The Fifth Time Was Lucky; And You May Judge If
He Were Pleased To Be Aboard Ship Again, At His Old Work, And With
Duff Twice A Week.
He was, said Alick, 'a devil for the duff.' Or
if devil was not the word, it was one if anything stronger.
The difference in the conduct of the two was remarkable. The
Devonian was as willing as any paid hand, swarmed aloft among the
first, pulled his natural weight and firmly upon a rope, and found
work for himself when there was none to show him. Alick, on the
other hand, was not only a skulker in the brain, but took a
humorous and fine gentlemanly view of the transaction. He would
speak to me by the hour in ostentatious idleness; and only if the
bo's'un or a mate came by, fell-to languidly for just the necessary
time till they were out of sight. 'I'm not breaking my heart with
it,' he remarked.
Once there was a hatch to be opened near where he was stationed; he
watched the preparations for a second or so suspiciously, and then,
'Hullo,' said he, 'here's some real work coming - I'm off,' and he
was gone that moment. Again, calculating the six guinea passage-
money, and the probable duration of the passage, he remarked
pleasantly that he was getting six shillings a day for this job,
'and it's pretty dear to the company at that.' 'They are making
nothing by me,' was another of his observations; 'they're making
something by that fellow.' And he pointed to the Devonian, who was
just then busy to the eyes.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 68 of 262
Words from 17873 to 18151
of 70588
