Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-09-16

revolver, and that had taken with
me the surgical Instruments. antiquat
ed as they were. which. in their ma
hognny case. had accompanied my
grandfather through the civil war, and
had done, as he was wont to chuckle
as much damage as a three FOUNDER
McWhirter came to the wharf with me
and looked the Ella over with eyes OF
| proprietorship.
Pretty snappy looking boat" he
said. IF the niger gets sick give him
some OF my seasick remedy. And take
care of yourself. boy" He shook
| hands, his open face flushed with emo
| ton. "Darned shame to see you going
| like this. Don't eat too much. and
don't fall in love with any Of the wom-
en-. Goodby."
He started away. and I turned to-
ward the ship, but a moment later
heard him calling me. He came back.
rather breathless.
up in my neighborhood," he pant
ed. they say Turner is a devil. What
ever happens. it's not your mix-in. Bet
ter-better tuck your gun under your
mattress and forget you've got it
You've got some disposition yourself"
The Ella sailed the following day at
10 O'Clock. She carried nineteen peo-
pie. of whom five were the Turner'S and
their guests. The cabin was full of
flowers and steamer baskets.
Thirty-one days later she came into
port again. lifeboat covered with can
vas trailing at her stern.
From the first the captain disclaim-
ed responsibility for me. 1 was housed
in the forecastle and ate with the men,
There. however. my connection with
the crew and the navigation of the
ship ended.
AS matter OF fact, l found myself
a sort of deck steward. given the re-
sponsibility of looking after the shuttle
board and other deck games. the
steamer rugs. the cards-for they play
ed bridge steadily-and answerable to
George Williams. the colored butler.
for the various liquors served on deck
The work was easy. and the situa-
ton rather amused me. After an eff
fort or two to bully me. one of which
resulted in my holding him over the
rail until he turned gray with fright.
Williams treated me as an equal,
which was gratifying.
The weather was good, the food fair
l had no reason to repent my bargain.
or the sailing qualities of the Ella
there could be no question. The crew.
selected by Captain Richardson from
the best men OF the Turner line. knew
their business. and. barring the odor OF
formaldehyde in the forecastle. which
drove me TO sleeping on deck for @
night or two. everything was going
smoothly. at least on the surface.
Smoothly, as far as the crew was
concerned l was not so sure about
the after house.
AS 1 have said, owing to the small
size of the vessel and the fact that
considerable of the space had been
used for baths. there were, besides the
family. only two guests, a Mrs Johns,
a divorcee. and Il Mr.. Vail. Mrs. Tur-
ner and Miss Lee shared the services
of maid. Karen Hansen, who. with
a stewardess, Henrietta Sloane. occu-
pied a double cabin. Vail had small
room. as had Turner. with a bath be-
tween which they used in common.
Mrs. Turner's room was n large one.
with its own bath, into which Elsa
Lees room also opened. Mrs. Johns
had Il room and bath. Roughly and
not drawn to scale. the living quarters
of the family were arranged like the
diagram in n later chapter.
] have said that things were not 60
ing smoothly in the after house. l felt
it rather than saw IL. The women rose
late-eXcept Miss Lee, who was fire.
quently about when 1 washed the deck.
They chatted and laughed together,
read. played bridge when the men were
so inclined. and now and then, when
their attention was drawn to it, looked
at the sea.
The men were violently opposed
types-Turner. tall. heavy shouldered.
moroSe by habit. with prominent
nose and rapidly thinning hair. and
with strong. pale blue eyes. congested
from hard drinking; Vail. shorter by
three inches, dark. good looking, with
that dusky flush under the skin which
shows good red blood, and as temper
ate as Turner was dissipated.