XI
THE 'CONVALESCENT'
Welsh John was discharged from hospital at ten on a Sunday morning;before dark he was locked up, charged with riotous behaviour and theassaulting of one Hans Maartens, a Water Front saloon keeper. A matterof strong drink, a weak head, and a maudlin argument, we thought; butHansen saw the hand of the 'crimps' in the affair, and when we heardthat sailormen were scarce (no ships having arrived within afortnight), we felt sure that they were counting on John's blood-moneyfrom an outward-bound New Yorker.
"Ye see, John hadn't money enough t' get drunk on," he said. "We sawhim in hospital last Sunday, an' Munro gave him a 'half' to pay hiscars down t' th' ship when he came out. Half-dollars don't go far in'sailor-town.' I guess these sharks have bin primin' him up t' get 'mshipped down th' Bay. The _J. B. Grace_ has been lyin' at anchor offThe Presidio, with her 'Blue Peter' up this last week or more, an'nobody 's allowed aboard 'r ashore but Daly an' his gang. Maartens isin with 'em, an' the whole thing 's a plant to shanghai John. Drunk orno' drunk, John 's seen th' game, an' plugged th' Dutchman for a start."
As it was on Munro's account that he had come by the injuries that puthim in hospital, we felt more than a passing interest in John's case,and decided to get him clear of the 'crimps' if we could. We knew hewould be fined, for saloon-keepers and boarding-masters are persons ofweight and influence in 'Frisco town, and, although John had nearlyeight months' pay due to him, it would be considered a weakness, a sortof confession of Jack's importance, for the Captain to disburse on hisaccount. It being the beginning of a week, we could only muster a fewdollars among us, so we applied to James Peden, a man of substance onthe Front, for assistance and advice.
James was from Dundee. After a varied career as seaman, whaleman,boarding-house keeper, gold seeker, gravedigger, and beach-comber, hehad taken to decent ways and now acted as head-foreman to a firm ofstevedores. He was an office-bearer of the local Scottish Society,talked braid Scots on occasions (though his command of Yankee slangwhen stimulating his men in the holds was finely complete), and wore atartan neck-tie that might aptly be called a gathering of the clans.
To James we stated our case when he came aboard to see that his'boy-ees made things hum.' It was rather a delicate matter to do thisproperly, as we had to leave it to inference that James's knowledge ofthese matters was that of a reputable foreman stevedore, and not thatof a quondam boarding-master whose exploits in the 'crimping' businesswere occasionally referred to when men talked, with a half-laugh, ofshady doings. It was nicely done, though, and James, recalling aparallel case that occurred to a man, "whom he knew," was pessimistic.
"Weel, lauds, Ah guess Joan Welsh 'r Welsh Joan 'll be ootward boundafore the morn's nicht. They'll pit 'm up afore Judge Kelly, a bluidyFenian, wha'll gie 'm 'ten dollars or fourteen days' fur bein' aBritish sailorman alane. Pluggin' a Dutchman 's naethin'; it's th''Rid Rag' that Kelly's doon oan. Ah ken the swine; he touched metwinty dollars fur gie'n a winchman a clout i' the lug--an ill-fauredDago wi' a haun' on 's knife. Ah guess there's nae chance for alime-juicer up-bye, an' ye may take it that yer man 'll be fined. Noo,withoot sayin' ony mair aboot it, ye ken fine that yer Captain 's no'gaun tae pey 't. Wi' nae sicht o' a charter an' th' chances o' 's shipbein' laid bye fur a whilie, he'll no' be wantin' mair men aboard, 'nAhm thinkin' he'll no' be sorry tae see th' last o' this Joan Welsh.This is whaur Daly 'll come in. He'll offer t' pey th' fine, an' yerman, wi' seeven weeks' hospital ahint 'm, an' the prospeck o' afortnicht's jile afore 'm, 'll jump at th' chance o' a spree. Daly 'llpey th' fine, gae yer man a nicht's rope fur a maddenin' drunk, an'ship 'm on th' New-Yorker i' th' mornin'. There's nae help for't;that's th' wey they dae things oot here; unless maybe ye'd pey th' fineyersels?"
This was our opportunity, and Munro asked for a loan till next week.He explained the state of our purses and the uselessness of applying tothe Captain so early in the week; James was dubious. Munro urged thecase in homely Doric; James, though pleased to hear the old tongue, wasstill hesitating when Munro skilfully put a word of the Gaelic here andthere. A master move! James was highly flattered at our thinking hehad the Gaelic (though never a word he knew), and when Munro brought atorrent of liquid vowels into the appeal, James was undone. The bloodof the Standard Bearer of the Honourable Order of the Scottish Clanscoursed proudly through his veins, and, readjusting his tartan necktie,he parted with fifteen dollars on account.
Now a difficulty arose. It being a working day, none of us would getaway to attend the Court. We thought of Old Martin, the nightwatchman. As he slept soundly during three-fifths of his night watch,it was no hardship for the old 'shellback' to turn out, but he wasn'tin the best of tempers when we wakened him and asked his assistance.
