Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1903-02-20
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CYCLONE.

IHE I1JLONE'
A shining faced negro waiter came UP
in answer to the bell and brought tum-
blers of tinkling ice and water Bo'h
Cambel and Miss Kildare drank thirstliy
and then lay back in their cane chalfS,
painting. The close heat was something
terrible. There was not breath or elthef
sea breeze or land breeze and the electrc
fan which whirred on the table behind
them did little more than send a blast OF
sjckIy warmth Down the long line oil
the piazza were the rest OF the people In
the hotel, the mon cursing and mopplnS
their faces, the women with closed eyes
tanning themselves languldly. Ana oN'f-
head the shingles of the roof cracked ana
rustled in the baking air as though they
were alive.
Night came, and the bell clashed out Its
summons to dinner, but no one went IN.
The wooden sides of the hotel, baked
through and through by month OF trop-
lcal sun, had made the rooms unenaura'
BILE. So they staid where / - were In tile
hot, oppressive dark and blinked at the
white summer lightning which splashed
the violet heavens in front of them. In
heavy, Eanting beats the night seemed to
close down upon them and pen them in,
SO that it was labor to breathe.
II can't stand this, p" said Miss Kildare
at last.
You've got to-" replied Cambel wear
lily, "unless you choose to go down the
beach and sit in the water with your
clothes on"
THAT would be some relief, although
the water is as hot as tea. But l shant
do that l shall walk out along the pier
over the sea. One may faint half way ana
tumble over and get drowned, but anyway
that's better than staying here and being
cooked slowly"
They got up together and strolled wear
ily over the loose white sand and then
more crisply over the worn decking OF the
pier Between the lightning flashes the
darkness above them was the darkness Of
a cave, but faint phosphorescent fringes
showed out among the piles beneath, and
these guided them from walking over the
edge of the planks.
You shouldn't stay down there this
weather, Cambel said as they paced down
the narrow platform with fingers Inter
twined. You'll lose your color and your
beauty if you do and get thin and sallow
like Mrs. Van LEV.
No reply came, and Cambel said nothing
more, but walked on, thinking.
you've been here now nine whole
DAYS, Pat" the girl said, breaking silence
for the second time, when they were hall a
mile from the shore.
| 1T can't be. Yes, you're right. Nine
| days! Time has gone quickly"
And you We never been out OF the place
once. At least not dozen miles from
| Point Sebastian.
~ mil
away Cambel saw the point. mo, F" he
said. II haven't found time. You and
have had SO much to tell one another.
"We always have been very good
friends" said the girl and was going to
add something else when her words were
drowned by furious crash of thunder.
"That's close overhead" Cambel re-
marked, land something else will follow.
If it's rain, we shall have deluge falling
In ropes, but fancy we're In for some
thing different. We had better turn back,
Elsie.''
"In view of this heat, wetting would
be distinct luxury, but I think, as you
say, there is something else coming be-
sides. Oh, Pat, here it is. Run, or we
shall be caughtr'
The storm gave but one weird moan, a
rustic and shrek from over the tree tops
and then was upon them. In a minute 1t
was blowing with hurricane force which
no human being could stand against
The wind plucked the feet from under
them, and they fell to the decking of the
pier, gripping with their fingers in the
gaps between the planks. A storm Of sand
and leaves and twigs beat against their
heads. The crazy trestlework Of the pier
buckled and swung beneath their bodies
I'VE must get shoreward," Cambel
yelled in his companions ear. This jam
crack thing will go by the board directly.
"Right-o!' came back the response
cheerily enough, and together they began
to warp themselves toward the beach and
the wind, plank at time. The girl was
strong and accustomed to using her mus
Giles, but skirts are a poor rig toplay cater
pillar in, and her progress was slow even
with Cambel's help. When they bad
gained a score of yards, she bade him leave
her to make the best of his own way. Il
shall get along all right" she cried. Go
and tell them I'm coming"
Naturally should" he shouted back,
with laugh. Here, let me link my arm
inside yours. That's right. Now well
ferry along at twice the pace"
But they did not get much farther. A
minute afterward, to the kick of q hard
squall, the gray old pier tottered and olaf