It was while enjoying a delightful and distinctly sensational trip on the Columbia River that the passengers were enlightened as to a comparatively old trick, which was executed with the utmost promptness and despatch by a young second mate.  This young man was never known to have any money.  Generous in the extreme, and heartily full of fun, he managed to get rid of his salary as promptly as it was paid him, and his impecuniosity was a standing joke among members of the crew and regular passengers.  On one occasion the boat met with an accident, and was tied up at a small town for four or five days.  The hero of the story, with a number of other light-hearted individuals, naturally went ashore on pleasure bent.  They had what is generally called a good time, but what little funds they had when they started were soon exhausted.

Two or three councils of war were held as to how a supply of liquid refreshments, of a character not included in the temperance man’s bill of fare, could be obtained.  Finally, the second mate undertook to secure the needful without the expenditure of any money.  He borrowed a heavy overcoat belonging to one of the party, and then hunted up two large wine bottles.  One of these he filled with water and securely corked.  The other he took empty, and with these in his pockets entered the saloon.  Producing the empty bottle he asked the bar-keeper how much he would charge for filling it, and on hearing the amount told him to go ahead.

As soon as the bottle was filled and returned to the second mate, he slipped it in his pocket, and in a very matter-of-fact manner began to make arrangements for the liquidation of the debt, at a convenient period.  The saloon-man naturally resented any discussion of this character, and told his customer to either pay for the liquor or return it right away.  Assuming an air of injured innocence, our friend took out the bottle of water, handed it to the barkeeper and said he “guessed he’d have to take it back.”  The unsuspecting purveyor of liquor that both cheers and inebriates, grumbled considerably, emptied the bottle of water into the demijohn of whisky, handed back the bottle to the apparently disconsolate seeker after credit, and told him to “get out.”

Naturally, no second order was necessary.  Five minutes later, the entire party could have been seen sharing the contents of the bottle which had not been emptied, but which they lost no time in emptying.  The trick answered its purpose admirably.  When, about two weeks later, the man who had played it was again in the town, he called at the saloon to pay for the whisky.  He was treated very kindly, but hints were freely given as to the necessity of a keeper accompanying him on his travels.  In other words, the bar-keeper declined distinctly to believe that he had been hoodwinked as stated.  This feature of the joke was, in the opinion of its perpetrators, the most amusing feature of all, and it need hardly be said that very little effort was made to disabuse the unbelieving but somewhat over-credulous bar-keeper.