"There ain't no use of tellin' everything one sees aboard ship," he was saying, "for you know whin things happen on deep water th' world ain't much th' wiser fer hearing about them. There ain't no telegraphs, an' th' only witnesses is the men concerned—or the wimmen. The men may or mayn't say a thing or two after getting the run av th' beach, but as th' critters have to wait half a year afore getting there, the news av th' occurrence wears off an' regard for the effects on th' teller takes place. It's just as often as not th' men keep mum. You know that as well as I do.
"This same Andrews as is forrads in irons was running the Starbuck with Jameson as mate, an' old Garnett as second under him. Ye all know that old pirit. But this time he didn't have any hand in Andrews's game. Andrews wanted to marry the girl Jameson had, an' whin he found he had lost her he played his devil's trick.
"Jameson hadn't been married a week afore Andrews took him around b' th' foot av Powell Street in 'Frisco an' set up some drinks. That's the last any one sees av Jameson fer a year or more on th' West Coast, fer whin he comes to, he was at sea on that old tank, th' Baldwin, an' old man Jacobs would as soon have landed him on th'moon as put him ashore."
"A purty bloomin' mean trick," interrupted the bos'n.
"Th' poor divil did have a hard time av it, fer he wasn't a very fierce sort o' chap. He ware a gentil spoken, kind-hearted feller, an' ye know well enough how a man what isn't made of iron wud git along wid Jacobs or his mates. They hazed him terrible; an', as they ware one hundred an' seventy days an' nights to Liverpool, he took the scurvy. Ye can reckon what was left av him afterwards. Whin he left th' hospital, he was glad enough to ship on a Chilean liner to get even as far to the West Coast as Valparaiso.
"He ware aboard this Dago, puttin' in, whin he saw th' Starbuck standin' out o' th' harbor. His wife ware on th' quarter-deck—"
"That's the way with most women," snarled the bos'n, interrupting.
"I don't know about that," continued Chips. "You see, after he had been gone a few months, an' Andrews had been hangin' around all th' time gettin' in his pisonous work, she began to have a little faith in th' villain. It wasn't long afore he convinced her Jameson had deserted, fer he proved fair enough he had shipped aboard th' Baldwin, without so much as saying good-by. There ware plenty of men to back him on that, includin' th' boatman what rowed them aboard. Finally, partly by blandanderin' an' a-feelin' around, fer th' poor gal ware now alone in th' world, he got her to step aboard th' bleedin' hooker Starbuck the day he ware ready for sea. Thin he jest stood out—an'—an'—well, after they'd been out six months th' matter ended as far as Jameson ware concerned.
"Jameson took the news hard whin he got th' run av th' beach, but he was that kindly disposed chap an' went along th' best he could until th' war broke out. He ware still waitin' at Valparaiso whin they drafted him into the Dago army, an' he was lucky enough to be on th' side what got licked. Then there ware no use waitin' there fer th' Starbuck to come in again, so he made a slant for Peru as they niver took no pris'ners. Two weeks afterwards Andrews came in again fer nitrates wid Garnett an' O'Toole fer mates—"
"Lucky fer Andrews he wasn't there," said the bos'n; "he'd have had his ornery hide shot full of holes."