THE "CUB" ENGINEER ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1983, 13 May 1875, Page 4

THE "CUB" ENGINEER ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

My father was a justice of the peace, and I supposed he possessed the power of life and death over all men, and could i hang anybody that offended him. This was distinction enough for me asa general thing ; "but the desire to be fisfceamboatman kept intruding* nevertheless.- I first wanted to be a cabin-boy, so that I could come but with a white apron on, and shake a tablecloth over the side where alii my old comrades could see me. later I, thought I would rather be the deck-hand| who stood on the edge of the stage plauk with the coil of rope in his hand,,because he was particularly conspicuous! But these were only daydreams—they were- too heavenly to bo contemplated as:real possibilities.; By and bye one of our boys went away. He was not heard of for, a long % time. At last he turned up as apprentice engineer, or "striker," ou.a steamboat. " This thing shook the bottom out of all my •Sunday-school teachings. ' That boy had; been notoriously worldly, and I just lie reverse j; yet.. he was exalted to this; eminence, and I left in obscurity and -misery. : There was nothing generous about/ this fellow in his greatness. He would always manage to have a rusty rbo.lt to scrub while his boat tarried at our town, and he would sit/on the inside guard and scrub it, where we _ could all' . see him, and envy him,- and lolphe him. And whenever! his boat was laid up he would. come home and swell round the town' iii his blackest and greasiest clothes, so that nobody, could help remembering that he was a steamboat-man.; and:he used all sorts of steamboat technicalities in his talk, •as if he were so used to them that. he ;: forg6t common people coald not understand, them. He would speak-of. the •'labboara'" side of a horse-in, an;,easy,, natural way that ■would make one wish he was dead. And he was always talking; about " StXooy"like an old citizen; lie would refer casually to occasions when :he was " coming down. Fourth street," or when fie was " passing by the Planters' house," or when there was a' fire 1 and he took a turn on the%br'akes of " the old Big .Missouri;" and then he would go on: 'and lie about how manyiowns the size of ours we burned down that, day. Two or three of the boys had long been persons of consideration', among us becauise they had been to JSt. r Louis once and;;had a, vague general 'knowledge of its wonders, but the day of their glory was over now. They lapsed into a humble silene^f and learned to disappear when the ruthless "cub "engineer!approached. This fellow had money, too, and hair oil. A lso an ignorantrsilver watch, and a showy brass, watch cliain. He wore a leather belt andi used no suspenders. If ever a youth was; cordially admired and hated by his; comrades, .this one was. No girl" could; withstand his charms. He " cut out"; every boy inthe village; 'When Ms boat blew up at last it diffused a tranquil contentment among us such as we hadnot known for months. • But when he! came home next week, alive, renowned, and appeared in church all battered up and bandaged, a shining hero, stared at and wondered over by everybody, it seemed to us that the partiality of provi- , dence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to. criticism.—.Atlantic Monthly. • j