The Voyage of the Arrow to the China Seas.: Its Adventures and Perils, Including Its Capture by Sea Vultures from the Countess of Warwick, as Set Down by William Gore, Chief MateHains, T. Jenkins (Thornton Jenkins)
General
The Voyage of the Arrow to the China Seas.: Its Adventures and Perils, Including Its Capture by Sea Vultures from the Countess of Warwick, as Set Down by William Gore, Chief Mate
I was too busy with my own thoughts to pay any more attention to the
matter for the present, and I went on board the _Arrow_ and turned in,
thinking that he would be there when I awoke in the morning.
When I turned out he was not there, and a short time afterward I heard
the news that Mr. Anderson was dead.
He had been found sitting at his desk in the office. The gas was turned
on in the room and the doors and windows closed. When the janitor opened
the place for business in the morning, he had been almost suffocated. As
soon as he recovered sufficiently he called for help, and he and several
others entered the room and dragged the unfortunate young man into the
hall. They found that he had been dead for several hours.
That was all. I’ve never heard anything more definite about the matter.
But I was satisfied that my friend Brown was cleared.
Alice Waters and myself were married the next day.
As luck was with us, that very day the old clipper _Morning Light_ came
in, and, after a good deal of fuss and bother, I made a deal to get
transferred to her.
Williams, her skipper, was a friend of mine, and he backed me in the
effort to exchange to the point of resigning altogether. He owned enough
shares in the vessel to finally settle the matter, and this gave me a
couple of weeks longer on the beach and Williams a chance to go to
China, which was what he wanted.
Brown suddenly changed his mind about sailing with us, and had his
things put ashore. He never came near the _Morning Light_ until just as
the tug took our towline. Then we suddenly found that Garnett--as usual
when about to start off soundings--had disappeared during the bustle of
clearing to take a nip at a neighbouring gin-mill. O’Toole, in a
fighting temper, started after him.
The big Irishman soon had him half-way down the dock before the old mate
realized his undignified position. Then he lashed out and struck O’Toole
a powerful blow, and the prospect became interesting. A crowd gathered,
and this attracted the attention of a policeman, who forced his way to
where the mates were struggling. With the help of a few bystanders he
parted them, and then, seizing Garnett by the coat, he started to drag
him off to the lockup, when Brown appeared on the scene, pointing to me
and saying something to the officer which checked him long enough for me
to make a landing on the dock.
“Who is he?” asked the policeman, as I made my way toward them.
“Windjammer from the shade o’ night, that’s what I am,” panted the old
mate, thickly.
“I mean his business?” snapped the officer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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