Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1903-08-08

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shore. That mountain is long way
of, but I do not believe that 1t can
he more than $50 miles. 1t looks
like volcano. imagine I can see a
column of smoke above 1t. With n
favoring wind we can make the main
land in n day. This is great. We
can build boat and get away from
this island in less than two weeks at
the most"
1T certainly looks as IL you are
right" said Mr.. Kent. II wonder
how big this island is?"
They studied the shape of the
coast, but 1t give no answer to Mr..
Kent's question. From where they
stood it was apparent no exploration
of the shore from below was posi-
BILE. Even at low tide the ocean beat
at the foot of the rocks, casting its
spray far up their sides. In places,
the never-resting waves had worn
caverns into the cliffs. They deter
mined to make an attempt to reach
the northern ridge of hills by skirt
ing the brow of the cliffs, but
postponed this until after lunch
con. This they ate with good
appetite, and luckily found spring
of clear, cool water bubbling from
the crevice of rock.
"Simon Pence is queer charac-
ter" observed Sidney. tossing ban
ana skin over the cliff. 81 suppose
ne means well, but he is what some
people call little near"
did you ever hear of the time
the committee waited on him to get
contribution for some charity?"
asked Mr.. Kent.
Sidney had not.
1T was decided to raise a 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 S3,oOO-he is very liberal and
charitable, as he can afford to be
Haven was down for something, and
there was lot of others. 1 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 Interpretation. He handed
it back to them. What do you sup
pose they SAW"
II am sure l 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 25 miles away" said
Sidney, as he gazed longingly at the
disappearing vessel. 1--WE 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 ia
have some wind"
In the southeast a murky rainbow
of clouds extended over quarter
of the horizon. The crown of this
arch reached about 30 degrees above
the sea line. Its upper edges were
gray, with fecks of white. Then II
shaded into q blue, and lower into
band of darker gray. Below il
was saffron blending into q 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