Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1933-02-02, Page 6PAGE SIX. THE SEAFORTH NEWS. stimmunimissi i ' R 'HAVEN Johnson: (Continued from last week.) (What devil lead 'led 'h'im ,forth on such a night;wwhy_+he, whom with my own eyes, three :hours egon•e, I had seen drunken, should '' have ohosen, af- ter his :carouse, cold air and his •own company rather than sleep; when and where he "first spied us, how long he had -followed us, T have never known. Perhaps he could not sleep for tri- umph, had heard of my impending arrest, had came forth to add to the bitterness of my cup by his presence, and so had happened upon us. He could only have guessed at those he followed, until he reached the edge of the wharf an•d looked down upon us in the moonlight, For a •mo'ment he stood without moving; then he raised his hand to his lips, and the shrill call that had startled us rang out again. At the far end of the lane lights ap- peared, i\Ien were coming down the lane at a run; whether they were the watch, or my lord's own rogues, we. tarried not to see. There was ,not time to loosen the rope from the piles, so I drew my knife to cut it. :My lord saw the movement, and sprang down the steps, at the same time shouting' to the men behind to hasten. Sparrow, grappling with him, locked him in a giant's embrace, lifted hint bodily •from the steps, and flung him into the boat. 'His mead struck against a thwart, and he lay, huddled .beneath it, quiet enough, The minister sprang after him. and ?I cut the rope. By now the wharf shook with running feet, and the backward streaming flame of the torches reddened its boards and the black water beneath it; but each instant the water widened between us and our pursuers. Wind and current swept us out, and at that wharf there were no boats to follow us. Those whom my lord's whistle had brought were now upon the very edge ,of the wharf. 'The marshal's voice called upon us in the name of the King to return. Finding that we vouchsafed no answer, he pulled a pistol and fired, the ball going through my hat; then whipped :oat its fellaw and fired again. 'Mistress Percy, whose behavior had 'been that of an angel, stirred in her seat. I .did not know un- til the day brake that the ,ball had grazed her arm, drenching her ,sleeve with blood, "Lt is time we were away," I said, with a laugh. "If your ,reverence will keep your hand upon the tiller and your eye upon the gentleman whom you have made our travelling compan- ion, 'I'ii put .up the sail." I was on my way to the .foremast, when the boom lying prone before me rose. Slowly and majestically the sail ascended, tapering upward, silvered by the moon,—the great white pinion which should bear us we knew not whither, 1 'stopped short in my tracks.: Mistress !Percy drew a sobbing breath and the minister gasped with admira- tion. We all three stared as though the white cloth had veritably been a monster wing endowed with life. 'Sails don't rise of themselves!" I exclaimed, and was at the mast before the words were out of my lips. Crouched .behind it was a man. I should have known him even without the aid of the moon. Often enough, IGod knows, !I had seen him crouched like this beside me, ourselves in aim osophy. He now did the best thing he ,bash awaiting some unwary Inc', 'brute or. human; or ourselves in hiding, hold- ing our breath lest it should, 'betray us. 'The m'ini'ster who had been a ,play- ger, •the rival who would have poisoned me, ,the servant 'who would have stab- bed me, ,the wife who was wife in name ,only, -+mine were strange ship- mates. (He rose to his feet and stood there. -against' the utast, in the old 'half -sub- missive, half -defiant attitude, with his head thrown Back in the old way. "Id you order me, sir, 'I will swim. ashore," he said, 'half sullenly, ;half— know not how, • "You ,would never reach the Shore," I •reeled. "And .you know diet I will :pin, over the gunwales. "It's en - never order you again. Stay here if ough," he muttered. You. ,please, or ,come aft if you please!, •I beckoned to Diccon, and p.ut+ting THURSDAY, !FEBRUARY 2, 1933 - !the tiller into his hands went forward icy wind. :alarming had shown nee the to reef the sail. When it was done and blood upon, her sleeve, and I had .cut S was •back in niy place, my lord ,away the cloth from the white aria, spoke again. and had washed the wound with wine "Where are you .going,captain?" and.b.o•und it up. If, for my fee, I I don't know." • should have liked to press my lips "le you leave that sail up much upon : the brine -veined marble, still I longer, you will land us at the bottom did it not, of the river." ' When, a week before I ,had stored "There are worse places," I replied. the boat with food and drink and had He left his seat, and moved, though brought it to that lonely wharf, I lead with caution, to one nearer 'Mistress thought that if at the last my wide. Percy, "Are cold and storm and 'peril willied to flee I would •attempt to reae'h sweeter to You, ladiy, than warmth, the bay, and p'as'sing out between • the and safety, and a love that .would capes would go north. Given an open guard you from, not run you into, boat and the ;tempestuous seas of . No - danger?" he said in a whisper. "Do vember, 'there might he one change you not wish this boat the Santa Ter- out of a hundred of our reaching Man era, these rude ,boards the velvet cu- 'hattan acrd the Deitoh, who might or shionis of her state 'cabin, this dark- might not give us refuge. She. had ness her many lights, 'this cold .her willed to flee, and twe'were upon our, warmth, with the night shut out and journey, and the one chance had van- love shut in?" hiked. 'That wan, Monotonous, cold, IH1is aud'aci'ty, if it angered tree, yet and clinging mist had ;shrouded us for made me 'lawgh. Not so with the ,our burial, and. our 'gr'ave yawned be - King's ward. She shrank front him neabh us. until she pressed the tiller.. Our The day passed .and the night came flight, the puesuing feet, the struggle and still we fou'gh't the sea, arid still at the wharf, her wounded arm of the wind drove us whither it would. which she had not old, the terror .of :The night passed and ,the second, more the white sail rising as if by magic, suing came, and found us yet alive. (My the vision of the urian she hated lying wife lay no'w at' my feet, her head pli- as one dead before her in, the moon- lowed upon ' the bundleshe had light, the.cold, the hurry of the night, •brought from the minister's ' house. --email wonder if her spirit fa'iled her Too weak for sp,eeoh, waiting in pain for a time. I felt her hand touch mine and cold and terror for death to bring where it rested upon the tiller. "Cap_ her warmth and life, . the knightly fain Petty," ,she murmured, with a spirit yet lived in ''her eyes, and she tittle sobbing breath. smiled when I bent' over her with II leaned across the tiller and ad- wine to moisten her lips. Alt length dressed the favorite. ""My lord," I she began, to wander in her mind, and said, "courtesy to prisoners is one to speak of stammer days and flowers, thing, and freedom from restraint and A hand held my heart in a sl'ow'ly license of tongue is another. Here at tighteninggrip of iron, and the tears the stern the boat is somewh'a't heav ran down the minister's cheeks. 'The ily freighted. Your lordship will oh- man who had darkened heryoung ligeme if you .will go ,forward where 'life, bringing her to 'this, Pocked at there is room enough and to spare." her with an ashen face. His black brows drew together. As the day _wore on, the gray of the "And what if I refuse, sir?" he de- sky paled to a dead man's hue, and minded haughtily. the wind lessened, but the waves were "I leave rope here," I answered, still mountain high. One moment we and to aid me the gentleman who poised, Pike the gulls that now ,scream - once before tonight, and in despite of ed about us, upon some giddy sum- your struggles, lifted you in his arms mit, the sky alone above and around like an infant. We will tie you hand us; the next we sank into dark green and foot, and lay you in the bottom and glassy caverns: Suddenly the wind of the boat. If you make too much trouble there is always the river. \'Iy lord, you are not now at Whitehall. You are with desperate men, outlaws who have no king, and so fear no king's minions. 