The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-02-20

! had come to regard the sea as living
thing endowed with moods and ca
} prices. But he knew that 1t had no
feeling. He often talked to himself
about it, or her as, with deep COM
prehension of its nature. he called her
But it was always to himself or to his
dog that he spoke and never direct to
the sea. His awe of her was too great
! for that
He awoke one night toward the close
of the year, and sat upright on his
heap of rags, listening The elamor
of the waves on the beach hummed
through the utter darkness of his den.
and he understood it as we'll as if they
spoke in words. She's chuntering
vanity" he muttered "She means
mischief before long" Then he lis
tened again. She's barring BONNER
rocks on yon side. and just running
into d long gyle on this, and it's high
time We We're DOT, dog
The dog stirred silently round his
knees, and the man rose up. Drawing
back the slide above him. he thrust his
head through the hatchway. The wind
blew keen and steady from the sea
with a salt taste. A low hanging cur
tain of level fast moving clouds COW
cred the sky, shutting out the direct
rays of the moon, but still permitting
wan illumination of the earth and air
In this light the surface of the sea
shone with an oily simmer and was
crossed with long moving stripes of
shadow, which depeened and then burst
into white lines as they neared the
shore. The little motiol1ess town
|.seemed to breathe heavily in its sleep
under the biting wind and rapid sky
The rumble of the breakers ceased now
and again for an instant, and a strange
lquietness settled down upon everything.
until it was broken by single crash
of startling distipctness, and then the
murmur and confusion ran on again;
|signs, these, of heavy weather to come
The old mans head moved round
above the hatch in noiseless survey of
the scene. Light enow without the
lantern he said preparing to draw
himself upward through the opening
At that moment there came faint low
cry from the sea. SO low and carried
seemingly so far that it seemed to be-
long to the air more than to the earth
Sh,' whispered the old man hoarse-
~, checking the movements of his dog
''Sh, There it is again" The intensity
of his features as he listened was ter
rihle: his whole soul seemed strained to
the endeavor. Ssh, Again, No more,
Three times, for sign. man. bird or
devil! Quick. dog. out! Some luck is
coming tonight
There was something uncanny in the
agility with which he sprang up and
over the side of the boat. His back was
no longer bent; he walked upright with
long strides TO the beach. The waves
crashed and roared, sending long shud-
dering tongues of white water over the
wet sand on either side of him, but never
| touching him as he stalked on with
eyes bent upon the rim of the sea. The
dog ran to and fro hunting with feverish
activity over all the dark piles of sea-
weed which the tide had left. Sud-
denly it stopped with head uplifted and
paw in the air, and at the same mo-
ment its master stopped also.
"Yonder it isl" he said in a whisper
that was almost a Shrek: see it. dog?
Floating out yonder, and coming this
way! It's another, dog; it's another"
For a moment he seemed to lose his
s f-control in the excess of his joy. but
immediately checked himself and be-
gan to mutter rapid calculation. Say
400 yards; ebbtide springs. but wind
in-shore. Yes. it's bound to come, and
that quickly; say; half way between
here and Short Grip
He walked slowly on for a little dis
lance further, muttering and watching
the water all the while, and then took
up position close to the edge of the sea,
and waited. The floating thing was
easily visible now, and as it rose and
fell on the pillows, just beyond the
breaking waves, you might have fancied
it had life.
He sits straight up and rides high.
That means he has a belt round him.
Aha, my lad, you're not the first that's
come to me that way either. Much
good your belts done you, Ell? Brought
you to me a bit quicker, that's all.'
1t rose on the crest of a topping wave
and rushed forward among the broken
water straight for the place where the
man and his dog We're waiting. He
could have fetched it ashore at that in
slant had he cared to wade in to his
knees. But it seemed to please him bet
ter to see it roll to his feet of it's own
accord and he watched it tumble about
grotesquely in the shadows for a mo-
ment longer, until a sudden retreat of
the flood left it fairly stranded. Then he
pounced upon 1t like spider upon fly,
and tugged and struggled with might
and main, till he had dragged it up
| out of reach of the returning wave.
! He knelt beside it and scrutiniZed it
carefully. Thought as much-sailor
with lifebelt! Fell overheard l expect
| Ell? Flung you a belt, and left you to
take your chance, Ell? Can't afford to
stop a big steamer for the sake of a
man like you, Ell? Get another in your
place, next port; that's the way nova
/ days, and a very good way, too. Elderly
man, nice and sound; swum himself
! out, and not long dead better than a
soft two months old 'un that, Come,
now. old fellow, let's see what you're
going to give me for my trouble. You're
not so mean as to cut me down to bare
| body-pay. are you?"
| He chuckled grnly at these pleas
antries as he passed his hands over the
| body. He Embossed the life-belt and
| pinched the soaking raiment beneath
| 1t here and there to discover where the
pockets lay. These he ransacked care
fully examining every article he found
in them. None of their contents were
| of much value; sailors knife, a to-
bacco-box and pipe, and other similar
odds and ends, all of which he care
! fully replaced. He drew a big silver
watch from the fob with a bundle OF
dangling seals attached. This he han
died GENEROUSLY, and meditated over it
for a few seconds, but Llally returned
it to its place, muttering to himself
They'd miss it if they know him."