Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-05-12

he looked at the foaming combers
ahead with eyes lifted in terror.
There was a strong. breeze between
the cliffs, and to Sidney's delight the
boat was under good Roadway. The
men pulled vigorously at the sweeps.
/ The bow of "The Jumping Jupiter'
sank in way that was sickening to
Simon Pence. The next moment a
green wall of water fell with crash.
Socks" gave a shrek which was
smothered as the water rolled over
him. The raft groaned from end to
end. There was sound of breaking
| glass.
"Row! Row hard!" shouted Sid
ney. For an instant the boat wal
lowed backwards. Then a strong
gust of wind filled the sails and
everyone bent to the oars. The next
wave did not break.
"Once again." shouted Sidney.
There was a big wave coming. 1t
lowered overhead, but broke before
it reached the boat. There was Il
smother of foam aud roar like that
of Niagara, but .The Jumping
Jupiter" was not to be stopped. In a
few seconds they We're past the dan
ger line and out in deep water, where
the swells rolled in regular lines
broken only by ripples caused by
the breeze. The oars We're taken in
and fastened to their places.
y cheer went up when they saw
that immediate danger was past.
Vincent went to the rescue of
Socks" who was dripping with wa
ter and chattering with fright, but
entirely subdued.
you are mascot. all right,
Socks old boy!" said Vincent, as he
| loosened the chain so that the
monkey would not choke to death.
This beats climbing trees, doesn't
| it?"
Mr.. Carmody and the others made
an examination of the hull of the
boat. The strain had caused slight
leak in the third compartment, but
/ they had no difficulty in stopping it.
The kitchen was somewhat disar-
| ranged and a number of dishes
broken, but the damage was not seri-
GUS THE Jumping Jupiter" had
successfully withstocd its baptism
and thus far had justified the hopes
of the builders.
For half an hour Sidney held his
| course straight out to sea Then he
headed to the north. The big lateen
sails were pulling splendidly, and
though the craft responded slowly
to the tiller, there was no trouble
in holding her to the course. They
now had clear view of the coast.
| Where is the gateway" asked
Mr.. Carmody, who had been looking
intently along the shore for some
| time. II cannot see it,
Il can see it," replied Sidney, ''but
l would never suspect it was an in
let unless l knew it to be a fact.
From any point at sea the rocks look
solid and contineous. The gateway
is Just south of our Flagstaff. Do
| you see it now?"
1t was as Sidney said. The coast
was 50 formed that no inlet showed.
1 Half q mile from shore there was
nothing to distinguish the entrance
to the bay from a score of ragged
indentations in the black cliffs. AS
they proceeded they came to the
ridge of rocks which formed the
north horn of the crescent. This
they imagined to mark the north
boundary of the island, but as they
neared it they found it was but the
south end of bay which seemed to
be IL or Is miles across.
"This is a pretty goodsized island,
Hammond" remarked Mr.. Kent. as
this new panorama spread out be-
fore their view.
There was puzzled expression on
1 Sidney's face. AS Mr. Kent spoke,
the massive outlines of the snow
white peak, which had been seen
from the island, slowly came into
view above the hills along the coast.
The land now opposite them was low
and fairly fat. The big rock on their
| port side was seen to be the end of
a spur of small mountains which
| came down to the ocean
81 do not understand it, said Sid
ney There is no such island as this
on any of our maps? Where can we
be? This island is at least 40 miles
long and perhaps longer. That must
| be the northern end of it,
Sidney pointed to the cape per-
haps Is miles away. 1t was now two
o'clock in the afternoon, and Mr..
Rockwell and Vincent announced that
dinner was ready. They stretched
an awning over the afterdeck and set
a table beneath it. Sidney dashed the
tiller in position and all proceeded to
enjoy the repast. A haze was steal
ing over the ocean and the wind dy-
ing out. For time "The Jumping
Jupiter" had been making four or
| five miles an hour, but the breeze, as
it came heavy with perfume from the
shore died down until it was barely
strong enough to straighten out the
striped sails.
well Capt. Hammond, what do
you think of it?" asked Mr.. Morton
as he lit cigar and leaned back in
his chair.
|