The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1924-01-03

preacher glanced again up the river,
and pulled the faGcd straw hat farther
down over his head as IL afraid OF
sunburn.
us II dreadfully-muddy 2" he mum
bled.
Guest and preacher though he was,
he was still a tenderfoot. Counter
mans raucous laugh exposed the huge
wad of tobacco between his jaws.
Nick took the unlighted pipe from be-
tween his lips, and his roar wheeled
a wisp of sand snlpe that happened at
the moment to be glancing up the bar.
mot as muddy as it-sounds,' he
chuckied. grabbing a mitch out of his
trousers pocket.
That settled II. The preacher, ap-
parently resigned to whatever further
hardships fate might have in store for
him, sat watching the shore line, with
Its witchery of tapping water, Its Dor
dering fringe of pebbles and white
shells. draw slowly by.
The fishermen landed. The live box
was hitChed to a stake as before, the
half-reIuctant preacher left 10 hold
the brazil stick, while the others rOwed
out and around the fifty yards or
more of murky water that lay between
the point and the shore.
Hardly had the circuit been com
pleted when II began to be apparent
that COunterman's judgment would be
amply justified.
The final haul proved to be much
the best of the day. The good fish
were dropped into the live box, the
others tossed back into the river. and
the fishermen set about preparing to
return to the village. The brazil sticks
were united. the seine rolled up, and
the woOdsman walked up the bar for
the boat.
He stopped over the craft, possibly
recalling the circumstance OF the six
"un concealed in the frock coat laid
his hand to the bow to push II off
Strengthened after a moment, walked
some distance farther up the bar and
stood gazing i~ntently toward the mar
row upper end of the arm of water
where 1t disappeared under the over
tapping branches of trees and tangled
vines. Shrugged away under the tangle,
in a manner that must have made il
practically invisible, except from that
one point, lay a small hOusebOat.
A tritling circumstance enough
households were common on the Wa
baSh-but why there? The place was
dark and dank. the bank boggy. and
there was no spring short Of Alpine
island. The woodsman turned and
m0tioned to his companions.
They had been watching him and at
his sign came trOoping up the bar
the preacher tagged and tagging be-
midland gathered around him. Fol
lowing the direction of his finger. they
peered in under the overlapping trees.
COunterman grinned around at the
others after a m and jerked his
thumb bach toward the skif.
"S'p0sin' w row up an pay I'm a
visit? I'd like t see a man with SIGH
an eye fr a campin' place"
Uncle Nick tossed up his chin. grUnt-
ed, and led the way down the bar to
where he had beached the boat.
The preacher appeared to be consid.
erably vexed at the further prolonga-
ton Of a trip that a growing more
and more irksome to him. II might
almost have been imagined that a
. frown ruffied the studious primness Of
his brow. But as the skiff glided up
the narrowing arm of dead water, he
I appeared to get himself I'm hand again.
The frOwn disappeared and his air be-
: came that of a man only mildly inter
eSted in what went on about him.
5 There is little fOrmality among men
of the river and the wOOds-a fine
enough delicacy, though. when big mo-
men come. They brought the bow
Of the skiff up under the stern Of the
secluded little craft and climbed
l aboard.
There was both a fore and an. aft
door to the tiny cabin that occupied
the whole mid-section of the deck, but
no windows on either side. Both doors
were heavily padlOcked-a further
proof of the owners exclusiveness.
On the dusty boards there were u num-
her of footprints, some of them-curi-
ously enough-made by a boot that
must have been stylish, ever dainty.
Uncle Nick leaned upon the railing
Of the forward deck and prodded his
pipe, while the one-eyed fisherman
gnawed himself a fresh chew from a
sweaty plug that he clawed up out of
his overalls pocket, the TIVE Of them
seneraliZing on the circumstance Of
stylish boot tracks, no windows and
padlOcked doors.
The preacher had joined in the dis
cussion and was just telling them, In
his half-bored drawl, that It might be
some naturalist taking unusual pains
70 preserve his specimens, when Jack
Warhope. still standing in the skiff
and holding II to the stern of the house
boat, picked up n of the shiny
boots from the preachers stack of
clothes In the bow. and. hidden from
the others by the cabin. pressed the
heel of IL down hard beside one Of the
heel-prints on the dusty after-deck.
The two prints conceded perfectly.
cAPTER VI