The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1910-07-08

C~harity-she had zoe tons OF hard
coal, egg size. In her--'up at Bayport
she'd be worth four dollars q ton.
safely, more than here
"And l fggered wild a pencil that
would come to $500. l had some idea
of goin' to the president and asktn'
him what he thought of sendin' a boat
to Bayport and by that way gettin'
solid wild him. But when 1t came to
facin' him again after my masquerade
l gave 1t up. Besides. 1t was all fool.
ishness. He might know more about
Bayport than me; and II he didn't,
what was to keep him from takin' my
idee and givin' me the bounce at the
same time? So that settled that.
But the next mornin' as | was
washin' me face-whiCh Is a grand
time for idees to come to you'll was
hit wild a good me-. Why not take
the Charity up to Bayport III ne own
hook? Could | do it? OF course, for
the Charity amt one Of your common
canal boats that has to be hauled
by a tug or a mule; but she has a lit
tie engine that turns a little splashin',
thumpin' wheel under the stern and
pushes her along about as fast as a
slow man can walk. And could | sell
the coal? Well, If the paper told the
truth the people Of Bayport was ready
to buy and I'd be ready to sell.
We'll, the first thing to do was to
get the Charity out from between the
other canal boats and tied up lear the
end of the pier, SOS | could sneak
when | got ready. So | paid a visit to
told her all about the turrible whoop-
in cough me childer had, and the on
tagion, and how couldn't help fearing
as her childer would catch it. Well,
the upshot Of that was the Charity got
a new berth out nea the end of the
pier and Captain Mayer helped me a
good deal in maxim the shift.
Shall tell you how l ran the boat
that night? Upon me word | don't
know. | may be a big, strong woman.
and fit to take the measure of McGon-
lyle, as some say, but me heart was in
me mouth o than oncet that night.
How we got through He'll Gate |
don't know, whether twas by luck or
miracle. The Charity is IN unhandy
boat to handle in a current like that;
and what wild me no KNOWN the way
too we'll, it's a mercy we didn't bring
up against one of them rocks. But we
got through.
There come a time | nearly give
m. | got colder and colder, and wild
the cold sleepier and sleeper. BY and
by | didn't feel the cold so much and
just fell to sleep all over. | punched
meself and danced, but all the time
I'd be carin' less about dom it; and
carin' less about savin' the boat and
about McGonigle and childer, and just
wantin' nothing but to go to sleep. |
finally got hold of mesilf and Topped
down into the engine room.
yam, | ses, for the mercy of
heaven let the boat drift for a while.
I'm freeZin' to death
And | Jest tumbled down on the
floor. Well, Yam he shook me and
walked me around, and by and by he
made a pot of strong tea. He's a
good soul, is Van. And wild the tea
and stickin' to 1t / made out to stand
It till the shore in the east began to
turn black and the sky above 1t light.
when the childer woke up wasn't
they whoopin' wild the cough and wild
surprise at fndin' the Charity out in
the middle of the sea? But they're
good young ones. Angelina got the
breakfast and the other two took care
OF themselves. And Yam took a trick
at the wheel while I minded the en-
CINE and warmed up me old bones. All
the time. mind We, the Charity was
thumpin' and s%plutterin' along in great
shape. And about nine O'Clock of as
grand a winter morning as ever We see
she sailed into the harbor Of Bayport
a $ fine as an admiraps ship.
"'Where will she land?' SEES Yam.
Sure, where ye see the coalpock-
uts,' ses I.
AS she swung up alongside the coal
dock a Teller come out on the end OF It.
What boats that?' SEES he.
TITS a coal boat SEES I; wild coal
In It,
we've come to the right place. SEES
he. And he helped us to tie up in a
jiffy.
The boss will buy It of ye like a
streak SEES the man.
Maybe so and maybe not SEES I.
Where is the boss?
well, he showed himself comm
down the pier like a runaway
Coal SEES he; let me see It.,
He e e 1t, and then we struck on
a bargain. He'd give me eight dol
lars a ton. and held out for ten, cash
down. In the course of the argymen
he called me a robber.
"Robber, is it?' ses |. All right.
there's likely other people In this town
who want to buy coal and who are
more perlite.'
You can't sell 1t except through
me- he SEES. I'm the regular coal
dealer
And I've got the COAL ses /.
THE upshot of 1t was I struck a
bargain wild me little a I'd let
him have so tons at So and he'd let
me sell the rest for what | could get.