St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1881-09-24

lake supper ana spenu a couple Oh
hours with them. They had seen the
ship at anchor before the house and
knew that she would not 60 over the
bar before midnight; but they had not
expected that their son would get leave
to come on shore.
The evening passed pleasantly, and
when Tom took leave of his parents,
about ten o'clock, he left them in a
much more contented state OF mind
than when he had hurriedly torn him.
self away in the afternoon. Toms IA
Their went down with him to the skitf,
which Jacob Hopkins had left tied to
stake near the house, and to which he
had promised to return about this time,
to row Tom back to the vessel. But
when they reached the skiff no Jacob
was there; and, although Tom and his
father walked some distance toward
the town and called loudly, they could
find no sign of the missing melon-man.
"1t's too badH' said Tom. Its now
half-pas ten, and | ought to have been
on board by this time. l don't see why
Jacob should have disappointed me in
this way"
"I'll tell you what We'll do Tom
said his father. well both get into
the boat, and you can row over to the
Amelia, and III bring her back
"No, indeed, father!' cried Tom.
I'm not going to let you row a mile
over the harbor this night. The wind
is rising, and it is getting cloudy, and |
shouldn't want to be on board the
Amelia, and think that you were pull
| |, al no
dark. No, sir; I'll take the boat and
low myself to the schooner, and then
I'll anchor the skitf there, and 90 on
board. You see. she has long coil Of
rope and a grapnel, and old Jacob can
get another boat, and row over after
her in the morning. He ought to be
put to that much extra trouble for dis
appointing me in this way"
Old Mr.. Wallen was obliged to con-
TESS that this was the better plan, and
he knew that his son could row more
quickly to the vessel if he had no one in
the skif' but himself.
| So Tom babe his father good bye once
more, and pulled away into the dark
ness. 1t is always lighter on water
than it is on land, and Tom knew the
harbor so well that he had no difficulty
in rowing straight to the point where
the amelia had anchored.
But when he had rowed some dis
lance, he was surprised on turning
around to find that he could not per-
ceive the Amelia's' lights.
"Why, where is the schooner" said
Tom to himself. And then he rowed
with redoubled vigor.
But, before long, he was quite GER
tain that the Amelia" was not on her
anchorage ground.
"She must have dropped down fur
ther, around the end of the island, be-
fore the tide turned,n he said to him
setf THAT may have helped little,
but it was mean trick for the Captain
to do, after letting me 60 on shore. y
But Tom did not hesitate. He laid to
his oars again, and pulled around the
island. He could see no signs OF the
ship, but supposed she waslying direct
ly inside the bar, which spot was con-
cealed from him by a projecting point
of woodland Tom rowed on and on,
until, at last, he actually reached the
entrance to the harbor, but still he saw
no signs of the amelia" Gould it
be possible, he thought, that the Cap
tain had taken advantage of the rising
of the wind, and had gone to sea? II
would be rash act, Tom rightly i'm.
agined, to sail through that narrow pas.
sage, with the breakers scarcely hun
bred Yards on each side of the vessel,
on a night as dark as this-cloudy, and
without moon And yet, what else
could the s. Amelia have done? He
could not have passed her in the harbol
as he rowed along. She could not have
quietly sunk out of sight. She must
have gone to sea.
AS Tom, without thinking what he
was doing, kept rowing on, he looked
out over the long waves that came
swelling in between the two lines o.
breakers, which guarded the entrance
to the harbor. And there, not quar-
ter of mile from the shore. he saw the
lights of ship, evidently lying to, will
her head to the wind.
Tom was very angry at this sight
elf it were not for my chest" ht
thought. (which holds everything
own, I'd row back, and have nothing
more to do with her, 7a.-
Tom was not the man to 60 bacl
when he had started QUITO do anything
And so he rowed on and on toward tn
inlet, where the long waves. which be
came breakers on either side of thu
narrow passage, were rolling in from
the sea. It was not an easy matter t.
row a boat over these waves, but Ton
had been used to such work from
bov, having often rowed out to sea OF
fishing expeditions, and he knew ex
actly how to pull his boat against thu
, incoming surf. 1t was not long befor
he was out on the gently swelling wa
tiers of the ocean, and pulling vigorous
lv for the vessel. He forgot, entirely
that it would be necessary for him t.
return Jacob Hopkins boat, but he de