Show the roynest gallery NEIL STAFFORD seeks romance florance flo mance afar 0 0 6 0 0 CZ OPP go right on board he directed just walk up the gang plank ill be seeing you later by nett NEIL STAFFORD R KIPPLE is a longtime M MR friend of n nane mine ane operates a steamship agency and has lately grown fat and prosperous selling accommodations to bright eyed tourists business is excellent excelled with mr kipple and his smiling countenance shines and beams behind the counter for many weeks he has been after me to take a trip on one of the steamers served by his company a tree free ride what is tec technically cally described in the trade as a dead deadhead head run go any time you want to he urged cheerily wont cost you a thin dime just go down to the pier and get on the boat youre a friend of mine and id like to do you a favor I 1 hesitated a long time but finally accepted on the condition that 1 I 1 could take the wife kids and car fine he said beaming more than ever you wait a minute and ill write you a letter to our mr hutchings who will be down on the dock on sailing day just hand him the letter and hell take care of you were on our way I 1 thanked him and went home we packed up piled our bags in the car and saturday morning one hour before sailing time we drove down to the pier my wife my kids and myself I 1 had bad the letter safely in my pocket we climbed out of the machine and began hunting for mr hutchings Hutchin gf and for a long time we find him or an anybody who had ever heard of him one official said he knew a man named grossbeck but not hutchings Hatch ings we then stood beside our machine machina for a long time asking passing workmen it if seen mr hutchings they had not I 1 began a hurried chase finally located him beside a bale of cotton and handed him kapples Kip plea ples letter he was busy and read it swiftly go right on board he directed 11 just walk up the gang plank ill be be seeing you later I 1 strode up the gangplank followed by my inquiring family and upon reaching the deck we gathered in a puzzled circle and stood still the steamer was filled with hundreds of passengers who had bad been there tor for thirty days and knew each other we were wera newcomers not to say interlopers Interlope rs and they stared at us curiously and even superciliously A hearty welcome why dont we sit do down wn my wife asked after a reasonable pause 1 I always thought people sat down on a boat I 1 quite have the courage to sit down but my wife had probably on account ot of her new shoes they therefore plumped d themselves into deck chairs and were speed speedily ily requested to get out by old time passengers who owned them they rejoin edme and we leaned against the rail rall looking donnat the brisk confusion on the pier 0 one n a item in inthe the confusion was our own cari car which stood there alone and avoided ellke a sore thumb I 1 hurried down founder found mr Hutchi hutchings gs again and informed hirn him our car was going along with wi th us he glanced at his Is letter from mr ripple kipple oh he said Youl YOU got a car 1 eh I 1 there I 1 it t Is 13 11 1 I aid 1 pointing to it and feeling guilty I 1 then walked up the gangplank and rejoined my family and we all leaned on the rail like a lot of orphans this la Is not the way I 1 thought an ocean voyage would turn out 1 I she he remarked I 1 made no reply we had nary a 9 ticket and now we ven even a letter as mr hutchings had the letter in his pocket by this time I 1 had a feeling that everyone was a at us so I 1 started to find mr hutchings who was supposed to be on board ho he was in hiding tor for I 1 find him so I 1 rejoined my group eating Is hazardous we were all definitely hungry and it was the lunch hour as announced by the ringing ot of a gong we could see the tha passengers ming filing d down own the stairways loo looking kingas as it if they were about to eat so GO we filed down the stairways too and stood just outside the dining room door we had no legal right in there with the food as I 1 knew having nothing by which to identify ourselves and no ticket to show the chief steward we were strangers in a strange land and and also hungry tor for the more you realize you cannot walk into a dining room the hungrier you grow I 1 fervently wished I 1 had paid for my tickets come on I 1 snapped at my group lets nudge in anyhow after lunch I 1 scurried around the decks followed by my uneasy family and finally discovered mr hutchings you been fixed up yet he asked in surprise and I 1 told him we were still unfixed take this gentleman to he said to a steward and the fellow did so giving me a hard look I 1 now knew that I 1 would never again se set t foot on any ocean liner without at least two feet of tickets paid for in cash mr air hutchings Hatch ings vanishes again when the ship arrived in san francisco and laid up against the dock the regular pas passengers bassenge rs went ashore but not me and my family you must have a landing ticket to leave a steamer and we had none stem looking officials barred us at the gangplank gangola pretending we w were ere chinese coolies coolder or south sea lepers attempting to smuggle into america I 1 told them earnestly that we had boar boarded ded the boat at a california port that we wa were am americana and wished to get off and leave them forever they said where is your landing card I 1 hunted bunted again for hutchings but he was nowhere we could see the I 1 derrick lifting our car from the hold and seemed we would never be near that friendly machine again they referred iu us to I 1 a grime grim U 8 ofil official cial and to him I 1 related our pitiful plight throwing a dash of pathos into the recital dry land I 1 feruse for Us when we were permitted to chuck our bags into the lcarl car I 1 climbed behind the wheel breathed a great sigh of relief and aad orde ordered red iny my family to get in there I 1 stepped on the tha starter and found the battery was dead it had died down in the ste steamers ameri hold bold along with a lot of dead I 1 bananas ananas two hours lipped by bi while I 1 negotiated by telephone with asan a san francisco garage and while we sat th there e re in the motionless machine a genial countenance appeared and we heard beard the tones of a hearty voice it was i mr kipple ile he had come up b by y train how about going on up to vanco vancouver ei anthe ship ha aoh continued warmly ill kive give you a letter to mr hutchings pl 0 bell S syndicate 5 dacate ym se service aco |