Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1877-10-13
NORTHERN TRIBUNE.
In BOILER.

~..And YOU will overhaul her 2"
wont we though! tell We. stranger,
so sure rs my lame is Ben Blower, that
that last tar bari hove i'm the f,ll mace
has put just The smart chance of go
ahead into us 10 r,it off the Flame from
yonder pint, or send our boat TO kingdom
come"
1.-The devif!" exclaimed a by-sfan,ler,
who, intensely Interested in.fhe race,
was leaning the while against the par
litions of the boiler room. five chosen
.snicc place TO see the fun, near.that in
fernal boiler. ~. - :. sAyil .Stsa
Not so bad as if you were i'm ii - cool
ly observed Ben, as the other walked
rapidly away. ~ - =
"As ii he were in It.! Inwhat-in the
"Cerling. Doesn't folks sometimes go
into boilers. NANNY ?"
IL should think ihered be other parts
of The boat more comfortable"
That's right; pOking yOurfun at me
ut once't. But wait till we get through
this brush with the Flame, and Ill tell
you of Il reg'lar fixin scrape that man
may get into. It's true, too, every word
of it-as sure as, my name is Ben Blow
err"
You have seen the Flame, then, afore,
stranger? Six years ago, when new.
jivon the river, she was u real out and
outer, tell We. l was ut that time a
hand aboard Of her. Yes! belonged
TO her ut the time of her great race with
the Collar. You've heer'n, mayhap, of
the blOw-up by which we lost it? They
made great fuss about it; but it was
nothing but mere fizz OF hot water at
ter all. Only the springing OF Il few
rivetS, which loOsened-a biler plate or
two, and let out thin spirting upon
some niggers that hadn't sense enough
TO get ont OF the way. Well, the Collar
took off our passengers, and we ran into
Smasher's landing 70 repair damages,
aud bury the poor tools that were killed.
Here we laid by for Il, mrtter of thirty
hours or so, and got things TO rights for
II bran new Start. There was some car
pcnter's work yet to be done, but the
captain said that that might be fixed off
Just us well when we were under way
we had worked hard. the weather was
sour, and and We needn't do any more
jist nOw-we might take the afternoon
To ourselves, but the next morning he'd
get up steam, bright and early, and we'd
all come out new There was no tenn
perancc society at Smasher's Landing.
and went sshOre upon a lark with one
Ofthe hands,; 81 bs-l e l
l omit the worthy Benjamin's adven-
lures upon land; and, despairing of
fully conveying his language in its orig
inal Doric force, will not hesitate to give
the rest of his singular narrative in my
own words. save where, i'm few in-
stances, | can recall ms. precise phrase
ology, which the Reader Will readily rec
OgniZe.
The night was raw and slceiy when
regained the deck of our boat. The of
ticcrs, stead of leaving IL watch above,
had closed up every thing anti thus them
selves in the cabin. The fire room ONLY
was open. The boards dashed from the
outside by the explosion hal not Yet been
replaced. The door of the room was
wet AMI there WAS scarcely corner
Inch afforded Il shelter from the div
ing storm. l was abou: leaving the
room. resigned To sleep in the open air,
and now bent only upon getting under
the lee OF somc b;ilklie;ld that wuui,l pro-
tee. me against The wind. In passing
out, kept my arms stretched orwaid to
feel my way in the dirk, but Ivy feci
came in contact with Il heavy iron lid I;
stumbled, and. as tell, strllc,; one of nv
hands into the "inail-.iolr," q think this
was the nalnc he gave To the Oyal-Slape,,
opening in The head of the boiIer.)
through which the smith had entered 10
make his repairs. L fell, with my arm
thrust so tar into the aperture that re-
ceived pretty smart blow i'm tile face us
it came in contact with the head OF tile
boiler. and did not hesitate 20 drag my
body after II. the moment L recovered
from this stunning effect, and iscertained
my whereabouts. In Il word, crept
into tile boiler, resolved to pass the rest
OF the night there. The place was dry
and sheltered. Had my bed been softer,
l would have slept all that man could
desire as it was, slept, and slept sound
ly. q. ii, 9l- .s..-
shonld mention, though, that before
closing my eyes L. several times shifted
my position; had gone, first of ALL ia
the further eud OF the boiler; then.
again. had era ;,led back to the man.
hole, TO put my head out and feel that il
was really open. The warmest place
was at the firthesti end, where finally
established myself, and that knew from
the first. 1t was foolish inme TO think
that the. opening through which had
Just entered could be closed without me
hearing it, and that, too. when no one
was astir but myself; besides, never
could bear to be shut up i'm any place
it always gives wildlike feeling about
the head. You may laugh, stranger, bul
i believe should sufl0cate i'm any empty
church if once felt that [ was so shu
up in it that could not get out. have
met meli afOre now just like me, OF
worse, rather-much wOrSe-men that il
made a sort of furious to be tied dowr
to anything, yet so softlike and colura
dictory in their natures that you might
lead them anywhere, so long as they
didn't feel the string. Stranger, ittake:
all sorts of people to make a world-and
we may have. a good many OF the worst
kind of white men here out of the west
But haze seen folks upon this river
quiet-looking chaps, too as ever you SET
who were SO teetotally earachterank
ferrous that they'd shoot the doctor who't
tell them they. couldn't live when ailing
and make die ofsn just out of spite
when told they must get we'll. Yes fel
lows as fond of the good things of eartf
ne Won or i, vet would rush like mac
right over the gangway plank of life, i
once brought to believe that they had L
STAY i'm this world whether they wanted
to leayeit or not. Thunder and bees |
such fellows rs that heard the cocks GROW
as 1 did-awakened to find darkness
about him-darkness so thick you nigh
have cut it with knife-heard othe
sounds, too, to tell that it was mornin!
and, scrambling, to tumble tor tina
man-hoie-found it, toe, black, closed
black and even as the rest of the lroI
coffin around him-closed, with not
rivet-hOle to let Gods light and air in
why-he'd swounded right down OF
the spot, as did, and amt ashamed T.
own it to no white man!
The big drops actually stood upon tn
foll la<,..