. Captains all. thecharacter of a woman wot wasnt there tospeak up for herself. Its nothing agin er character, ses Ginger. Its a credit to her, looked at properly,ses Peter Russet. And Samll ave the pleasure of bringingof em up, ses Ginger. Bringing of <?m up ? ses Sam, in a trem-bling voice and turning pale ; bringing whoup ? Why, er children, ses Ginger. Didntshe tell you ? Shes got nine of em. CAPTAINS ALL 33 Sam pretended not to believe em at fust,and said they was jealous ; but next day hecrept down to the greengrocers shop in thesame street, where Ginger had appened tobuy some oranges
. Captains all. thecharacter of a woman wot wasnt there tospeak up for herself. Its nothing agin er character, ses Ginger. Its a credit to her, looked at properly,ses Peter Russet. And Samll ave the pleasure of bringingof em up, ses Ginger. Bringing of <?m up ? ses Sam, in a trem-bling voice and turning pale ; bringing whoup ? Why, er children, ses Ginger. Didntshe tell you ? Shes got nine of em. CAPTAINS ALL 33 Sam pretended not to believe em at fust,and said they was jealous ; but next day hecrept down to the greengrocers shop in thesame street, where Ginger had appened tobuy some oranges one day, and found that itwas only too true. Nine children, the eldestof em only fifteen, was staying with diffrentrelations owing to scarlet-fever next door. Old Sam crept back ome like a man in adream, with a bag of oranges he didnt want,and, arter making a present of the engagement-ring to Ginger—if e could get it—he took thefust train to Tilbury and signed on for a vygeto China, THE BOATSWAINSMATE. The Boatswains Mate lyTR. GEORGE BENN, retired boats-wain, sighed noisily, and with adespondent gesture, turned to the door andstood with the handle in his hand; , sitting behind the tiny bar in a tallWindsor-chair, eyed him with some heat. My feelingsU never change, said theboatswain. Nor mine either, said the landlady,sharply. Its a strange thing, Mr. Benn,but you always ask me to marry you after thethird mug. Its only to get my courage up, pleadedthe boatswain. Next time Ill do it aforeI ave a drop ; thatll prove to you Im inearnest. He stepped outside and closed the doorbefore the landlady could make a selectionfrom the many retorts that crowded to her lips. 38 THE BOATSWAINS MATE After the cool bar, with its smell of damp saw-dust, the road seemed hot and dusty ; but theboatswain, a prey to gloom natural to a manwhose hand has been refused five times in afortnight, walked on unheeding. His stepslagged, but his brain was active. He walked for two miles dee
Size: 1964px × 1273px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonhodderandsto
