The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-07-15

~ pals Tor fifteen years.
When the first long Shrek
OF the Inside Passage boats whistle
echoed up to and died away among the
hills behind him, old Bob Farrclrs
dreamy eyes left the dim south horizon
and Travelled back across the bay to
the camp below him. tie cleared his
throat overwhelmingly.
"Tve been athinkln', JIM" he an
nOunced whimsically.
over ON the other side OF the cabin
door old Jim futile reached for his
knife and tobacco and answered
huskily:
"SO've 1, Bob"
There's ten ounces in the poke,
Jim," old Bob went on, IAN We amt
mOre'n half way through the dump yit.'
Old Jim finished filing the worn OLE
pipe and held It out by the bowl.
AN some day." he grinned child
ishly, some day there's goin' to be
twenty ounces in that poke when one
Of them there boats comes in"
Old Bob accepted the filed pipe.
Right" he nodded. And the CON
versatiOn was ended.
And down on the bay 'sThe Joker
Billy TOdd-went aboard the Inside
Passage boat, chuckling softly to him
self.
The Joker was going out. Down In
Seattle the dance halls and the girls,
the pool and the poker tables, the
movie and the burlesQue theRter8 were
waiting for him waiting for him and
the fifty thousand dollars that less
than a year Of pure ~cheechakO's luck
had crammed into his pockets.
Old Bob Farrell and old Jim futile
we're pals. had long been pals The
first KlOndike rush had thrown them
together, middle-aged men then; and
fifteen years later, the day the joker
went aboard the Inside Passage boat.
they were still pals.
Half and half-that had been the
first agreement: half the grub and hall
the blankets. half the work and hall
the find. And all that body and mind
destroying hell Of that fifteen years OF
prOftlesS prospecting in the land that
, God forgot had failed TO change that
agreement in any particular. Side By
side, old Bob and old Jim were work
ing the taiIings Of the one abandoned
mine Of the camp-the dump Of the
First Strike" They were sleeping ID
the same bunk, smoking alternately
the same worn old pipe, adding weel
after week the pitifuIly tiny, hard
earned result OF their joint slavery L
the n little bag in the Jam crock OF
he shelf. And everybody IN the CAM
knew them, smiled to them, and called
them "The Siamese Twins"
And every time a down boat whiG
tied It's arrival, old Bob would clear
his throat, warning old Jim that he wa.
going to break in on the habitua
silence, and say:
Tive been athinkin', jim"
And old Jim would answer: "SO'v
I Bob"
There We're ten ounces in their littl
poke that day, the day the Joker wen
aboard the Inside Passage boat. BuI
though ten ounces would pay the pas
sage out for one Of them, It never OF
Cured to either Of them that one cOul
go. For fifteen years their half an
: half" policy had endured. Half Of th
poke, five of those ten ounces b,
lOnged to Bob; five belonged to jim
Some day, some day there were gOin
to be twenty ounces In the poke whe
when one of them there boat
comes In" Some day.
The morning the boat carrying th
Joker passed through the Gap, oil
Bob awOke to find himself alone In d
bunk, the boat gone from the bay, an
a note pinned to his coat. Old Jim la
gone out. The partnership, that Ion
unbroken fifteen years OF cOnpaniOl
ship, was ended.
Old Rob walked out OF the cabl
And be W. entered It again.
Old Bob caught the next boat dow
Killing his pride Of independence, O
Bob accepted from the lucky old-time
the long prOTered passage out. E
vas going after old Jim. A month
the day after cid Jim pinned the no
to cid BOb's coat, old Bob landed
Seattle and began his search.
But he couldn't 6nd old Jim.
Old Bob walked the streets for en-
less hours. singing out the face
every old man that passed him By. Z
haunted the Water front for weet
visiting every boarding house a
saloon. He searched every place th
he, in his fading mind, could imaQi'
old Jim would be likely e. De four
But he couldn't ind old Jim. And d
%precariOus existence that he eked d
on the meager remuneration from suI
odd jobs as would be offered 20
decreplt old man like himself sapp
what little remained Of bic spe
vitality.
Then one night totterinG his 81
dlmminG old Bob entered q place
had never been 81 before. The cr0y
was going ia. The deep notes Of.
pipe organ, hoated out TO the sire.
Old Jim was fond Of music, maybe
"a al