The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-03-12
CHAPTER v.-contlnued.

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during a fierce storm. which followed the
picnic.
CHAPTER V.-Continued.
presumed likely that l understood
more maybe that he thought / did.
Headache Is a fair to middling excuse,
but l judged there was other things.
I'D seen them two look at each other
when they met, and-well, they say
a mods as good as a wink to a blind
horse, and I amt blind. I made a sort
of note in my mind to get the pumps
to working again on Lord James next
time l got a chance at him alone.
Hartley left me and went over to
the railroad depot and l kept on
down the road to the shore. / was
loafng along, going owe to myself
the doings Of the afternoon and won.
,dering what Van Brunt would say and
so on, when l come out into the clear
place at the top of Meeting House hill.
And the meeting house clock struck
four.
I Jumped Ike I'd set down IN a
hot stove. l hadn't no idea it was as
late as that. The pig and the Page
girl and the rest of the mix-up had put
all notion of time out of my head. l
yanked out my watch to make sure
that that clock was right, and then
I glanced at the sky. Over to the
bastard a big, fat, gray fog bank was
pilinS up Twas high water at two,
Eastwich Port cove is a nasty place to
get out of at low tide, and here was an
easterly fog coming.
As a general thing I don't take any
body's wash when 1t comes to han
ding a boat or looking out for weather
and such, but now I was ready to
sing small. A ten-year-old boy brought
up along shore would have known bet
ter than to do as I'd done. Don't make
no odds how good an excuse ! had for
forgetting; no excuse Is good where 1t
comes to ~sailboating. ! went down
that hill like the man in the tin cof-
IN went to Tophet, "clinketty jingle"
I jumped fences and cut across lots,
and I'm ready to swear right now that
there's more horse briars to the square
inch In Eastwich Port than in any 9th
or place on the Lords green earth.
I bust through the pines and come out
on the beach yelling: "Hi! Turn out,
everybody! Get aboard now. Live
ly!"
And, by time! there want a soul in
sight. For no less than twenty-five
and a half minutes by my watch I
walked up n down that beach, see
"Ahoy!" and where are you?" at
the top of my lungs. And then, 10
and behold you, here comes Van
Brunt and Lord James, poking along
as II they had all the time there was.
Van had been over behind the point
taking a swim and his lordship had
gone along to set on his boss trous-
ers and keep the creases In, or some
such mighty important Job.
"All right, skipper; all right
drawls Van, cool as a Sunday school
boy at an ice cream sociable. You've
got good lungs and you'd ought to be
careful Of 'em. I've heard you whoop-
tng for the last ten minutes. What
nd you and Martin have when you
were up town? BY the way. where 10
Martini"
He was so everlasting comfortable
and sassy and / was so billing hot and
nervous that 1t made me mad.
~He's gone home on the train" !
snapped out. Got a headache"
Headache, Ell? Humph! What
do you nave up town and where did
you get IT."
"Never mind where we got It," says
4. you'll get q headache from setting
up stuck on a shoal all night II YOU
don't get aboard that boat Look at
them clouds"
He looked at 'em. "Ah," he says;
very like a whale"
I didn't know what he meant and ]
didn't care.
"whale!" says I. swell. well be
svcky If we amt the Jonahs. Get
aboard with that basket. you Upper
what's-your-name, will you; II you
want to fetch port tonight"
Lord James looked like he'd like to
put another '"ead'' on me. but his boss
was round and he dassent talk back.
Between us we loaded the dun1age,
Then Van got aboard. deliberate
enough to try a parsons patience, and
cast loose and got sail ON the Dora
Bassett. We'd made a start. anyhow,
But 1t turned out that Was all we'd
made. Van commenced TO ask me
more about Hartley, and afore I could
tsv him the news about the pig race
and the rest, the Dora Rsssstt IA