Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-11-07

W ISSS'
crews starvln one OF 'em mas to be
sacrificed for the good Of the rest, and
! that's what we've got to do. One of US
has got to git married for the bcn0tit
of the other two"
CAPTAIN Fri shouted hilariOusly.
Good boy. Perez" he cried. Coin to
be the first oiferin'?"
"No. unless lis my luck, Fri. Well
all three match for it, same as we do
bout wasE;n' tie dishes"
"Where ;-e you goin' to find wife"
asked Captain Jo:.y.
"Now, tl...;': 1T WHIT I'm goin' to
show you. see how things was goin',
and I've Ice. th:nkin' Liis over for q
considerable s:;oii Iiold on minute
TIL vc;haui my kit"
He wel.t into the front bedroom. anu
through t..c cen door they could see
him tulTl..i: Ger the contents OF the
chest w...h i. II. in Eras; Fails on the
Id. He scattered about him fish lines,
hooks. lcaG fof mixers. oi!cloth jackets,
whales teeth and various other arti
cles, and ut length came back bearing
much crumpled sheet Of printed pa
per.
There. There she is! The Nup-ti-al
Chime. A Journal of MatrimOny.' l
see II piece about it in the Herald the
other day and sent dime for SAM
pie copy. It's chock full Of advertise
ments from women that wants hus-
bands"
Captain Fri put on his spectacles and
hitched his chair up to the table. After
giving the pages Of the Nuptial Chime
hurried inspection he remarked:>
"There seems to be strong runnin'
to 'vi-va-ci-ous brunettes' and 'blonds
with tender and romantic DISPOSE
TONS"
"Oh, hush up, Fri! 'Taint likely I'll
want to write to any of 'em in there.
The thing for us to do would be to
write out advertisement Of our own.
tell what sort of woman we want and
then set back and wait for answers.
Now, what do you sayY'
Captain Fri looked ut the advocate
of matrimony for moment without
speaking. Then he said, "Do you really
mean it, Perez?"
"Sartin do"
"What do you think Of it, JerryT
"Think it's good idee," said that
ancient mariner decisively. We've got
to do somethin', and this looks like the
only sensible thing"
Then Eri's got to do it!' asserted
Captain Perez dogmatically. I'VE
agreed to stick together, and two to
ones vote. Come on now, Err, We'll
match"
Captain Fri hesitated.
"Come on, Erir' ordered Captain Jer-
~. "Ain't goin' to mutiny, are you"
"All right" said Captain Fri. "Pll
stick to the ship. Only" he added,
with quizzical glance at his COM
panions, Its got to be settled that the
feller that's stuck can pick his wife and
don't have to marry unless he finds one
that suits him."
The others agreed to this stipulation,
and Captain Perez, drawing long
breath, took coin from his pocket,
tipped it in the air and covered it as it
fell on the table with big, hairy hand.
Captain Err did likewise; SO did Cap
tain Jerry. Then Captain Fri lifted
his hand and showed the coin be-
meath. 1t was head. Captain Jerry's
was u tail. Under Captain Perez's
hand lurked the hidden fate. The cap
tain's lips closed in grim line. With
q desperate glance at the others, he
jerked his hand away.
The penny lay head uppermost. Cap
tain Jerry was stuck"
Captain Fri rose, glanced at bis
watch, and, taking his hat from the
shelf where the dishes should have
been, opened the door. Before he went
out, however, he turned and said:
"Perez, you and Jerry can be fxin'
up the advertisement while I'm gone.
You can let me see 1t when come
back. I say, Jerry" Le added to the
Sacrifice" who sat gazing at the PEN
MES on the table In sort of trance,
don't feel bad about 1t. Why, when
you come to think of it, it's provi-
dence it turned out that way. Me and
Perez are bachelors, and we'd be jest
green hands. But you're able sea-
man. You know what 1t Is to manage
u WIFE"
"Yes, 1 do" groaned Captain Jerry
lugubrously. "Durn it, that's jest it,!
Captain Fri was chuckling as, Ian
tern in hand, he passed around the
corner of the little white house on the
way to the barn. He chuckled all
through the harnessing of Daniel, the
venerable white horse. He - still
chuckling as, perched OH the se..l OF the
truck wagon" he ratified and shook
out of the yard and turned into the
sandy road that led up to the village.