198

THE PROPOSAL 206

MR. PETTER TAKES OFF HIS HAT 209

LANIGAN BEAM WANTS HIS LADDER 210

THE SQUIRREL INN

I

THE STEAMBOAT PIER

The steamboat _Manasquan_ was advertised to leave her pier on the east
side of the city at half-past nine on a July morning. At nine o'clock
Walter Lodloe was on the forward upper deck, watching the early
passengers come on board, and occasionally smiling as his glance fell
upon a tall man in a blue flannel shirt, who, with a number of other
deck-hands, was hard at work transferring from the pier to the steamer
the boxes, barrels, and bales of merchandise the discouraging mass of
which was on the point of being increased by the unloading of a newly
arrived two-horse truck.

Lodloe had good reason to allow himself his smiles of satisfaction, for
he had just achieved a victory over the man in the blue shirt, and a
victory over a busy deck-hand on a hot day is rare enough to be
valuable. As soon as he had stepped on board, he had deposited his
hand-baggage in a place of safety, and walked forward to see the men run
on the freight. It was a lively scene, and being a student of incident,
character, and all that sort of thing, it greatly interested him.
Standing by a strangely marked cask which had excited his curiosity, he
found himself in the way of the deck-hand in the blue shirt, who, with
red face and sparkling forehead, had just wheeled two heavy boxes up the
incline of the gang-plank, and was about to roll them with easy rapidity
to the other side of the deck; but Lodloe, with his back turned and
directly in front of him, made it necessary for him to make a violent
swerve to the right or to break the legs of a passenger. He made the
swerve, missed Lodloe, and then, dumping his load, turned and swore at
the young man with the promptness and accuracy of a cow-boy's revolver.

It was quite natural that a high-spirited young fellow should object to
be sworn at, no matter what provocation he had given, and Lodloe not
only objected but grew very angry. The thing which instantly suggested
itself to him, and which to most people would seem the proper thing to
do, was to knock down the man. But this knocking-down business is a
matter which should be approached with great caution. Walter was a
strong young fellow and had had some practice in