LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 3, 3 June 1874, Page 4

LITERATURE.

THE DOOMED SHIP.

[From “ Chambers’s Journal.”]

‘ Seen a deal of rough weather in my time, sir? Yes, that I have; what with being cast away twice, and burnt out off the Capo, I’ve had my share of it, sir. But there’s worse than either storm or fire, ay, a deal worse.’

‘What’s that?’ I asked of my bronzed, weather-beaten friend, a boatman at a favorite bathing-place. ‘Being speculated on, sir. That’s the word for it. It’s a long one ; but it’s the right word for all that ; sold for money, as if we were sheep or oxen,’ Something moved the old man deeply as ho uttered the last few words ; his bony fist came down on the thwart of the boat as if it would smash the frail timbers.

‘ You may well look surprised, sir,’ added he, recovering his usual placid look ; ‘ I ain’t myself when 1 talk of it. I feel a kind of murderous fhatred ofg the villians when it all comes afore my mind. Maybe you’d like to hear the yarn, sir ?’ ‘Very much, indeed,’ I replied, my curiosity excited by the vehemence of the old tar.

Having turned his quid of tobacco over in his capacious month, he began as follows ;

‘ It’s some years ago now since I was looking out for a ship up in the north ; freights were very low, and shipping business dull, so that there was a number of hands about the port, and do what I might I could not get a berth. My money was pretty nigh all gone, for I’d been ashore a month, and Jack and his money soon part, what with land sharks of one sort and another, ma'e and female —1 don’t know which is the worse of the two —anyhow, I must go to sea again, or sell my kit and tramp off to London. Well, I was down upon my luck in this way, when one morning, as 1 was sauntering down to the docks to have a look round the shipping, a man, who had been walking behind me for some little time, edged up alongside. ‘ Looking out for a ship, my lad V says he, in a bluff, hearty kind of way. ‘Yes, sir,’ says 1. ‘ I thought you might be 1 ’ says he, casting a side-glance at me with bis small gray eyes. ‘ Yes, I am,’ says I. ‘ Well, I can put you in the way of a nice snug berth, my lad. I suppose you wouldn’t object to a trip to South America ? ”

1 It didn’t much matter to me where I was bound, but somehow the fellow’s figurehead didn’t please me, so I answered rather short: ‘lf you mean the James Wilson, she filled up.’ ‘You’re wrong, my lad: the vessel lam speaking of is at Cardiff ; and if you’d like a berth in her, perhaps I could manage it. However, there's no harm done ; you don’t seem to care about it, so there’s an end of it.’ So saying, he wished me good morning, and dropped astern. ‘ Well, thinks I to myself, if this chap meant mischief, he would not be so ready to sheer off : one place is as good as another to me, and maybe I’m losing a chance that won’t come again in a hurry. So I turned round as he was crossing the road, and calls out to him : 1 Hollo there, mister !’ ‘ The man took no notice ; so I ran after him till I came alongside. ‘ Well, my lad,’ says he sharply, ‘ what’s in the wind ? ’

‘ I was thinking about what you said just now ; and if so be all’s square’ ‘All square! What do yuu mean? Confound it, man, do you take me for a crimp ? * says he. ‘ No, sir,’ says I, taken quite aback. 4 Well, then, what do you mean by all square? Come, out with it! I’ve no time to waste with you. There’s plenty of hands up yonder that will jump at such an offer.’ 4 Well, sir,’ says I, recovering myself a bit, 4 What the name of the craft ? ’ ‘The Maid of Orleans. But what does it matter to you ? It ain’t all square you know ! ’

4 So saying, he made as if he’d sheer off, and I wish I’d let him go ! But I felt vexed with myself for having doubted the man ; my money would not last much longer ; I was tired of a shore-life, and what a fool I must be, I thought, to throw away such a berth as he had offered.

