El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-14

| Mexico couldn't make Roadway against
| that valve once it was fairly opened. It's
| the quickest and cleverest way of sont-
thing a steamboat 1 ever heard of or read
| about. But 1 don't quite see how the
| valve is going to be turned
| "You leave that to me. y
| You seem used to the game" said
| Kettle, with half sneer.
No I'm not returned the other
| quickly. 1--we never had my fingers in
| anything so ugly or SO dirty before, and
because don't want to have the expert
| ence over again I'm going to make this
| turn to a big profit get killed in the
| trying. I'm tired and sick of this wild
bucketing life. A woman drove me to it,
but believe if 1 had the means to settle
[ down in comfort now could forget all
about her and wake up other new inter
eStS.''
WELL" said Kettle, 81 hope we may
| each of us buy farm out of this racket,
but tell you straight I'm not ovefsweet
on the chances. To begin with, you and I
can't handle this steamboat alone. It's
an absolute certainty we must have an
| other hand to help us. You'll have to
take the wheel and pilot her through, if
you can, though that's a mighty big job
| for one man, and the odds about ten
TO one you'll pile her up somewhere. I've
got to be below. AT pinch might drive
| the engines, though don't know much of
| the trade, but 1 can't do that and fire six
two hole boilers and wheel Goals out of the
bunkers as well. Now think the dom
keyman is the chap we want He under
stands his way about down there, he's as
strong as a winch, and 1 fancy he knows
which side his biscuits margarined."
Yes, I'm with you there. Well have
the donkeyman if he'll come
Then why not sound him now?'
because l IL hint of this Internal scheme
to no one till its fairly ablaze Man, if a
ghosts whisper of. it got about, the crew
would rise and grab us, pistols or no pis
tolls. They'd have that amount of scare
in them, they'd walk straight up to a
Maxim gun. They'd trample us out of
existence before we could fairly look
round. No, my neck itches enough as
| things are at present and if another man
on board now besides you knew what was
going to be done tonight 1 should feel a
bowline moose inside my collar, with half
a dozen hansmen beginning to tug at it, y
''See here, Mr.. Cambel, " said the ship
| master, are you getting sorry you came
out on this trip
The other laughed harshly. Sorry!
Whatever have you got in your head now?
If do thing, l do it with my eyes open,
and 1 make point of never indulging in
useless regrets afterward. No, Captain
Kettle, m going through with this mat
it is brought about without injury to a
single human soul or whether it costs the
last pant of breath from every man in this
ship. But 1 own to you I am nervous.
The only things which we can be sure
will happen are the unexpected, and we
can't prepare for those, and the want of
preparation may ruin US.
It's a big gamble assented Kettle.
and l wish 1 could say, May the Lord de
fend the right But can t, and you can t,
and least of all Shelf can't. It's DEVILS
job anyway, and he don't always stand
by his men. The only thing is even Nick
can { diddle my wife and kids out of the
insurance 1 made for them; so, personally
speaking, / don't much care what hap
pens. You go below to your room now
and get calk of sleep. You'll want it.
And first, if you please, I'll shake hands
with you. We've never done it before, be-
cause a mods been enough other times,
but this is different. You're decentish
sort, and 1 fancy if that woman hadn't
meddled you wouldn't have been ship
mates here with me tonight"
They exchanged quick hand grip,
each looking rather ashamed of himself,
and then Cambel went down the bridge
ladder whistling, and Owen Kettle reset
tied himself in his campstool. When next
they met, the tragedy of the Port Edes
would have begun, and in it perhaps both
would die by any out of ten violent deaths.