The Autobiography of a Super-TrampDavies, W. H. (William Henry)
General
The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp
Davies, W. H. (William Henry)
Davies, W. H. (William Henry), 1871-1940; Poets, English -- 20th century -- Biography; Tramps -- Biography
There were not so many accidents after this, but they have not
altogether ceased." After hearing this account, I was not very eager
for more practical knowledge of this profession, called dredging, so I
agreed with Red to make three or four more trips as cattlemen, until
the spring of the year made other work easy to be obtained.
We returned to the office, where between thirty and forty men were
waiting an opportunity to ship. As I have said before, some of these
men were notorious beggars, and the kind-hearted people of Baltimore
never seemed to tire of giving them charity. One man, called Wee
Scotty, who had been a cattleman for a number of years, begged the
town so much in some of the rather long intervals when he was waiting
a ship, that he could take a stranger with him three times a day for a
month, to be fed by the different good people that were known to him.
He could take up a position on a street corner, and say--"Go to that
house for breakfast; come back to this house for dinner, and yonder
house with the red gate will provide you a good supper." In this way
he kept me going for two weeks when, at last, I was asked to sign
articles to go with cattle to Glasgow.
Some days before this, a man came to the office, whose peculiar
behaviour often drew my attention to him. He asked to be allowed to
work his passage to England, and the skipper promised him the first
opportunity, and a sum of ten shillings on landing there. This was the
reason why some of us had to wait so long, because, having made trips
before, more or less, we required payment for our experience. The man
referred to above, had a white clean complexion, and his face seemed
never to have had use for a razor. Although small of body, and not
seeming capable of much manual labour, his vitality of spirits seemed
overflowing every minute of the day. He swaggered more than any man
present, and was continually smoking cigarettes--which he deftly
rolled with his own delicate fingers. In the intervals between
smoking he chewed, squirting the juice in defiance of all laws of
cleanliness. It was not unusual for him to sing a song, and his voice
was of surprising sweetness; not of great power, but the softest voice
I have ever heard from a man, although his aim seemed to make it
appear rough and loud, as though ashamed of its sweetness. It often
occurred to me that this man was playing a part, and that all this
cigarette smoking, chewing tobacco and swaggering, was a mere sham; an
affectation for a purpose. I could not, after much watching,
comprehend. He was free of speech, was always ridiculing others, and
swore like a trooper, yet no man seemed inclined to take advantage of
him. Blackey took him under his protection, laughing and inciting him
to mischief. He was certainly not backward in insulting and
threatening Blackey, which made the latter laugh until the tears came
into his eyes. The men were spellbound at his volubility. He shook
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