CHAPTER VI.

NZ Truth, Issue 80, 29 December 1906, Page 7

CHAPTER VI.

"But ships are but boards, sailors but men; there bu land rats and water rats, water thieves and land thieves; and then there is tho peril of paters, windSj and rocks. Ihe man is notwithstanding sufficient. — (JHorchant oi: Venice.) '

Messrs;. Crowther and Bray were a firm of Bhdpownore m Sydney, and possessed assail fleet of colliers trading, for ""' ?»^' between that port' or Newcastle, N.b.W. ana New Zealand. They also had a few larger vessels going "deep water," and Mr. Crowther wa.. the head of. tho firm. There couldbe no doubt about the latter fact as every ono" said so, and what "every one says, anust be true. . . \_o_liere> were people who said that Bray had '$%. bigrest aay, but the people were only yE captains and that kind of folk, who Sfevery one" allowed were not of much ac-

gfcount anyway. r Years a<jo, m thc "good time," Mr. Crowther had sferted -ih.'a small' way, having, bought tho "Set. Breeze," a Shorehain bng, at au.iucfcioh sale, which vessel, having buffeted tho waves'ior goodness only knows how many years between, the Azores and Liverpool, until she was^-oonsiderabl/ off color, was then painted up," and sent to the antipodes to sell. Having purchased her for a "more song" she was run pn -the coast uufcil' she considerately rap ' herself under. > . Mr. • Crowther then bought two other vessels cf the same kind 'with the money the "Sea Breeze" had made for him, and by the time the»3 two disappeared beneath the "briny," he had netted sufficient to buy a few tolerably dooenfc vessels. •". As he increased m years and wealth he made the discovery that it was utterly impossible to sit m his office and- attend to business details, and at the same time be on jbe wharves bullying the skippers of his Toseefi, 'and "chasing them to sea"" when the last truckload of coal was on board. His captains were, to use Mr. .Crowther's own expression, which was forcible rather than polite, "a lot of unprincipled pirates whose principal objects m life were to demand rope and canvas to proceed to sea with, anti lose m imaginary gales of wind— and time to sneak away and anchor m one of Sydney's snug little bays until the said gales of wind, which by the way only existed m their own besotted imaginations, passed by. Tbfey got their good ten pounds a month, and wanted to pass all their time at anchor."

So on the principle of "setting a thief to cafcqh a thief" ..'he took into his business a partner, one Bray, who knew "■every blessed trick a skipper could spring on him." He ought to sure enough, as he .had been a shipmaster over 20 years and played the self same tricks himself all the time.

One afternoon, the "firm" were sitting at their office table' discussing freights, charter parties, etc., and cursing the /'Seamen's' Union," which prevented them cutting down their employees' .wages. They had just "sacked" the captain of one of their vessels, for complaining that the food supplied for 4he use of his crew was not of sufficiently good quality, . and to make matters worse the refractory master had point-blank refused to cover up "Plimsolls mark," and paint another six: inches higher up the ship's Side. This unnaturally ungrateful mariner had "topped up," by informing the firm that, according to his private opinion, they were a pay,* of "d , blood-sucking, leeches, and they . could sail their rotten tubs themselves," as far as he personally was conceded (that is the ungrateful mariner); he would rather go farming, and try the impossible task of growing spuds m this dr&ight-sfcricken country of rich land 'ageing, and poverty-stricken agriculturists, than 6et his foot on one of their ships again. And haying thus relieved his mind the worthy: manner had shaken the dust of that office from his feet, aiid departed to study the New South ' Wales land laws, and try if he could make head or tail out of tbsm, and ihe probability 'is that unless he has paid an agfent to interpret them for him—he ii studying stall.

■" Who shall be put into the 'Warrior Bold' ndw? asked Mr. Crowther, balancing his gold spectacles on the tip of his forefinger, and gazing mildly into his partner's face. Mi*. Crowther was a mild man, and his bald head, with its. fringo of carefully brushed grey hair, and well-oiled muttonchop whiskers, gave him the air and general appearance of irreproachable - respectability. Of course, he was a churchwarden ; and equally, of course, he was a "J.P.y'f and, if it had been a sufficiently respectable position for him to have held, he would also have been an M.P. fto he remained outside "the House," for, of course, the line had to 'be drawn somewhere.

"I think we'd better give Gibson, the mate of the 'Iron Duke.y the vacant berth," replied Bray, after a short pause! "We'fl put him oh probation for six months, and keep him on mate's pay. Afc 'the end of ■that time wo can just dump him" out, and put another on, on. the' same terms. . That'll give us a skipper at seven pounds a month. In fact, I think we had better work that principle all round. There's no points' in paying ten pounds a month when you can get men for seven." ...-.-

Mr. Bray, or Captain Bray, as he was sometimes called, was, m appearance and manner, the very antithesis of his smoothtongued partner. He was a bull-headed, tough, red- whiskered ruffian, and nothing better could *be' made oiit of hini. - He may have had good points, but no living person had ever known him long- enough to find them. The terror of his subordinates, he was, as aill such men are, either a bully or a crawler, just as the circumstances of the case required.