'Will you go free, or will you go bound? Go you sh'all, one way or the other," Ile looked at the with rage a'tud hat- red in his face. 'Then, with a laugh that was not good to hear and a shrug of the shoulders, he went forward to bear Diccon company in the bow. I went back and 'took the Filler from'Sp'arr.ow. 'We were now in mid - river, and the swollen stream and the strong wind bore us on ,with them like a leaf before the gale. We left behind the lights and the claimer, the dark t,awn and the silent fort, the weary Due 'Return and the Shipping about the lower wharf. !Before us loomed the Santa (Teresa; we ,passed so close 'beneath her huge ,bl'a'ck sides that we heard ,the .wind whistling through her rigging. When she, too, was gone, the liver lay bare +before us; silver when the moon shone, of an inky 'blackness when it was dbscured by one of the. many flying cloud's. 'My wife 'wrapped her mantle closer about her, and, leaning back in her seat in the stern beside me, raised her face to the wild and solemn heavens Diccon sat apart in the 'bow and held his tongue. The minister bent over and, lifting the man that lay in the bottom of the 'boat, laid him at ful length upon the thwart before us. The moonlight streamed down upon the prostrate figure, I think it could never have shone upon a more handsome or a more wicked' man, He lay there in his splendid ,dress and dark 'beauty Endymion-Bice, beneSth the moon. The King's ward turned her eyes up- on him, kept them there a .moment then glanced away, and looked at him no more. "There's a parlous lump upon his forehead where it struck the thwart said the minister, "but the life's yet in hint. He'll shame honest men for many a day to come, Your Patonists, who from a goodly outside argue se fair a soul, could :never have been ac- quainted evith this gentleman." 'The subject of his discourse moan- ed and stirred. The minister raised one of the hanging hands and felt for the pulse. "Faint enough," he went on. "A little more and the King would have waited for his minion forever and a day. It would have been the better for us, who have now, indeed, a 'strange fish upon our hands, but 1 am glad I killed him not." I tossed him a flask. "It's good aqua vitae, and the flask is honest. 'Give hien to drink of it" He forced the liquor between my lord's teeth, then dashed water in his face. Another minute and the King's favorite sat up and looked around hint. Dazed as yet, he stared, with no comprehension in his eyes, at the clouds, the sail, the rushing water, the dark figures about him. "Nicoio!" he cried sharply. "He's not here, my lord," I said. At ,the sound of my voice he sprang to his feet, 'I should advise your lordship to sit still," I said. "The wind is very boisterous, and we are not under bare poles. If you exert yourself, you may capsize the boat." He sat down mechanically, and put his hand +to his forehead, I watched him curiously. I't was the strangest. trick that fortune had played' him. His hand dropped at last, and he straightened himself, with a long breath. "Who threw me into the boat?" he demanded, The Ring's minion hacked not the courage of the body, nor, when pas- sionate action had brought him naught, a certain reserve force of p'hil- pr.imr.oses. until I' am tired," she said,, "I will sleep here •a little in the sun- shine, anld when I awake I will make you a colwsiip 'ball." Time piaased and the groaning, tremibiting tin -bens •still held together. The wind fell,' the sky t i is became blue and the sun shone. Another While,, and the waves were less mountainous land beat less furiously against the boat, Hope 'heightened before us. To s'tr;ong swimmers the distance to the islet was' trifling; ,if the boat would, but last until the sea 'sub!sdde•d, we Might .gain the beach, "Whait we would do apart thatbarren spot, where was neither man' nor brute, food nor w•at er, was a thing that we head not the time to consider, I,t was•land ,thalt we craved. Another