Henry M. Rideout, The Padre's Volcano (1906)
“ An' the volcano! All we could 'ear was bum-bum-bow-row-bang! an' up shoots flame an' 'ot rocks like balloons. Be-'anged, if they 'ad such a firework at the Crystal Palace, they'd think their bloomin' fortunes was made!” Captain Pratt, leaning far back, contemplated the dog-vane in an ecstasy of remembrance. ”
Henry M. Rideout, The Padre's Volcano (1906)
“ An' the agent comes down an' we 'as a row because 'e 'asn't 'is boys ready to 'andle cargo. So I tells me own crew to begin, an' pacifies 'em into it with a few pieces o' stingaree over the back; an' be the time we gets out sixty bags o' Saigon rice, along comes the agent's cargodores an' takes 'old. Then we discharges all our rice, an' begins to load copra. Work was goin' smart enough, when all to once, mind ye, the pantalan begins to shake like a mess o' jackstraws, an' fifty foot of it settled. ”
Henry M. Rideout, The Padre's Volcano (1906)
“ An' in a lull o' the thunderin', I fired twice amongst the copra. “One be one, they took it up, staggerin' with the bags an' pitchin' 'em on deck. Then comes the noise o' the agent runnin' down the pantalan like a bloomin' ghost, an'——“'Shove off, shove off, cap'n!' 'e yells. 'The town's destroyed! We're lost!' “'Young man,' I says, shoutin' back to where 'is voice come from in the dark, 'we're not a bloomin' gig-boat to be shoved. We'll drift out o' 'ere, be-'anged, on the 1.45 p.m. ebb-tide, God sendin' us wind to catch,' I says. ”
