Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1920-08-04
John Hansen,
Crew
By FREEMAN PUTNEY. JR.
tcopyright)


The skipper himself had stepped
from the sloppy fshing-sloop TO the adj
Joining wharf. while the lowered gaff
on which he had been working lay In
a disorder of canvas on the deck.
He walked along the wharf TO the
schooner in the next berth. and asked
man sitting in the shadow of the
forecastle for a Bit of spun yarn.
MY fore speaks gin out on me" he
explained
The man on the schooner dropped
his newspaper. stood up. spat over the
rail, and remarked that il was Sun
day. From the fishing-sloop. the crew.
John Hansen, now resting on his ell
bows half out of the cabin. grinned
under his thin, corn-silk mustache.
The man on the schooner dropped
below to look in his stores, and the
skipper waited, putting on his pipe.
The man on the schooner came on
deck again, shaking his head. and
tossed the skipper a handful of tan
gled cord.
They got no spun yarn. John"
hailed the skipper. "Will marline
dor"
"Ee-yah :" returned John.
THANK ye," grunted the skipper to
the schooner's man. Sorry We Amt
got any spun yarn"
"All right" mumbled the other. re
Stunning colored supplement where
be had left off.
The skipper returned to his sloop.
John Hansen did the repairing, and
the skipper assisted. Before loAg the
iron was rewound. the ropes strength
ened, and the halyards rebent
Nov" said the skipper. I'VE can
go ashore. Wen sail airly in the
mornin' so We better sleep aboard. Ye
goin' up TO see Christina this after
noon?"
John grinned.
"Ee-yah," he drawled. 'I tank I
20 see her"
"Shes a mighty stanch gal, Chris
tina" admired the skipper. You an
she goin' ter git spliced soon?'
The crew blushed.
81 amt asked her yet. but tank
-
That's right" approved the skip
per Don't ask her TIL we're sure,
right an tight"
"Ee-yah," corrected John. 81 tank
Pne ting can break it Suppose the
girl go awayf"
what dye meant"
~ tank l got promised TO marry
girl once myself. l went on fishing
trip, and when I come back the girl
ban gone away"
"a gal at homer
'No, girl named Fannie, here
when first came to Hardyport. She
went away. tank / amt promised
to her longer. eh?"
The skipper thought rapidly. For
two years John Hansen had served
as lone hand on the shore fishing-boat.
Working on shares, his portion of the
proceeds had given him good bal
ance In the savings bank uptown, but
the skipper knew that the balance
should have been many dollars more.
John had trusted the shippers
arithmetic and without question taken
what was given him each settling day.
A watchful wife would end this He
would encourage anything that might
delay this marriage.
"Ye sartain got ter marry Fannie
If We said We would" he begun.
John looked perplexed.
81 don't tank So" he considered
slowly. "She ban gone TO New York
her cousins they told me. What make
it she don't write me a letter if she
want me?"
"Oh. We never can tell about wom-
en- folks" generalized the skipper
easily. "She may be breakin' her lit
tie heart waitin'. fur all ye know"
With troubled face, John washed
his hands and face and changed his
clothes In the cabin. Then. going on
deck. he combed his hair before a
fragment OF mirror stuck lD a mast
hoop.
II tank" he announced finally. 81 go
up an see the parsoD at the Bethel
/ got to be honest. an II ban fool
to get promised to little Fannie long
time before ] saw Christina. maybe
! have TO pay for IT, Only hopey
he added brokeDly-'T hope Christina
she don't care-much !"
that's right" approved the skip
per.
That afternoon, when the meeting
at the Fishermen's Bethel was over,
John Hansen did 90 to the parson. and
the parson. having untangled from
Johns broken English what seemed TO
be a straight version of the story. did
tell the tall, Iigbt-haired fisherman TO
wait.
John did not go to see Christina that
evening.
Instead. he made his way back TO
the wharf.
81 tank I don't fish any more" he
announced TO the astonIshed skipper
"Why notf" was the demand
81 tank | go TO end Fannie.
~But, We tow-headed scuIpin' ye
can't End her 10 New York;"
Deaf to representation. John stend-
lily packed his dunnsgebag while the
skipper swore the oaths OF man who
had overreaebed himself
ii
Three evenings John Hansen spent
undar the glare of the electric lights