hour, an:d • the sea still fell, Another, and a wave struck the 'boat with force. "The sea' isconing int" cried the minister. "Ay," I `amewere'd. "She will go to .pieces now." The mini's'ter rose to his 'feeit, "'I am, no mariner," he said, "but once in the neater' I can swim Snot -Bice ' any fish; iTh'ere have been times When I have reproached, the Lord for thlat he cas- ed a poor humble silly preacher like me with the strength of some mighty man of old, amid there have been times when I have ,thanked him for that strength. I thank shim now. Captain Percy, if you twit'( trust the lady to me. '1 will take her safely to that Shore." I raised my head from the figure over which I was .bending, and look ed first at the still tunvulituous sea,. and then at the gigantic frame of the minister. When we had made that .nail raft no swimmer could have lived in that shock of waves; now there was a chance for all, and for the min- ister, with his great strength, the greatest I haveever seen in any man, a double chance. I took her from the raft and gave her into his arms. A minute later the boat went to pieces. Stde by side Sparrow and I buffeted the sea, 1=Ie held the Ring's ward in one arm, and he bore her safely over the 'huge swells and through the on- slaught of the breaking waves. I could thank God for his strength and could have dont,—burst into a roar o•f laughter. "Zooks!" he cried, "It's as good a comedy ,as ever I sawl How's the play to end, captain? Are we to go off laughing, or is the end to be, bloody after ail? For ins'tan'ce, is there murder to be done?" He looked at me boldly, ;one hand on his hip, the other twirling his mustaches. "We are not all murderers, my lord" 'I .told hint. "For the present you. are in no (danger other than that which is common to us all." He looked at the clouds piling be- hind us, thicker and thicker, higher and higher, at the pending mast, at the black water swirling now and CHA'PjTEER XX In Which We Are In Desperate tCase "God• walketh upon the sea as he walketh upon the land," said the min- ister. "The sea is his and we as his. He will do what it liketh him with his own," As he spoke he looked with a steadfast soul into the black hollow of the wave that combed above us, tfieeatsning destruction. The wave broke, and the boat skill' 1i�ed. 1Borne 'high upon the shoulder of the .next rolling hill, we looked north, south, east and west, and s'an' only a waste of ever forming, ever breaking waves, a gray slcy streaked with darker gray shifting vapor, and a horizon impenetrably veiled. Where we were i,n the great bay, in what dir- ection we were being driven, haw near we might be to the open sea or to some fatal shore, we knew not. What we did know was that both Masts 'were gone, that we must bail the boat without ceasing if we would PROFESSIONAL, CARDS Medical DR. H. HUQH ROSS, Phyaieiaa, olluN ear s1- and Surgeon. Late of London Ho'r pital, London, England. Spe attention to diseases of the eye, y` nose and throat. Office and re deuce behind Dominion Bank. Office Phone No. 5; Residence Phone 104. DR. F. J. BURROWS, Soalortle Office and residence, Goderich street. east of the United Church. Comm, for the 'County of Huron. Telep'honet No. 46. DR. F. J. R. F\OlR1S!TER—Eye, Ear Nose and Throat. Graduate in Medi- cine, University of Toronto 1897.. Late Assistant New York Ophthal— mic and Aural Institute, Moorefield's, Eye, and Golden Square throat hotpi-'• tads; London, England. At Comm- ercial Hotel, Seaforth, 3rd Monday ,in, each month, .irony 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. fell away, veered, and rose again like trust her to it. For the other three of a giant refreshed. us, we were all strong swimmers, and Diccon started, put his hand to his `hough bruised and beat about, we ear, then sprang to his feet. "Break held our -own. Each wave, overcame, err!" he cried hoarsely, left us nearer the islet,—a little while tWe listened with straining ears. He and our feet touched the bottom.' A was right. 