned slightly outward.
On his head was damned a linen boating
hat that had once been white; gaping away
from his hairy chest was a faded dingy
checked cotton shirt that had once been
brown and white: his blue trousers were
spotted and splashed with dusty stains: he
was chewing tobacco. A figure more in
contrast to the exquisitely neat vessel 1t
would be hard to imagine.
The captain mounted the gangplank with
a steadiness that disproved my first sus-
picion of his having been on drunk. He
glanced aloft. cast a speculative eye on the
stevedores trooping across the waist of the
ship. and assembled to the quarterback
where the mate stood leaning over the rail
and uttering directed curses from between
sweat-beaded lips. There the big man
roamed aimlessly on what seemed to be a
tour of casual inspection. Once he stopped
to breathe on the brass binacle and to rub
1t bright with the dirtiest red bandana
handkerchief I ever want to see.
His actions amused me. The discrepancy
between his personal habits and his par
ticularity in the matter of his surroundings
was exceedingly interesting. l have often
noticed that such discrepancies seem to indi-
cate exceptional characters. AS 1 watched
him. his whole frame stiffened. The long
gorilla arms contracted the hairy head
ready to strike. He uttered a shrill fall
setto shrek that brought to standstill
every stevedore on the job and sprang for
ward to seize his mate by the shoulder.
Evidently the grasp hurt. I can believe 1t
might, from those huge hands. The man
wrenched himself about with an oath of in
auiry and pain. 1 could hear one side of
what followed. The captains high-pitched
tones carried clearly: but the grumble and
growl of the mate were indistinguishable at
that distance.
How far is 1t to the side of the ship,
you hound of - shrieked the captain.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. an answer.
"Well. I'll tell you. you swab! It's just
two fathom from where you stand. Just
two fathom! How long would 1t take you
to walk there? How long? Just about six
seconds! There and back! YOU" !
won't bother with all the epithets, al
| though by now I know Capt. .Selovers vo-
cabulary fairly we'll. And you couldn't
| take six seconds of to spit over the side
| Couldn't walk two fathoms! Had to spit on
my quarterback, did your
Rumble from the mate
mo. by -. you won't call up any OF
| the crew. You'll get swab and do it your.
| self. You'll get hand swab and get down
| on your knees. - you! I'll teach you to
| be lazy!'
| The mate said something again.
1T don't matter If we amt under way
| That has nothing to do with 1t. The quar-
| ter-deck is clean. If the waist amt and no
| body but misbegotten son-of-a-sea.
lawyer would spit on deck anyhow! From