Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1921-09-17

YOU in peasant clothes ?-that luck had
been ag'in us.
What the end would have been
don't know. 1t was you that solved
the problem, not them You looked an
the first man Of them hard. Then you
got to your feet
Michael says you quietly, I'm
going to sea. England'S at war, and
there's work to do So lets make for
a kings ship, and have done with mis-
cry and poverty
Then you waved a hand TO the
man in command of the recruitln'
gang, and presently stepped up to
MIN and his friends.
Sir ! said TO you, I'm not going
TO be pressed into the navy.
There's no pressin, Michael you
answered. Wen be quota men. Wen
do it for cash--for forty pounds each,
and no other You let them have you
as you are. But if you don't want to
come, you added its all the same
to me-
| knew you wanted me Also | knew
the kings navy needed me, for men are
hard 10 get So, when they'd paid Us
the cash-forty pounds apiece
stepped in behind you, and here we
are-here we are! Forty pounds
apiece-equal to three years wages of
an ordinary recruit of the army. 1t
amt bad, but We're here for three
years, and no escape from it. Yes,
here we arew
Dyck laughed.
AYE, here we're likely to remain,
Michael There's only this to be said
we'll be fighting the French soon,
and it's easy to die in the midst of
great fight If we don't die, Michael,
something else will turn up. maybe"
THAT'S true, sirl They'll make an
officer of you, among the common herd.
It's the dregs o. the world that comes
to the ships bottom in time Of peace
or war"
"Well I'm the dregs Of the world,
Michael I'm the supreme dregs
Somehow the letter from Virginia
had decided Dyck Calhouns fate for
him. Here he was-at sea, a common
sailor in the navy. He and Michael
Clones had eaten and drunk as sailors
do, and they had realized that, as
they ate and drank on the River
Thames, they would not eat and drink
on the watery fairway. They had seen
the tank foul with age, from which
water was drawn for men WHO could
not live without it, and the smell of
it had revolted Dyck's senses They
had seen the kegs of picked meat, and
they had been told of the evil ralions
given to the sailors at sea.
The Ariadne had been a flagship IN
her day, the home Of an admiral and
his staff She carried seyenty-four
guns, was easily obedient to her swift
sail, and had a reputation for gallanTy.
From the first hour on board, Dyck
Calhoun had fitted in; with a discern
ing eye he had understood the seamen's
needs and the weaknesses of the sys-
TEN.
The months he had spent between
his exit from prison and his entrance
into the Ariadne had roughened
though not coarsened, Dyck's outward
appearance. From his first appearance
among the seamen he had set himself
to become their leader. His enlist
ment was for three years, and he meant
that these three should prove The final
success Of this naval enterprise, or the
stark period in a calendar Of tragedy.
The life Of the sailor, with its coarse
ness and drudgery, its inadequate pay,
its evil-smeiling food, It's maggoty
bread its beer drawn from casks that
once had held oil or fish, its sinking
salt-meat barrels, the hideous stencil
Of the bilge-water-all this could In
one sense be no worse than his suffer
ings in jail in spite Of self-control,
jail had been TO him the degradation
Of his hopes, the humiliation Of his
manhood He had suffered cold, damp
ness. fever and indigestion there, and
1t had sappcd the fresh fiber of life
Ia him
From the moment Dyek arrived on
board the Ariadue he a8s 81 marked
man Terens a DISTINGUISHED solicit
tor. who knew his story spread the UNI
wholesome truth about him among the
ships naoDIo. and be received ateu-
tions at once offensive and GatterIng.
The BEST educated vi tha -Hp hand
4nf5gaarIg3 MINI un tHp Grievances u.tth