El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-21


rifle shot for what appeared to be the
densest part of the forest But as she
neared an overlapping cape gradually dis
tinguished itself from the rest of the
greenery, and directly afterward banks of
milky sand sprang out, with gut of
river between them.
Cambel steered on, sitting upon the
grating now and holding the wheel one
handed by the lower spokes. and in the
fat hot stew of the stokehold below Ket-
tie and the donkeyman shoveled coal to
the light of reeking slush lamps and the
tune of furnace roar.
The steamer in the grip of the river
stream swung round the bights and twist
ings, finding deep water everywhere,
though often she could not make the turn
quickly enough and bruised with her
forefoot the Shiny mangrove stems which
marked the bank. But the current was
strong and each time swept her clear, and
those below were scarcely conscious of the
Craze.
Knot by knot the brine of the Mexican
gulf was being left behind, and the noises
of the woods and odors of the trees and
the swamps were closing in on them. The
swell tanning out from the steamers
wake wet the alligators in their basking
places behind the sawgrass, and the reek
from her smokestacks scared the silt leg
ged water fowl afish in the shadows. She
coasted round n bayou of black water
walled in by stern ranks of cypress trees.
She cut across another with graceful leav-
ed palmetto scrubbed on either hand and
ragged cabbage palms spouting out from
above. And then she swung again where
the river forked Sand steamed down a
straight, answering water lane which led
to the very heart of the Everglades.
But the pace was slowing now, slowing
indeed till the steamer would hardly steer
against The current, which ever and anon
gripped her by the head or the tail and
carried her with sullen sheeringS dead
onto mangrove cluster or tree clad bluff
and the reason was that the head of steam
was failing. Captain Owen Kettle, like
more Christian men have done before, ig
nored his own previous preachings when
the application came in and proved only
human soon after he had taken up the role
of fireman. Driven half lunatic by the heat
of the work, he kept dipping his lips in
the water bucket and drinking heavy
drafts. AS a consequence that unpoet-
ical complaint-cramp in the stomach
overlook him at last and tied him into
those ungainly knots of torture which he
had SO frequently observed upon scientific
ally in others. But as there was none at
hand to admin lister the heroic remedy of
chlorodyne cum rhubarb cum 1audanum
cum pill and give him something else to
think about in the original kind of knots
he remained.
The donkeyman, with hearty Belfast
curse, tried to do double work, but as he
had been laboring quite to the top of his
strength for many hours previously the
effort did not meet with unqualified sue
cess. AS any one with less logged wooden
pluck might have known, 1t is impossible
for one man to fire 10 furnace steamer,
wheel himself coal for the bunker and act
as engineer and greaser when required,
however great be the initial supply of
brute force with which God has endowed
him. Every time he wiped the wet from
his eyes and looked at the steam gauge it
had climbed down since the time before,
and however furiously he might heave
new fuel onto the caking clinkers that
jumping index would continue its down
ward crawl.
The oiled rumbling of the engines slow
ed and grew more sluggish, and then the
ponderous cranks took to stopping
turn as though to gain strength for the
next round. But this did not go on for
long. The donkeyman felt gentle heave
of the footplates beneath him and then
heel which was not recovered. BE gor,''
said he, 1.-THE bloody old tramp's TUX the
ground at last. Thanks be-
He pitched his shovel through dull
glowing furnace door and turned to where
ed footplates, holding "A yellow flaring
slush lamp before him to see through the
sitting dusty gloom. ''Gumn' he COM
mented. The old man looks pretty sick.
I'll crane him up in the ashlift."
This he did and took his commanding
officer into the main cabin, where the air
was bright and baking, and the mosqui-
toes were biting like dogs. Then, throw
ing back the lid of the medicine chest,
which stood beside the door into the COM
panionway, he gazed approximately at
the rows of bottles, unstopped one or two
and shifted at their contents and then
slammed down the lid again as thought
struck him. NO. he said. RED Ket-
tie wouldn't give me physic last time l
thought I'd like dose, an now I'll see
how he fancies getting round on nothing.
Fair plays jool. I'll just report to the
pilot an then turn in
The pilot, - however, when the donkey
man had YEARLY hauled himself onto the
upper bridge and stood by his side, proved
to be so dead asleep that no amount of
shouting or shaking would wake him.
Even the flies did not make him vince.
Scr, wake, or yell be sunstrook, if
ye're not that already. Rouse, sor. 1 can't
lug ye below. an / can't rig an awning.
I'm too tired to speak again, but if yez
stay here yen fry like rasher an be ate
by flies. There's a whopping skeeter in each
of yer eyeholes this minute, an a kind o
locust browsing on the end of yer snout.
Listen. I'm knockin wild boot toe on
yer ribs. Well man, if ye won t listen to
reason. it's just leavin yez am to stew
in yer own juice
The donkeyman climbed heavily back
down the ladder and went with weary
steps aft along the bridge deck toward his
own place. But at the break of the deck
no Il Chi oil
on the rail and INDUCED in a thin, small
whistle,