Sonnie-Boy's PeopleConnolly, James B. (James Brendan)
General
Sonnie-Boy's People
Connolly, James B. (James Brendan)
Sea stories; Short stories, American
And now, being well warmed up to my work and my head bustin' with
strategy, I takes the little captain in the rear and was about to lay
him low, when the gen'ral hollers: "Senor admiral, you for-get--spare
him!" So I spares him, but I whales the other last one a couple in a
soft spot and chases him, till he took a high dive too into the
forehold; and I could also hear him rattlin' and bouncin' around after
he struck the cocoanuts or the pineapples, whichever it was. Then I goes
for the little captain again, only now I picks him up and holds him
while the gen'ral ties his arms, and then, first clampin' down the
forehatches on the captured crew, we lowers him into the cabin whilst we
take a look around.
It was me for loot, the gen'ral for the fair lady. But not a thing could
I find, and him no fair lady. In the hold, topside, between decks,
everywhere; but nothin' besides cocoanuts and other fruit and some
hogsheads o' rum. The rum was an encouragin' item, but not what you'd
call loot. So we came back to the cabin and untied the captain, who
begins at once to go rollin' cigarettes and shootin' green eyes at the
pair of us. The gen'ral takes a seat opposite him and argues
beseechin'ly, but not one soft look from the little man.
The gen'ral, discouraged, turns to me. "Senor admiral, what do you say
for him? Is it not a hard heart? I love his daughter, but he----"
"She no lofe you!" snaps the little man.
"Ah-h, but how can you say that truly?" says the gen'ral, and turns to
me and says: "Is it not just, senor admiral, that I should have one
opportuni-ty to see her?"
By this time I'd filled a little jug with some rum, and there was lemons
and brown sugar and a little ice, and I thought 'twas kind o' rough on
him, and so I says: "Yes, I think y'oughter, 'specially while you got
that uniform on. But where is she?"
"Ah-h, that is it, where is she? On this ship I have thought, but
evident-ly not so."
"Maybe she's here at that, hidden somewhere," I says, "and if she is,
believe me, gen'ral, I'll find her," and leavin' a lemon swizzle to cool
I begins to search the schooner again. And this time I takes a good look
into the little captain's stateroom. I didn't find the fair lady, but
packed cutely away under the old fellow's bunk was about a cord o'
money! Nothing less than a thousand-dollar bill, but five and
ten-thousand dollar bills mostly, and all new. Lord knows how much there
was there, but I hauled a bushel or so of it out on the cabin floor by
way of a sample. And the little man never stirred when he saw it; and as
for the gen'ral, "Bah!" he said--"Red moneys!"
I was thinkin' I'd done a fine stroke, and that made me feel kind o' put
out. "I'll find that girl if she's on the ship," I says then, and I
steps over to a corner of the cabin where there'd been a fresh
boarding-up of the bulkhead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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