The Vital Spark | Page 9

he had to put plugs in them."

"God bless me! plugs?" said Dougie astonished.
"Ay, chust plugs," said the Captain emphatically. "You'll see them
often. They're made of kahouchy, with a bone ring on them for
screwing them on and off. It's the only thing for stopping them
greetin'."
The adventures of Wee Teeny from this stage may be better told as
Para Handy told it to me some time afterwards.
"To let you ken," he said, "I wass feared the wean would sterve.
Nothing in the ship but sea biscuits and salt beef. I went into wan shop
and got a quart of milk on draught, half a pound of boiled ham the same
as they have at funerals, and a tin tinny For a Good Girl. Dougie wasna
slack either; he went into another shop and got thruppence worth of
sweeties and a jumpin'-jack. It wass as nice a thing ass ever you saw to
see the wee cratur sittin' on the hatches eatin' away and drinkin' wi' the
wan hand, and laughing like anything at the jumpin'-jeck wi' the other.
I never saw the ship cheerier; it wass chust sublime. If Dougie wass
here himsel' he would tell you. Everything wass going first-rate, and I
wass doon below washing my face and puttin' on my other jecket and
my watch-chain oot o' respect for the passenger, when Dougie came
doon in a hurry wi' a long face on him, and says--
"'She's wantin' ta-ta.'
"'Mercy on us, she canna be more ta-ta than she iss unless we throw her
over the side,' I says to Dougie. But I went up on dake and told her she
would be ta-ta in no time becaase the ship was loggin' six knots and the
wind wi' us.
"'Ta-ta,' says she, tuggin' my whuskers the same as if I wass merrit on
her--ah, man! she wass a nice wee thing. And that good-natured! The
best I could do wass to make The Tar show her the tattoo marks on his
legs, and Dougie play the trump (Jew's harp), and when she wass tired
o' that I carried her up and doon the dake singin' 'Auld Lang Syne' till
she was doverin' over.

"'She's goin' to sleep noo,' I says to Dougie, and we put her in my bunk
wi' her clothes on. She wanted her clothes off, but I said, 'Och! never
mind puttin' them off. Teeny; it's only a habit.' Dougie said, if he
minded right, they always put up a kind of prayer at that age. 'Give her
a start,' I says to Dougie, and he said the 23rd Psalm in Gaalic, but she
didn't understand wan word of it, and went to sleep wi' a poke o'
sweeties in her hand.
"We were off Ardlamont, and Macphail wass keepin' the boat bangin'
at it to get to Rothesay before the mother went oot of her wuts, when I
heard a noise doon below where Teeny wass. I ran doon and found her
sittin' up chokin' wi' a sweetie that wass a size too lerge for her. She
wass black in the face.
"'Hut her on the back, Peter!' said Dougie.
"'Hut her yoursel'; I wudna hurt her for the world,' I says, and Dougie
said he wudna do it either, but he ran up for The Tar, that hasna mich
feelin's, and The Tar saved her life. I'm tellin' you it wass a start! We
couldna trust her below, herself, efter that, so we took her on dake
again. In ten meenutes she fell down among Macphail's engines, and
nearly spoiled them. She wasna hurt a bit, but Macphail's feelin's wass,
for she wass wantin' the engines to her bed wi' her. She thought they
were a kind of a toy. We aye keep that up on him yet.
"'My Chove! this wean's no' canny,' said Dougie, and we took her up on
dake again, and put up the sail to get as mich speed oot of the vessel as
we could for Rothesay. Dougie played the trump even-on to her, and
The Tar walked on his hands till she was sore laughing at him. Efter a
bit we took oor eyes off her for maybe two meenutes, and when we
turned roond again Teeny wass fallin' doon into the fo'c'sle.
"'This iss the worst cargo ever we had,' I says, takin' her up again no' a
bit the worse. 'If we don't watch her like a hawk aal the time shs'll do
something desperate before we reach Rothesay. Sha'll jump over the
side or crawl doon the funnel, and we'll be black affronted.'
"'I wudna say but you're right,' said Dougie. We put her sittin' on the

hatch wi' the jumpin'-jeck, and the tin tinny For a Good Girl, and