The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-11-11

IN nls sympathy, and saw the tears shin
.ng on her brown eyelashes as she gath.
cred together Mark Conway's letters and
sent them in little box to the postot-
flee. lie did not see the single scarlet
geranium that was placed on the top Of
the pile.
Bell rang out merry chime across
the restless waters of the lake from the
churches of Tuscololo one Wednesday
hight In August. The sun had just set
md the glow Of the clouds was again re.
iected upon the polished glass OF the
lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor.
In this limited haven, bounded on
three sides with double rows of pil,ng
and on the other by hugo stacks Of lum.
Der, rode couple Of barges and
schooner with her sails furled. Over the
side OF the boats the red-shirted ''lum.
bor.shovers" crawled back and forth
with their white pine boards like ants
with grains of wheat. In the middle OF
The towering piles was the dock where
the steamboat tied up once day with
the mail and where the Offices Of Con.
way Il Co. were located.
Just outside the karbor a little row.
boat tossed a solitary occupant-a wo-
man--Lissie Dean. When the bells
ceased ringing and the yellow beacon
flashed out TO guide aud warn the be.
lated mariner, the strains OF hymn
came floating in from the boat. J.issie
was singing. Her sad, sweet voice rose
and fell, was waited In or carried away
by tickle breeze that hesitated between
the land and the water, to n little knot
Of loungers around the door of the wharf
office.
The gulls flew in hoc&s beside her,
their gray wings whistling near her
head. The wind sprung up cool from
off the shore, and tho girl pulled a
heavy wooden shawl about her shoulders
aud turned her boat aceoss the rifles
that began to lap audibly against the
breakwater. The stars came out in
myriads, spanning in a spec&ed arch the
laud and the water.
"Firel Fire! Firel Firel"
The cry came from a man near the
dock, was caught up by another aud an
other, and swept to the uttermost limits
of the town swifter than the fastest
swallow could fly. The 'longshoremen,
silently working by the light OF lanterns,
dropped their boards and started to-
wards the Office near which q red glare
could be seen in the sky-a glow that
stood for moment over the dim and
towering piles whose dark shadows
were reflected in the waters below. The
church bells that had so musicallY called
the worshipers to prayer when the sun
went down wore seized with the fever
Of fear and Changed their warning. en.
with suffering tongues. A flame like
an arm reached, MP from behind the pile
aud diAap ~ t6ze
der. The flames leaped upon the very
top of one Of the central piles, hissed
and danced the length of the resinous
pianks, chung to the edge o moment,
crept inch at time down the side to
the ground, caught in the sawdust and
loitesed across the narrow roadway to
climb up the side of the opposite pile
and to be met halfway by the fiend that
had spanned the space with its fiery
tendrils. The wind that had hesitated
over tho yellow sands of the beach when
the beacon was lighted whiried the
sheets Of flame skyward. The crew OF
the schooner hoisted sail and stood out
of the harbor to the open lake where,
at q safe distance, anchor was cast.
The helpless barges were loosed and
pushed away from their moorings.
From her seat in the boat Lissie wit.
messed the sight, saw the burning shin
| giles carried up into the sky to fall back
into the water with hiss. The girl
stood up and with lips apart watched
the fight. A bucket brigade had been
quickly formed, and line, of men sent
the water up from the lake in broken
stream. The hoarse commands of the
extemporized captain echoed out across
The harbor, mingling with the cracking
flames and the sputtering of the burning
wood.
Then pile of lumber fell. Great
sheets of flame shot up, waved fierce
defiance as the demon grasped blazing
banner and fourished it half way be.
tween earth and sky; burning boards
fell upon the barges, and the crews took
to the little boats and escaped to the
wharf. Still another pile tottered. A
cry of warning went out across the
blood-red waves. 1t fell. The Babel OF
voices rose for moment as the sparks
and burning brands again went up,
lighting anew the whole village. Added
to the confused bawling Of the men were
the heartrending screams of the women
who had crowded up to the line Of en-.
durance. With eyes following the
sparks. their hands raised to protect
their faces from the increased heat, they
beat hasty retreat. but not before they
realized that some of tho men perhaps
brother, husband, SOD, father or
sweetheart-were in that faithful line
under the burning planks. .asg
Part Of the bucket brigade Ina been
cut off. The wharf was ablaze from end
to end. The black smoke settled upon
the water and rolled out towards the girl
in tho boat. She heard the cries aud
knew the meaning. Lizzie Dean dipped
her shawl into the water and threw the
wet wrap over her head aud shoulders
and took up her oars. No mau ever
pulled boat more Justify, aud the little