her, and we hed made up our minds
that what ‘was to t>e, would be,’ and
it wasn't o’ no use to be skeert afo’ we
wus hurt; "n so we jes naturally insist
ed that the other craft must be beat,
any how.”
“Well?”
Wul, wot do you suppose the Cap’n
did, stranger?”
“Can’t say.”
“He druv one end of the cro’bar in
to the loop ovei the ’scape-valve (which
was bobbin’ up an’ down, and lettin’
off the extra steam) and j s set hisself
down on the other end uv it?”
“The dev it hi did!”
“The what, stranger?”
“I say it can’t be possible!”
“But J say he did. though—and thar
he sot till she blo'd up!”
“Busted?”
“O, yes! When we started from
the sho’—at the fust turn of the wheel
on her, she bust into a thousand splin
ters.”
“Awful!” says the parson.
“The Cap’n wus never heer'd on.
I was stan’in’ on the upper deck.”
continued the Virginian, “and the fel
ler as wanted to preach so bad, was
heavin’ the pitch into the fires when
she bust.”
“And you never saw him more?”
inquited the parson, in breathless sus
pense.
“0 Yes. As me and the smoke
pipe went up, we met the cuss coming
down!”
“Well!” continued the imposter.
“Well, I kno’d he wus a Jonah,"
added the Virginian, “an’ es he hadn’t
a bin done fur, as he wus, I'd a licked
him to death—fer palming himself off
fur a parson, which he wusn’t!”
The gentleman with the straight
hair and seedy coat turned pale upor
this, and at the conclusion of the StOI’J
the bell rang, below—the steam pip
sent forth its thunder—and the boat
veered round in front of another wood
yard.
