A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 51: what you’re looking at

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

48 A QUEER RACE. was not surprised at the scare I had caused. My hands and legs were covered with tar from the bows of the Lady Jane; some of the stuff had got on my face, and as my long and rather red hair was matted on my forehead and hung over my eyes, and my skin was very white, I looked decidedly queer and slightly diabolical, if not very ehost-like. So soon ag I had made myself presentable I went on deck. There had been a great to-do. When the ship broached to, the captain came out of his cabin in great wrath, and wanted to know what—the something or an- other—was up. Bucklow was excessively riled at being rolled into the scupper, and called the boatswain a darna- tion old woman, to Tom’s great disgust; and Bill Bailey received a severe reprimand for deserting his post and letting the ship broach to. ‘‘T thought it was one of them chaps from the Lady Jane come to life, or may be Yellow Jack himself,” pleaded the quarter-master. ‘* And if it had been, that was no reason for letting the ship broach to,” said the captain, severely; but when his momentary fit of anger was over, he laughed as heartily as the others; and for the rest of the day all were enjoy- ng the joke, and talking about the apparition of Yellow ack. Ah. me! It was the last bit of fun we had on board the Diana. In talking the affair over with Peyton, I mentioned the portentous sight I had just seen. He seemed much disyuieted. “Rats!” he exclaimed. ‘‘ Rats running along the hawsers? Are you quite sure?” “Quite; and the procession continued until I got on board and disturbed them.” “This may have been going on all night,” he said, uneasily. ‘‘It must be stopped. I want nothing from the Lady Jane on board this ship, least of all rats.” No wonder he felt uneasy. The rats I saw had been living for days on the bodies—now thrown overboard— which we had seen on the Lady Jane’s deck, and now they were among us, running round the ship, nibbling at our food, scampering over the water-casks. If it were possi- Gom G JOO SS (E(0)