Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-11-17
CHAPTER ".

Sec Taras, but 10y means they little dreamed
Of for oil their villainous craft.
CHAPTER ".
TIE ESCAPE.
i knew more about the Mariners Joy
tan was known To Putty. Years before
lie took the house earned my living there,
doing a drudge's work and running on err
rands when | was a mere child. Fly Jigger
had it then; that was Def ore improvements
ruined the neghborhood. The houses in
Sweet Apple lane. now mostly untenant-
ed, were crowded with tenants, aud the
JOY was favorite house OF call" for all
sorts of bad characters who lived there,
and for the men employed in Baxter's
wharf, which WAS then one OF the busiest
stores for dry sailing ON this side of the
river.
Fly Jigger did well by legitimate trade,
but he made still more money by dishonest
moails and principally by plundering Bax-
ter's wharf For this purpose he and his
crew had made a passage under the fore
shore, opening at one end into the cellar Of
the Joy and at the other end into the
cellar Of the wharf. This passage WAS
called the tub run, because. to prevent the
sides falling in, 1t was lined with casks
with their heads removed and set end to
end. As soon as the house was closed at
night Fly Jigger and his mates would set
TO work, going through the tub run into
Baxter's wharf and returning with goods
from the storerooms. / have seen them
bring out as many as 50 hams in a night.
The secret was never found out, but when
the trade went from Baxter's and the wharf
was cleared out and closed the run was no
longer of any service. The wharf watch
man, who had been party to these robber-
les, took care to close and conceal the cellar
opening and Fly Jigger masked the open
Ing on his side with fagstone and bar
row load Of rubbish, which, trodden down,
presented no difference from the rest of the
| unpaved floor. Previous to that, to keep
the brewers out Of the cellar, he had re-
moved the beer barrels, which thenceforth
be kept set up behind the bar, saying that
1t was more fair and squarelike for the Gus
toners to see their beer drawn from the
wood than through the engine from the
deuce knows where
| The closing Of Bakers wharf was a sad
blow to him. but worse came soon after.
| for being of a too active disposition be took
| to smuggling tobacco and rum from incOm-
ing ships. and being discovered by the ex-
else was sent to prison. and the Joy lost
its license. The brewers oh, aimed a fresh
license to sell beer and put Putty In to
manage the house. When he came, the
spring tides had flooded the cellar, and see
ing that it was of no use he had the trap
screwed down to save the expense Of put
ting new hinges on it. Since then. as have
said. no one had ever gone down into the
cellar
With these recollectiOns crOwding my
mind and the means they suggested Of de-
livering Taras filling my heart with a wild
delight, hurried down Ferryboat alley.
and after looking about carefully to make
sure that no one was observing me wedged
myself through the ventilating hole and
dropped into the wharf cellar. knew ex-
actly where the opening existed, having
taken part myself In some Of the old ma
rauding expeditions. and dropping down
upon my hands and knees brushed the
dirt away from the stone that covered the
hole. There was not enough light to see
It, but l could trace the outline plainly
enough with my fingers.
But how was / to raise the heavy flag!
There was no ring or anything to catch
hold of, and knew that II worked away
the rubbish sufficiently to get my hands
underneath l should still be unable to lift
1t. ! must have something to pry 1t up
with. A bar of iron would do. It struck
me that might find what l needed among
the old iron in Johnson's yard. II had
thought Of that beforehand, might have
brought it In with me. but was too I'M
patient Of delay, too eager to begin. to
waste time in regrets.
Clambering up to the ventilator, looked
out. Some boys were playing on the shore.
dared not show myself while they were
there 1t seemed to me that they would
never weary Of throwing stones into the
water. but at length they gave 1t up and
went away. Then slipped out. and pre-
tending to be looking for odds and ends on
the shore made my way up to Johnson'f
yard and got in through gap In the pal
ing. It didn't take long to find what
wanted-a broken stocking iron looked te
me Just the thing. Asking myself If thers
was anything else l should need, 1t &C
CURED to me that candle would be nee
essary, the cellar Of the Joy being ever
darker than the wharf cellar. The gate.
Of the yard opened into Sweet Apple lane
and as they closed imperfectly was just
able to squeeze through-thanks to being 9
kiHg ss, , Ind hon,n. . ,a,tns,,v ca,d,,
and box Of matches out OF the money
given me by Putty, the trembling Of my
knees and feeling OF faintness reminded
me that l had eaten nothing all day, 70
bought small loaf and some cold fish ant
treated myself to q cup Of coffee with my
last halfpenny. The hot coffee set me NJ
wonderfully, and with revived energy re
turned to the yard and hiding the bal
under my dress sneaked back to the stairs
Then after another cautious look around
finding the coast clear. slipped the stok
ing iron through the ventilator and fol
lowed 1t almost a. swiftly.
It was harder job than expected Il
move the Aagstone and get 1t out Of tn.
way. But l stuck to it. with the perspira
ton running down my face. until, the sen
sation Of sickness selling me again. had
to give over for Q time till had eaten my
loaf and regained strength. At length
having worked the stone aside, about . foot
out of its place, l knelt down to feel il the
opening was large enough for me to pas
through Cor had not lit the candle to de-
this work. and then to my dismay ! dis
covered that the too careful Waterman had
filled the hole with rubbish. Sinking
down on the ground, l could have cried
with the mingled feelings Of rage and dis
appointment. but thinking of Taras des
peration overcame these sentiments, and
springing up on my knees tore at the rub
bish with my hands vehemently, like q dog
in a warren, determined to reach Taras
though had to dig my way to him through
the solid earth.
Happily the rubbish was loose and yield.
ed readily to my hands. and still more hap.
PLY there were not above four or five feet
Of 1t, or ! might never have got down to the
tub run with all my determination. An
empty box thrown down had got jammed
in the hole about third of the way down,
and below that the space was empty. New
ertheless it took me many hours to get the
rubbish out, having nothing to dig with
but my hands and nothing but my apron
to carry it up in when got down q certain
distance. and then the box. which at first
sight seemed to have been set there by the
hand Of Providence, appeared after awhile
to have been wedged in by my worst enc
my, for 1t defied all my efforts to loosen it,
until my patience and strength were well
nigh exhausted, and then had to get to
the top and drag it out. which was even
more difficult. Ten o'clock struck before
this task was accomplished.
had been compelled to light the candle
to get the box out. and there was now not
more than an inch left.
blew out the light and put the end in
my pocket. could feel my way along the
tub run. and the light would be needful