Charlevoix county herald., 1910-02-12
CHAPTER ~.
In Which ! Meet My Crew.


The polite hotel clerk halted me es
passed his desk on the way out with
information that a drunken naval Off
cer-evidently Sanchez-had been
there twice already seeking me, had
ialso asked for Lord Darlington, and
would return again at ten o'clock. l
thanked him, smiling to myself, won
dering If the English nobleman was
TO be challenged also, and promptly
disappeared into the night without.
The unfortunate affair with the ag
grieved lieutenant had become a small
matter no longer troubling me.
l have wandered by night through
most of the seaports of the world,
knowing well the intricacies and dark
places of Port Said, Melbourne and
Calcutta, but / doubt If even the I'M
speakable orient can equal for dirt,
squalor, crime and peril those narrow,
crooked - lleyways where sailors most
do cons~l gate against the Valparaiso
water.fr6{ I. Here gather in bestial
rioting TIE scum of the South seas,
and here flourish their parasites. Any
lanes is of the kind to test strong
nerves; but On this special occasion,
the way filled with pandemonium and
drunkenness, the entire city a liot
of noisy violence, the populace aroused
to fierce hate toward all foreigners,
the passage was one of constantly re-
curing danger. The street lights, few
and far between, were mere blotches
of color winking feebly at the sur
rounding darkness, the rough cobble-
stone pavement underfoot was irregu-
lar and deceitful, while drunken
crowds, either quarrelsome or maui
dinghy affectionate, surged aimlessly
about, gesticulating and yelling with
Latin fervor. However, I knew the
way we'll, and kept myself hidden from
observation by lowering close beneath
the protecting shadows of the build
ings, drawing well back within door
ways to permit the noiser parties of
jewellers to pass, and then hurrying
forward along the deserted streets.
stumbled over the body of more than
one drt ken man, while sounds of
uuarrelil.. were borne to me through
the opespdoor of every low taproom
passed. The scum of Valparaiso had
come to the top, the fires of hell burn
ing fercely
Pedro Rodrigues' den stood some
what back from the narrow lane it
fronted, flanked and concealed by
taller buildings on either side. 1t was
a ramshackle wooden affair, sagging
sadly at one corner, the half dozen
steps. ysading to the open door being
only holly lighted. AS it was we'll
known resort, frequented almost en-
tirely by foreign seamen who would
scarcely be safe on the streets such
a night as this, it was no surprise to
discover the taproom densely
crowded with sailor-men, and to dis
tinguish a voice singing Justify in Wig
orous English, to an accompaniment
of glasses pounding upon the rough
tables. Indeed, a wild, hilarious mob
greeted me loudly as 1 pressed aside
the heavy curtain and stepped within.
I cast a quick, comprehensive glance
over the faces, upturned through the
enveloIRg haze-Swedes and Firms
phfrom II North sea, Dutchmen of the
Baltic. hairy Englishmen from the
channel, Yankees of the West Allan
tic. beach-combers from out Of the
South seas, with here and there a
negro or brown-faced Kanaka to add
TO the variety. Faith, it was a choice
collection, as though the wide waters
of the world had been skinned to
bring together that rare crew of beau
ties. Perched high upon a table, his
long legs encased in sea boots, seated
astride a chair, sat the singer, his
mop of coarse red hair standing erect
his Jaw that of bulldog, the scar OF
a recent knife wound showing CHASTITY
across one cheek, his blue shirt open