Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-08-18

coat ana then plung1nR his nanQs deep In
his pantaioons pockets. whats he care
"Cap'n Putv' repeated the first speaker;
"who minds him! He'll dew well 'nough.
So there's plenty others, tew, wouldn t
think much or rowin' 'crOst here, with
fer themselves. It's the woman e + think-
in on-overhaulin' her m pickin Ter up
m say it's bad job. anyway.
kind NV crazy thing-the woman-I
guess" observed another. Queer, anyway.
Nobody seems ter know where she come
from, ner who she is. Lives N an old house
close by the water over there. Been there
month er tew, er three, Twin on most moth
in'-she m er three little uns. Picked
huckleberries some, m cramb 'ries. Come
ep ter pick cramb'ries, M leave Ter child'n
alone. Pick all day 'n' not 'change word
18th nobody, they say. Seems kinder IN
dream er study, er else crazy, er somethin'
Well. s'pose we go home. No use standin'
here, g KIN see.0
"Hold on bit, you! What's yer hurry"
said the old fisherman. '.Seems ter me It we
orter kinder hang around while-here IN
down shore long. We might be IN the way
" givin' 'sistance, = any's needed. Don't
eyes, thai's good idea,' chimed in the
landlord. cor, suppose one Of you remains
out, to watch and listen, and the others go
in with me and sit by the fire. It's disagree
aDle out mere. lou can take Turns WalcH !.
ing, you know.' Thus speaking he turned
to &C, while the others, in accordance with
his suggestion, decided who among them
should take the first watch, and then will
| ingly followed. o..
The - Hotel had no bar, and Mr.. Smith,
the landlord, did not encourage loafng, but
he could be hospitable and social, even with
the rough, unlettered fishers and oystermen
who composed the main part of the inhabit-
ants of the little out they way village In
had lately established himself; and SO he
replenished his fire, and handed round ci-
CARS, and babe them make themselves COM
Portable. 20.
Two hours passed, and they still fingered.
loath to go without some inkling OF the sue
cess or failure of the rescuing party; but
when another hour was gone and nothing
came of it, they ''lowed" there was no use
waiting longer. "Cap'n Put" was all right.
wherever he was: and probably they were
all across the river, where the stranger and
the Captain would stay until morning rather
than recross. They could easily find supper
and lodging with some OF the fishermen or
farmers over there.
'.Talkin' NV comm back said one.
"'twouldn't be no fun, that wouldn't. 'T'ud
be a good many times worse IN goln over.
They'd be fools ter tempt it, come ter think.
once over there" So they dispersed to their
homes. their long. neglected suppers, and
their beds; and the landlord of the - Ho-
tel. after another hour, fastened his doors,
put out his lights, and consigned himself to
the kindly ministrations of Morpheus.
Captain Put, will explain here, was what
people called "queer chap" and one of the
turns his queerness took was dislike to be-
ing'uuesti0ned. No one told startling bit
of news with greater evident relish than he.
so long as you took it quietly and allowed no
undue curiosity to manifest itself either in
your words or looks. If you did, particu-
larly if you began asking questions, it was
| l. al
you might consume with curiosity before he
would open his lips upon the subject again.
so long as he saw that you were waiting and
hoping he would. A few who understood
him well had a way OF outgeneraling him
when they had a partial knowledge OF the
news in question. which was to make pre-
tense Of telling him the incident, filling in
the links to suit themselves, taking care to
make them wide of the mark and as improb-
able as they could well be, when, ten to one,
before they were half through with their re-
cital, the Captain, quite off his guard in his
impatience and disgust, would snatch the
story from their lips and tell it himself, I'M
heedful of the grin of satisfaction upon the
faces Of his listeners.
1t was barely broad daylight on the morn
ing following the incident just related,
| when The Rat came running around the cor
ner near the landing, the first on the ground
| in purs Ilit of news. His sharp eyes took a
rapid survey of the river, up, down, and in
| front, and were rewarded by the sight of a
row boat, crossing. evidently. from the other
shore and making for the landing. The wind
| had fallen somewhat during the night, but
the river was still rough, and rowing was
! laborious work, even to an experienced
hand.
"Cap'n Put ~ exclaimed The Rat. "Cap'n
| Put, m 'e's alone! What's that mean? Hope
ter gracious that nice; han'some gen'lm' !,
| throws out their silver quarters 3 'e does"
Ere many minutes had passed several men
of the last nights party, the landlord among
| them, all as eager for news as the boy, had
gathered at the little landing place, awaiting
the arrival Of the approaching boat.
time reckon?,' "What's the news?''
ssWhere's your mate?" Elbow dye make
out?" were some fthe questions with which
| Captain Puts arrival was neutrality-suspicious.
| quite natural without doubt, but injudi-
cious under the circumstances. He drew his
boat carefully up on the sand, bestowed
| good deal of care upon the proper disposal
OF everything about her, returned the bor-
rowed oars to the place whence they had
| been taken, making pleasant remarks all the
| time upon Indifferent sub1ects-the weather,
the chance Of getting good haul OF mack
| erel after the blow was over, the prospect OF
| an early frost, ETC., etc.-and then took a
Decline for home, without word or hint
| in regard to the matter which he was well
aware had brought them all out thus early.
"Blamed II 'e don't need KILN, purity
near,' said The Rat. almost ready to cry
| with veXatiOn.
"Evidently there has nothing serious hap
pened, or he would have behaved different
iy," remarked the landlord.
"Oh, he'll be round arter he's had his
breakfast" said one Of the men, Gen then,
eff nobody let's on g though there anxious
ter hear, he'll ell the hull story. He wouldn',
miss tellin' it fer enythin', but he's GURUS.
| he is"
Sure enough, it was not much over an
hour before Captain Put lounged carelessly
down the street, up the steps of the - Ho-
tel and into the gentlemen's room. where
the landlord sat reading. and silently handed
him a note. Mr.. Smith was so intent upon
| his paper that he barely noticed the intruder,
and held the note in his hand several minutes
before he took time to read it. He had had
his lesson with the others that morning, and
intended to profit by it. The note was from
| the stranger-his guest of the day before
merely saying that he would return and set
tie his bill some time during the day, or per.
haps the following one. SURPRISING all
signs of satisfaction, the landlord yawned,
crumpled the note in his hand, and went on