Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-11-28

cred the whole Of the Norman Towers
company-mates, engineers, the cook,
the baker, stewards, the lamp man.
boatswain, the idle carpenter, the
grimy trimmers and firemen, the all.
nation deck hands; adm high upon the
steamers drab foremost. perched
ridiculously on the clumsy iron cross.
trees, the white naked body Of the
chief engineer stood out wildly
against the cobalt of the midday sky.
He was preaching to the congregation
in an deliberately conventicle voice,
and they, with the seafarers' suscepti.
bility to sudden, hot, religious In
fluences, were listening with strain
ing ears.
Mr.. Kettle, the mate, ran crisplys
down the ladder. Clear gangway.
here, you sons Of FOOLS" he ordered
sharply. And then. Fore crosstrees,
there! Captains orders, sir; will you
go to your room at once?"
BY not so much as the flicker of an
eyelash did the mailman show that he
had heard the interruption. He
mouthed on with his discourse. The
sun, staring from the hot sky above,
was already beginning to scorch the
skin of his white back to an angry
pink. W.
Fast. 1 tell YOU" he Numbered
down at his listeners. fast If We would
find salvation; and that there shall be
no backsliders, I, even /, have thrust
fasting upon you. There is food LETT
upon this ship, yea and drink also,
both strong and otherwise, such as
may endure for the space OF two
weeks, and after that woe, woe to the
man that shall not take to fasting
with prayer, and free will. He'll shall
have him hungry"
"Just because you can't do arith-
metic accurately, Mr.. Little said the
mate acidly I'VE may starve and men
may die( but each one will have to re-
port wherever he lands that he's got
there because of an engineer who's In
competent at his job"
I'm as capable at my profession rs
any engineer on all the seas. accept
criticism from no brass.edged cargo
taller whatever, and I'll baptize you
with blood, my son, when I've finished
attending to the heather. Wherefore
listen, all We that are still unregen-
crate and addicted to gluttony. Fast,
say unto you, fast from this day on
ward while food is still around you,
and abstinence is not forced upon you
by famine, and the greater reward IN
the hereafter shall be yours" ~
Mr. Little, there Is no getting over
the fact Of your Incompetence. I've
seen the evidence of it myself in your
own shaky handwriting, and signed by
your own name. Now you'll agree with
me that no man that had ever been
taught to write could scrawl as litter
ate a signature as yours"
The mailman lifted his ak. and was
evidently in half mind to throw it
which was what Mr.. Kettle, the mate.
was angling for. But the wandering
eyes Of his congregation drew him
back
ooh, We of little concentration he
shouted, "by what loose threads are
your bits of souls tethered; BY skirt
We are led ashore, by a small-sized
mate We are driven at sea, and me We
will not attend to. yea, though offer
We salvation. But the sun above that
now scorches me, ego, vos precedens.
will drag you after me to Paradise"
"You couldn't do it," said the mate
you're as incompetent either to lead
or to drive in the straight path, as
you are to make out an accurate esti-
mate OF distance run. and coal remain
ing in bunkers. Man, there's no get
ting over the evidence Of your own
daily engine-room reports. They'd dis
grace a bigamist, sailing his first trip
in dago tramp's stoke-hold. They
"Whiz!" came the ak, winking as 1t
span downward through the southern
sunlight The mate lodged 1t deity,
and it skated along the decks between
two shrinking lines OF men. and then
plucking a greenheart belaying-p1n
from the rail, he ran forward and
swung himself into the fore rigging.
He went up the ratlines at racing
speed, and the naked man on the
crosstrees leaped to his feet, and
stood balancing there with one hand
on the starboard topmost shrold.
swaying to the roll Of the ship.
"You are bringing me food" he
screamed: "you shall not make me
lose my high-class soul by forcing rue
to break my fast. will swim to Liver.
pool and report you to the board OF
with that, waiting can
nllV I'LL Tie lNOILAdu loV CiS hoiACu w
starboard, and the deep blue Of the
Sargasso sea lay beneath him, he
jumped outward, and dived feet fore
most.
Mr.. Kettles action was prompt
enough. Even while the mailman was
in mid-air. he hailed the officer Of the
watch to lower away the starboard
Then slipping quickly
down himself, he ran across the decks
and looked over the rail. He knew that
Mr.. Little could swim, and only
wished to reassure himself that he
had not been stunned by his dive.
The Norman Towers had lost her
way by this time, and lay in the trough
of the great blue ocean swelis leaking
a thin trickle of steam The spot
where the engineer had hit the sea
was marked by patch of white which
dubbed like soda-water. Mr.. Kettle
Jumped to the rail and stood there
poised He was a poor man and al
ways dandy about his dress, and as
he had a cats dislike for getting his
clothes wet or soiled, he did not want