Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1903-03-06
cHAfTER XXX.

4
his teeth and(a rhyming dictionary IN MS
hands surrer.ldering its reluctant treasures.
On the mahogany desk in front of Inn
was n sheet of much corrected manuscript
with capital letter at the commencement
of every line. And beyond, in jam pot,
was n Bunch of waxen leaved magholld
Ao,vers, with two coral pink magnolia
comes /set around with frill of sheeny
leaves.
CAPTAIN Owen Kettle was composing q
SON net on the magnolia, and logged work
was trying to finish what a one line in
sn;ration had begun. The two gaunt
mosquitoes who had slipped into the room
when the wire gauze door was shut grew
Iyisibly fatter without danger to life or
wing. In his fine creative frenzy Captain
Kettle never felt their touch.
Hello, Kettle, got back at last, you
see, and devil of time I've had OF 1t"
ethan popish saint more holier,"
wrote The little man, reading the words as
they sprawled across the paper. And
now want to get in something about the
smell. Angel breathed' is the thing, only
it don't seem to lay up handily with the
rest Angels are certain to have good
breath, and these flowers smell as fine as
anything I've tried. just take sniff at
them yourself. Well, Mr.. Cambel, here
you are again, and I haven't said Pm glad
to see you. But 1 am. It's as good as
meat to put eyes on you and hear what
to be doing next tell you it's been pref
ty dull work with the donkeyman of all
day bird shooting, and me as ships hus-
band sitting here on my own tail. fancy
you'd be bit astopishod at walking on
board same as you would into house
without having to hail boati''
"a little, not much. was prepared for
ANYTHING after what saw between Point
Sebastian and here"
II fancy they'll have to bring out new
geography books about this part of Flor
ida. never saw such place. Why, sir,
the blessed ground fairly got up and
walked during that blow. l don't think
the steamer shifted much. Canted bit
to leeward maybe, but didn't bulge out
of her keel groove, but 1t was the shores
that fetched weigh. Whey once they broke
moorings, the trees set beck their shout
ders and sheeted home, ana great islands
bore down ON us like ships. The light
ming burned flares all the tin e, and /
watched it through the chartrocm ports
because none could stand on deck GU side.
Tn not frightened man, Mr.. Gambler, or
superstitious, but l thought that night
was too hard for q cyclone. l tell you,
sir, and you may laugh If you like, 1
reckoned it up that judgment day had
come, and got the prayer book and read
myself the burial service clean through,
sea bits and all, so as to fetch whatever
happened, land or water. l haven't led
bad life, Mr.. Cambel. Pretty religious
ashore, and never sparing myself trouble
in haziisg crew SO as to carry out owners
business at sea, and when I'd said that
burial service felt I'd done oil that could
be expected.
''I'd heard chap prophesying about the
end of the world in Waterloo street, Liver
pool, not year ago, and bought pom
phlet of him, and 1t showed the thing out
according to Revelation and Daniel all
as clear as big book could have done. 1t
was to finish in 1908, and there was pic
ture of the earthquake and another pic
ture of people going up to the sky in their
ordinary clothes. And when looked out
through the glass at that tearing, raging
DEVILS work that was going on outside,
and the river and the lakes disappearing
before my eyes, and dry land taking their
place, felt sure that the chap was right
in the main, only he'd got bit foul In
his dates.
'There was only one thing" the little
man added plaintively--"1 wished I'd a
new washed jacket aboard. The one I'd
on was that smeared and crumpled
should have felt ashamed to appear in it. >,
well, Pm glad you weren't hurt,
said Cambei 1T was terrible night for
any one in this area
Il came through 1t, Mr.. Cambel, with
out SO much as a finger nail broken. So
did the donkeyman. He came up here and
asked If / wanted him when the blow be-
gan, and when l told him No he went
to his own room and turned in and silent
till 1t was over. Now. the niggers didn't.
When the steamer began to ilst, they got
scared Thought she'd turn Lilge upper
most, suppose, and bolted down to their
fishbox of schooner which lay alongside.
OF course when the shores slipped their
moorings and bore down on her the
schooner had to give, and the niggers are
buried somewhere yonder to starboard,
but where don't know. I've looked but
there isn't so much as spar, there isn't
SO much as a Whit of circus to put label
on the spot. I've had mighty little to do
latterly, sand might have stuck up some
sort of signboard to 'em, niRgers though
they were, if l could have fixed the place
to an acre, but when a grave head gets
bigger than that you may be writing
'here lieth' in more senses than one. So
left them quiet.
''Of course with the steamer high and
dry up country, and the river two miles
away through thick woods, it WASH t much
good, our messing with paint pots and
changing name plates. We'd built new
forehatch and shipped it, and creased up
the engines, and as that seemed to me all
that was necessary I've given my shipmatc
holiday ever since. There's the making
of sportsman in our donkeyman, Mr..
Cambe There isn't thing that crawls
or flies or swims in this section of Florida
that blessed Irshman hasn't blown off my
old gas Pipe at or tried to catch with
worm on a cod hook. He wasn't keen at
first; said he'd been brought up in
works, but when told him every thing he
took was poached, by James, sir, you
might think he was the Prince of Wales,
the way he sticks at it.
Blood will out, said Cambel, with
laugh and he marveled at the extraordi-
nary toughness of the donkey man. At all
times there is much sulphur in the water
of these Floridian swamps, but since the
cyclone the sulphurous emanation had
been stirred and set free, and the presence
of them was almost uncomfortable. The
waters were black to look upon, yellow to
look through, and in the air was a never
falling, never varying hint at the odor of
ancient eggs. 1t even stole into the chart
room and mingled with the scent of the
magnolia blossoms.
1T isn't violets," the captain assented