The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1903-07-08

Did you ever hear of the time
the committee waited on him to get
contribution for some charity 2"
asked Mr.. Kent.
Sidney had not
1T was decided to raise sum of
money for some deserving charity"
continued Mr.. Kent. II have forgot
ten what it was-there are so many
OF them. At any rate, the paper went
the rounds, and they called on me
among others. l signed for sum-
and glanced over the list Morton
was down for $1,000, Rockwell had
signed for $4,000, Carmody had
pledged $3,oOo-hc is very liberal and
charitable, as he, can afford to be
Haven was down for something. and
there was a lot of others. | no.
ticed that Mrs. Simon Pence was on
the paper for $50. Well, the com
mittee called on Pence. They were
admitted and explained their mis-
sion. He sighed and looked at the
list. He read it up and down. and
suddenly came upon the name Mrs
Simon Pence. He picked up his pen
and wrote something. The commit
tee was all expectation. He handed
it back to them. What do you sup
pose they saw"
II am sure | cannot guess?"
HE had written Mr. and before
Mrs. Simon Pence That was his
contribution. There is no way to
beat him. Let's be moving"
They made their way along the
edge of the cliffs for perhaps half a
mile, but could go no further. Re-
tracing their steps, they again stood
on the rock overlooking "Morton's
Bay" and the ocean.
At the same moment both gave
an exclamation and pointed out to
sea. The upper rigging of ship
showed clear on the eastern horizon,
but she was hull down on the waste
of waters. For half an hour they
gazed at the dim outlines of masts
and sails.
"She is fully % miles away" said
Sidney, as he gazed longingly at the
disappearing vessel. I'VE must erect
signal from some point like this,
and keep man on watch during the
day. If one ship passes more are
likely to. and some may come near
enough to see and understand our
signal"
Look at those Clouds" said Mr..
Kent. There comes your storm.
What time is it?"
"Half past two. Those are remark
able looking clouds. l never saw
anything like them before. Let US
get our raft across the bay. If Vim
cent and Pence are wise they will
come back at once. We are going to
have some wind
In the southeast a murky rainbow
of clouds extended over a quarter
of the horizon. The crown of this
arch reached about so degrees above
the sea line. Its upper edges were
gray, with flecks of white. Then it
shaded into q blue, and lower into
band of darker gray. Below it
was saffron blending into murky
red at the horizon. Before Sidney
and Mr.. Kent had reached the raft
the breeze had died away. Slowly
the dun arch climbed the heavens.
1t was three o'clock when the raft
reached the place which had been
agreed upon. Sidney fired his rifle
twice as signal; and both yelled at
the top of their voices There was
no response, and they both fired, and
again shouted Sidney climbed up
the rocks. He called repeatedly,
but there was no reply.
There was Il moaning sound in the
air which seemed to come from the
sea. Everything was bathed in an
unearthly reddish-yellow light. The
trees were motionless as if cast in
bronze.
See how fast the tide is rising.o
exclaimed Mr. Kent. You can see
it rise. Look at that"
He pointed towards the inlet. 4
dark ridge rose out of the lake. On
the opposite shores was a moving
line of white.
Jump ashore. It's tidal bore.''
cried Sidney. The wave came roll
ing towards them like the smooth
pillows in the wake of steamship.
1t lost its force as the lake widened,
but 1t was strong enough to ham
lner the raft against the rocks. They
pulled the raft as high on the beach
as they could. The water rose at the
rate of a foot a minute. The roar
of the surf beyond the cliffs was
like the sullen thunder. And as vet
not Il breath of air
Across the bay they saw men on
the stone deck beckoning them to
return. 1t was half-past three
O'Clock. They had promised to have
the raft on the south shore at five.
Both agreed that they must wait for
Vincent and Pence. 1t seemed strange
they did not appear
The arch was overhead. 1t looked
like mass OF writing snakes. The
moan in the air took higher key.
The lake was shrouded in a dark
ening pail.
Sidney felt puff of hot air on
his face. The moan from the sea
became roar. Three hundred feet
above, the crown of a palm tree
bowed to the west.
This way, Mr.. Kent" shouted
Sidney IIa ora hl,n1 tho ,l,l,,, ,..,,