'The low, ominous murmur short struggle with the tremendous changed to a distant roar, grew loud- surf and we were out of the maw of or, and yet louder, and was no longer the sea, but out upon a desolate islet, distant, • a mere hand's breadth of sand and "It will be the sand islets off Cape shell in a lonely ocean, some three Charles, sir," he said. I nodded, He leagues' from the mainland of Accom- and I knew there was no need of ac, and upon, it neither food nor water. words. We had the clothes upon our barter, The shy grew paler and paler, and and my lord and I had kept OUT soon upon the woof of the clouds a swords. I hada knife, and Diccon too splash of dull yellow showed where was probably armed. The 'flint' and the sun teauld be. The fog rose, laying steel and tinder box within my pouch bare the desolate ocean. Before us 'Made- up our store. were two very small islands, mere :The minister,laid the woman whom handfuls of s'an'd, lying side by side, he carried upon the pebbles, fell upon and encompassed half by the open his knees, and lif'ted his rugged• face sea, half by stiller waters diked in by to heavens I too knelt, and with my .marshes and sand bars. A coarse, 'hand upon her heart said my /idyll scanty grass and a few stunted trees prayer In my own way. My lord stood with 'branches bending away front the with unbent head, his eyes upon bha't sea 'lived upon them, but nothing else. still white face, but Diccon turned Over them and aver the marshes and abruptly and strode off to a law ridge the sand batik circled myriads of of sand, from the top of which one great white gulls, Their harsh, un- might survey the entire island. earthly voices came to us faintly, and (In two minutes he was back again. ;and increased the desolation of earth "There's plenity of driftwmod further and sky and' sea. up the heathy" he announced, "and a IT'o the shell -strewn beach of the mort of dried seaweed. At least we outer of the two islets raoed long needn't freeze." limes of surf, and between us and it lurked a sand bar, against ,which the CTo be Continued.) great rollers dashed with a bell -like roar. The wind drove us straight upon this bar. A moment of deadly peril and it had us fast, holding us for the keep it from snvampin,g, that the wind waves to beat our life out. The boat was doing an apparently im'p'ossible listed then rested thing and rising 'higher and higher, quivering through. all its length. The waves pounded and that the craves which buffeted. us 'from one to the other were hourly swelling to a more .monstrous bulk, IWe haecome into the wider •water at dawn, and still under canvas. An hour latter, off Point Comfort, a bare mast contented us; we had hardly gotten the sail in when, mast and all went overboard. That had 'been hours ago. A common peril is a mighty leveler of ;barriers. 'Scant time was there in that boat to make distinction between friend and foe. As one man we fought the element wihich would devour us. Bach took his turn at the bailing, each watched for the next great wave be- fore which we must cower, clinging; with numbed hands to gunwale and thwart. We fared alike, toiled alike, and suffered alike, only that the min- ister and I cared for Mistress Percy, asking no help from the others, The King's ward endured all with- out a murmur. She was cold, she was worn with watching and terror, she was wounded; each moment Death raised his arm to strike, but she sat there dauntless, and looked him in the facewtith a smile upon her own. If, wearied out, we had given up the fight,' her hole would have spurred us ton to wrestle with our fate to .the last gasp. She sat between Sparrow and rue, and as hest we might we s'hielded her front the drenching seas and the against its side, each watery batter- ing ram dissolving in foam and spray but to give place to another, and yet it held together and yet we lived. 'How long it would hold we could not tell; we only knew it could not be for long. The inc'lina'tion of the boat was .not so great but that, with caution, we Wright move about, There were on board rope and axe, With the latter I cut away the thwarts and decking in the boil', and Diccon and tI made a small raft. When it was finished, I lifted my wife in, my arms and laid her upon it and lashed her to it with the rope. She smiled like a c'hitd, then closed her eyes. "I have gathered DIR. W. C. SIPIROuAIT.