Show I J 0 r > Ty iP iai fr CT iuy I The Cruise 9 i of j the 1 Lakerimmers By R1illpert S Hughes jj 1 4 t Author ot Tho Lakcrim Athletic Club Tho Dozen From Lakerim nEtc lotII bt I v 1W > 11 a o 101 t ji Q < 31 J < M i Jit WOIt iw i t1i > sm w A UKS 111 UWKgigggsiESST A A a ujgaagam w S TilE CHUISE OP THE LAXERDir S MERS At CHAPTER XVIIL tl TFII WATER CARNIVAL While they were waltlnp like Q nock T ° C chickens under the eaVes of n barn Clinton Foster camo over and Introduced Intro-duced to the Lakerlrumers a Mr Way b burn who said BoysI mean gentlcmOrt you and the Keokuk club are evidently Just about un even match ut baseball I S wonder If you tire as good nt waler sports as you seem to be from the S wfty you rescued those people In the j 4 riverWell t Well said Jumbo nw arent eXactly 5h eX-actly webfooted btit wo grew up nl most no much In the water ari on land landThen Then said lr Wnyburn you 1 may be interested In what I have to propose The Keokuk people want to 1 soc more of such gallant young men t ns you And I have n good place to nhow you off The rivet la so fai4 j down hill that It 18 1 not a good place for the women folks ot this town to bathe So as I have nit nrtofllnn well i up here and urt artllloinl lake I havo f turned It Into a sort of water arena It where people go to swim and liliVe all manner of aquatic sports Now 1 j propose that we jet up a grand tournament S tour-nament between you and the best boy athletes we can nnd lit this town Thole Is money In it too because ve Mil charge admlsplon I But objected Tug wo are amateurs ama-teurs and do not play for money 1 I understand that perfectly said S Mr Wayburn but the best clubs take I monry for traveling oxpenaa You 1 young gentlemen are a long way from I homo uiul rowlrijf up the river is not ls nttlte < t eo easy ns drifting1 down i Tin LakerlmmerB know huH as won as Mr AVayburn knew It The also S knew better than he how low Ihclr funds were and whnt n problem l they were facing In tho matter of getting S S home niculn by rail They withdrew Into one ddfnor1 And had n coiiEUllatlon IS Then they came buck and hud another S consultation with Mr Wayburn Then I they i eat to thPlr corner unQ had an I S othor rtnMultalloh Uh IhemaelVes S And BO on through HcVeruI aeMousJ tie L hntr It tumcd out that If Mr Wayburns S gueps ux to the number of people who would attend were anywhere near right and the winner took Uiretauar I ton of tile gnl < iocolpU IlR He proposed o after ho mid Ukeil out his perwMilnEfc I tluT would be Just enough to get thorn homo on one condition Thai S condition wns that thy should win and euro th threaluartcr It they lol l L t and not only nnoQuart6r they would jt have the pleasure of a long walk part I of the way They decided to accept Mr Way burns offer and as their time was very short It was decided to have the first set of panics the next day The rain wns over some time before the dohfcrellco was over and the Lake rlmmers started back for camp On the way there they passed n telegraph tele-graph dfllce It reminded ncveral of them that they were a long way from home without knowledge of their parents I par-ents SawedofC suggested that they would bettor telegraph l home for money But this looked like so poor a finish to their vacation that he was voted down unanimously He even voted against his awn motion As they moved onI Tug stopped again arid said I There Is one thing that we must I telegraph home It ll > a tihamc we have forgotten JL sd 10nr10 What ° said the eleven Why theyll be simply dying of worry without reason said 1 1 Tug Who exclaimed 1 the eleven Why B Ju poor father and mother moth-er said Tug Wo must telegraph that we have found B J and ho Is cominG home with us In a few days There were ten enthusiastic volcics In approval of this long neglected step But thoro was one voice that was not so enthusiastic Oh no yon dont said 13 J I was not coming homo till I came home rich and wild horses couldnt drag me II back backMaybe Maybe wild horses couldnt drag you I bacH said Tug but there are eleven < < tame Lukerlmmers who can B J made a dash down a side street but after nh exciting Kamo ot hare and hounds the hounds won as they usually usual-ly 1 do D J was taken prisoner with tworttytwo t hands stretched out to hold him After Homo desperate struggling he gave In and Bald You cant expect me to lick the whole crowd ot you Let me loose and Ill go along Avlth OUI So they rc lonsod him and vent on to camp They forgot the telegram completely until there WHH tho river between them and the telegraph office So they decided tfl pbslbonp the good news till tho next day That night they nil slept the Hound sleep which they had earned by their hard work In a game they