The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1896-07-31

chung to their husbands and would not let
them stir Other women, the wives Of
men who had been on the boat, cried
"HolpI" Little children crouching to-
gether with fear and cold, wept pteously
Danny pushed off his boat, but in an In
slant it was lifted on to the top of "a snow
capped billow and pitched ashore Danny
| himself was thrown out on the shingle
No use, man." shouted many voices,
! and the lad was compelled to desist
The wind clamorcd louder every min.
ute TiInbers cut away from the fishing
boat were swept up with every wave The
| surf around the rocks was like snow The
water was beaten into seething foam
around the boat also Between the bill
lows the long swell was red with the re-
Election of the fire, but the sea was black
as ink beyond the line of the Castle isle,
save where, at the farthest end of wave
and sky, streak of ashen light shone in
the darkness
Danny had coilcd the rope from end to
end around his waist Then he stood and
waited He knew that the tide must soon
turn He knew too, that having once be.
gun to ebb, it would flow out at this point
us fast as horse might gallop But low
water never left those rocks dry between
which the fishing boat was jamm"d The
men aboard of her would still need iuccor
But help might then come to them from
the castle side of the channel
The crowd knew his purpose and laugh.
ed at it One grizzled old fisherman took
Danny by the arm and would have held
him But at the first glimpse Of the reef
that ran across the highest and narrowest
point of the strait the lad shook himself
free and bounded across to the Castle isle.
Brave Danny" said Mona in deep
whisper.
"BraveP Is 1t braveP Aw, we'll it's
mad I'm calling II, /" said the old salt
There is steep pathway under the east
wall of the castle 1t runs up from the
shore to great height above the water.
1t is narrow enough to be called ledge,
and the rocks beneath it fall well nigh
precipitously Danny ran along this path
until he cam. to the square turret whose
truncated shaft stands on the southeast
corner OF the castle. While he was under
the shelter of the walls the wind did not
touch him, but when he reached the east
angle q fierce gust from the west threaten
ed to fling him over into the sea He tried
to round the corner and could not The
wind filled his Jersey like sail He took
, the Jersey off and threw it aside Then
|, on hands and knees he crawled round
inch by inch, clinging to the stones of the
turrct and the few tussoCks of long grass
! that grew between them
Every movement he made could be
watched from the opposite side OF the
channel The light of the gorse fired over
the Poolvash fell full upon him and lit
up the entire castle and rocks and the
, shuddering boat beneath with an eerie
brilliance The townspeople were congre-
gated in thousands on the Horse hill and
the shore of the mainland Who's yon-
I der madmany' cried one Danny Fayle, I"
answered another "No, not Danny the
| gawkY' Jaw, yes, though, Danny, the
gawk Kerruish Kinvig was there strid-
, ing up and down and shouting like thun-
) der itself above the tumult of the wind:
Clear the road Stand back, the ruck OF
t you There was nothing else that Kin
Wig could do Mylrea Balladhoo had
been sent for He came and sat down on
the spar to which Christian had strapped
D the rope The broken piece still hung to
it Mona stood beside him and spoke to
! him at intervals He answered nothing
r but stared vacantly before him
The people held their breath as Danny
/ rounded the turret, expecting every instant
e to see him lifted from the ledge and hurled
into the surf beneath When he had clear
A ed the corner and stood full in the wind
on the south side of the castle directly
o above the two protruding rocks that held
the fishing boat in their grip, the crowds
t rushed down the shore and along the top
4 of the Contrary head to keep him in view.
o What other mad act would the lad attemptf
e He'll 90 round to the west and come
r back on the shingle. "
S Not him. man The shore there is In
g six feet of water. "
Danny emerged presently, He was seen
y to tie one end Of his rope through hole
S in the old castle wall to a huge stone built
t into it. The other end was still about his
n waist He's going down the rocks to the
J. boat. 'Cierr out of that. He'd be cut
n in pieces " Jaw, dear, the poor boys
Q not mad enough for that anyway"
a But Danny was going down the rocks.
Sharp as needles, with their thousand
}, teeth turned upward, slippery and icy
cold. Danny set his foot ON them. He be-
q gan MS descent WIFI his DdCh W IlO oetb'
Clouds of spray rose from every third
g wave and hid him from the people But
IS he was seen to be going down foot after
t foot. What had seemed like madness be-
fore began to look like courage now that
g success appeared possible. 1t was neither
n it was despair -Aw, beautiful
/. Beautiful, extraordinary Its the
3. Young Masther Christian he's going down
e for d" well, WELL the masther was kind
10 to the boy astonishing Poor lad, there's
d a heart at him
II Meanwhile Christian was clinging &c
the bowsprit He was chilled near &c
h losing his hold He saw Danny with the
h rope and wondered if he would ever reach
IT them His companion-some said 1t wa
D. the mate, Davy Cain-saw him also, anC
l. the poor fellow was so transported by the
10 prospect of delverance that he died on the
instant and was swept away Only Chris
e tian now remained Every moment th(
d waves washed over him He was numbet
d past feeling His hands were swelled Il
W twice their size Wondering If when Dan
II nv reached him with the rope he would
|, have strength enough to grip it, he LOS
Ne consciousness
1. When within yard of the bow OF tn,
If boat Danny leaped and landed on tn,
5. deck The people had held their breati
Il a.