The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-21
CHAPTER XIV

Wherever anu however ne COQlQ. once
on deck they were confronted by vari-
Gus tall dark forms. They did not
need TO be told that these were Capt.
Mudd's deckhands. They did
not need to be told, either, what tough
characters Mississippi roustabouts are
or how ready and eager they are for
a fight with anybody or any pretext.
One deckhand dealt Sawed-off ter
rife blow in the chest that almost
winded him, but Sawed-off happened
to think of an uppercut which he had
with him and he applied 1t to the deck
hands jaw with all the weight of his
big body behind it. The deckhand
went over like a sack of coal.
A numbering raftsman let drive a
swinging fist at Ready. If Ready's
frequent wishes that he might be
taller had ever come true he would
have been sorry for il from that mo-
ment on. AS it WIS, the fist passed
just over his head. In a Gat oae-six-
teenth of a second bot dy and
Heady were on the raft"l each
Of them had wrapped hin. ound
one of the mans legs. - tch
thought that they were ~ > use
him as a wishbone tor a mc4l-.. and
in order to save being pulled apart
he went down on the deck. Ready
sat on his head while Heady held his
| flying feet
SleepySwas not so lucky with the man
who rose up against him. He was
bowled over at the first blow. But as
he lay on the deck he wrapped his arms
lovingly around the ankles of the I'M
known stranger who had given him
such warm reception and with the
aid of Boobies he soon had him ac-
counted for. Hist'ry was the last
Lakerimrner aboard, and he was not
expected to do much in the pugilistic
line, but seeing the deckhand whom
Sawed-off had knocked down getting to
his feet again, Hist'ry grabbed off his
spectacles and, pressing one end of
them against the mans forehead, sang
out in as bloodthirsty tone as he
could initiate:
IF you move 1 will blow you full of
holes"
The deckhand was half asleep, and
in the dim light the spectacles glistened
as much like a nickle- plated revolver
as anything else, and he was not in a
mood for taking chances, so he kept
very quiet.
Meanwhile, Pretty, Punk, Tug, Jum-
DO and Sawed-off had hurried on to the
stateroom where Capt. Mudd was try
ing to hold B. j., who was giving an
excellent imitation of an eel. Capt.
Mudd thought he was in basket of
cells when the other Lakerimmers
bounced down on him. Pretty. Tug
and Sawed-off hammered him like
mad, and Jumbo, Selling sheet. threw
it over the captains head, and soon
had him suffocated to the point of sur
render Tug and Sawed-off then took
B. j. by the arms and led him out of
the room. Quiz happened to think of
the key, and, taking 1t out of the lock
from the inside, closed the door and
locked the captain in the stateroom,
which he nearly set on fire with his
language. The Lakerimmers now left
the boat, gathering up such of their
numbers as were holding down the
deckhand. When Hist'ry was relieved
and the roustabouts saw him unfold the
supposed revolver and put it on his
nose, he almost expired with rage,
but the Lakerimmers were too many
to tackle, and the deckhands and Capt.
Mudd simply called them impolite
names. AS for the Lakerimmers, they
climbed the canal wall in triumph and
| from the top of it gave both the war
whoop and the good old club yell.
rah.
| Fri,
70,
Iay-krim. Lay-krim, lro.
Lay-krirn, hoo ray,
row.
roo!
They made their way back to the
bivouac they had selected in the thick
ct, treading on each others heels and
| Shaping each others shoulders as they
all tried at once to pat B. J. on the
| back.
They had thought they were sleepy,
but they were wide enough awake to
listen long and earnestly to B. J.'s cat
alogue of woes.
| At length Sleepy interrupted one
| of the most exciting situations
with cavernous yawn. and
as yawns are as contagious
as the humps, the Lakerimmers,
| in spite of themselves, were soon swal-
| lowing large mouthfuls of air in chorus
as they curled up in their sleeping
blankets-they had not forgotten to
| bring one for B. ]. Quiz had just
enough consciousness left to ask a
| question.
Now that we have got B. j. all safe
and sound how will we ever get him
home, and how'll we ever get ourselves
| home again?'
II am tired of conundrums." said
Tug TASK me an easy one tomorrow
| (To be continued).
-Tommy-"Tallxin of riddles, uncle