Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-07-01
Ing the deck with the stressful stamp


Lawrence he vented an outpouring of
blasphemous wrath which Is unquot-
able.
Throw that damned fiddle over
board" he ordered at the end of a
fierce TRADE. Don't let me hear its
damnable scretching again on my
ship"
For moment Lawrence stood ST.
lent and cold with anger. He laid the
instrument carefully on a hatch AMI
stepped forward. Obviously 1t was in
his mind at that moment to kill the
captain, but after pause he thought
better Of it, The odds against him
were too heavy.
"Ill put the violin in my box, SIR"
he said with voice so quiet that it
was almost gentle, "but so help me
| God, If ever we meet after this voy-
age is ended, l mean to kill you"
Coulter laughed disdainfully and
strobe away, but for ten minutes Law
renee sat silent, his breath coming in
deep gasps, while he wrestled with
the murder madness. We learned la
ter that the captain was one of those
persons whom music frenzies, AMI
from that time on we did not even
permit ourselves to whistle in the air.
OF all the restless men in the
fo'c'sle, Coulter most keenly watched
one John Hoax, gigantis seaman
from Liverpool. In him loomed po.
tential ringleader Of mutiny. One
evening Hoax defic ntly and loudly
played music-hall tune on an ac-
Gordon. A strain of 1t reached the
bridge, and Coulter, who was on
watch. ordered the offender forward
After violent and profane denun-
citation, under which the giant writhed
in silent fury, Coulter lashed out to
the sailors mouth with his clenched
fist and sent him sprawling to the
appear too irresolute, he also put him
in irons for twenty-four hours.
A fellow seaman plucked up the he
roism to demand that the incident be
entered on the log for admiralty in
vestigation, but Coulter only laughed
and sent the insurgent into the infer
no of the stock-hole for an extra shift
at the shovels. In the stoRe-hole the
thermometer registered 130 degrees
Fahrenheit, and the white and brown
torsos that strained under the trem-
bling dials were black with the sooty
swat of their effort, and red with the
pitiless glare of the furnace CRATES.
The cloud on the horizon of our af-
fairs steadily gathered and blackened
until an ominous pail of mutiny over
hung us. Only an occasional coral
reef or atoll now broke the monotony
of dead and oily sea. No shred of
cloud relieved the emptiness of de-
yitalized Sky.
Mansfield and went about in can
vas shoes and pajamas. The ship was
more dishevcled than we, and its dis
cipline more slovenly than its dress.
The churlish silence of the fo'c's'le
was met by braggart autocracy Of the
officers. Conditions grew tenser and
thicker with each day, yet no specific
rupture came to fire the waiting ex-
plosion. Slowly it grew and gathered
menace, while the air hung pulseless
and heavy under it's shadow.
Mansfield and knew 1t needed only
lightning flash to loose all the ar
tillery of the thunders and set them
about their hell's fury. By tacit con-
sent we did not often talk of it, but
/ we remained close together and placed
our revolyers, belts, and sheath-knives
where they could be readily caught
up.
Under the silent horror of forebod.
ing, our nerves became raw, and our
tempers, like those of Others, short
and raspy.
On one sultry afternoon when the
trade-wind was dead, l came upon
Mansfield sprawling in the shadow of
life-boat, diligently reading entries
from the unknown girls diary, touch
ing the untroubled incidents of her
sheltered life. He glanced up shame
facedly as l approached, then began
in exculpation.
"See here" he said, you're quite
wrong about the guiltiness OF reading
this. I'm sure she wouldn't mind.
She's not that sort. Here we are
menaced by the inferno of mutiny.
We are no better than mice waiting
the pleasure of a cat which means to
crush them. The atmosphere will
drive us mad. This book is like a
| breeze off the heather. / tell you 1t
helps"
In abnormal times men entertain
abnormal ideas and warped notions.
sat cross-legged on the deck beside
him and lighted my pipe. / said moth
ing.
tits all getting on my nerves. I'm
losing my grip" he admitted. Last
night I dreamed of nasty row, and
all day bit of rime has been running
through my brain" He paused a mo.
ment, then quoted: