The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-07-25

( But as there was none at hand to ad-
4 minister the heroic remedy OF chloro-
| dyne cum rhubarb cum laudanum cum
| pill and give him something else to
think about In the original kind Of
knots he remained.
The donkeyman. with hearty Bel
fast curse. tried to do double work, but
| as he had been laboring quite to the
4 top OF his strength for many hours pre-
/ viously the effort did not meet with ur-
! qualified success. AS any one with Tess
| dogged wooden pluck might have
known. II is impossible for one man to
| fire a twelve furnace steamer, wheel
4 himself coal for the bunker and act az
| engineer and greaser when required,
however great be the initial supply OF
brute force with which God has en-
dowed him. Every time he wiped the
wet from his eyes and looked at the
steam gauge It had climbed down since
| the time before, and however furtously
he might heave new fuel onto the
caking cllnkers that jumping index
would continue its downward crawl
The, oiled rumbling OF the engines
slowed and grew more slugRtgh, and
then the ponderous cranks took TO stop
ping on turn as though to gain
strength for the next round. But this
| did not go on for long. The donkey
man felt gentle heave OF the foot
plates beneath him and then heel
which was not recovered. "Re gor,"
said he. the bloody old tramp's TUX the
ground at last. Thanks be-"
He pitched his shovel through a dull
glowing furnace door and turned to
where the little captain was lying on
the polished footplates, holding q yell
low flaring slush lamp before him to
see through the sitting dusty gloom.
"Gumi" he commented. THE old man
looks pretty sick I'll crane him up in
the ashlift."
This he did and took his commanding
officer into the main cabin, where the
air was bright and baking, and the
mosquitoes were biting like dogs. Then,
throwing back the lid OF the medicine
chest. which stood beside the door In
to the companionway, he gazed appre-
ciatively at the rows Of bottles, un-
stopped one or two and shifted at their
contents and then slammed down the
lid again as a thought struck him.
mo-" he said. RED Kettle wouldn't
give me physic last time / thought I'd
like dose, an onw I'll see how he
fancies getting around on nothing. Fair
plays a Jool. I'll just report to the
pilot an then turn In"
The pilot however when the dom
keyman had wearily hauled himself on
to the upper bridge and stood by his
side, proved to be so dead asleep that
no amount of shouting or shaking
would wake him. Even the flies did
not make him vince. t-..- .------r~-,
'Sor, wake, or ye'll be suntrook, II
ye'rc not that already. Rouse, sor. I
cant lug We below, an can't rig an
awning. I'm too tired to speak again
but II yez stay there ye'll fry like a
rasher and be ate by flies. There's a
whopping skeeter in each OF yer eye
holes this minute, an kind OF locust
browsing on the end OF yer snout
Listen. I'm knockin wid boot toe on
yer ribs. Well, man, IL We won't listen
to reason, it's just leavin Yez / am to
stew in yer own juice"
The donkeyman climbed heavily back
down the ladder and went with weary
steps aft along the bridge deck toward
his own place, But at the break OF the
deck he paused, spread his grimy,
shiny elbows on the rail and indufged In
a thin. small whistle.
Now, here we have come, as the
skipper remarked. up an unbeknown
drain TO which mans improvements
have not been INTRODUCED, and there's
callers turning up already. That was
the nose Of a gaff-taups'l squintin be-
tween those tree tops down stream a
minute ago, or I'm Dago. Dye know,
Mr. Sullivan, chief OF the Port Edes,
I'm beginnin to think ye'd have got
better value IL ye'd gone cruisin of by
an large wild the other boys in the life
boats. Th-ue, there's the twenty Ell
notes to dhraw, an a daisy OF a spree to
have IL yez can get anywhere to havs
II, but we've worked that wage out al
ready, an 1T rather seems as though
there's more righteousness to follow"
He yawned GENEROUSLY. "'Tisn't Of
ten I'd say no to bit of a scrimrnage.
but theatricals are not to my taste iust
now at all. Too much overtime ruins
the sense of humor" He yawned
again and blinked his eyes drearily,
''Ye must turn in now, Mr.. Sullivan, or
yell fall down here an be ate alive
by the skeeters an other wild beasts OF
the forrust, and IL the explorers who
are underneath that white gafftaupsI
want to come aboard here an make
trouble, so far as you're concerned
they'll be let"
And with that the donkeyman stag
gered away to his room beneath the
poop. sat over the edge OF his bunk and
was snoring melodiously before his
head and his heels were on the blanket,
Meanwhile mile lower down a small
centerboard sloop was turning to wind
ward up the river, but making little
headway, against the current. Al negro
stood in her forescuttle, with his elbows
on the deck. Two others sprawled on
either side of him. A white man Law
spread eagled on the top OF the coach
roof OF the cabin, and another stood In
the cockpit steering.
(Continued Next Weakl