Skip

“ As a general rule it is the skip who plays in the most difficult place—i.e. No. 4, where, if the other three players under their skip’s direction have built up an interesting house, he will have the most delicate and hazardous shots to negotiate. But it sometimes happens that the skip, who primarily should be chosen because of his knowledge of the game, may not have the requisite skill of{90} hand for that post: it may happen that a player on his side is a finer performer in the delivery of his stones, though his skill in tactics and generalship may be inferior. ”

“ Skip,” says Mr. Sturgis. “I hope you will ponder over this transaction. You will find material for thought in it, I am certain. In Wicksville we believe in competition, in fair competition. We believe in doing by others as we would like to have others do by us. An old saying, Mr. Skip. In this instance you have had done to you what you have done to others.... It is not, I believe I am safe in saying, particularly pleasant. Good afternoon, Mr. Skip.”
Skip grabbed the lease and plunged out of the door and down the stairs. As soon as it was safe Mark and I came out. ”

“ No business man would treat another like this.”
“H’m! I’m not so sure, Mr. Skip. While we’re on that subject I might say I’ve heard of dealings of your own that might have been more upright. I have been informed, Mr. Skip, that you have resorted to means which are, to say the least, reprehensible. I, sir, have been practising law in Wicksville for thirty-five years. I can assure you, sir, that, had I not considered my client justified in the course he follows in this matter, I should have declined to act for him. I do believe him justified. ”

“ Yesterday afternoon we played tennis, Herbert Knox Smith and I beating Matt and Murray. To-day I shall take cunning mother out for a ride.
Skip accompanied me to Washington. He is not as yet entirely at home in the White House and rather clings to my companionship. I think he will soon be fond of Archie, who loves him dearly. Mother is kind to Skip, but she does not think he is an aristocrat as Jack is. He is a very cunning little dog all the same. ”

“ These and a dozen other remarks Fred heard as he left the breaker, and while loitering for an instant to learn if any one suspected the true state of affairs he became conscious that Skip and his friends were regarding him with mingled anger and consternation written on their faces.
"You'd better get out of here, or there may be trouble," Chunky whispered.
"Why?"
"'Cause Skip has got plenty of time now to serve you out, an' he looks like somethin' was goin' to be done."
"He'd better not try any more games. I can take care of myself in the daylight." ”

“ Skip said wildly, for he always contrived to work himself into a state of intense excitement over the most trifling matters, "the way he's goin' on now, he'll be the boss of Newspaper Row before mornin', 'less we take a hand in it."
"What are you goin' to do?" Sid asked in much too quiet a tone to suit his excited friend. ”

“ As we ran along, the conversation ran thus:
"Hey-hey, Towser," said I, "Mr. Woodchuck don't know that you're coming; he thinks it is old Skip, but when he sees you, he will know that he's got to die."
[65]
"Oh, dear," said Gordon, "when he gets those great white teeth on to him, won't the blood fly? I hope he won't swallow him whole, for we want his hide to make shoe strings."
"You bet," said I. Then patting the dog on the head, I continued: "Won't old Skip be ashamed when he sees you, Towser?"
Skip was a little brindle cur who had watched the whole farm night and day for ten years. ”

“ Must be a pretty good thing. Skip’s going to get that away from ’em. Hurt some, I calc’late. And he’s goin’ to take away their agency for phonographs and records. Bet that’ll hit ’em a wallop. Eh? Skip says he’ll take away every one of their agencies.”
“But,” says I, “this is a five-and-ten-cent store. How can he sell things that come to more?”
“Oh,” says the clerk, “he’s goin’ to open a separate department and sell every single thing the Bazar does—and cut prices. Guess this beauty contest won’t get much for the Bazar folks against lower prices.” ”

“ You know what I mean."
"Well, if I do I'm a duffer. What are you drivin' at, Skip, anyhow?"
"Ain't you been tellin' what you was goin' to do to help that feller from the country that I settled this forenoon?"
"Didn't strike me as if you settled him very much. If he'd had half a chance, he'd 'a' settled you."
"You've got to be took down a peg or two," Skip said threateningly, as he doubled his fist and brandished it before Carrots's face.
"Want ter git another feller 'rested, do you? Well, I ain't goin' to fight."
"You'd better not, if you know what's good for yourself." ”

