Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1893-03-01

placing his hand upon her fair neck,
he asked for a kiss. She started
back, and while her eyes flashed fire,
she drew a small pistol from her
bosom and cooked it.
Miserable dogr she uttered, in
II low, firm tone, "dare to place your
foul touch upon me again and you
shall diew
"Tut, tut, my pretty Bird" cried
Wooler, "you wouldn't be so cruel"
But his voice trembled, and his
frame shook with the modification
he tried to hide.
81 think you will not tempt me,
at all events" the maiden returned,
with biting irony.
The lieutenant bit his lips, and
his fists were clenched; but he had
not the daring to go further, so he
turned away and walked aft. From
that moment the crew looked upon
the maiden with admiration. They
did not like Wooler.
1t was afternoon when the brig
squared away, and as the wind was
light and battling she made but lit
tie Roadway. It was past four
o'clock wheu she passed Eraid, and
by that time the wind had died al
most to a calm. The heavens had
grown dark, the air cold and puff
ing, and night seemed coming on
with the sun yet up. Captain
Thornhill gave orders for taking off
the sail, and ere long the brig lay
under close-reefed topsails and fore
staysail.
At shutdown the wind came in
from the southwark and westward,
and by the time night had fairly
settled down it blew gale. The
captain tried for awhile to keep to
the wind under the three sails he
had left on, but the wind was too
strong. 1t blew perfect hurricane,
and the sea began to rise and break
over the deck; and ere long it be-
came evident that one of the top
sails must be taken off.
1t was bad place in which to be
caught thus. Thornhill knew he
must be near the mouth of the
Sound of Null, and if he did lay to,
the gale would tend to drive him up
into it. He was not acquainted
with the place, and though he had
good charts yet he did not feel safe.
Higher and higher grew the furi-
Gus wind, until the very sea seemed
dancing over the frail bark. The
masts groaned and creaked, the rig
ging grated and strained, and every
crack and seam CAPPED beneath the
fearful strain. The wind howled and
roared, and the mad sea surged and
boiled, until the whole scene appear
ed but the result of furious war
of the frantic elements.
At midnight Captain Thornhill
began to be frightened. The wind
was not only undated, but the
rain had begun to drive down, and
the night was as black as one solid
mass of ink.
"Wooler," he said, as he drew
his oiled jacket up over his face to
protect it from the driving rain,
''can you not hear the roar of break
ers?
81 have thought | heard them for
some tlme," returned the lieutenant,
holding firmly by the lifeline to
prevent being washed away by the
breaking seas.
"And yet we can do nothing"
the captain resumed, being obliged
to cry out with all his strength to
make his voice sound above the roar
of the elements. ITO veer an atom
would be sure desc. .,ction. But we
cannot live so mueblonger. Every
rope and stick is strained now to it's
utmost. o, if we had room to run
off before itw
"But we haven't" was Wooler's
response.
Yet the brig lived through the
night, and when the morning dawn
ed, the wind seemed to increase in
violence rather than diminish.
It was near the autumnal equi-
nox, and there was every prospect
that the storm would be a long one.
The rain still fell in torrents, and
the heavens were black, and the air
dark. Thornhill had no idea of his
whereabouts, for how far the brig
had been driven by the fury of the
night he could not tell; yet he sup
posed he must be somewhere near
the chops of the Sound of Null.
1t was a few minutes past six
when the captain was started by a
loud cry forward, and OH working
his way thither he found that the