Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-01-11

barnacles finely off your belly" He
raised his voice to throaty below
and hailed a cluster OF men who lay
behind barricade Of coal bags on the
poop: AFT there; are you keeping
bright lookout? II another shot comes
aboard from the shore without your
shooting first, I'll baptize some more
Of We with three-quarter-inch span
ner. Kindly remember I've no put we
there just for decorative purposes, We
lop-eared aliens. Dye hear me, you
Schwereinsen?"
Aye, aye. saire."
81 don't know who it was that -vas
playing the DEVILS delight just now
behind those sand-hills," continued
MIR. McTodd, this time to the under
sized fireman who was attending to
the windlass engines beside him. but
by the pleasure somebody seems to be
taking over the scrap. 1t seemed vara
like as II our Old Man had scraped
clear. and was coming back here to
stir up trouble. Gosh! I'd give thumb
to think yon was true
There's the skipper, sir. just rode
up on black 'orse to the top Of that
sand-Ill Looks to me by the way 'e's
a.shakin' is fist 'es letting loose
mouthful Of language"
Bite off your tongue, you mutinous
son of Whitechapel tripe-hawker.
Man, i have seen creatures more
worthy than you fair smashed to a
jelly for speaking so of the Lords an
nointed. And anyway, abusing the
shippers an amusement resairve for
myself Waving, is he? I'll let him wave
his arrums from their sockets and his
whip-lash of a tongue from it's roots
before I pleasure him by sending a
boat thatll bring him off to interfere
here. BY gosh, this Is my funeral. and
no other corpse need apply"
And 50. like another commanding
officer before him, Mr. N. A. McTodd
turned a blind eye to all shore signals
till he had completed the work he had
set his mind on. and saw the Norman
Towers hung to her anchor with clean
deep water all round her, and had cast
off the heavy wire towing-hauser from
the Wangaroo. and hidden Trethewy
drop his hook alongside. But when all
this was completed he sent off boat,
and piously anticrated the enjoyment
of seeing Kettle in furious rage at
having all the difficult work done for
him. ..a
But that small mariner, read the
scheme of Mr.. McTOdd's ambitions
Gas he and others were rowed Off,
and with an effort pulled his temper
into hand. and resolved not to allow
himself to be drawn for the Scots
wicked qualification.
Instead he stretched out a cordial
hand. Mac" he said. cts clever of
you. How in James did you manage
to do it?'
The Nortberner's jaw dropped. He
was LOSING The sport he had promised
himself 1T looks as if I'd gone beyond
your orders" be said pointedly ,"
81 didn't leave you behind in charge
heca"se Won were reliable" Kettle
told him sharply. 'but because you
were the best had" -~..
!, Man" retorted the Scot, ~ kenned
fine you undervalued me, and 1t Is just
that knowledge that's impelled me to
miracles. Ye saw for yourself how i'm.
possible it was ever to get this rusted
old cargo-box into deep water again
and here you now see it's been done.
You. and the British board Of trade,
and few others, can never be con.
WINGED OF my qualifications. and I'm
mt to this perpetual strain Of per.
forming miracles just for the sake of
my ordinary professional credit"
You've been drinking again. among
other things"
And for why not? Drinking. say
you?. Man. tell you the Archbishop
Of York, who's an Aberdonian. yes. or
even the moderator of Free Kairk Of
Scotland. would have Tapped guild
whisky If he had had 1t, as counter
irritant to the strain I've been put to.
AS a first example: how many Of
those ducks you left in my charge do
we think can swim?"
IT never took the census of them"
'Pairfectly. Weel, I did. 1t seemed
Con innrirv) that there were three
who said they could, and twenty-three
who couldn't May. you'll barely be-
lieve' it. but I've taught twenty-five
Now look here. Mac, pull yourself
together and tell straight tale.
Twenty.three you said second be.
fore. Which is it? AMI anyway, what
has swimming to do with pulling the
Towers out of that bay?"
MAN dinna' be offensive. Your ma
tionality is against yor. ken fine. but
fight against it, man. fight against it. .
Mr.. McTodd shredded tobacco for his
pipe and secured out an evil-smelling
dottle into his hand. 'Twenty-three.
As said. l tackled. and twenty-five
taught The odd swimmer got mislaid,
and whether the sharks got him. or
cramp, or whether he started to swim
back under water to Cardiff where he
came from. and lost his course,
Gamma tell you.
Anyway, l was minus his services,
and for that and no other reason
mourned his memory. But for the rest,
turned them into mermaids. and.
gosh! you should have seen some Of
them strip. They'd have made a
sculptor faint. We got fire in the
donkey boiler on the Towers, and per.
suaded her number one winch to turn,
and rugged derrick. They'd big iron
tip-bucket in number three hold that
they'd used for shipping that copper
ore. and that with holes punched in
was Just the implement I wanted. Ye
see the game?"
GO on"
L. f1r Vol,