Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-25


"wrestlings" to be effective must be noisy.
failure. y
The Snipe stretched himself, yawned and
awoke. 1t wSs ~ the morning; time to
prepare cuN of TIA. He tossed an armfui
Of logs on the fra, and the noise awoke
the CATER. who at once inquired for Long
EIDE. He had-not returned. Go up to the
roof. The lad must be frozen" The Snipe
climbed the ladder. pushed open the trap
ana came baek. rSporting that Long Eide
was was nowhere: to seen. The old man
slipped jumper q er his suits of clothing
already thres deep Preached for a gun and
moved to thsedoor Take cup of some
thing warm to fortify.' the Snipe advised.
p The kettle Won't Re five minutes boiling"
and dragged Nhe door open.
Losh me! HeresSbear a hand. lads!''
Long Eide lay Prone before the thresh-
ing It. his moccasins covered out of sight
oy the powdery snow which ran and
trickled incessantly-trickled between his
long: disheveled locks and over the back
the Gaffer's feet.
They carried him in and laid him on a
neap OF skins by the fire. They forced
rum between, his clenched teeth and beat
MS nanos and feet, and kneaded and rub
bed him. A sigh fluttered ON his lips; some
thing between sigh and smile. half seen,
naif heard His eyes opened, and they saw
that 1t was really a smile.
Wot cheer, mater" 1t was the Snipe
who asked
II seen I. y The voice broke off,
but he was smiling still.
What had he seen? Not the sun, surely,
BY the CATERS reckoning the sun would
not be due for week or two yet; how
many weeks he Fcould not say precisely,
ana sometimes he was glad enough thai
They forced him to drink a couple of
spconfuls of rum, and wrapped him I'D
war warmly. Every man contributed some Of
MS own bedding.aThe the CATER called
TO morning prayers and the three sound
men dropped on their knees with him.
NOW, whether by reason of their joy a.
Long Ede's recovery, or because the old
man was In splendid voice. they felt their
Hearts uplifted' that morning with a cheer
II mess they had not known for months.
Long EIDE lay and listened dreamily while
the passion of the CATERS Thanksgiving
their bowed forms, The CATER. David
f'sed. Dan Cooney the Snipe and, George
La shman in his bunk, of course-and me-"
But, then, who was tie seventh? He be-
gan TO count. There's myself-Las hman
In his bunk-Davfd Faed, the CATER. the
Snipe Dan Cooaey. - One, two, three. {.
four-well, but that made seven. Then who
was the seventh? Was it George. who had
crawled out of bed and was kneelin3
tnere! Decidedly there were five kneeling.
NO; there was George, plain enough, in MS
berth and not able to move. Then who
was the stranger? Wrong again: there was
no stranger. He knew all these men-they
were his mates. Was it-Bill? No. Bill was
dead and buried; none of these was Bill.
or IKE Bill. Try again-One. two. three,
four. fve-and us two sick mep-seven'
The CATER, David Faed. Dan Cooney-have
l counted Dan twice? No, that's Dan yon-
def to the right and only one of him. Five
men kneei1ng and two on their backs; that
makes seven every time. Dear God-sup-
pose"
The CATER ceased. and in the act of ris-
ing from his knees caught sight of Long
Ede race While the others fetched their
pl eakfast cans he stepped over ard bent
and whispered: ,,.rs-
Tell me. Ye've seen whatr'
Seem" Long EIDE echoed.
"Ay. seen what? 4speak low-was lit the
The s." But this time the echo died
on his lips. and his, face grew full of awe
fS as m # frightened the Gas-
Ven be thesettF of snatch of Sleep"
said he and ives tuFning to CO. when Long
Eide stirred a handi under the edge of his
''seven-couht. ;" he whispered.
Lord have mercy upon u.s." the CATER
muttered to his beaRd as he moved away.
Long Eide gone crsFed."
was the that could have tw0 b bgo ia1s
the CATER ferpunushaiiyr cheerful AS for
the others, they wees like different men all
that day and through the three days that
followed. Even rLashman ceased to com
plain. and, unless their eyes played them
a "a ' dsaIa, nag taken turn for the better.
singr the; isniije nanIioihced on the second
evening. as much to'chis own wonder as to
theirs. Then why. ia thunder don't. YOU
strike up? answered Dan Cooney. and
fetched his -concertina- The Snipe struck
up then and there, Wilkins and His Di-
rah. What Is more, the CATER looked up
from his Paradise Lost" and Joined in
the Chorus.
By the end of the second day Long Eide
was up and about again. He went about
with dazed look in his eyes He was
counting, countn to himself, always
counting. The CATER watched him fur
lively. t-s
Since his recovery. though his lips moved
frequently, Long EIDE had scarcely uttered
a word. But toward noon on the fourth
day he said an extraordinary thing
There's that sleeping bag 1 took with me
the other night. l wonder if tbs on the roof
still 1t will be froze pretty stiff by this.
You might nip up and see. Snipe. AND
he paused-"if you find it, stow 1t I'D wonder
OF Bills hammock"
The CATER opened his mouth, but shut Il
again without speaking. The Snipe went
up the ladder. f7-1
minute passed, and then they heard a
cry from the roof-a cry that fetched them
all trembling. choking, weeping, cheering
to the foot of the ladder.
Boys! boys..the SUM-"
Months later-it was June. and even
George Lashman had recovered his strength
the Snfpe came running with news of the
whaling fleet And ION the beach, as they
watched the vessels coming to anchor, Long
Eide told the CATER his story. 1T was a
hali-a hallu-=what dye call it, I reckon.
as crazed. chg The CATERS eyes wan
dered from a brambling hopping about the
iichen-covered bouiders and away to the
sea fowl wheeling above the ships, and then
came into his mind q tale he had read once
IN the Turkish Spy Il wouldn't say just
tnat, he answered, SLOWLY "Anv
said Long EIDE, II believe the Lord sent a
miracle to us to save us ALL Il wouldn't
say just that, either the CATER objected.
Il doubt it was meant just for you and me
and the rest were presairved, as you say.
inceedently."
CTHE- END9
TINE TO THINK