Mr. Crowther piously turned up the whites of his eyes and contemplated the cobwebs on the ceiling. Perhaps he was mentally consulting the "cherub that sits up aloft and looks. after poor Jack;" if go the consultation resulted against "Jack" and m favor of "the firm."

' "No, Bray, you are right; there are, as you say, no points m paying ten pounds when we can get the same article for seven. The fact is, we can only afford to be generous to these people after we have been just to ourselves." And then he 6_ghed. Tlie senior partner was always sighing; ho had grown rich by "being just" to himself; but he was m a chronic state of regrot because he could not— really could not, afford to.be generous. "Decency" compelled him to drop money, m the plate afc church with a loud jingle; but justice compelled bim to stop that money out of somebody's

.wages. "Just so," replied Bray. "Freights are -Jow, and the cost of stores is high, and the ,j — y- insurance companies " )5q vox iafcecnipted by a feeble knock at iho door, :uul,- immediately afterwards, ifc partly opened, and a cadaverous head, trimmed by a pair of huge eara, with a.

pen-holder stuck behind one, appeared afc the opening. "Beg pardon," said the owner of the ears.---"Well," said, Bray sharply, "What about it?"

"A young — ahem — man," and the confidential clerk coughed behind his dirty paw, "wishes to see the head of the firm." "All right. Send him along. We're both heads, and two heads are better than one." Mr. Bray chuckled at his little joke. Tho door opened widely, and Harry West entered the shipowners' office and bowed to "the firm." Our hero presented quite' a different appearance now, compared with what he had done when we last caw him. He was clean shaven, with the exception of a light moustache, and wore a well-fitting suit of clothes, besides being' evidently pretty "well fixed" m other ways. Before he had time to make any . remark, Bray accosted him roughly. "What's your trouble, eh P" "I should like to see the head of the firm," said Harry, who was standing, looking, from one to the other. "You see the firm, itself, both head and tail. > What d'ye think of it?" "Afc present I am not sufficiently well acquainted to offer an opinion; but I should certainly Miink more of it if it asked me to sit down."

"Take a chair," said Mr. Crowther, politely, "and let us know your business." That .gentleman was not sure yet whetherthe visitor had. come to "give" or "take." If he wore going to try the latter on there would be plenty of time for the firm to harden, and put on its "negative" face; but Mr. Crowther always liked to begin smoothly.

~..S^j}__J friend sat down and deposited his hat on th'e table, then he commenced business.

. "I, understand I am addressing a firm, of well-known shipowners. I am a seamen, and was second mate of the- ship Bonnie Dundee, which .vessel was wrecked off the coast about two months ago." "Just so. Go on, young man; but please to remember that our time is. of value, and however interesting these details may be to you, they are hardly of sufficient importance to interest us." Mr. Crowther leaned back m his chair, and, placing his thumbs m the arm holes of his waistcoat, visibly swelled with importance, at the same time .putting on a slightly harder expression of countenance, for ■he was now suspicious that the visitor was going to try the "shipwrecked sailor dodge," which "dodge" had been tried on him a number of times before, needless to say, unsuccessfully. , "I will, cut the matter as short as possible, if you will give me your attention." "That's about all we shall give you, mate, and very 'little of it," interjected Bray, who was getting impatient, for he had a ship to rush out to sea before dark, and if he wasted 'time here the master of the ship might waste time there, by clearing his decks,, etc., before 'sailing,' a thing' that the firm did not allow under any circumstances. . "If you ..do not want to hear me, I'll try 6ome one else .who will," and Harry rose from his seat and, reaching for his hot, was about to depart with his tale untold ; put Crowther, who had been intenfcly^wafcching him, and was no. mean physiognomist, waved him back again. . . - "Don't be too hasty. We will make time to hear- your story." The young man sat down again, and Bray scowled, for it was hot often that the head, of the firm took the bit m his teeth and acted /alone. "As I said before, I'm. the only survivor from the "Bonnie Dundee," a ship that was wrecked some two months ago, and I lived over, a month among the blacks.- While there I became possessed of 4. secret which will, no doubt, turn out to be worth thousands of pounds; but it requires some capital to work it, -and I have none.' What I propose is, . that you" fit out a small vessel with diving gear and other necessaries, and recover the treasure, each of us taking half the proceeds. That is, your' firm half and me the other half, you paying all the expenses." . „ . "Allow me to ask you a question,' said Bray, who had been listening with a cynical expression oh his face. "Twenty,; if you wish," said Harry. "Have you any relations im Australia?" "No. Not one." . "Perhaps you have a rich unci? m Fiji? "No, not even that.*'. "Oh. Maybe you are waiting for a remittance from home P" "I' haven't even that hope," replied Harry, who was beginning to look puzzled. "Pleas,e go on," said Mr. Crowther. "Don't mind my partner's little jokes." "Oh. Are they jokes? Well, I haven't come here to be subject to jokes, but to offer to sell information. The only question for you to answer. is— Will you buy? or am I to try elsewhere?" .The young man was losing patience; bo was getting decidedly "riled" with the "junior," and would, afc that particular moment, have pulled his long red nose for a trifle less than ihe proverbial "two pins.'V. "What form does yonr secret take. Is it a gold mine or what?" Harry produced a small parcel which he opened on the table disclosing to view— Topsy's brooch. | • The two shipowners carefully examined the object under a microscope, after which Mr. Crowther enquired, evidently with moz-e interest that he had displayed previously— "Where did you get this?" Harry answered by another question— "Do you know what it is?" "Of course. I can see that it consists of a number of gold coins," said Mr. Crowther. "What about 'em?" asked Bray looking intently into our hero's face. "What about 'em?- That's what I. want to know m as few words as possible." "I was shipwrecked on an island as I told you, and while living there I found traces of a' sunken ship. Those coins were, no doubt, a portion of her cargo." "Just so," 6aid Mr. Crowther, "and, of course, you took them away." "I couldn't .get them, the wreck is laying ten fathoms under water. If I could have got them myself, it stands to reason that I should not have come to you." "Then how did you get this?" pointing to ths lump of metal which was laying on the office table. "I found it m the possession of a native woman. In fact she gave ifc to me." "As far as>l can gather," said Mr. Crowther, patting the palm of his left hand with the forefinger of his right. "You wish us to believe that you saw btaeath the water the remains of a wrecked vessel, and you surmiso principally upon this evidence," pointing to the gold, "that she had on board a considerable amount of gold, and you wish us td join you with funds to recover the bullion." Mr. Crowther smiled blandly, and then remembering the wickedness of his employees, and the world m general, sighed deeply. "Quite 60," replied Harry West. "Thai is the whole business." • "Pardon me., young man; but that is not the whole hus_nes&; on the contrary it is only a preliminary to the commencement of vbe businttss. Please hand me down, that flhfttt Mr. Bray— Thank proa."