had not played for tome tlnie Did I say they all slept There W AB one who did not At breakfast the next morning the cooks fried tw ntyCour eggs When they came to distribute them they rOil rId hero wore two extra This cnuMd so much surprise that although Sleepy < claimed 1 them for hid own they began to count noses They found that 13 Js nose was missing Also the rest or him When they looked round for him they saw a note stuck on a tree It was oho of B Js notes and It said Dear phellows There are elevun of you and Only 1 of Me so lye sklpt by the light of the munc when I get Rich youle see your friend B J and not B 4 1 CHAPTER XIX It was a blue lot of Lakerlmmers thai crossed the river to Keokuk the next day Their canoscarrled a cargo of Indigo nearly heavy enough to bllik It The sight of the great crowd that had gathered to see the first days tournament made them heartsick for Of all the LaherlinmerK B J Was tile bust water man the faatest and most skillful swimmer and the beSt cano ca-no es t But the Lakerlmmers were not In the habit Ot backing nut of games becaUSe be-caUSe of IdrnciiesS sickness or any Other excuse Kb since they could not put tlifcir best foot foremost they dragged up the only other foot they hadThe The first event Was a long distance Bwlmmlnjj race Punk was a titan of good endurance hut he never was so buoyant an B Jt whose whole muscles scorned to be devoted to moving forward for-ward whore other swimmers were using a large part of their strength and effort In Keeping their balance and headway Keokuk had fWd boy swimmers olthcr Of whom could make B J very anxlouR They weiO far too much for poor Punk Round and rouhd the swimming pool they vent until they were IL clear lap ahead of him Then thdy pasted him nguln Punk ploughed along like Hiram Q Mudd doing his bent with ndcdndrate machinery The race was never exciting ixcept for tho ripUrts ho made when thoy lllCU tb pans him on ariothor lap The race was not really Interesting to the spectators because Punk was never in tho race after af-ter the start and the Kcokuklans knew that one of their two swimmers could always leave the other behind I In the home stretch A hnlfmlle swimming swim-ming rico Is I a wry blow affair when it Is made round and round a small track A lcd I t plucky Mvlmmor than Punk would have given Up after the first lap but for the poke of Lakerlm he stuck It out to the finish though he had our laps to no after the other svlmmer had left the water The Lakerlmmers tried to call him out but he would not clve Ill He was woefully ex haufted when he tlnally made the last lap and thoy had to lift hint from the pool He wan too fagged to crawl out with his own muscles The next event was a short swimming swim-ming fprlrit Three KttokuUladS entered en-tered and thlee Lakerlmmers These were Pretty Quiz and Bobbles l They all lined up at the waters edge hId at a pistolshot t > lung d In Pretty took a shallow dive the others Went In deep Bo when Pretty rose he l was well in the fore The race to the opposite op-posite end of the pool was swift and close the two Keokuklnns Pretty liild Bobbles CraWled out ot ute water ut almost exactly the same time and turning dived In again for the race I i S = ti t I r I I 1 S They Saw Him Blmke Those Bars Loose back to the starting plane This was hard swimming Pretty swam low and deep with hardly more than 1 his I right arm blowing But gouge al the wald as he would ha could not do better than make a close second to Keokuks first The third event was an exhibition Infancy In-fancy strokes and somersault dives I from a Fprlngboard in th > Se sports B J had been like a bat In the air and a trout In the water He was so much bettor than any of the root of the Lakerlmmors that the others never I competed with him They were therefore there-fore in no condition to shine against I their rivals today The umpires de cldad that Keokuk had Won on points and the Lakerlmmers ould make no objection The next event was a relay race Each club entered four men and each man was to ewlm i twenty five yards The long ithd lanky Sawedoft was thb fIrM of thd relay for the Lnkerlm merd against him was pitted a Short and stock Kcokuklam At the pistol I shot they dived In and How for the opposite shore It was a case of shark I versus pilotfish and the audience laughed Immensely especially when the little KeokUklan crawled up on the bank while Sawedoff was three strokes aWay On the opposite bank by a curious chance the Kcokuklans had stationed a telegraph pole of a man while the tiny Jumbo represented the Liikcrimmers The tall Kcokuklan got away first the frantic Jumbo had to wait while Sawcdoff climbed out Then he flashed Into the water and went spinning through It like