The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-12-14
Three Men and a Maid

could scarcely have been heard, for
the crowd on the dock was cheering
as one man. They had often paid good
money TO see far less gripping sights
in the movies. They roared applause.
The liner, meanwhile, continued to
move stodgily out into midriver.
The only drawback to these life
saving competitions at school, consid-
cred from the standpoint Of fitting the
competitors for the problems of after
life, Is that the object saved on such
occasions is a leather dummy, and of
all things in this world n leather
dummy is perhaps the most placid and
phlegmatlc. 1t differs in many respects
from an emotional Swedish gentleman,
six foot high and constructed through
out Of steel and india rubber, who Is
being logged away from cash which he
has been regarding in the light Of a
legacy. Indeed, it would not be hard
TO find a respect in which 1t does not
differ. SO far from lying inert in
Sans arms and allowing himself to
be saved in a quiet and orderly man
ner, Mr.. Swenson betrayed all the
symptoms Of one who feels that he has
fallen among murderers. Mr.. Sven
son, much as he Gisliked competition,
was ready to put up with 1t, provided
that it was fair competition. This
pulling your rival away from the loot
so that you could grab 1t yourself
thus shoCkingly had the man misin-
terpreted Sans motives-was another
thing altogether, and his stout soul
would have none of il. He began inn
mediately to struggle with all the
violence ut his disposal. His large,
hairy hands came II of the water and
swung hopefully in the direction where
he assumed his aSsaiIant's face to be.
Sam was not u%nprepared for this
display. His researches In the art of
~life-saving had taught him that your
drowning man frequently struggled
against his best interests. In which
case, cruel to be kind, one simply
stunned the bliglltcr. He decided to
stun Mr.. SwensCn, though, if he had
Known that gentleman more intimately
and had been aware that he had the
reputation of possessing the thickeSt
head on the waterfront he would have
realized the magnitude Of the task.
Friends Of Mr.. SWcnson, in convivial
moments, had frequently e~ndeavored
to stun him with bottles, boots and bits
of lead piping, ana lad gone away de-
pressed by failure. Sam, ignorant Of
this, attempted to 90 the job with
clenched fist, which he brought down
as smartly as possible on the crown
OF the others derby hat.
1t was the worst thing he could have
done. Mr.. SWenSOn thought highly of
his hat and this brutal attack upon At
confirmed his gloomiest ap~prehensions.
Now thoroughly convinced hat the
only thing TO do was TO sell his life
dearly, he wrenched himself round,
seized his assailant by the neck,
twined his arms about his middle, and
accompanied him below the surface.
By the time he had swallowed his
first pint and was beginning on his 1
second, Sam was reluctantly compelled
to come to the conclusion that this
was the end The thought irritated
him .~unspeakably. This, he felt. was
just the silly. contrary way things
always happened. Why should 1t be
he who was perishing like this? Why
not Eustace Hignett? Now there was
a fellow whom this sort off thing would
just have suited. Broken-hearted Eus-
tace Hignett would have looked on all
this as a merciful release.
He paused in his reflections to try
to disentangle the more prominent OF
Mr.. Swenson's limbs from about him.
BY this time he was sure that he had
never met anyone he dlsliked so in
tensely as Mr.. Swenson-not even his
Aunt Adeline. The mar was Il human
octopus. Sam could count seven dis
tinct legs twined round him and at
least as many arms Ii seemed TO him
that he was being done TO death in his
prime by n solid platoon Of Swedes.
He put his whole soul into one last
effort something seemed to
give he was free. pausing
only to try to kick Mr.. Swenson in the