Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-12-07
ThE MARRIAGE OF
CAPTAlNKETTIE:;;
Il R2lndDCelh Sea
BY CuTcLIFFE HYNE
Copyright, 1919, n. sob.s M.-rp, compar,

,obs~- Merri,, Company
warmth of yonr bar and the whisky
have made us forget what we came In
for. Fact is. there's fellow outside
down in our boat that's been overboarl
and got bad chill. He's T. T.. and
won't take a drink; so we offered to
find him dry suit of clothes. Dye
think the guv'nor's got such thing
to dispose Off"
mo" said the big bass voice at the
other side of the glass door. @
"Of course. SO far as our means go,
we wish to pay. It would he chart
ty II you could find something. The
poor chaps had rheumatic fever once
Again the big voice made the glasses
tingle. "Ma says they can have my
old garden clothes for two half-crowns,
Miss Dubbs No, call 1t three-and-six,
and they have to replace the missing
buttons Themselves" a.
"Well?" said the barmaid.
That's DEAL" said Arthur, the
seedy. "You fetch them, my dear"
I'm not your dear said Miss
Dubbs pointedly. and it's not my place
to do upstairs work. Besides. I
cant leave the bar" She pulled a
bell smartly. "1'll tell the servant to
fetch them for you. l think your
friends going out. Perhaps you'd like
to go with him" ...-.
"I'll sit beside him on that nice com.
Portable oak bench, and then you'll see
he'll be perfectly satisfied. Perhaps
as you've gone so far as to ring that
bell for the mental, you'd ask her when
she comes to have couple Of good
thick threepenny sandwiches put UP
for u.s." ....
Sandwiches are fourpence apiece
at this house."
I'VE can eat the extra pennyworth,
my dear. Make them So"
ITO be Continued)
The barmaid retired into a novel
cite. and the clock licked loudly In lieu
of conversation. Alfred at intervals
seemed inclined to snore, and when he
did his companion shook him viciously
and (as the barmaid, who was quietly
watching the pair in the glass at the
back Of the bar, thought) nervously.2
The barmaid was q very healthy.
unimaginative person with, as beftted
her calling. a good deal Of experience
Of mankind, and as she freely owned
afterward, from the moment that the
two shabby men had entered the DIOR.
she dimly gathered that there was
something wrong about them. To
start with. she anticipated that they
would try to pass bad coin on her.. or
partake Of refreshments and depart
suddenly without paying for It. Or,
again, they mirht have come In to steal
asa trays or to carry OF the brass
fire-irons by way OF keepsake; and,
even when none Of these things hap
pened, she was far from comfortable.
She was convinced that there was
something unwholesome about them. y
At last the sandwiches arrived, and
huge unsightly hunks they were The
shabby men accepted them without
complaint-and paid. The maid also
brought the clothes unhandily tied UP
In newspaper. - 3
Here's your three.and-six,," said
Arthur civilly. ~. 4.
"But don't you want to look them
over first?" ..a.,: y..,. I'LL
"Oh! guess they'll do. said ne
reused his shabby companion, and
with him went through the door and
out into the night. 80 ~ -
"Well, I'm blessed" said Miss Dubbs,
and then, PA" she called through the
glass doors, will you please give an
eye to the bar for a bit? Iwant to 60
upstairs" .ss ID
Certainly, Miss Dubbs,'' doomed
the big bass voice, and q dapper little
man, whose head came up to the level
of the barmaid's chin. trotted into the
bar parlor at one door as she swept
out through the other.
Miss Emily Dubbs went to the coffee
room above, sat herself In the window,
and pulled aside a corner of the blind.
Outside, in the moonshine, the little
strip Of tidal harbor showed as clear
as day, and across the pavement which
led to it walked the two shabby men.
arm in arm, with their purple shadows
chasing them. When they got to the
edge Of the quay the one called Arthur
sat his friend carefully on pollard,
and, when satisfied that he had &C
CURED balance there, unpacked the
newspaper parcel Of clothes. and pre-.
pared to descend to small boat whose
position was shown by a mast that pro.
jected above the gunwale.
An impish inspiration seized upon
Miss Dubbs, and for a moment she
laughed. and then she acted upon It.
She lifted the sash Of the window
and, then drawing the blind still more
closely toward the jamb SO that only her
mouth was exposed, she called out
loudly for "Po1ice," and then again for
Police" and then with a further
shrill cry, exclaimed Murder"
The effect was sufficiently startling
The shabby man who was sitting
sprang up IS though the hollard had
suddenly stung him. and ran with I'M
calmly strides up onto the little town,
The panic was infectious. Arthur,
from below, clambered up over the
string-piece. called aloud upon the
name Of his maker, and followed with
preciritate pace. And where they went
the present writer neither knows nor
cares. but can only point out that from
now onward they vanish from the
pages Of this memoir.
Equally strange to relate, the out.
cry raised no further disturbance. The
IL