‘ Come, sir,’ says I, following him up, ‘you needn’t take offence at what I said. If you want a man, I’m willing,’ ‘ He did ■ not seem best pleased, though, for he stood hesitating a' minute before he answered. However, at length he says : ‘You’ll have to go down by to-night’s train. Perhaps your kit isn’t ready ? ’ ‘Never fear, sir ; it docs’nt matter to me whether I start to-night or wait a week.’ ‘ Well and good. Then you’d better be off, and get your kit in order, and I’ll meet you at the station at six o’clock, Mind you’re there sharp ! ’ ‘ Never fear, sir,’ says I; and so we parted.

‘ Well, sir, somehow or other, though the fellow was civil enough, I didn’t feel altogether easy in my mind ; but there was nothing left for it now but to go through with it; so I packed up ray kit, bought a few odds and ends, and, towards dusk, made by way down to the station. There was an hour to spare before the train started ; so I crossed the road to a public-house, to have a glass of grog, and sat myself down in a snug corner, whilst I sipped my rum-and-water. The room was partitioned off with bulkheads, and there was not a soul there when I entered. By-and-by two men came in, and sat themselves down in the next partition to mine, and I heard them talking together for some time without taking any particular notice. Presently, I thought I heard the name of the craft I’d shipped in, Maid of Orleans, and I pricked up my ears, you may be sure. I’d kept so quiet, that the fellows, I suppose, fancied they had the room to themselves.

‘ Bless your soul, man,’ says one of them, ‘it’s a safe venture ; never fear. Eight thousand pounds—that’s the amount ! ’ ‘ You’re a smart fellow, and no mistake. Poor beggars.’ ‘ Hold your tongue! I bate such cant. Who goes halves, eh ! tell me that ? ’ ‘ Well, don’t fire up so, man ; surely there’s no harm in pitying them, if we are obliged to give them a dose of saltwater. Ha, ha ! ’ ‘ That’s talking like a man of sense. Eight thousand pounds clear profit ! I tell you, Harry, it’s as safe as the Bauk of England She’ll never do it.’

‘ Light airs and calms, you know, Johnny, eh ! How about our venture then ? ’

‘ Confound it, man, you’re a regular killjoy. A capful of wind is more than enough. She’s like a sieve : once out to sea, she’ll sop up water like a sponge.’

‘ Suppose tliey take to the boats, wliat then ? ’

‘Well, what if they do? They weren’t built yesterday. The old Reindeer’s children are as old as herself, ay, and as rotten ! ’ ‘ He laughed a low mocking laugh, as he spoke, that sent a chill through my very marrow. I had heard of ships being sent te sea to be lost; but hitherto it had been my good luck to sail in first-class craft, and I used to put down such tales as forecastle yarns, invented by Jack out of spite to his owners. I was off the scent, however, and must have been mistaken in my fancy that I had heard them mention the Maid of Orleans, though I had some dim notion that I ought to collar the two ruffians and call the police; but then, perhaps, I had not understood the nature of the business, though it seemed plain enough too ; and whilst I was debating in ray mind how to act, the fellows got up and walked out of the place. I started up so as to get a look at them ; but it was too dark to make them out, so I went back to finish my grog, and to turn over in my mind what I’d heard. One thing was clear enough, and that was, that the doomed ship was the Reindeer ; and a thought struck me that I might get something about her out of the “ Shipping Gazette.” There she was, sure enough ; a large clipper ship, advertised to sail in a week’s time, class A 1 at Lloyd’s, owners Huidley and Company, I’m rather out of my reckoning here, says I to myself. That’s a firm that never sent an unseaworthy ship to sea, and never will. Maybe, after all, those fellows were making game of me, saw poor Jack sitting there, and took a rise out of him. The clock struck the quarter, so I paid my score and made all sail for the station. The man was there, looking so cheery and jolly that I scarcely knew him again. ‘I was afraid you were going to giveme the slip, my hearty,’ says he, laughing. * Here’s your ticket. I’m sorry I can’t go with you, but I’ve telegraphed for some one to meet you at the station, so you’ll be well looked after.’

‘ I liked his jokes less than his sneers, so I didn’t say anything, but bundled into the train.

‘ Good-bye, my hearty,’ says be, shaking me by the hand. ‘ A pleasant voyage and a quick return.’ To be continued.