Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-06-19
THE BITTER BIT.


young girl ever set my eyes on.
She wasn't more'n 18; her hair was like
gold, and she was as trim as yacht.
when do you sail and for what placer"
he asked after little time, addressing
his talk to Bob.
Were out of a berth, !" said Bob.
The young fellow was going to leave us
when Bob said that, only man standing
close by us turned out to be skipper short
of hands, and we signed with him for a
whaling voyage to the Windward islands,
he coming over to us when he heard
Bob say we wasn't hired, and hiring us
then and there.
His schooner-the Nancy-he said, was
lying three piers down the westward and
was to pull out at about 8 o'clock in the
morning
"Well, it's this" the sharp eyed young
fellow said. II want to play joke on
friend of mine, and you two will be paid
well for helping me-"
''Orders?" said Bob
Sat about 1890 O. clock tonight come up
to- and he gave us the name of a board
ing house that forget the name of, land
go up to the second floor. The man want
you to take on the cruise with you is in
room 49, at about the head of the stairs
Go in quietly, chloroform him and take
him down stairs to hack I'll have wait
ing in front of the house. And'-
Enough said, +" Bob interrupted. "I've
done the thing before. Smuggle him
aboard, and when he gets his senses back
he won't know who brought him there,
and we won't be likely to tell him."
tSHoxy about ha nav for tho io,S3 Hol,
wanted to know.
"I'll give the hackman SIS to give each
of you when he sees you've done the
thing" said he.
''That's agreeable" said Bob. "How
can we get into his room-the fellows you
want to joker"
ut just so happens that the lock to his
door has been broken for the last week,
and he has been unable to fasten it," said
the young, sharp eyed fellow. "We're in
luck, you see.
1t turned out afterward that he-his
name was Fink Campbell-was in love
with the pretty, sweet faced girl we'd seen
him with.
Her name was Elsa Horton, or make
a mistake.
And she was in love with the other chap
this Campbell hired us to kidnap-a hand
some, manly young fellow, whose name
was Fred Kingsley, and who loved her for
her sweet face, and not for the money her
old father was said to have, the way young
Campbell did.
Then he got her-she and young Kings
ley, it seemed, were to be married in few
days-to say, without thinking, that If
Fred Kingsley didn't appear when it was
time for the wedding she'd marry him,
as girls talk sometimes, you know.
Then he must have begun to scheme
how to get Fred Kingsley out of the way,
or perhaps he had the scheme all made up
at first.
Bob and I bought new outfit and took
our bags aboard the Nancy.
Then, about IL o'clock, or little after,
we struck out for the boarding house our
employer had told us to visit.
Campbell forged letter and fixed it SO
Elsa's father and she would get it, and it
had Fred Kingsley's name at the bottom
of it, and said as how he was sorry, but
he had a wife somewhere, and he was 60
ing off to see her.
Bob went round and looked at the num-
bers on the doors, and waited until he
beckoned to me to join him.
He's asleep" said Bob, with jerk Of
his head toward the door.
1t was bit darker than the hall, but
we could make out our man sleeping on
the bed.
Bob took the chloroform and fixed the
cloth with it on where the young fellow
had to breathe it.
A policeman was coming down the
street when we got to the door, but the
cabman saw him and gave us the word
not to come out for bit.
We wasn't bothered again, and we got
our fellow aboard the Nancy all quiet and
peaccable, and then the cabby gave us the
money and was off.
Then ON deck we went, and the Nancy
sailed at 8, just as the captain had said
she was going to, running out with the
tide.
"There's stowaway below in the TO cas-
tle!" some one sang up from there when
we were in nice offing, and Bob looked
at me and winked.
| The mate dived below and came up
again with the seasickest looking fellow
in tow ever see.
The fellows legs were like shoestring,
and his face was white as a new topgal-
liant sail.
Would you believe it, but we'd not only
shanghaied the wrong fellow, but shang-
haied the one that had hired us to do the
shanghaing, and 1t was too late to get
back and do the job over again.
When young Campbell got well enough
to talk, he gave us q piece of his mind and
he tried to get the captain to put back with
him. But that wasn't no use, and he had
to take the eight months run with us, not
much fun for a masher like him, I can tell
you.
1t turned out that the way we came to
make the mistake was because he and
young Kingsley roomed in the same board
ing house, and ones room was 80 and the
others room was 20.
Bob got the numbers turned round, and
we'd gone in 20 instead of 80.
And when we got back to port, If there
wasn't bit of news
Young Campbell's disappearance had
caused an examination Of his books he was
keeping In some warehouse, and 1t was
found out that he had heen stealing from
the firm.
He hadn't been on shore three hours be-
fore the police had him locked up.
Tho young fellow had proved that he
was straight as gunbarrel to every ones
satisfaction, and In an old paper, dated
about when the Nancy was two months
out Of port, was notice of Fred Kingsley g
and Elsa Horizons wedding. Exchange
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