A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 52: what you’re looking at

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

A QUEER RACE. 49 ble to convey the infection, they would surely convey it—- had, perhaps, conveyed it already. The captain asked me to keep what I had seen to my- self—he feared 1t might alarm the crew—and the car- penter received orders to fix on each of the hawsers a round board, studded with nails, to prevent an invasion of rats from the Lady Jane. ‘‘T have heard of rats running along ropes before now,” he said to the carpenter, ‘“‘and it is just as well co be on the safe side.” I made no further remark, but I much feared that it would prove another case of shutting the stable door when the steed was stolen. My worst forebodings revived, and I turned in that night with a heavy heart. After lying awake several hours, I sunk into a dream-haunted sleep. My dreams were all about rats. I saw the procession over again; saw the little black demons crawl along the hawser and sweep in thousands over the deck; saw the watch fighting with them; and Peyton, coming out of his cabin to see what was the matter, the creatures fell upon him, and in a few minutes there was nothing left but a skeleton. When I awoke the sun was shining, and a huge rat sat on the side of my bunk. For a moment I thought that I still dreamed, but as I moved and stirred the bedclothes it jumped on the floor with a squeak and scurried out of my sight. The first rat I had seen on board the Diana, and no doubt one of the horde from the fever ship. As likely as not, it had been playing about my bunk and running over my bed all night. My fellow-passengers were all early risers, though not quite so early as myself, and I found them at breakfast, Peyton, as usual, at the head of the table. ‘‘Halloo!” cried Bulnois, the young fellow who was voyaging in search of health. ‘‘ 1 hope you are not out of sorts. I never knew you late for breakfast before. You are not an eaily bird this morning, and if you had been you would not have picked up a worm. No worms on board the Diana, only rats and apparitions of Yellow Jack—ha, ha!” ‘Rats! rats! What do you mean, Bulnois?” Eomicboo cS (ee)