Dialect literature, Canadian; Fishing villages -- Fiction; Newfoundland and Labrador -- Fiction; Sea stories; Short stories
“Oh my, no!” cried Salim Awad, shocked by this inharmony with his mood.
“Ver’ bad weather.”
“Pup of a day,” Sam Swuth insisted.
“Ver’ bad day,” said Salim Awad. “Ver’ beeg wind for thee punt.”
The pack was hoisted from the boat.
“An the glass don’t lie,” Sam Swuth promised, “they’s a sight dirtier
comin’.”
Salim lifted the pack to his back. “Ver’ beeg sea,” said he. “Ver’ bad
blow.”
“Ghost Rock breakin’?”
“Ver’ bad in thee Parlor of thee Devil,” Salim answered. “Ver’ long,
black hands thee sea have. Ver’ white finger-nail,” he laughed. “Eh?
Ver’ hong-ree hands. They reach for thee punt. But I am have escape,” he
added, with a proud little grin. “I am have escape. I—Salim! Ver’ good
sailor. Thee sea have not cotch _me_, you bet!”
“Ye’ll be lyin’ the night in Hapless?”
“Oh my, no! Ver’ poor business. I am mus’ go to thee Chain Teekle.”
Salim Awad went the round of mean white houses, exerting himself in
trade, according to the cure prescribed for the mortal malady of which
he suffered; but as he passed from door to door, light-hearted, dreaming
of Haleema, she of the tresses of night, wherein the souls of men
wandered astray, he still kept sharp lookout for Jamie Tuft, the young
son of Skipper Jim, whom he had come through the wind to serve. Salim
was shy—shy as a child; more shy than ever when bent upon some gentle
deed; and Jamie was shy, shy as lads are shy; thus no meeting chanced
until, when in the afternoon the wind had freshened, these two blundered
together in the lee of Bishop’s Rock, where Jamie was hiding his
humiliation, grief, and small body, but devoutly hoping, all the while,
to be discovered and relieved. It was dry in that place, and sheltered
from the wind; but between the Tickle heads, whence the harbor opened to
the sea, the gale was to be observed at work upon the run.
Salim stopped dead. Jamie grinned painfully and kicked at the road.
“Hello!” cried Salim.
“’Lo, Joe!” growled Jamie.
Salim sighed. He wondered concerning the amount Jamie had managed to
gather. Would it be sufficient to ease his conscience through the
transaction? The sum was fixed. Jamie must have the money or go wanting.
Salim feared to ask the question.
“I isn’t got it, Joe,” said Jamie.
“Oh my! Too bad!” Salim groaned.
“Not all of un,” added Jamie.
Salim took heart; he leaned close, whispering, in suspense: “How much
have you thee got?”
“Two twenty—an’ a penny.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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