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Banfield, E. J. (Edmund James), 1852-1923

"Confessions of a Beachcomber"

Halfway across, just as
the Boss was feeling that there was some risk in swimming a flooded
river in which were many snags, Charcoal cheerily observed--"Suppose you
drowned finish, Boss, you gib me you pipe?" Summing up all the
possibilities in a second, the Boss gasped out--"No; you bin get pipe
when I'm across!" The boy's aid was prompt and effective.
EXCUSABLE BIAS
Two of the beachcombing class resumed an oft-recurring discussion on the
seaworthiness of their respective dinghies. Tom, the silent black boy, a
more experienced boatman than either, listened as he watched his own
frail bark canoe dancing like a feather in response to every ripple.
"Tom!" shouted one of the disputants, "suppose you want to go out in
big wind and big sea, which boat you take? This one belonga me, or that
one belonga your Boss?"
Tom glanced at the boats with the eye of an expert, paused in the
exercise of his judgment, and said with emphasis--"Me take 'em my boat!"
THE TRIAL SCENE
"Boiling Down," a boy with a not very reputable past, had once stood his
trial for a serious offence. On returning to his free hills, he was wont
to describe with rare art the trial scene.


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