The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-08
A Fe11o1u Of the University Of Hard Knocks

warm and from the deck of the bark
the men could see the people on shore
making merry. The crew was almost
famished. The men had been mutinous
and the captain and mate had to sc Sc
we're in the extreme to hold them 10
their work. They feared the captain
would throw them in prison for their mis-
conduct and that night all on board, ex-
cept the captain, the mate, the cook and
Marian, jumped into the river and swan
ashore, leaving their money and most
of their dunnage.
That was a dismal Christmas for the
boy from St. John. He thought of what
his folks at home were doing and what
fool he had been. He was in strange
land and practically frendless.
The bark laid off Bueonas Ayres for
two weeks and then went up the river
to Rosario. When Marian was leaving
home his father had given him a few
gold pieces. AT Rosario. Marian wen.
ashore dressed in his best suit of clothes,
and engaged a room in a hotel. There
he lived for few weeks until his money
was exhausted.
1t happened that the hotel man was a
German who had been in Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick and knew Marlan's
father. The first day the boy was at
the hotel the landlord invited him to
have dinner with his family. Marian
but. OF course. took them off when go
ing to the table. The hotel Keepers fam
lily were startled when they looked at
the boys hands. They were brown in
spots and burned in various places They
asked him what was the matter. He
explained that he had been working on
the bark, making repairs, and had to
use hot tar. The sun and the hot tar
had burned his hands frightfully. They
questioned him at length and he told all
his experiences on the mark. The old
German was much interested and when
Marian finished the hotel keeper got up,
shook his hand and said
by jingo. my boy, you had pluck!'
When his money was gone the young
ster tried to get some from the captain
but without success. Then he sold all
his clothes except a pair of trousers and
one shirt. He even sold his hat and
shoes. To cover his head he made cap
out of pair of socks. He was so tired
of the grub on the Eva Lynch that it
made him sick to think of eating aboard
but finally he had to come to it.
From Rosario the bark went to Pay
sandu, on the Uruguay river. There she
tied up for six months, owing to a
prolonged strike. The town was under
martial law and there was intermittent
fighting in the streets. Captain Hatfield
did not know when he could get away,
and as his crew was an expense to him,
he probably was glad to get rid of Mar
lam He gave a little money to the youth
and Marian went ashore. The young man
bought horse for IS and, filled with
the notion that he would become South
American planter, started for the inte-
rior He Travelled for days on horseback,
stopping at night at little settlements
The people We're hospitable, but it was
dreadfully lonesome. Through his mother
tongue, French, he was able to make
himself understood, but as the country
became wilder and wilder, he lost heart
and turned back.
When he got to Paysandu again he was
rather forlorn. The captain was glad to
see him. The strike was nearing an end
and the bark was going to get cargo
and sail away. Captain Hatfield told
Marian that if he wanted to be a good
boy and behave himself he would make
him boatswain at $25 month. This
seemed like a fortune to the youth. He
not only took the job, but he determined
he would stick to it, The Eva Lynch
went to Montevideo and from there to
Pernambuco. From Brazil she went to
the Barbados. There Marian was de-
lighted to meet people he had known in
st. John. The captain gave some money
to him and he got decent clothes and felt
respectable once more.
From the Barbados the Eva Lynch
sailed for Buen Ayre In the Dutch West
Indies, near Curacao. to get cargo of