SEARCH
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Prev | Current Page 194 | Next

Runciman, James, 1852-1891

"The Chequers Being the Natural History of a Public-House, Set Forth in a Loafer's Diary"


Then, he could actually use a sextant, and his way of working out his
latitude was chaste and picturesque. Supposing he made the sun 29 deg.
18 min., and the declination for the day was 6 deg. 34 min. 22 sec., then
he put down his figures this way:--
8948
2918
6300
634
5356
and when his chums saw him working out this profound calculation on the
side of a bucket or on the companion hatch, they would say, "He's a
wonnerful masterpiece. Yea, but he is, and nothin' but that."
Glenn was daring--but that is nothing to say, for all the fishermen seem
insensible to fear. He was only once scared, and that was when he found
a man leaning against the boat one pitch-dark night, just after the
fishers had hauled. Joe thought the fellow was loafing, so he hit him a
clout on the head, and made very uncomplimentary remarks. The victim of
the assault took it very coolly, and one of the crew shouted--
"Don't touch that theer! He come up in the net while you was below."
Then Joe looked at the face, and when he found he had been punching a
dead man he was sick.


Pages:
182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206