“ Skip caught Moses roughly by the arm. “They must have set no value upon their life.”
“Was it Tambourine Jack?” suggested Mackrell.
“No; not him.”
“Who, then?” shouted several of the ruffians.
“Speak, you old screw, speak!” said Skip, tightening his grasp upon the other’s arm.
“You will not strike me?”
“No.”
“It was Dell Ladley.”
“You lie, Jew, the girl is as true as steel; I don’t go much on giving secrets to women, but she is different to the rest.”
As he spoke, Skip Brodie raised his fist and would have felled Old Man Moses to the floor, had he not been prevented by his companions. ”

“ Bill and Joe acted as advisers, and if one year's work is any criterion the quartette have administered the affairs most wisely, for in all the middle field there are no better or more contented miners than can be found at the Byram-Thorpe works.
In one year Skip was pronounced competent to take full charge of the store, and to-day it would be difficult to select a fellow better liked than he. On the Blacktown side of the mountain every one speaks of him in the most flattering terms, and at Farley's he is held up [Pg 273] to breaker boys as an example of how one may live down a bad reputation. ”

“ And once more Skip scrutinised the stranger carefully.
"I don't reckon I do. I count on keepin' myself kind er decent. It doesn't cost anything for a feller to wash his face, comb his hair, or have his clothes clean, an' there's many a time when it'll put him through in great shape." ”

“ Skips alone to stand at or about the tee—that of the playing party having the choice of place, and not to be obstructed by the other.
If a player should play out of turn, the stone so played may be stopped in its progress, and returned to the player. Should the mistake not be discovered till the stone be at rest, or has struck another stone, the opposite skip shall have the option of adding one to his score, allowing the game to proceed, or declaring the end null and void. ”

“ Skipp’s boarding house, restored him to consciousness, applied the thumbscrews, got his deposition, lugged him here to you, and now—please have the kindness to take him off my hands, for I’m tired of him. ”

“ The player’s party may sweep the ice anywhere from the centre line to the tee, and behind it,—the adverse party having liberty to sweep behind the tee, and in front of any of their own stones when moved by another, and till at rest. Skips to have full liberty to clean and sweep the ice behind the tee at any time, except when a player is being directed by his skip. ”

“ Skippy heard the soft tread of his father’s step along the deck. A door closed and after an interval of silence he looked up to see that the man was still there, bending over the rail and apparently staring at him.
“Your Dad, hey kid?” he asked, catching Skippy’s upturned eyes.
“My Pop,” Skippy corrected, chuckling. He liked the man’s hearty voice. “You work aboard this yacht, Mister?”
“Second mate, that’s what. Easy job summers when the old man’s busy. All we do is to sleep and keep the old girl ship-shape.” ”

“ And at this Mrs Skipwith smiled and bridled, conceiving herself highly flattered, and declared that she and Mrs Sternhold had ofttimes said one to another that ’twas a thousand pities that so divine a creature should be so little seen and admired. ”

“ Josiah Flint and Marty Skinner rose up before his eyes. He was beginning to realize what sorrow they had brought to the river people—his people! A fellow feels things like that when he’s going on thirteen.
Thirteen! Skippy looked up into the starlit sky and blinked. Mugs’ even breathing was like the whisper of the breeze blowing about his head. And he went to sleep planning how he could save the menfolk of the Basin from future prison life. ”

“ John C. Bedelle, The Bathtub King! For a delicious week Skippy sailed into the future on the magic carpet of his imagination. He dreamed through the long dull hours of recitations; he dreamed when huddled in sweater he watched the scurrying of the baseball candidates; he dreamed over the prunes at breakfast and the prune whip at night, and in his soft and delicious bed he lay awake for hours planning out the disposal of his future wealth. ”