"Yew boys thinks nuthin' ov roustin' a man out, as 'as bin on watch awlnight." (Martin was stretched out like a jib downhaul, sound asleep onthe galley floor, when we had come aboard on Sunday night). "Thinksnuthin' at awl ov callin' a man w'en ye ain't got no damn businessto.... W'en Ah was a boy, it was ropesendin' fer scratchin' a match info'cas'le, 'n hell's-hidin' fer speakin' in a Dago's whisper!"--Martinsullenly stretched out for his pipe, ever his first move onwaking--"Nowadays boys is men an' men 's old.---- W'y"--Martin wavedhis little black pipe accusingly--"taint only t' other day w'en thatthere Jones lays out 'n th' tawps'l yardarm afore me 'n mittens th'bloody earin' 's if awl th' sailormen wos dead!" His indignation wasgreat, his growls long and deep, but at last he consented to do ourerrand--"tho' ain't got no use for that damned Welshman meself!"
Arrayed in his pilot cloth suit, with a sailorlike felt hat perchedrakish on his hard old head, old Martin set out with our fifteendollars in his pocket, and his instructions, to pay John's fine andsteer clear of the 'crimps.' We had misgivings as to the staunchnessof our messenger, but we had no other, and it was with some slightrelief that we watched him pass the nearest saloon with only a wave ofhis arm to the bar-keeper and tramp sturdily up the street towards theCity.
At dinner-time neither John nor Old Martin had rejoined the ship. Wethought, with misgiving, that a man with fifteen dollars in his becketwould be little likely to remember the miserly meal provided by theship, and even Browne (the Mark Tapley of our half-deck) said heshouldn't be surprised if the 'crimps' had got both John and Old Martin(to say nothing of our fifteen dollars). As the day wore on we grewanxious, but at last we got news of the absentees when Peden passed, onhis way out to the Bay. The sentimental Scotsman of the morning hadthought a lot after his liberal response to Munro's appeal, and hadcalled round at the Police Court to see that the affair was genuine.He was now in his right senses; a man of rock, not to be moved even bya mention of Burns's 'Hielan' Mary,' his tartan tie had slipped nearlyout of sight beneath the collar of his coat, and the hard, metallictwang of his voice would have exalted a right 'down-easter.'
"Yewr man was 'up' w'en Ah got raound," he said, "up before Kelly, 'sAh reckoned. Ah didn't hear the chyarge, but thyar was th' Dutchmanwith 's head awl bandaged up--faked up, Ah guess. Th' Jedge ses t' th'prisoner, 'Did yew strike this man?' Yewr man answers, 'Inteed togoodness, yer 'anner, he looks 's if somebody 'd struck 'm!' Wi' thata laugh wint raound, an' yewr man tells 's story." (James's Doric wasreturning to him, and the twang of his "u's" became less pronounced.)"He had bin in hospital, he said, wasn't very strong--here th' Dutchmanlooks up, wonderin' like--had ta'en a drap o' drink wi' a man he met in'sailor-town.' There wis talk aboot a joab ashore, an' they were inMertin's tae see aboot it, an' yer man sees this Mertin pit somethin'i' th' drink. He didna like the looks o't, he said, so he ups an' giesMertin yin on th' heid wi' a 'schooner' gless. That wis a' he kentaboot it, an' th' Dutchman begood his yarn. Oot o' hiskind-hertedness, he'd gie'n th' pris'ner a gless or twa, fower at th'maist, when th' thankless villain ups an' ca's 'm names an' belts 'm onth' heid wi' a gless. 'Pit drugs i' th' drink?' Naethin' o' th' kind!He wis jist takin' a fly oot o't wi' the haunle o' a spune.
"A bad business, says Kelly,
a bad business! There's faur too miny avthim British sailormin makin' trouble on th' Front. It's tin dallars,says he, tin dallars 'r fourteen days!
"Ah saw Daly git up frae th' sate an' he his a long confab wi' yer man,but jist then yer auld watchman tramps in, an' efter speirin' aboot heups an' peys th' fine, an' they let yer man oot. Ah seen th' twa o'them gang aff wi' Daly, an' Ah couldna verra weel ha'e onythin' tae daewi' them when he wis bye."
This was James's news; he was not surprised to learn that they had notreturned to the ship, and, as he passed on, on his way to the jettysteps, muttered, "Weel, it's a gey peety they had that five dollarsower much, for Ah doot they'll baith be under th' 'Blue Peter' beforeth' morn's mornin'."
When we knocked off for the day we were soon ashore looking for thewanderers, and early found plain evidence that they had beencelebrating John's 'convalescence' and release. An Italianorange-seller whom we met had distinct memory of two seafaringgentlemen purchasing oranges and playing 'bowls' with them in thegutter of a busy street; a Jewish outfitter and his assistants wereworking well into the night, rearranging oilskins and sea-boots on theceiling of a disordered shop, and a Scandinavian dame, a vendor ofpeanuts, had a tale of strange bargainings to tell.
Unable to find them, we returned to the ship. One of us had to keepMartin's watch, and the Mate was already on the track of the affairwith threatenings of punishment for the absent watchman.
About ten we heard a commotion on the dock side, and looked over to seethe wanderers, accompanied by all the 'larrikins' of 'sailor-town,'making for the ship. Two policemen in the near background were thereto see that no deliberate breach-of-the-peace took place.
Martin, hard-headed Old Martin, who stood drink better than theWelshman, was singing '_Bound away to the West'ard in th' Dreadnoughtwe go_' in the pipingest of trebles, and Welsh John, hardly able tostand, was defying the Dutch, backed by numberless Judge Kellys, andinviting them to step up, take off their jackets and come on.