Brenden, Axel and I were up on Nuuanu Street, in the vicinity of
Merchant, watching the shifting crowds as we wandered aimlessly about.
Presently we spied Peter, coming toward us, carrying his jug. The
street was fairly crowded, and going ahead of us, toward Peter, was
a one-legged man; a pugnacious individual who brought down his iron
shod peg with loud determination. The wooden leg yawed badly, sailing
at least three sheets in the wind, and the flag sidewalk was none too
wide for him. Coming up to Peter, he lurched suddenly to port, taking
our shipmate squarely on the bow, and the three of them, all carrying
cargo, Peter, the Peg Leg, and the Jug of Swipes, rolled into the dusty
gutter.
A fight started right there. The Peg, to give him a proper name,
attacking, and Peter defending himself from the strange fury of the
indignant cripple.
"Separate 'em! Don't you see the man's got only one leg?"
"Hi! The bloat wi' the wooden pin is fightin'! Blarst 'im!--look at
'im!" Sailors, beach combers, natives, and Orientals were gathering and
taking voice.
We closed to render assistance as the crowd formed under the circle
of light from a street lamp. The two combatants sat back in the gutter
after a second exchange, both having fought sitting down.
"What are we fighting for?" cried Peter, covered with dirt and sweat.
"I dunno," admitted the stunned Peg.
"To hell with this, let's quit!"
"Naw. I wanna fight!" Peg was getting back his belligerent wind. "Wash
in that jug?" he demanded, seeing the prize.
"Swipes!" cried Peter, trying to retrieve the jug.
"Lesh fight fer swipsh. Al ri! Fight fer swipsh!" he screamed with
enthusiasm.
The Peg made another lunge at Peter, as our boy jumped up with
surprising energy, and we grabbed our shipmate and hauled him out of
the crowd of riff raff that was rapidly increasing. Some blue-jackets
from the _Bennington_ came up, scenting fun, and Axel was just in time
to beat them to the jug of swipes that lay neglected in the dust. He
passed this to a Kanaka standing near, a boy we recognized as one of
the loading gang, who rapidly departed with his unexpected present,
while we hurried off with Peter in the direction of Fort Street. What
became of Peg is unknown. On Fort Street we were attracted by the
melody of Salvation Army music, and to wind up the night, watched our
famous Jimmy rouse things up in his new uniform, his chest expanding
visibly as he ignored us and pounded his drum with added zest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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