—Graduate olt Faculty of Medicine, University 'of Western Ontario, London. Memiber, of College of Physicians and Sus'-. geons• of Ontario. Office .in rear ole Aberhart's drug store, Seafotithi. Phone 90. Hours 1.30-4 p.m., 7.30' -9 p.m. Other hours by appointment The labyrinth of English spelling, a real ,inane, renders its correct 'writ- ing unattainable for many of alien origin. (Exceptin the worlds of finance and politics, plain -looking ,faces predomi- nate among 'the great. In the land of sawdust and spangles it has been decided that the tigers is the king of beasts. Dental DR. J. A. MU'N)N, Successor to. Dr. R. R. Ross, graduate of North western University, Chicago, I'11. "Li- centiate Royal College of Dental Sur- geons, Toronto. Office ' over Sails' hardware, • Maiti St., Seaforth. Phone 151. DR. F. J. BIEORELY, graduate Royal College of Dental Surgeons, Toronto. Office over W. R, Smith's ; grocery, Main St., Seaforth. Phones,' 9 office 185W, residence 1853, Auctioneer. iGEOIRGIE ELLIOTT, Licensed Auctioneer for the County of Huron. !Arrangements can be made for Sale Pate' at The Seaforth News. Charges moderate and satisfaction guranteed. No better protection against worms' can be got than Miller's Worm Pow- ders. They consume worms and ren- der the stomach and intestines un- tenable to them, They heal the sur- faces that have .become inflamed by the attacks of ,the parasites and serve to restore the strength of the child' that has been. undermined by the upon it. A DOLLAR'S WORTH Clip this coupon and mail it with $1 for a six weeks' trial subscription to THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR Published by Tax CHRISTIAN Boraxes PUBLISHING SOCIETY Boston, -Massachusetts, Q. 8. A. In it You will find the dally good- news of the world from its 800 special writer& as well as departments devoted to women'e and obildren'e interests, sports, mode,finance, edhcatlon, radio, etc You will be glad to welcome into your home so fearless an advocate of pence and prohibition, And don't miss Snubs, Our Dog. and the Sundial and the other lectures. THx CHHRiSTTAN SCIENCE M emTCR, Back Bay Station, Boston, Mass. Please send me a six weeks' trial subscription, I enclose one dollar (51). h �"" y oa f. y mss (Yowl,) (State) rlf.Qa ^r"t. Le.�.�.u.�.a�.�.�. �.�.A,•n���� L ,�.�-�,�s..�.L-a_� - _ . (Nome, pilose print) (Address) WATSON . AND RE[D' REAL ESTATE AND DNS I URANCE AGENCY (Succssors to James Watson) MMAIIN ST., SDA:1OR'PH, ONT. All kinds of Insurance risks effect- ed at lowest rates in First -Class. Companies. THE McKILLOP Mutual Fire Insurance CL FARM AND FISOLATE'D TOWN PIRIOIBE'RTTY, 0??'L Y, INS'URR'D Officers John Bennew•ies, Brod- hagen, President; Jas. Connolly, ,God- erich, Vice.Pres.; ID. F. MdGregor, Seaforth No. 4, 'Sec,-Treas. Directors—(Geo. R. McCartney, Sea - forth No. 3; Alex, Broad'foo't, Sea-•. forth No, 3; James Evans, ,Seaforth, No. 5; IRobt. Ferris, 'Blyth No. 1; J'as. Sholdice, Walton No. 4; John 'Pepper, Bruce'field; Wiibiarn ..Knox, Landes- borough. Agents Jas. Watt, 'Birth No. 1;'W. E. IHinchiey, Seaforth; J.. A. Murray,. Seaforth No. 3; W. J. Yeo, •CUirubotr• No..3; R. G. IJarmuth, Bornholm, +Auditors — Jas. 'Kerr, ;Seaforth; Thos. Moylan, Seaforth No. 5. Parties desirous to effect insuranct or transact other business, will be promptly attended to by applications• to any of the above named officers ad- dressed to their respective post ofiiceso The Man With Asthma, almost longs for death to' end his suffering. He sees ahead, only years of endless... torment (with intervals of rest which. are the'msel'ves 'fraught with ,never ceasing fear of renewed •attacks, Let him turn to Dr. J. D. Kellogg's As- thma -Remedy and knonw what ocm-• piste relief it can give. Let him but: use it faithfully and he wilt find his. asthma a thing of the: past. Send us the names of your visitors, Want and. For Sale Ads, 3 times 50c...