ers
would come out of their holes."

Young Bill replied: "I'll get them out for you, and that d----d
quick."

John Consall went back to the pilot-house, and soon had the boat
on her way. Bill went out, and in about twenty minutes there was
the darndest racket on that boat you ever heard. Everybody was
sneezing at one and the same time, and you would have thought they
were trying to blow the roof off, from the amount of noise they
made. Bill came up to us out on the guards, and said:

"Didn't I tell you I would drive them out of their holes?"

I looked into the cabin, and, sure enough, everybody was out of
their rooms, rushing up and down the cabin and finally out on the
guards. Old Captain Bill and young Bill's new step-mother were
among the crowd, and it was fun the see the young bride rushing
around after her old hubby, trying to keep him from blowing up the
boat with his sneezing and cursing. He would pull away from her
every time he would make a big sneeze, and then he would curse
until another one would overtake him. He and young Bill knew what
was the cause of all the racket, and the old one soon learned who
had put the red pepper on the hot stove. He tried to find his bad
boy, but he was up on the roof, so his step-mother did not get to
see her hubby throw him overboard, as he swore he would do if he
caught him.

They opened all the doors, and soon the red pepper was all out of
the cabins and state-rooms. The old Captain and all the passengers,
except a few good suckers, went back to bed. Young Bill came out
of his hiding-place, and we all took something to wash down the
pepper. We went to work on the fellows who remained up, and won
$1,200, besides several good watches--which we would not have had
a chance to do if the passengers had not been sneezed out. I
appreciated the part Bill and John had played, and presented each
with a good watch.

At another time I got on a boat after all the passengers had gone
to bed, and did not want to wait until morning without doing some
business; so I inquired after the passengers, and learned that
there was one on board who had been drinking and flashing his money.
I sent the porter to his room and told him to knock and tell him
to get up at once, that the boat was on fire, but for him not to
make any noise. In an instant the fellow was into a part of his
clothes and out into the cabin. He rushed up to where we were
sitting and wanted to know where the