Mulholland's Contract



THE FEAR was on the cattle, for the gale was on the sea,
An€™ the pens broke up on the lower deck an€™ let the creatures free€”
An€™ the lights went out on the lower deck, an€™ no one near but me.

I had been singin€™ to them to keep €™em quiet there,
For the lower deck is the dangerousest, requirin€™ constant care,
An€™ give to me as the strongest man, though used to drink and swear.

I see my chance was certain of bein€™ horned or trod,
For the lower deck was packed with steers thicker€™n peas in a pod,
An€™ more pens broke at every roll€”so I made a Contract with God.

An€™ by the terms of the Contract, as I have read the same,
If He got me to port alive I would exalt His Name,
An€™ praise His Holy Majesty till further orders came.

He saved me from the cattle an€™ He saved me from the sea,
For they found me €™tween two drownded ones where the roll had landed me€”
An€™ a four-inch crack on top of my head, as crazy as could be.

But that were done by a stanchion, an€™ not by a bullock at all,
An€™ I lay still for seven weeks convalessing of the fall,
An€™ readin€™ the shiny Scripture texts in the Seaman€™s Hospital.

An€™ I spoke to God of our Contract, an€™ He says to my prayer:
€œI never puts on My ministers no more than they can bear.
€œSo back you go to the cattle-boats an€™ preach My Gospel there.

€œFor human life is chancy at any kind of trade,
€œBut most of all, as well you know, when the steers are mad-afraid;
€œSo you go back to the cattle-boats an€™ preach €™em as I€™ve said.

€œThey must quit drinkin€™ an€™ swearin€™, they mustn€™t knife on a blow,
€œThey must quit gamblin€™ their wages, and you must preach it so;
€œFor now those boats are more like Hell than anything else I know.€

I didn€™t want to do it, for I knew what I should get,
An€™ I wanted to preach Religion, handsome an€™ out of the wet,
But the Word of the Lord were lain on me, an€™ I done what I was set.

I have been smit an€™ bruisd, as warned would be the case,
An€™ turned my cheek to the smiter exactly as Scripture says;
But following that, I knocked him down an€™ led him up to Grace.

An€™ we have preaching on Sundays whenever the sea is calm,
An€™ I use no knife or pistol an€™ I never take no harm,
For the Lord abideth back of me to guide my fighting arm.

An€™ I sign for four-pound-ten a month and save the money clear,
An€™ I am in charge of the lower deck, an€™ I never lose a steer;
An€™ I believe in Almighty God an€™ preach His Gospel here.

The skippers say I€™m crazy, but I can prove €™em wrong,
For I am in charge of the lower deck with all that doth belong€”
Which they would not give to a lunatic, and the competition so strong!