The Argosy, October 1906 — page 130: what you’re looking at

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

ae eshead. until by sunset we were not more Te than five miles distant from the largest - . island. Then the breeze completely left us, the sea flattened out. like a sheet of ~ satin, and all night we lay softly heaving a? the unbroken swell without so much as: Steerage way. : — * The men in both watches were up es and down continually, and the gleams of the rising sun had scarcely dispelled the _ wreaths of mist curling around the crest = of the gigantic peak than I saw that _ something new was afoot among them. st Ee A light air came breathing out of the west, and at six bells we were creeping | = ahead under plain sail, slowly opening = out the westward angle of the island. “The charts told me that the only land- ae ooo was on the northerly side, and I was ogling the forbidding surge-beaten coast through the ship’s glass when Har- ris came aft and said: . ~ ‘*Mr, Bantock, the men’d tike-t speak to you, if it’s convenient.’ : I looked around and found all hands Bee ah alaiaan se “gathered on the main deck in evident expectancy, and all looking my way. zee “What's up now, Harris?” I asked. Ses If you'll step forrard, sir, you'll ’ear ees wot’s in our 7 ae ee In answer to my it. of inquiry lit- =¢°- te Harris: “gan : ee ‘“We’ve bin turnin’ over wot yer said See about them two devils bestin’ us arter = _- all wen we gits ashore! D'yer still eo . ~ think, Mr. Bantock, ’t we carn’t jail’ em a for wot they’ve done?” = “~ “T think the odds are they’ Il sails ~ and that’s my honest opinion,” I replied — 3 as impressively as possible. ‘‘ You may | as »take your individual oaths that, if tall 7 ‘swearing will do it, Milligan and Hogan -__will prove that we’re a parcel of skulk- . - ing scowbankers; their cruelty will be ~~ glossed over as necessary to the ship’s discipline ; _ they call provisions will be tossed over- board, and they'll make us out a lot ~of vicious mutineers. - they did not overstep the law of the sea | ~ —and- neither you nor I can prove that e: they did.” >: - This was the simple truth. The many s ai’ A ay bi sa) Nt cruel incidents of the voyage—the exe- oS - erable food, the brutal assaults on the _ crew, the extortions of the captain’s wife, =" a 3 : = x ee Sse : : >, . =y ak = + . = ; tae — a = << aA that aheenbor we ae the remainder of the junk, irons, why stand by! They'll swear that - even the na Tisus indifference & the fate of poor Miggs, bitter and vivid memories _ =: though they were to the crew, would — sound quite tame and trivial when told before a magistrate My opinion did not seem to discon- cert the men. With a auiet grin Harris rejoined: “Well, sir, we've got a ed up our sleeve as’ll trump all that!” Indeed!” said I; “‘ then for heaven’s S - sake play it!” = “You say that there island’s inhabited, | = touch there ? ” “Then ’ere’s wot we mean 1 Pee = “em ashore there an’ leave ’em!”’ The proposition took rt my breath away. At first blush all my professional - in-— stincts revolted at the idea, for to ever well-trained seaman the person of his captain-is sacred. But a glance at the faces of the crew showed me that they. had determined upon this course and would carry it out despite anything I might do or say, and the plan certainly solved our present difficulty. However, there was another side = bee . -considered. ‘Let me tell you,” I went on, it that you are simply accumulating treable for — yourselves when you do reach port. I don’t know what the punishment is for marooning one’s captain and mate, but I should say it must be pretty stiff. Have you men thought of that?” — Harris, the little daredevil, <ahackled: = Yes, we've figgered that out, an’ once the old man’s over the side elk tell ° ee "ow we're goin’ to manage!” =~ I shrugged my _ shoulders, -“ You'll do as you like, anyway, So what's the dise of jawing. But you'll never get them to enter a boat willingly; you can’t send them adrift without the use of their arms and legs, and if you take off. the { 19 Here the seaman Bones broke in th a disgusted air: _ “Oh, you be blowed! We'll ek em over the side, tow ’em ashore, an! let the natives turn ’em loose! ” Evidently the crew’s ingenuity was “not -at fault, I thought, as the conference broke up. But I determined to have no _ 7 hand in the marooning. : Immediately after breakfast the 1 men — ~ comicbook saying : 2