Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-01-30

get me aboard her before she weighs
anchor; fifteen if l keep you out more
than an hour, and still you put me
aboard. After that We'll make other
terms
The man promptly turned his back
to hail his mate cart quid, Bob, if
we puts this gent aboard a vessel
name o Allytheer afore she styles at
turn O. tide"
In the boat the man with the bailing
can turned up an impressive counter
ance. Coon down. he clenched the
bargain; and set about shipping the
sweeps.
Kirkwood c=ept down the shaky lad
der and deposited himself in the stern
of the boat; the younger boatman set
tied himself on the midship thwart
"Ready?"
Ready assented old bob from the
bows. He cast off the painter, placed
one sweep against the edge of the
stage, and with vigorous thrust push.
ed off; then took his seat.
Bows swinging downstream, the
boat shot out from the shore
t'How's the tide?" demanded Kirk
wood, his Impotence growing.
con tn turn, sir" he was told.
For a long moment broadside to the
current, the boat responded to the
sturdy pulling of the post sweeps. An
other. moment, and it was in full
swing, the waterman bending Justify
to their task. Under their unceasing
urge, the broad-beamed, heavy craft,
aided by the ebbing tide, surged more
and more rapidly through the water;
the banks, grim and unsightly with
their towering, impressive warehouses
broken by topping wooden tenements,
slipped swiftly up stream. Ship after
ship was passed, sailing vessels in the
majority, swinging sluggishly at an
Choir, drifting slowly with the river, or
made fast to the goods-stages of the
shore and in keen anxiety lest he
should overlook the right one, Kirk
wood searched their bows and sterns
for names, which in more than one
case proved hardly legible.
The Alethea was not of their num-
Der
In the course of some ten minutes,
the waterman drove the boat sharply
ashore, bringing her up alongside an
other floating stage, in the shadow of
another tenement-both SO like those
from which they had embarked that
kirkwood would have been unable to
distinguish one from another.
In the bows old Bob lifted up a
stentorian voice, summoning one Will
lam
Recognizing that there was some de-
sign in this, the passenger subdued his
disapproval of the delay, and sat
quiet.
In answer to the third ear-racking
hail. man, clothed simply in dirty
shirt and disreputable trousers, show
ed himself in the doorway above, rub
bering the sleep out of a red, bloated
countenance with a mighty and grimy
fist.
Elo," he said surlily. 'Wot's tn
row
100" Intercepted old Bob, hold
ing the boat steady by grasping the
stage, was tn party wct engyged yer
larst night, Bill?"
'.Party name O. Allytheer," growled
the drowsy one. "W'y?"
party 'ere's lookin' for i'm.
Where'll I find this Allytheer?''
BEST look sharp r yer won't find
i'm retorted the one above. &c was
at anchor off Bow Creek larst night
Kirkwoods heart leaped in hope.
What sort of a vessel was she?" he
asked, half rising in his eagerness.
'Brigantine, sir
"Thank-you!" replied Kirkwood ex-
plosively, resuming his seat with I'm.
calculated haste as old Bob, deaf TO
hN 81 r1pio1 irtnrnnrrcn II,
an emergency involving as much as
ten-bob, showed Off again.
And again the boat was flying down
in midstream, the leaden waters, shot
with gold of the morning sun, parting
sullenly beneath its bows.
The air was still, heavy and tepid;
the least exertion brought out beaded
moisture On face and hands. In the
east hung turgid sky, dull with haze,
through which the mounting sun swan
like plaque of brass overhead 1t was
clear and cloudless, but besmirched as
if the polished mirror of the heavens
had been fouled by the breath of de-
parting night.
On the right ahead, Greenwich Nav.
al college doomed up, the great gray
stone buildings beyond the embank-
ment impressively dominating the
scene, in happy relief against the wear
isome monotony Of the river banks; it
came abreast; and ebbed into the
backwards of the scene.
The waterman straining at the
sweeps, the boat sped into Blackwell
Reach, Bubsby Marshes splash II
lurid green to port, dreary Cubitt town
and the West India docks to starboard.
Here the river ran thick with ship.
ping.
'Are we near?" Kirkwood would
know; and by way of reply had a grunt
of the younger waterman.
Again, will we make it," he asked.
The identical grunt answered him !;
he was free to interpret it as he would !;
young Williams old Bob named him
had no breath for idle words Kirk,
wood subsidized, controlling his impa
thence to the best of his ability; the
men, he told himself again and again
were earning their pay whether or
not they gained the goal Of his de
sire. Their labors were titanic
on their tamnleS and f0rehaadS the