It was the vagaries of the wind we
couldntunderstand, and no wonder. The water front of Frisco was held and run by a
lot of soulless crimps.
Most Swedes are good carpenters, and, though an
A.
It was shortly after midnight andpitch dark. Pretty
high handed, Ill admit, but the British were both feared andrespected in those
days.
There being little wind, however,she payed off
slowly. Thats always the verdict on a sailing ship, anyway. Butfor Gods sake men
dont let those crimps get hold of you. On the other hand, to be dubbed a
cracker-onwould be the ambition of every skipper worth his salt.
So that by the time she checkedcoming up, and
started to pay off a bit, it seemed too late. I know mine was sinking lower
andlower, as she tore at those forbidding black cliffs. Wearing Ship is aticklish
job at the best of times, particularly the bracing up when shecomes to. As almost
everybody was on thestarbd side of the boom, I nipped along to the port
side.
Get him to give you his brief Can do and youneed no
attorneys, stamps nor seals. Hegoes ashore that night under the wing of the crimps
runner to have agood time. When daylight came he was allright, but as soon as it got
a bit dusk, he was finished.
Aman is invariably mouching until he dies, and then
we say, Oh, hemust have been bad after all.
The first chap we said was loafing,until he
died.
Then nobody would have had aghost of a chance. On a
long sailing ship voyage, each man knows the other better than heknows himself. On
one occasion old Jock heard some of the crew cursing at the way hewas carrying
on.
In either case it would have meant a swift and
sureexit for all of us.
It was the vagaries of the wind we
couldntunderstand, and no wonder.
We expected all four masts to come down like a row
of ninepins. On a long sailing ship voyage, each man knows the other better than
heknows himself. After the drink, the sailor chap is givenmoney.
I know I felt all of a sailor afterrounding it
once. Ill go furtherand say, such men were not difficult to find in British
ships.
Rotting grain has worse contemporaries, but they
are not soeasy to find.