The Blood Ship

erson the authority of Shipping Commissioner and in his hand the articles of the Golden Bough. After the careless fashion of the day and port we sig

e usual pretense of reading the a

John Henry

troked the scar on his forehead-a ha

" he made answer. "

ewman," that is how he wrote it. Not the first time he had clapped eyes upon ship's articles, one could see with half

, yet the man would not tarry by my side long enough to up-end a schooner to a fair passage. I was to have other surprises before the day was out-the mean-faced beggar, and the way in which the Knitting Swede put us on board the Golden Bough. Surprising incidents. But this refusal of my new shipmate to drink with me was m

traditions of the foc'sle and join my ship sober, so I imbibed as steadily as my y

air, I wanted to shut out from my mind the sights and sounds and smells of the groggery, the reek and the smut and the evil faces. Above all, I wished to escape the importunities o

to me. And in truth it did. Aye, I was the chesty lad, and my step was high and proud, during that stroll. For men hailed me, and pointed me out

gutter. He was the sorriest-looking wretch I had ever seen, the gaunt ruin of a man. He drew his filthy rags abou

is voice was as remarkable as anything about him; instead of speaking words, he whined them, through his nose it sounded l

much about it, I emptied my pockets of their change. He pounced upon that handful of silver with the avidity

me as I was to see the last of him. But I felt ashamed of my distaste of him; it seemed heartless. And when the cold wind came swooping across from th

in there; but I feared the gibes of the boisterous gang. This bum of mine was such grotesque horror that the drunken wits of the house wo

The house was a veritable rookery above the first floor. I lodged on the third floor, in a room overlooking the street, a s

. As we walked along the hall towards my room, the door of the room next to mine opened and the big man, who signed himself Newm

a thrill through me. There was recognition in his look, and something else. It made me shiver. As for this fellow with me-he stopped short at first sight of Newman. He said, "Oh, my Go

his man of mine threw a fit indeed. I never saw such fright in a man's face. He opened his mouth as If t

his stern mouth cracked into a little smile (but, God's truth, there was no mirth

me sound out of his m

several tim

han I can tell," went on Newman.

the disjointed words he forced out of his mouth were just husky whisper

, and an ugly splotch of crimson appeared upon his pale lips. His knees gave way altogether, and he crou

The feeling made me a little resent

man. "Don't look at him like that-he'll di

ncounter. But he's glad to see me-aren't you, Beasley? Stop that nonsense, and get u

at he said. I'd have obeyed too, just as quickly, if he had spoken to me in that tone. There was so

swaying. He found his tongue, too, in sensible

e cue. It gave me an e

out to Newman, as I moved for the stairs.

seas over I might be, but I was still clear-witted enough to realize that I had accidentally brought two old acquaintances together, and that one was pleased at the meeting and the other terrified, and that wha

lapse. He looked so abject; his condition might have touched a harder heart than mine. But there was no softening of Newman's heart, to judg

pick-me-up," he said,

ou'll excu

Little he cared if I excused him or not. He shut the

es there was my reputation as a hard case to look to. But strangely enough I did not become incensed; I never thought of kicking down the door, I never

went into my own room and lay down upon the bed. The liquor that was i

rable part of the conversation in the next room. Newman's deep voice was a mere rumble, a menacing rumble, with the words undistinguishable, but the beggar's disagreeable whine carried through the partition so distinctly

st a rat of that caliber to set up that wail. For some time that was all I got from the words that

ied out sharply, "For God's sake, don't look at me like that! I'm telling the truth, I swear I am!" The scrape of a

o do what he said. He had this paper of mine-he knew they were forgeries-I had to

hing planned, the very day he arrived. I know he had, because he came to me, in the tavern, and told me I was to drop hints here and there through the village that you and Beulah Twigg had been seen together in Boston. I didn't wan

tongues were wagging behind your back. Why, it was the talk of the town. You and Beulah Twigg, together in Boston; you and Beulah together at sea; you and

the tavern that you would be married before you went to sea again. He didn't like that-the talk abo

and said, 'Beasley, giv

mouth shut and sta

t there on the cliffs. It belonged to my father, you remember, but it hadn't been lived in fo

ake a good guess at the nature of the business. Didn't I know his ways? But I wouldn't blab; he owned me bod

er, on the quiet, while he sparked Mary in the open-last time he was home. You were home then, also. Remember, you left a day ahead of him, to join your ship in New York? A China voyage, wasn't it? Well-Beulah left the same day. Just disappeared. And poor old

y women who could stand out against him. Mary could, and did-that's why he was so wild against you. But little Beulah-she

she insisted on coming, or something like that. I thought it was devilish bold of him, bringing the girl where everybody knew her. But then, he really wasn't taking such a chance, because nobody eve

d to me. Yes-asking favors, when he knew I must do what he said. Smiling and purring-you rememb

