Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-05-05
I'm His Own Boat

Jim-u-el j. Jackass, Pete. You don't
know how much a million dollars is:
ai.'t took in more than hundred thou
thou sand dollars. l reckon"
We'll that's most mtllium. amt
it," demanded Black Pete. "A hundred
thousand and millium Is right close
Of money. Lando."
AN you and me git 81 week
apiece" said Orlando bitterly. Him a
you and me a-gittin' 81 week! faint
right! Me a-cookin' food an boilin' up
oil and liniment an playin' the guitar
for the grand musical, and you steerin'
the boat and dom song banjo turn
twice day. and gittin 81 week! He's
a regular old Dang-u-el j. Stingy: that 8
what he is. got mind to strike. II
was just little more dad-blamed sure
he was maxim hundred thousand dol
lars a week or SO I'd strike for raise.
hog--take me il I wouldn't! Id strike
for $3.50 week.
AS result of these conversations Or
lando began keeping count OF the
bottles Of Shagbark oil he filled. with
the result that his imagination was
greatly inf1amed. He did not arrive at
any very definite conclusion. for he was
no hand at arithmetic and his method
of accounting was sketchy. 1t was
hard to add: "Six dozen and half. and
eighty-four. and that lot 1 made at
Meotock, ana SeVenty-l"o, ana Two
patches at Bains Landing. and seven
Dozen" and so on. and arrive at any
precise amount. when 1t is remembered
that Orlando's adding ran something
down the one and carry the eight: but
as Black Pete said: IT'S a heap Of
money. jus the same!'
So they struck. They banded together
was leaving Meotock-Black Pete hav-
ing worked it out into the current and
Orlando having the potatoes frying in
the skillet-and presented an ultima
tum:
Boss" said Black Pete, me an
Lando. we been hgurin' up. an fgger
you made about a million dollars this
season. whilst Lando, he figgers you
made How much you fgger 1t,
Lando?"
"Two mines and six and a four and
a five In a row. startin' at the nines,"
said Orlando.
yes, bout that much" said Black
Pete. "An' you don't pay us but four
dollars week. We amt goin' to stand
1t no longer"
Amt. hey?" asked shagbark. YEARLY.
NO. boss, we amt" said Black Pete.
I've ain't satisfied to git four dollars.
an four dollars, an four dollars, week
after week, right along"
Its gettin' too Manuel ]. Monot-
onous." squeaked Orlando.
"Monotonous. is it?" drawled Shay
bark. We'll. dod Wink it! maybe it Is.
I'd ought to have thought Of that, IL I
wasn't so dod-whillixed lazy. I'll tend
s3:15 a week. Now git out Of here!"
Put boss cried Black Pete
Git out. I've broke the monotony.
,o But we didn't want want our pay lessened
It lessened ep-increased up, I mean
Why, We'll be worse of than ever"
You don't know when you're we'll
of, anyway. so it don't matter" yawn-
ed Shagbark, and he rolled over on the
sofa and closed his eyes, They stood
looking at him a minute or two and
then stole out of the cabin.
Nice sort of business, you an your
strikes"' said Black Pete resentfully
when they were outside. Nice kind Of
strike you FIX up! thought man got
amt goin. to git SO much. Next time
l amt goin' to go into no strike with
nobody. I'm JUS goin' to ask for more
pay" o''
AS 1t happened, Shagbark did not
bother to keep his word, and the wages
-. but they reached Muscatine in an
unpleasant mood. They had visions of
huge piles of greenbacks stored away
oy the mercenary Shagbark at their ex-
pense. and when Shagbark decided to
s snore up the Euripides and remain at
work unhappily. While Shagbark was
aware of their feelings, he did not
worry about them. Four dollars was
what he paid. and il they did not like it
tney could quit. He would not need
them until spring anyway He and
Alice could get along well enough dur
ing the idle season.
Snoring up the Euripides was no
small job. although Black Pete and
o'iahoo took several weeks to do it. 1t