Cape Cod (Mass.) -- Fiction; Short stories, American
“And that was only the beginning. They ain't much fun abusing Kanakas
because they don't talk back, but first along Rosy would try to talk
back, and that give 'em a chance. Julius had learned a lot of things
from that mate on the bark, and he tried 'em all on that tintype man.
And afterward they invented more. They made him work his passage, and
every mean and dirty job there was to do, he had to do it. They took
his clothes away from him, and, while they lasted, the skipper had three
shirts at once, which hadn't happened afore since he served his term in
the Sydney jail. And he was such a COMFORT to 'em. Whenever the dinner
wa'n't cooked right, instead of blaming Teunis, they took it out of
Rosy. By the time they made their first port they wouldn't have parted
with him for no money, and they locked him up in the fo'castle and kept
him there. And when one of the two Kanaka boys run away they shipped
Rosy in his place by unanimous vote. And so it went for six months, the
Emily trading and stealing all around the South Seas.
“One day the schooner was off in an out-of-the way part of the
ocean, and the skipper come up from down below, bringing one of the
photographing bottles from the carpetbag.
“'See 'ere,' says he to Rosy, who was swabbing decks just to keep him
out of mischief, 'w'at kind of a developer stuff is this? It has a
mighty familiar smell.'
“'That ain't developer, sir,' answers Rosy, meek as usual. 'That's
alcohol. I use it--'
“'Alcohol!' says George. 'Do you mean to tell me that you've 'ad alcohol
aboard all this time and never said a word to one of us? If that ain't
just like you! Of all the ungrateful beasts as ever I--'
“When him and the other two got through convincing Rosy that he
was ungrateful, they took that bottle into the cabin and begun
experimenting. Julius had lived a few months in Maine, which is a
prohibition State, and so he knew how to make alcohol 'splits'--one-half
wet fire and the rest water. They 'split' for five days. Then the
alcohol was all out and the Emily was all in, being stove up on a coral
reef two mile off shore of a little island that nobody'd ever seen
afore.
“They got into the boat--the four white men and the Kanaka--histed the
sail, and headed for the beach. They landed all right and was welcomed
by a reception committee of fifteen husky cannibals with spears, dressed
mainly in bone necklaces and sunshine. The committee was glad to see
'em, and showed it, particular to Teunis, who was fat. Rosy, being
principally framework by this time, wa'n't nigh so popular; but he
didn't seem to care.
“The darkies tied 'em up good and proper and then held a committee
meeting, arguing, so Julius cal'lated, whether to serve 'em plain or
with greens. While the rest was making up the bill of fare, a few set
to work unpacking the bags and things, Rosy's satchel among 'em. Pretty
soon there was an awful jabbering.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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