The herald., 1894-08-22

ohance get. You ii thank me Tor III IN
the end, sec If you don't"
Now, tho fatal day had nearly ar
iived. A man in Key West had sent
word that he was coming to look at the
Polyanthus and would probably buy
her If she proved as represented. He
might appear at any moment, and that
Wa, the reason why Grit Albury sat
gazing sadly at the dear boat ON that
glorious March afternoon, instead Of
gathering the last Of the tomato crop,
which was expected to realize 5000.
AS the boy slowly rose to return to
his work there came q sound of flying
feet, and Matey's voice was heard, call
ing in joyous tones
Grit! Oh, Gritl Mother wants you
to catch her mess Of fish and says l
can go with you"
The lad only answered.: CAN right,
sister. Come along" but sudden reso-
luton, that he did not put into words,
flashed into his mind. Two minutes
later single skillful throw of o cast
net into the school Of sardines, always
swarming alongshore. had provided a
sufficiency of bait, and light skiff was
dancing merrily over the blue waves.
why, Grit! Where are you going!"
demanded Matey as the skiff was head
ed directly for the Polyanthus.
"Out to the reef after fish," was the
answer.
"But Grit''--
Never mind the butts now, little
girl. That's where we are going, and
we're going in the schooner too. Mother
said fish, but SO far as have heard she
didn't say what kind Of fish, and SO, Of
course, mevrt the best fish, such as
Spanish mas,Kerel, kingfish, yellow tails
or drums. You know that we can't find
those shut cf the reef any more'n we
can 60 out TO where they are in skiff.
Besides sister, it's our very last chance
for sail in the old Poly. She's going
to be sold, or rather given away, toinor-
row, and ! don't suppose we'll ever see
her again or own another boat"
OF course this was convincing, for
Matey not only dearly loved to sail, but
was firm in her belief that whatever
Girt said or did was right. Thus an
hour later saw the little schooner, after
glorious run across the broad Hawk
channel, anchored just inside the great
coral reef that borders the gulf stream
for more than 900 miles, and on which
huge breakers were dashing themselves
into showers of glistening spray. The
fishing was superb and go absorbing that
the sun was sinking into it's bed Of
crimson and gold ere either Grit or
Matey thought of starting for home.
When at length they were ready to
90 and attempted to get up the anchor,
all their strength on the windlass failed
to bulge it. A f1uke had caught beneath
some great bunch Of coral, and with
boylike carelessness Grit had neglected
to provide trip line. 1t was quite dark
before he abandoned the attempt to re-
cover their anchor and said oheerfully:
Never mind, Matey, girl. 1t won t
hurt us to stay out here overnight, and
as soon as it comes light again I'll
dive down there and see what is the
matter. I'm not going to cut the cable
and lose that brand new anchor unless
have to, that's sure
So they cooked a supper of fish and
made themselves SO comfortable in the
snug little cabin that they rather re-
joiced in their adventure than other
wise. So soundly did they sleep that
night that not until he was flung from
his locker on the cabin floor did Grit
awaken to the fact that the Poly was
pitching madly and that gale was
shrieking through her taut rigging.
Calling to Matey, the boy sprang on the
deck, where he was we'll nigh beaten
down by the furious squall Of wind and
rain that just then hurled itself against
the schooner
There was an instant Of quivering
strain. Then something gave way, and
Grit knew what had happened. The
tense cable had parted, and they were
helplessly drifting at the mercy Of the
storm. For moment even Grit's stout
heart quailed. He could see nothing
save the ghostlike forms of leaping
breakers that seemed to crowd about
him from all sides. He could not even
tell from which direction the squall
was blowing. Matey had joined him in
the cockpit, with as full an understand
ing of the situation as his own. No
words passed between them, for none
could have been heard above the shrek
of wind and the roar of waters They
seemed to be driving with frightful
speed, and, as the brother and sister
stood hand in hand, waiting their fate,
they expected that each succeeding mo-
ment would see their craft dashed in
pieces ON the cruel reef
Minutes passed, and still they swept
on. Suddenly Grit uttered great cry
Of relief that was almost a sob.
"We've passed the breakers! We're
clear Of the reef We're out in the gulf !!
We're safe, Matey, girlv' he shouted.
To any one not sailor it would have
seemed that they were anything but
Eafe, out In the open sea, driving
through inky darkness, and with the
worst squall of the season bowling furi-
ously about them, but Matey was a
sailor. She knew, and down in her heart
arose fervent prayer of thankfulneea
The next change Of soene was most
surprising, Daylight had come; the sun
was rising. Before gentle breeze, with
all sails set, the Polyanthus was ap-
preaching a great steamship that had
struck on an outlying spur Of the reed
during the binding bewilderment of
the recent sQualI.