The senior partner spread the chart upon the table, and carefully pinned the corner down, then, handing our hero a pen, he said — "Now just point' out the exact spot where the vessel lays." The young sailor laughed and dropped the pen on the table. "No thank you. We don't do business that way." "Then how do you propose to do it?"' asked the senior pai-tner, who did not m the least s-iom to be put out by the rebuff. "You will have to take ray word to a very great extent. I have seen the wreck and know what vessel it was, having made most complete inquiries. She was outward bound from London to China, and had gold coin on* board to the amount of a quarter of a million. Every member of the crew was either drowned or killed and eaten by the aborignals. The gold lays 'there still, and only requires a diver and proper equipments to recover ifc. I offer you halves— you pay expenses — I command the expedition." "Just let me see that specimen you've got there once more," said Bray, who had been quietly listening and saying nothing. Harry handed it to him, and he carefully examined it again. "I'd like to break this up and see if it really is gold coin." "If you have a hammer and chisel you can easily do that." Bray . left the office and returned m a short time, with a small axe and a large hammer, and with these tools tried to separate the lump into halves. After hitting his fingers a number of times and . grunting out the same number of curses, he at last succeeded, and examined the pieces again, after whioh he plumped himself down m a chair, and, wiping bhe perr spir ation from his brow with a large muffy handkerchief, he said, m a loud, blustering tone— "This is a nice yarn you're trying to ring m on- us, eh! A regular 'Gulliver's Travels' arrangement, with a bit. of Rougemont and » 'Robinson Crusoe' thrown m. But it won't wash, my fine fellow. You can go and tell it to the d— — marines,' for a sailor won't believe you." "You can suit yourself," said Harry, m- 1 dignantly. I'm offering you a fortune, and the least you can do is to behave with oommori civility." "Civility be bothered. You 'come here and take up our time with a tale about shipwreck m which you're the only one saved. Then a bloomin' yarn about being cast away on an island. After that, and without a blessed wink, mind -you, you try and ram down our necks something about another wreck and the crew being eaten by aboriginals. Aboriginals! Of all peoplo m the world, not South Sea Islanders, but. plain, up an' down Australian niggers; and: you think we don'tjiknow that these people don't^ live on islands, and don't eat human beings if they did. It's rot and rubbish, that's what it is; rot and rubbish." And. Bray brought :his fist -down on tihe tahle with a bang that shook everything m the office, and even caused the cadaverous clerk with the flop ears to approach the door from the outside and peep through the keyhole. "Well," said Harry, "you oan sujt yourself; but I know for a. fact that the tribe I was among are at least inclined to cannibalism." "Mt. Bray," said Crowther, who deemed perfectly astonished at tihe turn things 'had taken, "Don't you think we had better hear the young man out?" "Chuck him out, you mean," said Bray, as he rose from his seat, with the evident intention of following up his words by immediate, action ; but he was too late, for Harry had picked up his specimens and rushed out m a state of high indignation, banging the door behind huh, and completely capsizing the cadaverous clerk who had evidently been listening. (To be Continued.)