t 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