The Argosy, January 1906 — page 142: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

324 the dog was in need of succor, and put off to the rescue in the Puffing Billy, steering by the houndish howls of Blinks. Ultimately he made out, largely and indefinitely, a white launch motionless on the face of the waters, and with no living creature in sight save Blinks the melo- dious, sitting with nose uplifted on the after-deck. “Gone adrift,” said Burchard to him- self, and, shutting off his engine, he let the boat’s momentum carry him up to the other launch. Blinks promptly boarded the Puffing Billy, and at the slight jar as the boats came together, a girl uprose from the cock-pit of the strange craft and turned a flushed face upon Burchard. The flash may have been due to bend- ing low above a hot gasoline engine. [ don’t pretend to know, but it seems strange that she should not have heard the Puffing Billy’s noisy approach. Burchard took a long, deep breath. “ Good afternoon, Miss Pearson,” he said solemnly. “ Got a breakdown? ” There was an appealing look in the girl’s eyes. It may have been owing to ths disorganized machinery and it may not. Anyway, Burchard was too near- sighted mentally as well as physically to notice it. “The dynamo seems to be flooded,” she said. “I think I can fix it, though.” Burchard calmly tied the boats to- gether, climbed into the Chinkopin, rolled up his sleeves, and tackled the problem. Mollie sat down and watched him, say- ing nothing. It was a time to say noth- ing, for the most even-tempered man is not at his best while greasing himself to the elbows over a cranky gasoline motor. Now, a gasoline engine is a strange and wonderful machine. A man may know one from tank to exhaust-pipe; he may know, from actual examination with hand and eye, that everything is abso- lutely as it should be, yet he may find himself quite unable to make that ma- chine go round. He may grease himself to his ears; if he is alone he may swear till he chokes; and after he has given it up and yelled for help, if he gives his starting gear one last desperate jerk, the chances .are the THE ARGOSY. engine will start off evenly and sweetly and take him within a quarter of a mile from home before it quits again. Something lke this happened to Burchard. He first examined the dyna- mo, and found it quite dry and in per- fect order. “Nothing wrong there,” he growled. The dynamo ran with a belt to the engine fly-wheel, and for starting it was necessary to make connection by a switch with «a set. of dry cells. He next ex- amined these, tested them, got an ex- cellent spark, and, turning the connec- tion switch, gave the fly-wheel a vicious whirl. She coughed twice and stopped. Ap- parently the spark was all right. The trouble lay deeper. He examined the gasoline-feed and found the fluid ran perfectly. He went forward and poked a stick into the tank. It was more than half full. “ Have you any oil?” he asked. Mollie \.ent to the bow locker and fetched thence a can of automobile oil, which she proffered in silence. Burchard accepted it without words and proceeded to fill the feed cup and oil the crank and shaft bearings. Meanwhiie Blinks, tiring of inaction, had returned to the forward deck of the Chinkopin and busied himself worrying the end of the painter by which the two boats were fastened together. Burchard set down the oil-can and gave the fly-wheel another vicious turn. Again she coughed twice and stopped. He repeated the operation perhaps twenty times with the same result. He went over the machinery once more with the utmost care, and tried her again. Same result. mechanism a third time and tried her again. Same result. Whereupon he rose, holding his greasy hands away from his once immaculate trousers. “Tm sorry,” he said, “but I- don’t seem to find what’s wrong. J’ll have to tow you.” “Oh, isn’t it provoking?” cried Mollie. “I promised to pick up Eddie Rolson at the upper bridge. shame to inconvenience you.” “It’s not the shghtest inconvenience, Miss Pearson,” said. Burchard stiffly. com chook Then he examined the - And it’s a (eo)