The daily Alaskan., 1907-01-12
THE PILOTS
 ..|TOR RT
LOrIE!nnLl

said the Mississippi pilot, and it's my
 opinion that all this thing called hero
 ism depends on circumstances. When
 brave mans cornered he aint any
 better n coward. I've butted up
 ag'in fortyfcationS. and I've legged it
 to get out @ the way Q shot and shell"
 The boat was moving swiftly down
 with the stream, and tue pilot was now
 pulling the wheel with all his strength,
 then letting it fly around like Fourth
 of July pinwhccL
 But don't have to draw on myself
 for an argument. was q stars and
 bars boy myself. I'll take one O your
 fellerS, as brave q man aS ever fought under the stars and stripes. Dye see -that bank over tlGar: l remember a l day when there was a good deal dOin' on that bank. lt was about fOu' years ! after the close of the war, and the car 1 petbag business was humpin'. The gineral idce of carpetbagger, both north and south. was d low down CuSS
 without any dcCcncy whatever. Some | of 'em was. But Major MacEuery was
 a different sort IIr had risen from the
 ranks in the Union army, and when the
 war was over, bcin' only tweuty-sevcn
 years old. he concluded to settle in the
 south and grow mp with the country after it's new birth. There was d lot of
 Do'the'n officers mk thNt fever, and
 reckon they all come to grief.
 The major bought plantation over
 thar He didn't pay much gro' it, fo' i,
 wasn't wo'rh much. His ncighbOrS tried to drive him out in var'us ways but he was good pluck and refused to be driv One day when I was pilot O the Tallad"=3 we come Hoatn' dowu
 yere just aS we're doiu' now, and rouudiu' Jo. putin her nose upstream
 we tjed ug ar H whJf boat over thar tu deliver t,l, ml.L wanted to git some tobLccrr &u Irir the cupu I'd , take the mail hag up. He tDlc ne 10 go l ahead. and. roli.n it Uudcu my arm rU' thar wasn't much in it-I struck out l found a big crowd on the bun, and they foIlered me to the posIolicc. handed in the mail bag, and just then iu walked Major Machinery. There was one letter iu the UIg. and that had the majors uumr on il. The postmaster handed il out 10 him.
 That made the crowd mad. One
 man said that yO' couldn't expect uoth-' in better from a Yankee gov'mcut than
 to deliver only letters to' Yankees. The
 major. who had seen all the lightin' Ec ! wanted in the late war, tux his letter and went out. or. ruthcr, he was goin out when one of the crowd put out his foot and ripped him. The major stumbled. but didn't Say nuthiU'. He knowcd il was intentional. but if he said anything there he'd have to fight
 for his life. There was d man he had on his plantation in the crowd and two or three SOuth'n TnionistS that had set
 tied thar to he under the majors wing.
 When the man that had trpped the
 major saw it didn't move him to give 'em a chance to, kill him he roared out:
 "'Yo' Yankee carpctbagger, what q
 70 mean by Carryin' of the mail with yO'? We don't want no hogs down yere"
 Tine major whipped out revolver and stuck it under the mans nose so quick that thc fellcr fell back. and the major went out. He hadn't been gone morc'u a few minutes when they jam med the man that wo'kCd on his planta- ton agin the wall. and he hit one of 'cm on the head. The Union men tried 1 to get at him to get him out Q their way. and pretty soon it was a stand of between tho two factions. got out O the way O the dyin' bullets. As I was maxim off a heavy man that had been shot fell on me and knocked mo down. IT occurred to me that it would be well fO' me to lay whar I fell leastawayS there's no Use to kill dead man. an I concluded I'd be dead
 fo' awhile. till the ShoOtin' was over.
 T didn't see nOthin' mOre-I didn't
 want to-but the major, hearin' the fracas, went back. and he and his little gang kep' the fire eaters at bay fo' some time Then most of the majors packers was killed. As l was tcliin'
 yo'. l didn't see nothin' that was goin'
 on till thrre was nothin' but few
 stray shoa< lift near me: then got up and mady tracks fo' the boat.
 "Evcryboay on board had left the
 wha'f boat, and some of 'em had lock ed themselves in stuterOoms. The
 deck hands had all tumhlcd into the
 hold, and the cap'n had hid in the pilot
 house. run aboard and, seein' no
 one. run out to the wha'f boat ag'in
 and unloosed the cables. We dritted off, and, yankin' the engineer out Of
 his hidin place behind the engine.
 tole him to be ready for signals as soou
 as l got to the pilot house In haiI
 minute | was at the wheel. Her stern
 was just touchiu' the shore when l J rung to go ahead, and we steamed out Into deep water,
 Putin her nose downstream, 1
 looked back at the scene of the fight and saw the major coniu' on the dead run with crowd an eighth of mile !