Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-04-24
DAILY STORY.
THE MAN IN THE SKIFF.
(Original1

light that illuminated a red flag drifted
down the Allegheny river betweentthe
twin Cities" 1t movedy with the/cur-
rent, the sole occupant standing An the
stern, keeping it in the tmiddle tof the
stream by means of a single oar in
stead of rudder. The pilot ofsa ferry
boat saw it and rang to stop the en-
gines. Though the skiffipassed n hum
dred feet from the ferTyboat's bow
the pilot again rang, ,this'time to back
water. As the skiff fioated on under
a bridge the maniin the. stern looked
anxiously at the abutnents and kept
away, using his. oartfor a paddle. He
was watched from ,above by little
knot of people, who wondered at his
anxiety to keep. off from contact and
as to what was 1.-THE load in 'the skiff's
waist covered with tarpaulin, giving
the effect of Il coffin under a,pall.
A wheezy little steamer putting up
stream. as soon, as her pilot caught
sight of the redt flag, turned to star
board and gave sthe mysterious little
boat a wide berth. Then the .skiff drift
ed past a wharf boat and passed very
near it. A watchmani with lantern
called to him TO keep'at a safer dis
lance.
AYE, ave" grunted the other, but be-
fore he could direct his Skiff nearer to
midwater it had PASSED the wharffboat
Coming to the mouth of the river
where il meets the MonOngahela the
current took the little boat nearer to
Il steamer than was INTENDED. Indeed
| it passed along the steamers side with
| in a dozen yards There was Il commo-
| ton among those on watch on the
steamer \ man, Selling a pole, made
ready to shove the sliff off should it
come within touch; another stood
swinging lantern. yelling to the
skiff's pilot to stand ay'and enforc-
| ing his order with volley of oaths
Then the skiff passed out'on to the
! bosom of III belle riviere aes com
| menced its descent
An hour later the morning broke, and
| q steamboat came SnOrting down be-
hind the mysterious skiff. The light
had been put out and the red flag
taken in. AS the steamer, passed the
man in the skiff sang out:
| Gimme lift
''All right" grunted the captain from
the hurricane deck.
A rope was thrown and the little
boat taken in tow. All day the steam
err towed the skiff. Toward evening a
knot of men leaned over the steamers
stern guard. The man in the skir
saw them. but hat was pulled over
| his eyes and they could not see his
| face except his mouth, which was
| firmly set Suddenly the steamers
wheels stopped. The man in the skif
| quickly thrust his oar into the water
| beside his boat and commenced to pull
backward hastily. He avoided even
any contact with his tower. and those
| looking on wondered why he was SO
cautious. Surely slight bump would
not have hurt him.
| Then they unused upon the corpse
| like burden. Was it body? If so
| that was no reason for the SteerSmanS
| timidity at contact. Something must be
wrong with the little craft. Whatever
we don't understand must be wrong.
One of those who had been looking on
went forward and interviewed the cap
tain. who came aft and stood looking
| at the skiff.
what v got there:'' he inquired
gruffiy.
The man in the skiff looked up at
him as though loath to tell, then
drawled:
Dynamite
The secret was out. They were tow
ing dynamite boat that in case of a
jar might blow them all into eternity.
Coast Off" yelled the captain.
The man reluctantly went to the
bow, passing his load gingerly. and
1 = Il ~
The man in the skiff saw the boat
pass around a bend in the river below
and turned his head to look for anoth-
| er to come from the eastward. Far in
the distance two tunnels We're pouring
forth columns of black smoke. A
steamer came by, and again the skif
| was taken in tow, but this time not
| for long The mate came aft, asked the
nature of the cargo and, when told,
| with one blow of an AK severed the
| tow line
This time the man in the skiff gave
a low laugh, u laugh of intense salts
| faction cover there" he said to him
self, sis Ohio. And over there is either
| West Virginia or Kentucky Then,
looking at n lire of twilight where the
sun had gone down, he added: "An-
other hour IL do No bit of bad luck
for sixty minutes, and the games
won"
When darkness fell he padded his
boat toward the southern bank.
"Ben,' he said, there's not craft
In sight. Get up"
The tarpaulin was lifted, and a man
in striped clothes sat up. He did not
look like criminal. Indeed lie looked
like martyr. There was a careworn
look ON his face. a CLASSY, suffering
look in his eye. There was no elation,
but an expression of relief.
Take off those Clothes" said the
man at the helm. And, reaching under
his seat, he drew forth bundle and
tossed it at the other, who proceeded to
put on a suit of ordinary clothes
.nnx n1If for that fin CON III tfo