The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1916-09-27
A Sea arm m
BY JOHN Y. HARMED
By John Y. HARMED

-
At the Sailors home a number of
old salts. the youngest Of whom was
over seventy, were summing themselves
when one said to another: 81
"Bill, how did y git that scar on
yer foreheady' saa.aasa ia .a.l.,
Il didn't suffer, from the, wound that
left that scar nothing like the man that
give 1t to me. Thar's a yarn about that
scar" q ' J" '.'&t. 's.''"''' "
spin it."s"i '.H5@Rr, .r,r ut
"Wlleti was young Teller more'n
fifty year ago. + shipped In brigan-
tine for China voyage. We had bad
luck for weather. the cap'n got sick,
and when we got to Hongkong he
died. The owners decided to sell the
ship and the crew was discharged, to
shift for themselves. It was starva-
ton for us or findin' some sort o. berth.
Me and Jim Hughes and Tom Hawkins
found berth with an American who
was maxim up crew for a small
schooner rugged vessel to trade between
China and Japan, and signed one even
in in sailors boardln' house without
even SEEM the ship or the rest O. the
crew. I didn't want to sign them ar
ticles, but Tom said we couldn't help
ourselves. The cut o. the cap'n's lib
didn't suit me at all. There was some
thin wicked in his eye, and I was
afeared he'd be tyrannical. ii -. *.
"He TUX US aboard at night and put
us in our hunks, tellin' US to rest our
selves, for we wouldn't be needed till
mornin'. This looked mighty kind Of
him, but when mornin' came we saw
what, 1t meant. Wed sailed durin' the
night and was out O. sight o. land
When we went on deck there was the
worst cutthroat crew y ever see, made
up Of Malays, Cinnamon, Japs and ev-
cry other copper colored devil In that
hemisphere. . Is
1.-THE cap'n didn't make. no bones
about it. He said the ship was a pi-
rate, and what he wanted Of us was
first and second mate, SEEM there
want no intelligence In the crew for
SIGH purpose. He give us our choice
to take the places or walk the plank.
In course we took the places, for while
we was alive there was hope Of gettin'
away, and If we was dead that end
ed It. .a.
1.-THE cap'n told the crew that Tom
and understood navigation and was
competent sailors. So be had the crew
back of him. We knowed that on the
fust sign o. mutiny we'd be cut down,
and we didn't show no SIGH sign. The
wust thing about 1t was that a white
man was in command Of yellow dew
lis and had forced two other white
men to be his officers. -.
"The fust ship we TUX, managed
to communicate with the captured crew
and led 'em down to where arms was
stored. Then we all turned on the
cutthroats that rushed after US and,
a-fghtin' for every inch, slowly drove
'em back on deck, and by this time
they'd got so thinned and demoralized
that they begun to try to lower the
boats and git away. Some Of 'em did,
but the balance we either finished on
the deck or they went over the side to
drown.
"Durin' the fight the cap'n made for
me with cutlass and give me the
blow that left that scar. He was run
through the vitals by Tom Hawkins
and lived about six hours. KNOWN
that he was goin' to die, a big change
came over him. He realized what he'd
been donna white man runnin' a lot
O. cutthroats. I've committed an un-
pardonable SIM he says. and I'm ago
in to suffer for it forever. You kin
pitch me into the brine, but I won't rest
there. Oh, for grave on the coast
O. New England, where was born
and was respected! 1t was a desire to
go back there rich that led me to hoist
the skull and bones. My old mother
lives there now, and II she knowed
what I'd done .Ea,
Ellis voice died out by this time, and
purity soon there was gurgle in his
throat, and he was dead. We .ehucked
him overheard, and that was the end
O. him for this world.
!, ."Howsomevcr, don't know whether
It was or whether it wasn't. What I
do know is this: Five years after all
this happened l was on coaster aud
one evenin' was lookout while roundin'
Cape Cod. It was between daylight
and dark, and there was a thin mist.
I'd been without much sleep for a
couple o nights In bad weather and
was trifle drowsy. nodded between
sleepin' and wakin'. and on openin' my
there, down In the water Off
the port bow, was q boat with lego
mutton sail and man at the tiller.
There wasn't enough wind to stir the
mist, but the sail was full
But the man sailin' her. He looked
up at me, aud II hadn't been held by
canvas \ d. fell down on to the deck.
He was the cap'n,o' the pirate we'd
chucked overheard in tho Indian ocean
Ave years before. 9Ih ", zt!*&
II never seen such awful suferin' on
any face He didn't move hisflips. He
fist kept them turrable eyes on me.
turnin' his head pas we passed till he
in the mist astern. 2''f's
"Then l remembered when he was
about to sail for the big ocean what he
said. You kin pitch me into the brine, |