Adventure, July 1, 1928 — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

70 GEORGE ALLAN ENGLAND paid in full, signed, sealed and delivered. When you do know, Man Above! Id nigh hand give half the twenty, just to clap my eyes on you then!” ¢ Through gray rain curtains, ‘the wharf now was fading from Bohannon’s sight. Laggardly dispersed, the little group there began melting away. Still, how- ever, the ship owner stood at the string- piece, a motionless and muffled figure. But all at once he raised a hand in signal of farewell; not so much farewell to Captain Bohannon as to the old and dying ship, last of his line. In: answer to that signal the captain lifted his own hand and shook it. That hand, though, was a fist. Then turning inboard, Bohannon went below to drink a glass of grog and brood evilly triumphant on the cynic thing that had been done; to gorge his spite by pondering upon the letter predestinate one week from then to shatter Jason Mellish. NDER a stiff quartering breeze the China Girl toward four bells of the afternoon watch was logging off a matter of seven knots. Flurries of wintry rain whipped a gray heaving and moder- ate sea that cradled the old Girl as if to lull her for her final rest. Doomed though Bohannon meant her to be, still he had had her put shipshape. Under the hard fisted persuasion of the mates—William Furlong and Peter Mayes —the waterfront scrapings which for the most part comprised that scurvy crew had been kicked and cuffed, horsed and ~ pushed and rustled about from station to station, to bring matters into some sem- blance of order. Even while still in tow, this work had been going on. And by the time the tug had dropped her off Ambrose Lightship the China Girl had begun to assume a certain air of reputability. Much had been to do; all loose objects on and around the decks to be secured for sea, gear coiled down and made all clear for running. Out of the sixteen men rated as A. B., hardly more than half knew one end of a ship from the other. Even in cleaning up decks, stowing away the hawsers and making the anchors fast with sea lashings, the intelligence of many had been over- taxed; hence, oration of no gentle tone from Furlong and Mayes. A _ lubberly gang of canalboat sailors, that! All thumbs though some of the comple- ment were, still they could pull and haul after a fashion when the gear was put into their hands. And presently out of chaos emerged a certain ‘kind of order. This, despite the fact that some of the haymakers were already seasick and not only got in each other’s way but also in everybody’s else. With tongue and fist the mates drove them, waking up their crowd of shiners with a will. “Come on now, lads. Masthead that yard! Walk away with them halyards!” And hesitantly the ponderous yards inched up the masts, with complaining: blocks and creaking parrals. Yards were trimmed, sails sheeted home and gear coiled ready on pins and rails. Two or three of the clumsiest farmers had to be manhandled for not jumping quickly enough, but no great damage was done. Captain Bohannon on the poop, mean- while, watched with some ennui the scene all too familiar through years of having witnessed such in “wind wagons” more often disreputable than not. At last they got the China Girl under topsails and courses, and finally set the maintopgallantsail. “That’s about all she'll carry,” the captain opined; and so for the present they let it go at that. LL HANDS were mustered aft as soon as the gear was reasonably shipshape. A sorry looking com- pany indeed they were, take it by and large, as they lined up. A tough crew— wharf rats, waterfront bums, wastrels, pierhead jumpers. It seemed quite obvious that some had left their countries for those countries’ good; the countries being several. Some had come aboard without sea chests or dunnage bags, comicloooks.com