“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.”

“What’s th’ use av ye talking like a fool?” said Chips.  “Is shootin’ up a feller a-goin’ to undo a wrong like that?  Th’ shootin’ was all done on th’ other side, an’ Andrews is sound yet an’ aboard this here ship.  Some men think av other things besides revenge.  Especially kind-hearted fellers like Jameson what niver cud hurt no one.  As soon as some av Jameson’s friends who knew of th’ affair told his wife, she wint right into th’ cabin where Andrews was, an’ afore he knew what she ware up to, she had shot herself.  Andrews paid her funeral expenses, an’ buried her in th’ little Dago cemetery out forninst th’ city gate.  An’ thin Garnett, who didn’t know av his skipper’s diviltry, sware vengeance on th’ husband who deserted her, fer she ware gentil and kind wid th’ men forrads.”