Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-06-08

confess that darkness looms ahead, he be-
gan, "and if make a suggestion, it is not
to hint that you should take a hopeless
! chance in order that | may be rid of you.
| Could you do aught with boat? have one
concealed that might be made ready in an
hour"
The spell of silence and inactivity was
broken, for the girl left her chair and
stepped softly to the window as | replied:
Il have thought of boats, but only for the
! Hudson side. Could we go far and not be
! picked up by another such sneaking devil of
patrol as | saw yonder? Whittier shall We
| 60? | say we, for we it must be. ! have
cast my lot with the others.
! lie made no answer, and / rose and joined
| the girl whom | could hardly yet think of
as a girl) at the window. But now the as
| pect of nature had changed, and the fair
| picture ! had seen below but short time
| before was blurred as a breath blurs a cold
! pane. With the quick alteration possible in
! this region and at this season, within the
| hour the night had grown damp, and light,
! low fog hung over the river and its banks,
! so shallow, so still, and so silvery in the
clear moonlight that it was as though a
quiet inundation had engulfed the land and
| turned the world into a lake. At the eleva-
| ton from which | viewed it, / looked down
upon il as one looks down upon the sea from
a low headland A billowy fullness lifted
! here and there, slow moving and majestic,
but over its vast extent the line betwixt fog
and clear air was sharply drawn. No moon
track cut across this fleecy ocean, no sharp
ripple broke its surface, and breeze would
| have wrecked its strange beauty in a second.
The trees rose through the vapor, clear at
their tops but invisible at their bases, and
enc dead sycamore stood strongly out
against the light like the masts and rigging
of a sunken ship. Its similarity struck me.
AS my eye caught it, like fash of light.
ming an idea shot into my brain and my
pipe snapped off at my teeth as | bit
through the stem in the intensity of my
feeling. With a cry / sprang for Ames, and
gripping him by the shoulders with force
that made him cry out, | said, or rather
shouted:
81 have it, I have it! Now is the time!
Will you follow me and take monstrous
chance? Look, man! Mark the fogl We
will to the boat-drift for the Phantom
cut her cable and trust to the ebb and God
above to carry us past the fleet"
The phantom! For the love of God,
what phantom? Are you suddenly daft,
| Thorndyke, that you see ghosts?' was the
vehment return of the youth, as with a
violent twist he tried to free himself from
my grasp.
Nay, man, no ghost" / cried, betwixt
laugh and sob, so high was my nervous ex-
element. MY ship-the schooner Phan-
tom! Have l not told you? She lies but
mile below on a straight drift. See, man,
see" said /, hurrying him to the window.
The fog will be our guard! Once away,
we are safe! IT'S death to bide here when
such mask stands ready for our use! We
are yet alive! We are not spent! VIII you
risk the outcome? Let us not stand here
| and see those scarlet devils hem us in like
ring Of fire! Better strange in the sweet
brine beneath the vessels keel than be
jerked into the next world by means OF
rope! Never shall they dance me! How
now? Shall we sink or swim together in
the venture?"
| was beside myself with excitement As
the meaning of my words, which had been
poured out in disjointed sentences, caught
the youth, he instantly took fire. We were
now all standing, and | had released him
from my hold. With a bound he gained the
side of his sister, who had stood like
statue as my plan was unfolding, and taking
her hand he said:
"Gertrude Gertrude do you follow
him? lis a grand opening; tits like call
to life! | am for it! We have no home, and
can lose no more than is already lost if we
Ieman here. Will you cast your lot with
him-with us-and risk the danger which
can be no greater beyond than in this place?
Come, Thorndyke, make it clear; show her
It's the last resort, desperate though it be"
There was no need OF argument, however,
for with one hand in that of her brother
and the other stretched toward me, she sim
ply answered: Il dare all you dare! Have
yet failed?' and stood with lifted head and
untrembling form as she spoke the words
Out Of sheer respect and admiration for
the herosm Of this girl l felt like bending
my knee even as knight bends before his
sovereign, but the practical mind of Burt
put period to any possibility Of mock
herocs, for that individual asked in the
odlmest of tones:
us your ship still where she has been? Is
she deserted, or, at least, is she moi
9uarded?"
Three days ago not gasket had been
touched since the broad arrow was painted
on her bow" | answered. by night she is
guarded by single man, but that troubles
me less than would fly on hot day. lie
las seen his last sun if he thwarts me- care
not for one man nor three if | can but guide
my approach. From aught / have seen
and | have watched her well-nothing has
been done to her, naught carried away. She
was thought fit to 60 on an errand to Pigot,
only wanting in men, arms, and provisions;
even the fresh water slowed forward may
be good!"
Arms and provisions you can have.
They are even now in the barn room" he an
swered slowly and in strong contrast TO my
excited speech. "But," he continued. as he
closed the shutters, blocked the windows,
and lighted the candle, might you not
oyershoot your vessel in the fog or run into
some of the anchored fleet when once
adrift?"
CAY, all is chancei" broke in Ames; "and
'twere better to take the chance than TO be
run to earth like tired fox, as is like to
happen in biding here What, then, would
come to you, Peter? Like enough you would
help weight a third string, and we all hang
together!"
"When does the tide ebb tonight" l
asked
Near eleven, or at about the setting of
the moon," Burt answered Then after
moment he continued: "Well, God be with
you, gentlemen! l will do my part Like
the refuge in the barn, made the boat and
hid it while yet Washington held the city
! clearly foresaw the outcome of his col
lision with Clinton, and little doubted the
ultimate use of both barn and boat Either
is at your service"
With the opening Of possible escape before
me, and one demanding immediate action
my spirits went aloft in the measure OF
their former depression. Nor did | fear
their reaction, as enough uncertainty lay
before to keep mans eyes and wits awake,
and that, too, without the aid Of liquor
Even after the decision to trust to the boat
was made, my mind misgave me. Was it
better to drag this girl into the danger OF an
attempt to fly through plan which might
be nipped in the bud and end b. our run
ning at once into the hands of the enemy, OF
he in a suffocating box with the doubtful