The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-05-27
GRAY 0

the house all the time"
1t is not the cod Of Chelsea that one
gentleman should warn another when he
intends to strike. nor is it any part of
the districts idea Of that ones OPP
ponent should be given an even chance.
Such a thing, in Chelsea eyes, is down
right carelessness.
Jimmy Lynn merely hit. It was a
short, snappy hook which travelled only
a few inches and landed almost noise
lessly on the protruding jaw OF Firehose
Riley. Mr.. Riley seated himself sudden
lyon the floor. Jimmy threw h1msen
atop the discommoded person with great
and silent fury, and as they clinched
Jimmy gouged expertly, causing Flrehose
to nit a howl of pain.
The balance of the battle as interest
ing, even though its end was a foregone
conclusion. When it was over Mr.. Riley
lay on the floor as fatty and uncon-
sciously as the tubing which had given
him his sobriquet, while Jimmy teetered
on the balls of his feet and inquired
whether the ring Of spectators contained
any reckless individual who cared to
comment on his domestic problems.
There were one
In days which followed Jimmy tried
weakly to dissuade his mother-but
while she was q small woman and indul-
gent, there hOuriShed in her bosom GER
tain qualities of sternness which Jimmy
himself had inherited, and so prepare
tions for the wedding went right ahead.
In spite of a natural enmity-begotten
of the fact that he was a longshoreman
and John Shane a watchmanDJ1mmy
liked his prospective father-in-law The
man was not so tall as Jimmy, bu he
was fully as broad He was a quiet,
quizzical sort of person, with a twinkle
in the level gray eyes. The black halr
was streaked with a most becoming and
rather premature gray, which somehow
did not make him look any older than
the fifty years which he admitted. That
was, perhaps, because his complexion was
ruddy and healthy.
The marriage occurred. Only a lew
guests were present and those chiefly
! -neighborhood friends of Hates. The
honeymoon consisted Of a three-day trip
to Asbury Park, and thereafter John
Shane became a quiet but dominant hg-
ure in Jimmy's home.
John Shane was not a talker, put ne
had a way of looking at Jimmy which
made the lad vaguely uncomfortable.
Jimmy knew that there was infinite wis
dom behind those quiet gray eyeS-and
he waited restlessly for the criticism
which never came. He understood that
Shane knew of his nefarious practices
as leader of the youthful clique in Chel-
sea. But the first few months OF the
new order of things established clearly
that John Shane had no intention OF
interfering.
For awhile Jimmy had been afraid
| bLldI Ol1dAAC 4lAA6A4G OOLAAANC " 4AcD vi NetAA
facts anent Jimmy's mode of living which
would cause the little woman to worry
When it became apparent that Shane
had no intention Of doing any such
thing, Jimmy was tremendously relieved
and his respect for the quiet, unaSSum-
ing man f~ourished. He even liked him
more, perhaps, than he would admit tc
himself. But chiefly Jimmy recognized
that John Shane was a staunch ulwar
behind which his mother was sheltered
Less than six months after Shane's adj.
vent into the Lynn family he was ap'
pointed gateman\at one of the fines
piers in Chelsea. There was a good dea
Of honest celebration over this, a degre'
Of Joy apparently u Of all proportion
to the modest wage increase. AS a hrs
class cargo guard, John Shane had oeel
) receiving four dollars per day net iron
| the agency which rented him out to tn
: steamship company. Now, employees
= direct by the pier superintendent, an'
l not being obliged to share With an
5 agency, John Shane was to receive ST
2 dollars per day.
And so things progressed TRANQUILITY il
? the fiat and along the waterfront. job
: Shane and Kate were quietly happy
Jimmy Lynn was serenely untroubled-
= and the stealing Of cargo from the pier
of New York harbOr continued br1skly q
a rate scientifically computed to be i
= the neighborhood Of fifty million dollar
per year.
q Now, fifty million dollars is a great dee
of money, and converted into terms {
q cargo it is a very large bit OF fre1gh
a Petty pilferage - joyous, advantureSom
: little thieveries such as shoes and chea
watches-does not mount into million
& 1t is the big theftS, and these are en
Q gineered with considerable cunning ar
8 attention to detail by men higher III
r who later attend to the delicate job
selling the stolen property These al
IS the undertakings which require grl
n courage and quick thinking n the abb
ity to use a gun or a vicious bale hoo
with readiness and gusto. Jimmy VIZ
% fond of then-but even he was take
aback at the idea of playing an import
ant role in the theft Of a case Of 1aC
valued -conservatively at n hundre
thousand dollars.
- The man in charge, who would
safely away should there be any fghtir
n or arrests, assured Jimmy u his IrlenS
= that everything was fixed; not IL
slightest danger. The excitement won
be nil and the rewards great.
r Infinite precautions had been take
: ~"Everybody's fxed," explained Lew Flo
~ ter, who was large and plump and muC
addicted to checkered clothes. III
l. really an inside job, see?"
"Yeh| don't"
le ''WelI, now listen" The pompoV
~ Lew was willing to give details, becau
. he felt that Jimmy Lynn was just tt
o sort of man he preferred handling thin
p on the p1er-"when the Agraria sale
70 from Yurrop she carried a case Of lace
BE Jimmy Lynn rose slowly and look'
= down upon the elegant Lew with va
= contempt. Lew" he announced scat
ingly, you amt got a lick Of sense"
w "Ohl I amt amt I? Well, I guess
> know a thing or two"
PC "You don't know nOthin'. I guess "
- didn't even bother to find out who W
a gateman at the pier where the Agraria
berthed."
f yes" snapped Lew, "I.have. It's Jol
Shane"
4 "Uh-huh. Right-Ol Which proves y
a bigger dumbbeu than ever. John Sha
is so straight you could draw lines, wi
q him."
"OhI He is"
on Eyes, he is. He's my s%tepfather, and
r guess I know a thing or two about hi
so don't go arguing with me. And
y you think John Shane is any damn
= idiot to let something like a fake pa
get by him"
- And now it was Lew Foster who, wit
iS' out visible change of manner, impress
- with his words. John Shane amt
- dumbbell, Jimmy. I'll say he amt. A
NH-