isa-normaladvance-1913-00178

Description:	178THE NORMAL ADVANCEbound to take place. We thought in our mildand innocent way that nothing remained forthe Pirate to do that we could not anticipate.We had even gone so far as to go down thestream a couple of times. AA^e had gotten back,too. Therefore, it was quite plausible that weshould have done what we did. AVe had eachinvited a particular young lady friend, to partake with us the joys of a motor boat ride in thePirate.AAre had spent a week beforehand gettingeverything shipshape and in perfect order forthe important event, and now it was Sundayafternoon and all four of us had arrived happily on the spot at the appointed hour of three.Where do you want to go? asked Bone withtrue chivalry and absent-mindedness.Oh lets go down the river, weve never beendown stream before. (This with great decisionand eagerness.)Bone looked at me. I looked at Bone. Heopened the hood slowly and got in front of theengine.You just bet, he chirped. Most people areafraid to go down the river for fear their boatwill go wrong and they cant come back. Wego anyhere in the Pirate. Always get back,too. He never told how, though.The Pirate started off real decently this time.We sputtered leisurely and merrily down theriver, first on one side, then the other, according as the current had cut the deepest channel.(It was August, and the river was very lowT.)This was bliss. No papers to carry thatevening, no lessons to get for the next day, butmost of all, this select company we had alongmade us happy to the degree of joyful.An hour passed and I timidly suggested thatinasmuch as we could not go back as fast as wehad come, we had better turn back. Bonejoined in the storm of disapproval. AVe hadonly come about five miles. Of course wewould not turn back yet.Alright, lets go to Nine-mile Island andget some cold pop. I just dared them to do it.They never thought of refusing, not evenBone. I decided that hed gone stark crazv.The thing which worried me most was thefact that the Pirate acted so nice and mannerly.It was not natural. I began to doubt and havegrave misgivings.AAre got the pop, but we got hung up on asandbar for about a half an hour in doing so.On the return trip, the Pirate seemed to havechanged his disposition entirely. Bone drewhimself out of his happiness enough to noticethe change. The Pirate did not start with aroar and rush, neither did he balk. He simplychugged disconsolately up stream. The speedwas not remarkable either.The sun disappeared and we were six milesfrom the wharf. Another mile and it was dark.I watched the light in a farm house window aslong as I could stand it, and then swore thatwe had not moved a bit. No one contradictedmy statement, either.Say, broke out Bone.Huh?I was just thinking. I guess weve certainlytamed the Pirate.That was just like Bone, popping off something optimistic and foolish at a grave time likethat.But we did finally get home. It was eleventhirty and the lectures we each got from therespective irate mothers of the young ladies wehad taken were quite severe to say the least, butwe were happy to be back at any price.The Pirate was tamed. We discovered thatthe sandbar on which we had wasted our timethe evening before had donated us not only anabundance of water weeds, but also a straypiece of wire. The whole had been wrappedand twisted most thoroughly around the propeller wheel. Hence the sudden taming andslow speed. The Pirate was tamed most thoroughly. He never did regain his former spiritfor speed or his vim for balking.AAfe made several attempts to dispose of himby selling him, but as Bone said, AVed givethe old pest away rather than sell him at thatprice. He made that remark several times, too.Finally we chose our victim, and presentedhim with the Pirate. (He never did pay his
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34623
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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