a screw propeller that had broken loose He managed to gain what Sawedoff had lost and to land at tho opposite side Just in exact time With the KeokUklan Ready was the third Lnkerimmer and by a funny ncJclUent the KOokuklan against him was also redheaded The two went buzIng across the pool with only their fiery topknots showing and sqmo one In the nudlonco yelled Would you See the two burning shlp J The Lalcerlmmdr Just manaitcd to bent this lap by a henda red head and his brother who would never have dared to lose the advantage which his twin had given him succeeded suc-ceeded In finishing his relay and tho race so that ho won by two headS This little ray of encouragement was sadly needed by the Lakerlmmers But oven this bit of sunlight was quenched in tho handicap race In which In spite of their generous handicap the scratch man for Keokuk put out all of His rl Vals The scoro of evenls for the day was 1 to 1 In Keokuks favor The LakorhnmerH Were beginning to feel sick of their bargain which Should mean three days of such humiliation as this Sleepy was for calling tho whole thing off but that was not the Lakerlmmer Idea of sportsmanship and he was Voted Vot-ed down Toward the last of the afternoon tho I audience had begun to thin out and < < straggle homeward and Mr Wnybnrnfl buslncssllko soul was worried so he saldiThe The great trouble with todays events has been that they were too serious Now tomorrow we must put a little ginger Into them I nm sorry we havent been able to put mure ginger In today said Tug but our best man Is not here I did not mean that said Mr Wayburn PI mean that we ought to put something comic Into the races lOr think It Is comic enough the way It Is said Jumbo the Idea of our trying to pretend to bo a flock of dudkH anti the only duck wo have flew tho coop last night Were only a tick of ohlcHenB But when Mr Wayburn again explained ex-plained that he wanted some Intentionally Inten-tionally I romlc events the Lakerlmmern aald they were willing to take the gloom off of the affair CHAPTER XX The next morning tho LaUorlmmern came to town bright and early They wore sorry to load In tho morning papers an account of their many defeats de-feats but they Were pleased to see that the kindhearted reporter hAd blamed most of them to the ubsenco of their champion wator sportsman J B S The Dozen split up Into various lit I cily to see the various sights Some J of them strolled out to the high bluffs and rejoiced in the magnificent view of the great swooping current the Mississippi Mis-sissippi makes there Below them the canal seemed hardly Wider J than the asphalt as-phalt roadway Thoy could wee the spot where they had resoued B J tram the Illram Q Mudd and It made their hearts sick to think of all the trouble I they had been to and all the dlutnhcu 1 they hud come only to lose him the minute they had him They cast a last glance at the river where the bridge I with Its gap reminded Jumbo of a comb with a few teeth missing Then they turned sadly away After a tlrnu a few of them found I themselves In tho park whero they saw a monument iO the fihe old Indian chieftain who had saved the people of the town many yearn ago from Indian massacre and whose name had been given to tho town In loving memory Ready and Heady were not PO much Interested In Indians as the others wore They sauntered along the park roads till they came to the aodlotflcal S collection There they found a black bear Iii a edge They proceeded to have fun with him His fcellngri were sulllclenlly hurt at having to stay In l a Jail without having committed any Crime and ho was Ih no mood to fieo fun In the Jokes the twins played upon him Perlmpo too ho wan like a bull In hIS objection to red However that may be the twins got on his nerves and ho shorted and lunged at them furiously Not being able to reach them through the buri h6 began to climb By Homo oversight tho bars at the top of his cage had been allowed to work loose and tho twins who had been laughing uproaroiisly at the antics an-tics of the hear became Berloua When they aw him shako thbjlti barn loouo and begin to shoulder his way through They Wore too much amazed to move When they > Haw him work himself him-self clear and begin to climb down the bar on the outside But they Wero not very long In deciding that they could talk the matter over better at a distance So they Indulged in a sprinting sprint-ing match that would have surprIsed any out with a stopwatch any 0112 with a stopWatch would have stopped to watch them They ran ao blindly that before they knew it thee the-e m plump against a large railing behind which were a number of deer Those deer never befOre had realized what a comfort that fence was To be continued |