41 Lure O Gold 1904

"
"
"
"
The Lure o
Gold
along the sands, had appeared around the corner of the
nearest shanty, accompanied by four or five others, and
as they drew near I recognized my one-eyed friend,
whom the lighterman had told me was Pete Slattery,
man who wore the dark-brown
and the little pink-faced
sweater. Both of these worthy gentlemen were very
loose-motioned and were muttering brokenly.
I glared at the late-coming skipper sullenly, my pa
tience worn to the thinnest possible edge. It seemed
to me particularly odious and insolent of him that after
all
our waiting he should appear in such an offensive
state.
Get aboard everybody
!
he shouted, as he reeled
up the plank, assisted by Bill and the lighterman.
he commanded. What s
"
Signal for your tug, Sandy,"
that you say ? Tide ?
turning Of course it is. What s
the odds ?
We can steam out all right
all right !
I had observed that Slattery and his friend had been
keeping close to the Captain and that they
seemed to
be on excellent terms with him. I wondered if they
were not partly responsible
for his condition. During
the embarkation of the passengers and their effects the
two partners were laughing and joking loosely with the
Captain,
and their mirth was all the more hateful to
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