The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-13
Copyrighted 1911 by Harper & Bros.I

soon got used to these gruesome mementoes of his fights and could handle them without
 It was I who ministered to the Frenchman, and, though I could not replace his teeth, assuaged his pain and cured the swollen gums He grateful and gave me as much of his history asked for. He was not a sailor, but musician who had been em- ployed in dive next to Glasgow Mikes boarding house. whom Mike had drugged and shanghaied when Captain Belchior's gathered. His speciality in music the piano, he explained, and his long practice had developed his wonderful strength of fingers and forearms which had almost given him the victory over the big skipper. But he endowed by nature with further exaggeration of feature his teeth had
 9 them fa sn the 1wo snd neree m tion The lower teeth still intact nearly large the upper, and with his powerful hands would have rendered him dangerous antagonist in his combat with the skipper had he not been incapacitaed by ecrucia ing pain: , through the vacancies in his upper jaw. I feel when half ashleep zhat yet have my teeth and feel zhat have heem by zhe throat weezh my teeth whisn gone" @..
 Forget it, said rep1o9vngly And don't run
 "Oh, foui!" he answered. My hands; whish are shtrong zhey be not sthrong enough; but my teeth-ah eveh wizh my teeth whish are left will
 What he had in his mind I could not guess and did fit to the skipper. What did say, though, and which brought results fully as disastrous the Frenchfnan, was that he was musician who had ac- quired his strength of finger by piano practice This seemed to me an idle piece of news, which threw off the captain slipped his coffee and response to his joking reference the Frenchman's But it reused him fury; he delivered himself of round of and when his store of profanity was ex- hausted he said
 Musician is he? knew he was % no sailor Well Well iIl take the music out O him. Say, Steward d you know what 1 dreamed last night? Can you guess! l dreamed that the little rat had his teeth-not his fingers, but his teeth-at my throat and sinking them in Gawd what sensationp
 remembered the Frenchman's idle threat, but fore bore speaking of the coincidence had already said much, learned day two after when the captain again. and for fault whatever, struck the Frenchman with all his might and knocked out teeth-three this time which I must needs gather up when the Frenchman spat them ou to prepare for the museum. The poor wretch was almost carried for ward, and though this American ship. manned by the usual rifraf of the seapors and olcered by of the captains own stripe yet there were open the faces of the And from this the French man, though as useless deck aloft a spare all hands but the captain. As for him. he about for few days with his red unusually bright with his rugged face that of grin than smile. Once heard him muttering fierce oaths mixed with the words French musician!" and on the same day learned the cause of his animus ! found two newspaper clippings his desk and read them There was no date. but they were yellow with age and frayed by handling He had evidently withdrawn them return them. One said this
 William Bilker sentenced to-day to two years in the penitentiary for brutally assaulting his wife with belayngpn, which, he boasted of at the time, he had brought ashore from his last ship for her benefit It IS to be regretted that for such rufans as Biker the whipping-post cannot be revived, at least jail be enacted by the legislature that may prove and victim is still in the hospital while the child who also received injuries. is in the care of friends"
 The other clipping ran as follows:
 William Bilker, after serving two years in the pen itentiary for wife-beatng returned yesterday ms nd b aer Ms Blkers discharge from the hospital but is not known where she went BilEer, however learning this and that Professor Le Fevre the music-teacher who had given lessons to the child. had gone home to France about the same time, coupled their together in most unjust and unworthy manner and proceeded to get drunk. He locked up before becoming danger ous and this morning sentence of two months was suspended condition that he leave town not to turn; It is hoped that we are rid of him."
 "Blker" unused. "Is that his real name and did he G d e dG own 5 position in which I had found them and barely got out of his room in time to escape his criticism l met him in the forward companion
 Steward, he said, jocularly, "how many teeth are there in full set? -...-.... counted Twenty-six, twenty-eght, thirty, thirty two" Well we'll get them all-every one. Pm tired of
 How Captain Belchior could lessen his bad dreams by increasing his h bad conscience was beyond my un of the Frenchnlan's teeth, as was evidenced by his overhaung all the dental instruments in the medicine chest and seekno an early pretext for using them It teeth gone could not speak distinctly.
 It would appear strange that Captain Belchior, bent upon getting" the rest of his victims teeth should have hesitated to knock them out with his fists were it for the mysterious force called public sentiment, which works powerfully upon captain as upon statesman ashore. Not aboard that ship from the first mate down to my cabin boy had else than sympathy for Frenchy and toward the captain He must have felt it, though, perhaps, he would have admitted it. He stood alone his mates would never speak to him except in the way of work duty; the man at the wheel would always answer respectfully, but just second later than cheerful, friendly would speak. The crew as a whole, while not ready for mutiny, would fix their eyes upon him and look soberly and starngy, until he turned away succeeded himself in staring down their stares All in all it worked upon his nerves, and believe he feared to assault the Frenchman again without cause, and Frenchy under my advice and that of others, was careful to give him none. But the exgences of seafaring life brought about cause suf- fcient unto Captain Belchior and he quick seize upon it.
 Frenchy, as have said, sailor: yet by the time we had reached the stormy attitudes of Cape Horn he had learned to and took his trick at the wheel with the rest Excepting for his hands and