The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-28

Of the whole bunch, which extended to the
one in which the man was sitting, appar-
emily lost in the view. He at once sprang
TO his feet and turned toward the girls,
with his hand on its way to his hat and
then he started a little. and there was
great deal Of surprise in his tone.
''Why. Miss Stoddardi Mckee wrote me
you were going on the Pittsburg. and did
not expect to see you on this boat May l
arrange your chairs for you? 1 believe the
view of the river is better than that of the
bluffs. and I will put them over on this
other side If you don't mind"
He did not say, conventionally. that it
was an unexpected pleasure, and he gave
no opportunity for introduction to the other
girls-two things which Mary Stoddard no
ticed with quick perception When he had
arranged four chairs for them in a group
along the other rail she introduced him TO
the others, one of whom kept him in con-
versation until 1t became necessary for him
to bring another chair and sit with their
party That night, in her stateroom, Mary
Stoddard recognized the Unborn gentlemanly
characteristics of Shacklett She noticed
his lack of society polish as She remem-
bered his quick explanation that he had not
forced himself upon her. combined with his
lack of conventional expressions of pleasure
at meeting her. She remembered, too, how
differently modulated his tone was when
talking to her friends and when addressing
her. and she determined to be very fair
and frank with this young man, who
seemed to be all character and only recent
ly trained a little in the conventions.
The next day Shaklett searched for her
TO point out a particularly fine view along
shore. and found her in the pilot house. He
noted her look of respect for the man who
knew so much and did so much with such
certainty in guiding the boat. and he led
the conversation into the channel of the
pilots duties and life.
'I suppose they grow up to it," he said.
land by doing little more every day they
become able to do miracles. 1 remember
| that once. when was little boy, lifted
a pig father gave me, every day, with the
idea that after a while l would be lifting
a large hog. There came a time when L
could no longer lift the animal, and father
laughed at me and told a story of an in
vention to teach horses to live on sawdust
by beginning with a little sawdust and
much bran, and gradually iessening the
quantity of bran and increasing that of
sawdust until the feed was all sawdust.
Father said the invention worked all right
but the horse died It's an old story of
course but I've never got il out of my head
that the invention ought to be made to
work somehow. AT least, 1 got some good
out of my lifting plan. even if the desired
end was not reached"
Mary Stoddard reflected that it would be
better not to mention Hercules and the calf
to this young man. and replied:
II think, sometimes. that too many peo-
pie, especially women, do not try to &C
complish anything because they cannot
accomplish everything. suppose at Spring
field you see many cases of hope deferred
and failure TO attain ends that you get used
to them?'
mo; at least 1 never will get used to
that" he said. 'for 1 think if l ever got
used to failure I should stagnate some
where, wherever / happened to be stranded
| have been remarkably lucky so far, and
| have nothing to complain of in the way
| Providence is treating me, but was raised
| in a country where everybody fought his
way through school and through the fol-
| lowing few years until he married. and the
| only thing that seems TO come entirely nat
| ural to me when things go wrong is TO fight
out"
II suppose that is one Of the chief ele-
| ments in success" she said; that is, to
| fight out always"
| 1t was said in tone that listener would
have taken for one of considerable ennui
and some inattention TO what he was say
| ing. but Shacklett was not able to detect
/ that in his inexperience. 1t gave him the
| text he desired, and he went on:
1.-The fact Is, 1 never figure much on what
| will bring success in general. l notice that
| the fellows who do the most of that are the
| least successful, and l simply take things
| as they come and make the best can out
| of them one at time. 1 don't know
The pilot pressed a lever with his foot.
and the great whistle of the boat sent out
its hoarse voice, that drowned all CONVEX
sation. They were coming to a landing.
and went down to watch the deckhands
carry on the cargo in an interminable trot
over the long gangplank from the shore
Shacklett was an entirely new type to
Mary Stoddard. He was not used to many
things which had come to her, like the air
and the doorbell and other parts OF. her en-
vironment, but he seemed somehow.to have
chosen the best obtainable of the things he
had passed thus far. He had abundant
confidence in himself, but this confidence
seemed TO be justified by results so far as
he had progressed. He was certainly sin
cere, and lacked any tendency to cant. lie
was seeking for the uplift to a degree that
was almost pathetic and with a vigor that
certainly would elevate him constantly.
These things ran through the mind of Miss
Stoddard as she sat looking at the passing
shores. and she was rather glad that he
| had accidentally taken the same boat for
the river trip that she had chosen: he GER
tainly added something of human interest
to the trip.
ITS queer how interesting common
have seen them before" he said to her one
day. "Now it was taken for granted by
me that when a steamboat wanted TO stop
at a town she simply ran her front end to
| the shore and was tied 10 a pile. But l dis
covered that a boat coming down stream
has TO turn completely around and head up
stream before she can make a landing It's
all very simple after you know how. but
still it's interesting the first time you learn
it. I've made friends with everybody con-
nected with the boat, from the captain to
| the cook. and I'm learning all about steam
| boats-except piloting"-and ne laughed
She found that this meant more than ii
| usually did. for all the officers Of the boat
,rfnh tnIrf,