Many Cargoes | Page 4

all. Now, Harry.'
"'Take it,' ses the skipper.
"Harry took it, an' the fuss he made you'd ha' thought he was swallering
a football. It stuck all round his mouth, and he carried on so dredful that
the other invalids was half sick afore it came to them.
"By the time the other three 'ad 'ad theirs it was as good as a
pantermime, an' the mate corked the bottle up, and went an' sat down
on a locker while they tried to rinse their mouths out with the luxuries
which had been given 'em.
"'How do you feel?' ses the skipper.
"'I'm dying,' ses Dan.
"'So'm I,' ses Harry; 'I b'leeve the mate's pisoned us."
"The skipper looks over at the mate very stern an' shakes his 'ed slowly.
"'It's all right,' ses the mate. 'It's always like that the first dozen or so

doses.'
"'Dozen or so doses!' ses old Dan, in a far-away voice.
"'It has to be taken every twenty minutes,' ses the mate, pulling out his
pipe and lighting it; an' the four men groaned all together.
"'I can't allow it,' ses the skipper, 'I can't allow it. Men's lives mustn't be
sacrificed for an experiment.'
"''T ain't a experiment,' ses the mate very indignant, 'it's an old family
medicine.'
"'Well, they shan't have any more,' ses the skipper firmly.
"'Look here,' ses the mate. 'If I kill any one o' these men I'll give you
twenty pound. Honour bright, I will.'
"'Make it twenty-five,' ses the skipper, considering.
"'Very good,' ses the mate. 'Twenty-five; I can't say no fairer than that,
can I? It's about time for another dose now.'
"He gave 'em another tablespoonful all round as the skipper left, an' the
chaps what wasn't invalids nearly bust with joy. He wouldn't let 'em
have anything to take the taste out, 'cos he said it didn't give the
medicine a chance, an' he told us other chaps to remove the temptation,
an' you bet we did.
"After the fifth dose, the invalids began to get desperate, an' when they
heard they'd got to be woke up every twenty minutes through the night
to take the stuff, they sort o' give up. Old Dan said he felt a gentle glow
stealing over him and strengthening him, and Harry said that it felt like
a healing balm to his lungs. All of 'em agreed it was a wonderful sort o'
medicine, an' arter the sixth dose the man with paralysis dashed up on
deck, and ran up the rigging like a cat. He sat there for hours spitting,
an' swore he'd brain anybody who interrupted him, an' arter a little
while Mike Rafferty went up and j'ined him, an' it the fust mate's ears

didn't burn by reason of the things them two pore sufferers said about
'im, they ought to.
"They was all doing full work next day, an' though, o'course, the
skipper saw how he'd been done, he didn't allude to it. Not in words,
that is; but when a man tries to make four chaps do the work of eight,
an' hits 'em when they don't, it's a easy job to see where the shoe
pinches."

A LOVE PASSAGE
The mate was leaning against the side of the schooner, idly watching a
few red-coated linesmen lounging on the Tower Quay. Careful
mariners were getting out their side-lights, and careless lightermen
were progressing by easy bumps from craft to craft on their way up the
river. A tug, half burying itself in its own swell, rushed panting by, and
a faint scream came from aboard an approaching skiff as it tossed in the
wash.
"JESSICA ahoy!" bawled a voice from the skiff as she came rapidly
alongside.
The mate, roused from his reverie, mechanically caught the line and
made it fast, moving with alacrity as he saw that the captain's daughter
was one of the occupants. Before he had got over his surprise she was
on deck with her boxes, and the captain was paying off the watermen.
"You've seen my daughter Hetty afore, haven't you?" said the skipper.
"She's coming with us this trip. You'd better go down and make up her
bed, Jack, in that spare bunk."
"Ay, ay," said the mate dutifully, moving off.
"Thank you, I'll do it myself," said the scandalised Hetty, stepping
forward hastily.
"As you please," said the skipper, leading the way below. "Let's have a

light on, Jack."
The mate struck a match on his boot, and lit the lamp.
"There's a few things in there'll want moving," said the skipper, as he
opened the door. "I don't know where we're to keep the onions now,
Jack."
"We'll find a place for 'em," said the mate confidently, as he drew out a
sack and placed it on