184 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



June 



It were commou talk how he like 'em. ' 



"But I didn't care — not me. 



" 'Ye might be dead afore me, sir,' 

 says I. He were a hard nut, was Com- 

 mander Jacksou. I'd had four dozen 

 from him once. 



" 'Well, Sloss,' says he, 'I'll take ye. 

 The devil will soon get his own.' So 

 off I goes down to the boat — me, three 

 others and him — and were soon aboard 

 the hospital ship. 



"Sure enough, my words come true. 

 That verra night Jack knocks at the 

 cabin door of Commander Jackson. 



"It were fair awful, that ship. I be- 

 gins to think I'd best 'ave been satisfied 

 wi' bread an water ashore. But I 

 booked, and there was no gettin out o' 

 the job. First he took ye in the legs, 

 then he mounted upward, then he 

 spread all over ye, till ye was all aches 

 and pains. Then come the black vomit. ' ' 



Even now Archie shuddered at the 

 thought of the awful scenes he took 

 part in — men raving, men cursing, men 

 mad, men tied down to their bunks, all 

 Jellow. Above, the sun burning and 

 blistering; below, the odors of the sick, 

 disinfectants, the croaking death rattle 

 at their throats. 



Such is yellow jack, according to 

 Archie. 



"He tcok Commander Jackson verra 

 bad," he went on. "He were a hard 

 nut and had the name for it — it were a 

 word and a blow wi' him, Many's the 

 time I f:hook my fis' i' his old face all 

 yaller — oh, he couldn't see me — think- 

 in o' the four dozen I'd had of him 

 It were verra temptin to take my re- 

 venge. I could ha' killed him easy. 



JuSk liiie tnurHn a candle. How? Lea7« 

 his bla::ketsoif him. Let him Mv. ualrjc 

 and sweat. Xiibn 'quick march, ' But] 

 didn't. Why? I don't know. It male 

 3ne grin to think he were at my mercy, 

 and I cnred uowt for no man. 'Yoai 

 turn next, Archie, ' says I to myself, 

 and I crncoks away. The second nighl 

 about four bells — light down — hot as 

 hell — he wrires npn'je^ sees me smookin 

 by his side and pourin vinegar on to hit 

 head, which were Ispped round wi' 

 bandages to keep ir cool. 

 " 'Sloss,' says ho; 'is that you, Sloss?' 

 " 'Aye, sir, it's nie, right enough.' 

 *' 'Sloss, your words has come true.' 

 "'What was that, sir?' says I, goiu 

 on wi' the lotion. 



" 'Why, didn't ye say as I might be 

 dead afore you?' 



" 'What! D'ye mean to say as ye 

 paid any heed to the likes o' me?' says 

 I, griuuin. 



"'Yes, I did, Archie.' 



" 'More full ye then. It's fear as kills 

 the half of vez. Now, don't get throw- 

 in them blankets off. D'ye hear? I'm 

 commander i' this ship. ' I laffed out 

 loud to see his face when he heard me 

 speakiu so sharp, like a governor. 



" 'The tables is turned, sir.' 



"Then he begins to curse awful. He 

 was a verra hot tempered gentleman. 



" 'Ye're my prisoner,' I cries, jumps 

 on him, fair smothers him wi' blank- 

 ets, chucklin all the while to think I 

 were his master. 



"I tell ye we was a rough lot o' men. 

 I've never seen many rougher." 



I could not refrain from smiling as I 

 thought of Archie turned nurse. He is 

 so grim. 



"Well, the old commander gets the 

 better o' Yaller Jack, though he'd a 

 bard wrostle wi' him. 



" 'Ye've had a narry squeak for it,' 

 says I w hen he gets on his legs again. He 

 had to rest on me. 



" 'Well, Sloss, I owes my life to ye,' 

 says he. 



" 'To me!' 



" 'Yes, Sloss. I'll never punish ye no 

 more, ' 



"Oh, I've heard that tale afore." 



Then Archie gave a Rabelaisian 

 chuckle at the s^emory, and I ventured 

 to quote a famous couplet: 

 The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be. 

 The devil was well, the devil a monk was he. 



"A>e, that's it," said Archie grimly. 

 Tbeu ho '..'c-.t on with his story. "^ > I 

 never give it another thought — inueed 

 I'd no time. I were ta'en myself that 

 afternoon. Yes, Jack taps me on the 

 shoulder, and it were my turn, I baffles 

 him, tho' — and when I comes round I 

 finds myself ashore — the last patient. 

 My, they soon has me to work agin wi' 

 Nat — him diggiu, me wheeliu the muck 

 away, nvA I never got so much as a look 

 from the old commander who'd bin so 

 grateful to me. Not a wink, not a word. 



"I kuow'ed verra well how it 'ud be. 



"So four months passes along, and 

 I'd forgot all about Yaller Jack, till one 

 Sunday moruin I were doziu in chapel, 

 when I hears my name mentioned: 



