Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-03

slipped down the fire room ladder without being
flashed by soul of the haf-awake crew and gained
empty coal bunker Then it looked good to me.
Nothing could hurt me much if got clear of Homo
lulu in that coal bunker of the man-o-war /
scroonChed down there. it seemed to me, for
hours. while firemen and water tenders and coal
passers, getting up steam. chartered and cut up all
around me. l kept my foot on the steel sill of the
door however, to see that the empty coal bunker
where l was hiding shouldn't be locked on me.
of sudden l heard cessation of the talk by
the black gang and then recognized the voice of
the chief engineer. Id played billiards with him
about week before.
-. Let's have a look into these empty bunkers to
if everything is trig in en- l heard the chief
engineer say to the machinist who accompany
ing him his final round of inspection before sail
ing-and there was all ready to be beached again!
And it broke just that way. NV bunker door
the first pulled open by the machinst, and l
stepped right out and sauted, seeing the game was
up. The chief engineer. who my friend and
knew all about my little NARROWING affair leaned
against stanchion and roared himself black in the
face at the sight of me He was for sumrnoning sew
eral of the other officers below to have look at me
in my blue Jacket rig; but told him if he did that
I'd throw coal at him But they had to me when
l went above to be put in the steam cutter for the
] hear again such outburst of almost hyster1cal
roaring those whelps of young officers OF the
Philadelphia broke into when they shutting
across the deck from the engine room hatch to
climb into the steam cutter.
THAT'S when pulled the teeth together and
1
to be the Land of the Always for me, even If had
to get myself shanghaed. l arranged to be shang-
haied that evening
There were ten or twelve short handed ships in
Honolulu Harbor-short handed because the big
strike of the Sailors Union of San Francisco
at that time, and California seamen, who mostly
figure in the trade of ships that touch Hawai-,
wouldn't ship at any figure short OF twenty-tour
dollars month, and ship owners were trying to
grind them down to eighteen. l knew what lean
chance had having tried it. of ever shipping on
board one of these short handed hookers, badly as
they needed hands; but l could be, and would be,
shanghaied
AT two o'clock that next morning, when all
hands the waterfront except the cr1mpS the
outlook for stray kanakas, asleep, was about
the drunkennest- seeming howbre that zgzagged
along the Honolulu waterfront. l was offering my
self as bait for the shanghalers and they got me
right enough Three of them bounced in
the shadow Of pier shed before I'd given more
than five minutes of my careful imitation of
drunken sailor, and they were starting to give me
the boots, to render me, they thought,
further incapable, when
Easy has it. mates said L suddenly straighten-
ing up. I'm for BERTH and doing my devilishest
to make it. But which of the hookers slips out
first
Figuring to be escaped calaboose bird,
and glad to find SO willing they told me- There's
dope brig heading out inside of an hour their
leader told 'Hongkong S the port.
I'm for her. l told them as l would have told
them the same, and meant it, had the ship in the
illicit opium smuggling trade been bound for the
Sargasso Sea- A hundred yards away l went
the side of the opium brig, up standing. to the sur
prise of the skipper who waiting deck to
see what his shanghaiing party going
to make of it.
The skipper, a shrewd but crooked American.
nevertheless had kindly way about him. Your
the first self-shanghaed man r'ard I've seen in
forty years of sailing, said the skipper to but
YOU have your reasons as have mine. Go for ard.
You Il be paid off in Hongkong as if you had not
been shipped without any Consurs wise to your
papers. Man, mani but who'll ever be able to count
all the different breeds of birds at scar? and l
went for'ard l could still hear him talking mysti-
fedly to himself about the wonder of it in
ho CHI niod