Part 2 (1/2)
”But--” I went on, wishi+ng to pursue my inquiries, when he interrupted me before I was able to proceed any further
”Whisht! Be aisy now, me darlint,” he whispered, with an expressive wink; and, turning round sharply on the stevedores, who, taking advantage of his talking toin a sian briskly to call the his voice to the same stentorian pitch that had startled me just now on our first introduction
”What the azin' there for, ye lazy swabs, chatterin' an' grinnin' away loike a parcel avto knock soot ye aboord a ive ivery man Jack o' ye Hoist away an' be blowed to ye, or I'll stop y'r pay, by the howly pokher I will!”
At this, the men, who seemed to understand very well that my friend of the woollen jersey and canvas overalls's hard voice and words did not really h the speaker intended to be obeyed, started again briskly shi+pping the cargo and lowering it down into the hold, grinning the while one to another as if expressing the opinion that their taskmaster's bark orse than his bite
”I must kape 'em stirrin' their stoomps, or ilse, sure, the spalpeens 'ud strike worrk thehis talk with me, as if in explanation of this little interlude ”Yez aid y'r nain' to Cork, an'
he wor a pig jobber S'pose now, he warn't y'r ould father, loike?”
”Certainly not!” cried I, indignantly ”My father is a clergylishman, and lives down in the country Our name, too, is Graham and not Grame, as you pronounce it”
”'Pon me conshi+nsh, I axes y'r pardin, sorr Sure, an' I didn'tin theout a brawny hairy paw like that of Esau's, he gave a grip to my poor little mite of a hand that h and hearty sailor fashi+on ”Me name's Tim Rooney, as I tould you afore, Misther Gray- ham--sure, an' it's fond I am ov bacon, avic, an' ham, too, by the same token! I'd have ye to know, as ye're a foorst-class apprentice--which kills me enthirely wid the laffin' sure!--that I'oin' to be shi+phty plisint atwane us, sure”
”I' hiined hiain to ceh I took care this tiive e fist as before, observing as I looked round the vessel and up at her towering masts overhead: ”What a splendid shi+p!”
”Aye, she's all that, ivery inch of her from truck to kelson,” he answered equally enthusiastically; ”an' so's our foorst mate, a sailor all over from the sole av his fut to the crown av his hid”
”And the captain,” I inquired, ”what sort of a man is he?”
”Arrah, now you're axin' questions,” he rejoined with a sly look frouish eyes ”D'ye happen to knohat's inside av an egg, nohither it's a chicken, sure, or ownly the yoke an' white, till ye bhrake the shi+ll?”
”No,” said I laughing ”But, we don't find chickens generally in our eggs at home”
”Wait till ye thry one on shi+pboord,” he retorted ”Still, ye can't deny now that ye don't know for sure what's insoide the shi+ll till ye bhrake it, an' say for yoursilf--eh?”
”No,” I assented to this reasoning; ”but, I don't see what that's got to do with the captain”
”Don't ye, honey?” replied he with another expressive wink ”Wait till ye can say for yourself, that's all”
”Oh!” I exclaih not to commit himself to any opinion on the point; so, I did not pursue the inquiry any further
”Sure, ye'll excuse me, Misther Gray-ham,” he said presently, after another word or two on irrelevant matters; ”but I must stop yarnin' now, as I expexes the foorst er wid a sore tail if those lazy lubbers ain't hove all the cargy in We've got to warp out o' dock this arternoon, an' the tide'll make about 'six bells'!”
”When is that?” I asked, to know the uessed referred to the tiain towards the stevedores, hurrying the theot ye didn't savvy our sailor's lingo at all, at all,” he explained to me between the interval of his orders to the h key as at first ”An', be the same token, as it's now jist toorned two bells, or one o'clock, savin'
your prisince, I've got no toio oop that ladder there, an' wait out av harum's way till I've done me job an'
can come for ye”
He pointed as he spoke to the steps or stairway leading froside of hi with alacrity the poop ladder, was able to see froed on and encouraged thecrates that had but a short time before almost covered the jetty beside the shi+p, were all hoisted inboard and lowered down into her hold