The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-08-29
The Ring and
the OSfricheS
BY Frank Russell
(CopyrIght. by shortstorv pnh cor

agonia for bout three year, an had got
a thunderln' big lot of furs an skins
Billy SEE to me one day, as how 1t 'ud
be best to take em TO Frisco and sell
'em there, as we couldn't git half the
wuth of 'em here, an, besides, we
oughter have bit of spell. anyway
so ! says bueno, Wen go. We hit the
trail fur Punta Arenas. where nearly
all our furs wus, and where we'd have
TO ketch boat
There wusn't nuthin' but these car
go tramp steamers in the straits then,
and the feller in the office there seq
as how no boat won't come for awhile,
so we put up at the Gaucho hotel,
run by a Australia, to wait till she
happened along.
We'd been in this shack couple
o. days. an one evenin' | wus down
in the barroom, havin' quiet time by
myself, when all of sudden ! hears
Billy, yelling fer me to come there
quick Well, grabs my old A
thinkin' he's in seri's trouble, and tears
back to his room.
sit down" sez he, II got bally
good scheme"
| slowed away the gun, dlsgusted
and gave I'm some advice bout fright
enin people with heart trouble, which
he took on motifs uf
Look here" he SEE, we're goin' ter
make our forchin this trip, shore
Wen rig up couple O. inkybaters
and fill 'em with -awstrich eggs, an
bout the time we git to Frisco
they'll be nearly ready to hatch, an
we can sell 'em alive to these rich
sports, and mebbe some to a circus OF
menagery. They'll fetch fat price
an we'd oughter git pile o, coin out
Nv EN-"
Billy was proper loco bout this
scheme, an KEEP tellin' It over an
over again, an laffin' an whackin' the
table with his fist, and plannin' how
we'd spend the money, til blamed II
he didn't git me reused up, too, an SC
| said we'dd give 1t trial, beins 1t
'ud cost nothin'.
I'd never seen inkybater on dooty
before, but Bill he'd been on a farm
up in Santa Fe, where there wus lots
NV EN-, and then he's a mighty handy
chap with the tools, is Bill, so betwixt
us both we rigged up couple of big
boxes, and got some sperit lamps off n
schooner, an put some rings in the
boxes SOS to hang 'em up In the boat
with ropes, to keep 'em from rockin'
In bad weather.
That took couple o. days, an then
we started out in camp with the hosses
an some cargo baskets with wool in
EN-, to fetch the eggs. You know
how plentiful is awstrich eggs now
in December? Well, they's lot more
plentiful than days, an we got the
hosses loaded in no time.
Bills wunnerful brain wus glttin'
us richer an richer every mint. He
reckoned we'd stay in Frisco til the
burds got a good size, an then break
'em in 10 pull pony.carts. That way
they'd fetch several hun'red dollars
apiece.
We got the eggs to Punta Arenas,
and filled up the inkybaters. Betwixt
'em they held more'n 400. All over
in Spanish and English Handle
with care" an "Delikit contents"
Purity soon the old boat hove In
sight-Englishman she wuz, bout 5000
tons.
When everything wuz aboard, Bill
went round to the first mate, tellln
him bout our inkybaters, an paid i'm
ten dollars to let us put 'em up for'ard
in an empty storeroom. So we drove
some big staples in the ceilin' an
swung up the boxes.
EVERYTHING wus goin' so easy that me
an Bill wuz gettin' more confident In
the scheme evry mint.
A woman and two kids was the only
other passengers ON board, cause in
them days mighty few people went uT
the west coast.
We fggered the eggs 'ud hatch out
bout a week after we got to Frisco
an reckon they would have, too; but
when we got up here to Callao an
loaded bit of cargo, feller, with q
bunch OF soldiers, come aboard, an
said the plague had broken out an we
gotter stay in quarantine.
Well, the plague got wuss an wuss
an we had to lie there for three weeks
befo' we got away, an the cap'in N
the boat wasn't half as mad as me an
Bill, cause we foresees that the aw
striches are going ter hatch on boarC
an cause trouble.
After we left Callao we couldn't XII
inter any other port til after a buncl
OF uffishuls had nosed round. fur 1
couple OF days, an finally the cap'ir
sez that we'd be two months behinC
time when we got to Frisco.
One mornin' jest befo' we got Il
Panama, Bill had look at the eggs
an comes back madder'n a fresh
sheared ram. He says; THE aw
striches are comm"
Well, fur nigh week Bill 'ud go IL
ever few hours an fetch out new
| detachment of awstriches, till the for
ard deck and down In the steer
age was covered with 'em.
Wehired the carpenter to make crate,
for em, an 1t KEEP i'm working over
| time to keep up with the demand BIZ
wouldn't let me do nothin, said he,
a npOnar hurd finanOapr an, xu,,e a,oi,,