The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1910-05-18
Talec F. Or
a Winter
Evening
The Love of Lobelia
Atkins
, From the "0Id Home House"
BY JOSEPH c. LINCOLN
''0Id Home House.

#W WI DAOWA 1G lIGls 4 GIGE Il. DdSSGQ
- around another relay of cigars,
and we lit up. Twas Cap'n Fri that
spoke first.
Loves a queer disease anyway"
says he. Amt 1t, now? 1t must be
a dreadful responsible thing to be so
fascinating. / never felt that respon-
sibleness but once-except when / got
married, of course and that was a
good many years ago, when I was go
ing to sea on long wages and was
cruising around the East Indies in the
latitude of our new troubles, the Phil
ippines.
Il was fo'mast hand on a Boston
hooker bound to Singapore after rice.
The shippers name was Perkins. Mala-
chi G. Perkins, and he was the mean
est man that ever wore a sou'wester.
I've had the pleasure of telling him so
sence-'tWas in Surinam long in '72.
well, when got to Singapore
was nothing but skin and bone and
considerable of the skin had been
knocked off by the marline spike and
the mates boots. I'd shipped for the
wage out and back, but the first night
in port slipped over the side. swum
ashore and fell in with a Britisher
named Hammond-'Am he called
it-and as he was on the same hunt
that | was we kept each other
comp'ny.
'Well, to make long story short,
we shipped with a Teller whose
name was Lazarus. He was a shrewd
rascal and nothing more nor less than
pearl poacher.
eve landed at little one horse coral
island, where there want no inhabit-
ants, but where we was pretty dead
sartin there was pearl oyster banks in
the lagoon. There was five of us on
the schooner, Dutchman named
Rhinelander. cody cook and Laza-
rus and Hammond and me. We put up
slab shanty on shore and went to
work pearl fishing. keeping one eye
out for Dutch gunboats
"Well, we got together quite likely
mess of pearls, and as twas part of
the agreement that the crew had GER
mond and me was fggering that we
was going TO make enough to more'n
pay us for our long spell Of starving
at Singapore.
Zone morning me and Hammond
come out of the shanty, and, 10 and be-
hold you, there want no schooner to
be seen. That everlasting Lazarus had
put up job on us and had sneaked
Off in the night with the cook and the
Dutchman and took our share of the
pearls with him. There we was. ma
rooned on that little two-for-a-cent
| island
''The first day we didn't do much but
cuss Lazarus up hill and down dale.
We had fish lines in the shanty. and
there was plenty of water on the
| island, so we knew we wouldn't starve
| to death nor die of thirst, anyhow.
But, land, how we did miss that cody
cook.
"'W'y don't yer get to work and
cook something fit to heat? says Ham
mond Ere broke my bloomin' back
'auling in the fish, and you doing moth
| ing but angling around and letting 'em
dry hup in the eat. Get to work and
cook Blimed If amt sick Of these
ere custard applesy
Go and cook yourself says /. i
didn't sign articles to be cook for no
| Johnny Bullv
.'Well, we jawed back and forth for
an hour, maybe more. Two or three
times we got up to have it out, but
twas too hot to fight, SO we set down
again. Fin'lly we eat some supper.
custard apples and water. and turned
in.
| ''But twas too hot to sleep much,
and i got up about 3 o'clock in the
morning and went out and set down
on the beach In the moonlight. Pretty
soon out comes Hammond and sets
down alongside and begins to give the
| weather a general overhauling. calling
1t everything he could lay tongue to.
Pretty soon he breaks OFF in the middle
Of nine Tinted swear word and sings
out:
".Am I going crazy, or is that a
schooner
81 looked out into the moonlight, and
there. sure enough. was schooner
about a mile OF the island and COM
ing dead on. First of we thought
twas Lazarus coming back. but pretty
soon we see twas considerable small
er boat than his.
ssShe was acting dreadful queer.
First she'd 60 ahead on one tack and
then give heave over and come about
with bang. sails tapping and every
thing of shake; then she'd give an
other slat and go OF another way. but
mainly she kept right on toward the
island.
WAITS the matter aboard there? Z
says Hammond. is hall lands drunk z
She's abandoned says /. That's
what's the matter. There amt nobody
aboard Of her.
'sThen we both says, 'Salyageg and
shook hands.
saThe schooner came nearer and