CONTENTS
VOLUME II
| PAGE | |
| SOL SMITH | |
| A Bully Boat and a Brag Captain | [1] |
| AMBROSE BIERCE | |
| The Dog and the Bees | [8] |
| OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES | |
| Dislikes | [9] |
| G. H. DERBY (“Phœnix,” “Squibob”) | |
| Illustrated Newspapers | [13] |
| Tushmaker’s Toothpuller | [67] |
| MARY MAPES DODGE | |
| Miss Malony on the Chinese Question | [22] |
| JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL | |
| The Courtin’ | [27] |
| A Letter from Mr. Ezekiel Bigelow | [59] |
| JOHN GODFREY SAXE | |
| The Coquette—A Portrait | [31] |
| SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (“Mark Twain”) | |
| Colonel Mulberry Sellers | [33] |
| FREDERICK WILLIAM SHELTON | |
| Incidents in a Retired Life | [43] |
| BRET HARTE | |
| Melons | [49] |
| The Society upon the Stanislaus | [71] |
| CHARLES GODFREY LELAND | |
| Ballad | [65] |
| JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE | |
| The V-a-s-e | [74] |
| FRANK R. STOCKTON | |
| Pomona’s Novel | [76] |
| JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE | |
| Fred Trover’s Little Iron-clad | [96] |
| ROBERT JONES BURDETTE | |
| The Artless Prattle of Childhood | [120] |
| ANONYMOUS | |
| St. Peter at the Gate | [130] |
| HENRY GUY CARLETON | |
| The Thompson Street Poker Club | [134] |
| GEORGE T. LANIGAN | |
| The Fox and the Crow | [140] |
| HENRY CUYLER BUNNER | |
| Behold the Deeds! | [141] |
| FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN | |
| A Rhyme for Priscilla | [146] |
| THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH | |
| A Rivermouth Romance | [149] |
| GELETT BURGESS | |
| The Bohemians of Boston | [161] |
| MARION COUTHOUY SMITH | |
| The Composite Ghost | [164] |
| BILL NYE | |
| A Fatal Thirst | [175] |
| GEORGE W. PECK | |
| Peck’s Bad Boy | [178] |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
| Susan Simpson | [21] |
| A Boston Lullaby | [119] |
| The House That Jack Built | [127] |
| An Insurance Agent’s Story | [144] |
| An Epitaph | [148] |
| Some Messages Received by Teachers in Brooklyn Public Schools | [171] |
| The Trout’s Appeal | [174] |
SOL SMITH
A BULLY BOAT AND A BRAG CAPTAIN
A Story of Steamboat Life on the Mississippi
Does any one remember the Caravan? She was what would now be considered a slow boat—then (1827) she was regularly advertised as the “fast running,” etc. Her regular trips from New Orleans to Natchez were usually made in from six to eight days; a trip made by her in five days was considered remarkable. A voyage from New Orleans to Vicksburg and back, including stoppages, generally entitled the officers and crew to a month’s wages. Whether the Caravan ever achieved the feat of a voyage to the Falls (Louisville) I have never learned; if she did, she must have “had a time of it!”
It was my fate to take passage in this boat. The Captain was a good-natured, easy-going man, careful of the comfort of his passengers, and exceedingly fond of the game of brag. We had been out a little more than five days, and we were in hopes of seeing the bluffs of Natchez on the next day. Our wood was getting low, and night coming on. The pilot on duty above (the other pilot held three aces at the time, and was just calling out the Captain, who “went it strong” on three kings) sent down word that the mate had reported the stock of wood reduced to half a cord. The worthy Captain excused himself to the pilot whose watch was below and the two passengers who made up the party, and hurried to the deck, where he soon discovered by the landmarks that we were about half a mile from a woodyard, which he said was situated “right round yonder point.” “But,” muttered the Captain, “I don’t much like to take wood of the yellow-faced old scoundrel who owns it—he always charges a quarter of a dollar more than any one else; however, there’s no other chance.” The boat was pushed to her utmost, and in a little less than an hour, when our fuel was about giving out, we made the point, and our cables were out and fastened to trees alongside of a good-sized woodpile.