“ But Tully was even then steering the kicker out of the inlet. He had the throttle wide open and Skippy had no more than a glimpse of the racing craft before she slipped beyond his sight.
Logs, huge chunks of driftwood and every known article of household furniture, both broken and whole, floated in Skippy’s path, blocking his progress. Suddenly he saw a little boat bearing down upon him, floating through the inlet unoccupied.
He reached out, grabbed the bow and climbed in, breathless and exhausted. Other kickers were shoving off filled with crying women and shouting men. ”

“ The Skipper and Old Nick
NCE on a time there was a skipper who was so wonderfully lucky in everything he undertook; there was no one who got such freights, and no one who earned so much money, for it rolled in upon him on all sides, and, in a word, there was no one who was good to make such voyages as he, for whithersoever he sailed, he took the wind with him—nay, men did say he had only to turn his hat and the wind turned the way he wished it to blow. ”

“ He seized the tie and head erect, honor intact, walked fearlessly back to his room. But there, a new dilemma! The tie was indeed of whitest lawn but, alas! across one end was a smudge which defied the most persistent rubbing. Skippy, as has been observed, was at the period when the imagination is not confined by tradition. In desperation he resorted to the washbasin and with the aid of a brush, triumphantly banished the damned spot. Then having wrung the limp mass, he spread the tie carefully against the window pane and covering it with a handkerchief, laboriously ironed it out with a shoe. ”

“ Across the campus came Skippy, fists sunk in his pockets, hat-brim down, stalking rapidly, and at his heels the irrepressible Nuisance.
"It's shocking," said Snorky, "poor old Skippy!"
"That's what love means," said Finnegan contemptuously. "Do you know what he reminds me of? A poor lonely cur going down the road with a tin can tied to his tail." ”

“ TO understand what Skippy felt one must have known the springs of boyhood's impulse towards perfect manhood.
To Skippy a man was that completed being, who wore trousers that never bagged at the knees, neckties that never slipped below the collar button, who displayed a gold watch-chain across a fancy vest, from whose lower lip a cigarette was pendent, who possessed a latchkey and the right to read far into the night, and who shaved once a day. ”

“ He uttered several unintelligible sounds, flushed a fiery red and backed away.
"Right where the chicken met the axe," said Skippy, who began to whistle a melancholy tune as he gathered up the scattered greenbacks. "Here comes mother."
"Let's beat it," said Snorky, who felt a sudden need for a purer atmosphere.
"You know women better than I do," said Skippy, who though a chum was human. ”

“ Sunset had long since gone, leaving but a hint of vermilion colored sky at the horizon as the kicker chugged silently farther and farther into the muddy waters of the inlet. Skippy steered the motor-boat and Toby Dare struggled at the tiller of the barge while most of the colonists looked on indifferently. They sprawled about on the various decks, men, women and children. ”

“ Skippy looked up wrathfully to perceive the curious eyes of Dennis de Brian de Boru gazing from the transom. Both brushes went flying across the room, but Dennis knew when his presence was de trop. The episode shook off the derby and deranged the part. Snorky watched the process of reconstruction with a meditative glance. [114]
"Skippy, old horse, you are so spick and span. Has love really come to you?"
"You go take a run and jump," said Skippy lightly and he began to whistle a genial air. ”

“ The following day the skipper spent hard at work with the cargo, bustling about with feverish energy as the afternoon wore on and left him to imagine his rival tête-à-tête with Annis. After tea a reaction set in, and, bit by bit the mate, by means of timely sympathy, learnt all that there was to know. Henry, without a display of anything, except, perhaps, silence, learnt it too.
"It's in your favor that it's your own craft," said the mate; "you can go where you like. If you find the father, she might chuck the other feller." ”

“ Into one of these shanties, just tall enough for Skipper to enter and no more, the horse that had been the pride of the mounted park police was driven with a kick as a greeting. Skipper noted first that there was no feed-box and no hayrack. Then he saw, or rather felt—for the only light came through cracks in the walls—that there was no floor. His nostrils told him that the drainage was bad. Skipper sighed as he thought of the clean, sweet straw which Reddy used to change in his stall every night. ”