A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 23: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

20 A QUEER RACE. and vowed that I would never Lave anything to do with @ Woman again—in the way of love. Two days later we were at sea. The Diana was a fine, full-rigged merchantman, one thousand two hundred tons burden, with an auxiliary screw and a crew of thirty-nine men, miscellaneous cargo of Brammagem ware, Man- chester cottons, and Bedford stuffs. She had half a dozen passengers, with all of whom (except, perhaps, a young fellow who was taking a sea voyage for the benehit of lis health) time was more plentiful than money. For all that, or perhaps because of that, they were very nice Pevlavs’ We had lots of books among us, and what with read-— ing, talking, smoking, sauntering on deck, playing whist and chess, the days passed swiftly and pleasantly. Now and again we gave a sort of mixed entertainment in the saloon, at which the skipper and as many of the ship’s company as could be spared from their duties on deck were present. ‘I'wo of the passengers could sing comic songs, one fiddled, another recited; I played an accordion and performed a few conjuring tricks, and one way and another we amused our audiences immensely, and won great applause. I naturally saw a good deal of Tom Bolsover, but in the early part of the voyage the weather was so variable and he so busy that he nad little time for conversation, ~ and we exchanged only an occasional werd. But when we got into the region of the trades he had more leisure, and going forward one fine morning, I found him sitting on a coil of rope, apparently with nothing more import. ant to do than smoke his pipe and stare at the sails. ‘‘ 1 was very sorry to hear of the busting up of that ’ere company,” he said, after we had exehanged a few re- marks about things i in general. ‘Yes, you saved us twenty thousand pounds, and I thought that would pull us through; but we lost twice as much by the suspension of our bankers, and then we were up a tree, and no mistake.” ‘* | hope you did not lose much by it, sir?” “Well, I lost my situation and all my money, and I had a very nice sam laid by.” ‘* All your money! Dear, dear! Iam very sorry. But you surely don’t mean quite all??? | comichooks.co