Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-06-04

| much more important parsonage than
the captain. River men used to say:
"The Benton for a captain and the Cres-
cent for pilot"
| 1t was just this that made Carter so
bitter. Three times had the Tom Ben
ton been aground when the Silver Cres-
cent came gliding by with the people on
board of her yelling, cheering and
laughing at the pilot of the rival craft,
the women waving handkerchiefs and
the "rousters," even, on the lower deck,
joining in the fun. And up in the pilot
house, cool, serene, perfectly groomed,
Dandy Jim stood at the wheel, obliv-
ious to everything but his business,
never by any chance showing that he
knew there was such boat as the Tom
Benton on the river. .,g... "a.
| And Sally, loyal to her father and
proud of her fathers boat, hated the
Crescent and shared in'the bitterness
against Taliaferro. H'. v" ta'''
One of the chambermaids on the Tom
Benton was Mary Drakeson. Mary lived
In Clabber alley in st. Louis when she
was at home, and one time during her
river career she had worked on the
Crescent. Here she. had heard great
tales OF Dandy Jifn's" genius as a
pilot and Of his proficiency as singer,
dancer and of his banjo playing. And
after hearing him sing one song while
the boat was tied up at st. Louis on an
occasion of Capt. Powers wife coming
on board she conceived a wild admira-
ton for him. MARS Dandy Jim" was
TO be veritable god. Il ."|r1'Ht -'t}
On the Tom Benton she had the same
ecstatic admiration of miss Sally
And secretly she thought that Mars
Dandy Jim" and Miss Sally" would
make the finest couple in the world. So
she bemoaned the. enmity between the
two boats, and one day while Miss Sally
was going down the river on the Benton
Mary ventured to remark: "You doan
know Mars Dandy Jim, does you, Miss
Sail" To which Miss Sally answered.
Enthusiastically: mo, indeed. "He say
de captain of de Tom Benton de bes'
man on de river; de ideel captain, Mars
Jim say" continued Mary. ooh, well,
Mary" said Miss Sally, "never mind
what you hear" and she turned away.
But the words had struck home. She
had always imagined the rival pilot as
hating her father and the Benton as
heartily as possible. Even in her IA
theirs bitterness, however, she recol-
lected that he had time and again adj
United the infinite superiority of Toll
liver over any other man on the river.
So little by little the subject of Dandy
Jim" became favorite topic between
Mary, who always looked after Miss
Sally, and her mistress whenever she
took the trips with her father, and
Mary sang his praises with n most cum
ming tongue.
One night there was masked ball at
the house of one of Miss Sally's friends
and Miss Sally attended as Cleopatra.
One of her most persistent admirers
was q tall figure attired as Mephis-
topheles. After the masks were re-
moved she recognized with tremor of
fear and curiosity the feature of Tolli-
yer in Mephisto's garb. An introduce
ton followed, and it seemed as if "Dan-
dy Jim" and Miss Sally" fell in love at
first sight. For the fleeting chances at
the pilot perched away up in his little
pilot house were not to be reckoned.
They met again and again, always at
the houses of mutual friends, and final
| ly, when the crash came, they ex-
changed the usual headstrong and emo
tionally surcharged vows of youthful
lovers. The next morning early Tolliyer
started for his boat and paused on the
rough cobblestones of the river front
to mark again the picture he had so
often seen. Boats were lying all along
the river bank, outside of and next to
the wharf boats, and being rapidly
loaded, with freight. Long lines of cot
ton bales were strung across the ,levee,
| together with heaps of bar iron and
piles of pig lead. Coops of chickens,
hoop poles, thousands of barrels of flour,
sugar, molasses, whisky and other mer-
chandise were heaped and scattered all
around. Some gulls were flying around
one of the wharf boats and a flock of
pigeons were picking up scattered grain
near a bale. He stood and pondered.
Then he walked down to the Silver
Crescent, went aboard of her and
learned that she would not go until
three o'clock p. m. instead of eight a.
H., as had been the original intention.
His mind was filled with the events
of the preceding night. He was very
much in love and he realized that Capt.
Carter would rather shoot his daughter
than to let her marry Dandy Jim Toll
liver" the rival pilot on the river boat
in the rival trade on the Big Muddy, as
the Missouri was facetiously called.
Why not end it right now, he thought.
Get Sally, stop eff at Bccl;ctt's landing,
hunt up the Baptist minister, get mar
ried and have done with it. Capt Carter
would never give his consent. And he
was Il cruel man, was Carter, thought
young Tolliver, and his eyes lit with a
first-time hatred of a man who could
be, as he deemed it, so obstinate.
So he went back to his boarding house,
dispatched a messenger to Miss Sally,
and in half an hour met her at the house
of her best friend. Here he made his
plea with the eloquence of man in
l =.