The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1897-06-25

a solid obstacle under the surface, and
Tom, wet to the skin and cold, sat in
the forks and contemplated as com.
plaCcptly as he could the dclugc that
surrounded him.
He did not know how far he had
driIted from the scene Of Tit miShaD.
The whole country was strange To
him, and he did not know where he
was.
Now and then lie caight sight oil
dark objects moving far away on the
surface Of the water, but whether
they were trees or people in dugOutS,
lie could not determine The sun
which occasionally appeared, told him
that it must be near noon, and he felt
hungry and almost exhausted
What if lie had to pass "A night in
that wilderness OF waters. What if
he was destined to remain there an
other day unrcscucd and even I'm.
noticed. The mere thought of such a
thing made bin shudder. q"
The day did wane as he feared, and
found him on the tree in the water.
The sun went down without rescue,
and Tom Sinclair watched it sink into
the flood, as it seemed, wondering if
he would ever see it rise again.
While the tide about him was not
swift like it was elsewhere, it was
bad enough, and the water was chill
ing and dark
The boy, when night came, dashed
himself to the limb with some core
found IN one Of his pockets, for should
lie fall asleep he might drop into the
water and drown before lie could
even help himself,
"That's BETTER said Tom. as he
finished the job. Little did | think
when Jimmy Poor told me to put the
cord in my pocket, as | might need it
at Aunt Susan'S, that | would ever
use 1t for this purpose, | wonder
what's become Of Tim Holloway"
1t was the first time Tom had
thought OF the boy who had played
him the trick which indirectly got
him into his present trouble. lie
wondered if the flood had found Tim
prepared and ihov. the h:.H.s trickstcr
was taring while he CTom) was cling
ing to limb in the middle Of the in
land sea.
That's a light out yondcrl' sud
denly exclaimed Tom, an hour later,
as something which at first rcsem-
bled FREELY danced on the surface Of
the water to Wndward
He watched it closely. 1t moved at
first toward him and then in an
other direction. Perhaps some per
son was searching for people impris-
oned by the water, and the light
seemed to become stationary. lie
called again and again, each time
pitching his voice in higher key,
"They'ye heard me-" said the eager
boy. "Thc light is coming this way"
Minutes seemed hours, and the light
which turned out to be a lantern in a
boat grew larger and more important
to Tom Sinclair
II don't see anyone" came over the
food.
straight ahead" answered Tom.
"There. Pull away, Jerry, Mebbe
it's the city lark
Tom started at the sound of the
voice, and then waited for the boat to
come alongside.
Its the boy who wanted to see
Aunt Susan" exclaimed another boy
as he bent toward Tom and looked at
him in the fork Of the friendly tree.
"Ncyer mind, Tim Holloway. III
call it even if you just take me out Of
this tree
THAT we will. feared the flood
would find you and the Dawsons, and
I'll do the right thing by helping you
find your Aunt Susan. lisa big flood,
bigger than you ever saw in the city,
ell, Mr.. Tom
In a little while Tom was in the am-
pie boat, which was managed by Tim
Holloway and Il man, but under the
boys orders, and Tom tried to direct
them to the spot where lie had last
seen the home Of the Dawsons. The
house was found lodged against a
number of trees, and the entire faini-
~, which had escaped by a miracle
was rescued.
While the delugc interfcrcd with
Toms outing, it was so full OF ad-
venture that he will not soon forget
it, nor will he charge against Tim
Holloway the trick he played, the
backwoods boy having atoncd for it
by the gallant rcscuc in the midst Of
the dangerous waters.
Doo't bc arrnil to dn yOtlr dtIty nc.