Arizona republican., 1905-06-04
They were a bunch of orphans. That was half the trouble.

They were bunch of orphans. That was half the trouble.
 Finally Tom Letterblair took up with a chorus girl and refused to drop her. The family tried to buy her off Now she wasn't a nice sort of girl, but she was true to Tom. She told him about 1t. For once, although he was such a careless fellow, he got mad, and what does he do but come to me to have her name, "Dotty," tatooed on his arm with the double snake border. Says he to me, confidentially, That's the girl I'm going to marry when I come of age, which is only two months, and don't you forget it."- Seems that he told other people the same thing, so that il came back to the family.
 Now, his sisters and the society sweIIs that they were married to didn't han ker any to have Dotty for sister-in- law. But they knew by experience that if Tom Letterblair said he'd do it all bIazes wouldn't hold him. J. Thrasher Sunderland, one of Toms brothers-in-Iaw. had what he thought was brilliant idea. It was to get the kid shanghaied on a sailing vessel for six months voyage.
 That wasn't such a bad scheme,
 
 from Dotty and drink for six months. have Tim work hard, and make a man out Of him. It's been done before, right in this port. This wild streak is a kind of a disease that strikes young fellows with much blood in their necks and money in their pocets.
 J. Thrasher Sunderand made his first break when he went to Captain Wynch of the bark Treasure Trove, in stead of going straight to a crimp. as he ought to have done. Wynch prom ised to treat the kid well and try to brace him up. Never having seen Tom Letterblair, he got a description of him, including the tattoo mark Then the skipper went to Spotty Crigg and promised him $100 for doing the rough work of getting Tom on board the yes sel
 Letterblair was such a big, careles fellow he never suspected anything, and a lure note fetched him to Crigg's saloon the night before the bark cleared. Tom had been drinking hard Twas a jolly drunk, and he was ready for a glass with any one.
 Now, Crigg hadn't given much thought to this little transaction, for he was doing that sort of work amost
 
 young swell all dressed up to the hines, came into the Bowsprit saloon, the looks of him put a brand new idea into Spotty's noodle. It struck him that $100 was pretty small pay for catch ing d fish of that size and color; there was, evidently a big deal on some where. Like everyone else who read the newspapers, he knew considerable about Tom Letterblair; knew him for a young sport, free as water with his money. Putting two and two together, he saw that if he could save the kid instead of stealing him, there might be a good many times $100 in the affair. Besides, there was a chance of finding out who was trying to get the shang- haiing done, and then collect black mail. So he decided to play both ends. He would steal the wrong man, and hold on to the right one.
 He ran his eye around the place and saw Harry Maidslow, a scene shifter in the old Baldwin theater, who used to drop in now and then on his nights off. Man for man, Maidslow and Let terbIair were modelled on the same lines-Maidslow wore a moustache, but that would come off easy enough yellow hair. blue eyes, big and strong