I had a rare trick with the pen in those days-before this cough got me, and my hand got shaky. The note I wrote for him was a mere line. 'Meet me at Beasley's Old Place at three,' with her initial signed. That was

ember? He told you, with a wink and a grin, that it was from a lady-but he didn't say what lady. Remember? Well, Beulah had

me to the Old Place, and be secret about it. Ah, now you understand? But-I swear I didn't know what he was leadin

and feared him both. He owned her completely. He had made her into a regular echo

t believe; then I was to come in and tell about seeing you and Beulah together in Boston, and how she begged me to bring her home. But-for God's sake!-I didn't do it. I didn't have to. Mary believed. How could she help believing-the gossip, and poor little Beula

ld make you make amends. Then she rushed out of the house and met you coming along the cliff road-com

, and threw your ring in your face, and raced off home. And you behaved just as he knew you would behave. He was a slick devil! He knew your pride and temper; he counted on them. He knew you would be too proud to cha

. And you gone in haste, without a word. They said she jumped-desertion, despair, you kno

such a feeling as mercy. Didn't I find it out? He wanted to get rid of me-and he did. Before the week was out; before Beulah was fairly buried, before Mary was

ey's tale in straight-forward fashion, I did not overhear it as I tell it. I caught it in snatches, so to speak, rather disconnected snatches which I pieced together afterwards. I heard this fellow, Beasley, talk while lyi

with his dunnage, waiting. He was alone. There was no sign of my beggar ab

about myself. Now that the hour had come to join the ship, I wasn't feeling quite so carefree and chesty

u bet! The Swede was spreading himself to give us a grand send-off, I thought! But I changed my mind when we started. The hack was on Newman's account, solely; and he mad

-care. The Swede slumped in one seat, with our dunnage piled by his side, wheezing profanely as the lurching of the hack over the c

lady sails, Swede?

m Swope, himself,"

s plain as the nose on my face. I didn't bother my head about it; the man's reasons were his own, and foc'sle custom said that a shipmate should be judged by his acts, not by his past

r a powerful crimp to adopt towards a foremost hand. But the Swede's manner towards Newman was different. There was respect in it, a

s, and dressed down into the foc'sle. Such was the custom of the port. But when we alighted at Meigg's Wharf not a sailor or runner was in sight. A regiment of roosting gulls was in

of Newman. "You and I, alone, aren

. "The Swede is going to put us two ab

dly shocking me sober, and this last one fairly took my

rnsheets of his Whitehall while his retainers rowed him out to a ship to interview the captain, and collect his blood money. It was unusual for the

ded of Newman. "We are no flamin

said. "That hell-ship yonder is no proper berth for you. Take my advice, and d

d have gone. The aspect of that empty wharf was depressing, and there was something sinister about all these unusual circumstances surrounding our joining the ship. I began to feel that there was something wrong about the Golden Bough bes

her if I had to swim for it. That flaming packet can't scare me away; I'll take a pay-day from her, yet!" I was

the Swede's huge bulk squatting in a Whitehall boat below. "Yump in!" he bade us. We tosse

irway. Newman and I sat together in the sternsheets, each wrapped in his mantle of dignified silence. I kept my eyes on the black bulk of the vessel we were rapidly nearin

s to drift down with the tide. He fumbled about his clothes for a moment, and produc

eful. I swallowed a great gulp of the fiery stuff. It was good

man; he accepted it, but I

ly, the most magnificent fore-topsail-yard-ahoy voice I had

y ban Swede Olson with two hands for you! Heave over da Yacob's ladder,

scular chap, with not so much of the "bucko" in his bearing as his reputation led one to expect. But at the moment I was impressed only by his big body and stern face. In truth, even that impression was hazy,

voice rumbled into the

hose two jaspers we hea

ame from the cabin and

, even my addled wits

ed face and brutal, pi

ief kicker" of

nch, "Good beef, though. They'll pull their weight. Hope there are more like them." He gave his regard to me, looked me up and down slowly,

, myself, with stupid surprise, his peculiar antic

hat bottle to his lips. He came over the rail with the bottle clutched in his hand, and as soon as he touched the deck he was as pickled as any sailor who ever joined a ship. He

d Lynch, shortly. "Yo

lady on board?" asked

down his gullet!" answered Lynch. "Here you two," he

th our bags. Fitzgibbon spoke to the

the Swede. "Captain Swo

gang to get yo

more huskies like t

able seamans," de

nt. But further words I lost, for Newman an

d I sat down upon the bench that ran around beside the tiers of empty bunks. Then, wh

alert and hard set, and the eyes gleamed strangely as though the man were laboring under a strong, repressed excitement. Newman wore an air of triumph, as t

ne of my eyelids, and looked into my eye. Then he tilted the bottle he still carried, and wetted his

ntil he was no larger than a manikin, going through the motion of drinking from a tiny bottle; while in contrast, his

eposited me in a bunk. He got a blanket out of my bag and spread it over me. I found something very comical about thi

ion overcrept me, was Newman's manikin-sized figu