86 A RAFT PILOT'S LOG 



they asked permission to go again. Then I got the ex- 

 planation. Joe Gallenor had told them that seriously he 

 didn't think it safe for them to go with me. Pressed for 

 a reason, he told them that I was subject to fits. "A 

 good fellow, and we all like him. It's too bad, but-," 

 he said, and Jim Hanley stood there and declared Joe 

 to be telling the truth. Of course I forgave the culprits 

 on the ground that they really meant no harm, but were 

 just jealous, that was all. 



In one party that we carried on the "LeClaire Belle" 

 was a very fastidious maiden lady of mature years, one 

 of those self-considered "unclaimed blessings." She was 

 not satisfied until I gave up my room to her, and I then 

 had to move in with the mate. The second morning out, 

 she quietly and confidentially informed me that some- 

 thing had to be done to remedy the situation. She said 

 she had been kept awake two whole nights by bed bugs, 

 and she blushed deeply when she named them. I was 

 sure she was mistaken, but thought it best to humor her 

 and asked her what we could do to get rid of them. 

 She told me to get a solution of corrosive sublimate and 

 apply it with a feather to the mattress and springs. At 

 LaCrosse I purchased a fifty cent bottle of the deadly 

 mixture and took it back to the store room to Harry 

 Carlton, the cabin-boy, telling him exactly where and 

 how to use it. I then told Miss Thompson what I had 

 done and that we hoped she would have a good night's 

 rest. She did, and thanked me kindly, and she was my 

 warm friend ever after. 



But some time later, one dull day, we took everything 

 ofif the store-room shelves to check up. Shipley found 

 a bottle with a poison label, which had never been 

 opened, and held it up, saying "What in h — is this?" 

 The cabin-toy turned red and confessed "Why that's 



