River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-01-30
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or promise of reward could persuade
the ships men into supplying his
need. He received consignments of
food; short rations they would be, he
judged, for an able-bodied seaman.
But inactivity and confinement to the
fo'casle soon worked havoc with his
physique, SO that appetite, and even
desire Of life itself, temporarily dis
appeared in the gloom of seasickness
In spite Of difficulties, Jim tried to
! find out something about the boat
The seamen were none too friendly;
but by patching up his almost forgot
ten French and by signs, he learned
something. His sudden failure OF
| strength in the water had been due to
| a blow from a floating spar, as a
bruise on his forehead testified; "the
| old man." whom Jim supposed to be
the captain, was a hard master; Mon
sieur Chatelard was owner, or at least
temporary proprietor, of the yacht;
| and the present voyage was an un-
lucky one by all the signs and omens
known to the seamen's horoscope.
The sullenness of the men was ap-
parent, and was not caused by the en-
| forced presence of a stranger among
them. In fact, their bad temper be-
| came SO conspicuous that Jim began
TO believe that it might have some
thing to do with the mysterious ac-
tons of the man on shore. He pom
dered the situation deeply; he evolved
many foolish schemes to compass his
own enlightenment, and dismissed
them one by one. He grimly reflected
that man without clothes can scarce
| ly be a hero, whatever his spirit. Not
since the days Of Olympus was there
any record of man or god being re-
| ceived into any society whatever
without his sartorial SHE'LL thought
Jimmy. But in spite of his discomfort,
he was glad he was there. The in
memorable Sunday afternoon was
strong within him still, and he never
questioned it's authority. He believed
| his turn would come, even though he
were prisoner in the fo'casle of the
| Jeanne Dare.
AS the violence of his sickness
passed, Jim began to cast about for
some means of helping himself Grad.
ually he was able to dive into the for
| gotten shadows of his French learn
ing. BY much wrinkling of brows he
evolved sentence, though he had to
wait some hours before there was a
favorable chance to put it to use. At
last his time came, with the arrival
of his former friend, the sailor.
100 avay-voo cashay mon money
belt?" he inquired with much conf
dence, and with pure Yankee accent.
The sailor answered with a shrug
and a spreading of empty hands.
pas de money-belt pas de panta-
Ion. pas de tous! Dam queer Amayri-
cain!"
Jim was not convinced of the sail
or's innocence, but perceived that he
must give him the benefit of the
doubt. AS the sailor intimated, jim,
himself, was open to suspicion, and
couldn't afford to be too jealous in
calumniating others. He fell to think
ing again, and attacked the next
|
castle with the following:
"Kond j'aytay malade don ma tate,
| lxee a pree mon money-belt?"
1t was the ships cook this time, and
he turned and stared at Jimmy as
though he had seen a ghost. When
he found tongue he uttered a volume
Of opinion and abuse which Jimmy
| 80 -
translated, and then he fed up the
| ladder.
On the fourth day, toward evening,
James had a visitor All day the yacht
had been pitching and rolling, and by
| afternoon she was laboring in the vio-
lence of storm and was listing badly.
James was a fearless seaman, but it
crossed his mind more than once that
! if he were captain, and if there were
a port within reach, he would put into
it before midnight. But he could tell
nothing of the ships course. He
| turned the subject over in his mind as
he lay on his bunk in that peculiar
state halfway between sickness and
health, when the body is relaxed by a
purely accidental illness and the mind
is abnormally alert. He wished in
| tensely for bath, shave, and a fair
complement of clothes. He longed also
to go up the hatchway for breath of
air, and was considering the POSSIBLE
ity of doing this later. with a blanket
and darkness for shield, when he be-
came conscious of a pair of neatly
trousered legs descerding the ladder.
1t was quite a different performance
from the catlike climbing up and
| down of the sailors.
Jimmy watched in the dim light I'M