The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-06-26
The Chase OF the Tide
By NORMAN DUNCAN. Author Of "The Way Of the Sea-
Copyright by Mcclure, Phillips & Coz
Copyright

sight was a gunwale load snatched
from a loppy sea, he had never heafo
of a pirate or a clown or motorman
From the beginning he was commit
ted to the toll of the sea; for he was
a Newfound.ander of the upper shore
the child of a gray solemn waste
place: a land of artificial graveyards
The lean rocks to which the cottages
of Ragged Harbor cling like barna-
cles lie, a thin. Jagged strip. between
a wilderness of scrawny shrubs and
the seas fretful expanse. It CHANGED
tnat 10 was the issue of a springtime
arrangement-such as the gulls make
which, happily, had endured to the
coming of parson of passage four
years later. He had been brought
forth like the young OF the seal ana
the white bear, and he was nurtured
into hardy childhood-into brown,
1.-the, quick strength-no more for
love than for the labor of his hands.
Obviously. then, he was committed
to the toll of the sea.
This was disclosed to him-this and
the seas enmity-while he was yet
in a pinafore of bareback sacklng,
months distant from his heritage of
old hOmeSpun clothes.
II low l cOtcheS moare fish n JOB
Luff when i grows up" he boosted 20
Sammy Arnold who had fished out
of Ragged Harbor for sixty years and
was then past his labor. Il low
salts un better. too.
Sammy chuckled.
II low" the child pursued steadily,
"I cotches moare'n you done, Uncle
sammy
Hut b'y!" the old man cried in a
rage. '"rhey be moare quintals t my
name or ManuePs books N they pc
n they be-folk in the-the World!
They were on Lookout Head, walt
ing for the \f1eet to beat in from q
thickening night; from this vantage
Uncle Sammy swept his staff over the
land. north to south, to comprehend
the whole world.
"Iss?" said 10, doubtfully. 1t was
past his understanding; so he crept
10 the edge of the cliff to watch the
black waves roll ponderously out of
the mist and shatter and froth over
the lower rocks.
1.-THE say do be hungry for lives
this even," Uncle Sammy sighed.
For me?" the boy screamed. "Iss
un?" He shrank from the abyss,
quivering.
HE do be hungry this day."
10 strobe forward, as in wrath; thef,
boldly he faced the sea, boarding it
with clinched hands and dilated nos
. trils.
Ills good for un." Uncle Sammy
laughed.
.'I'he say woan't cotch mel the
boy cried. Il woan't let un cotch
met
'lIe've not cotched me-" Sammy
said. serenely He peered seward
and for him it was as though the
mist were the dust of past years.
81 woan't let un cotch me!' the boy
cried again. He stumbled, in bllnd
fright to Uncle Sammy, and TOOK ms
hand. 81 woan't." he sobbed. Il
woan't. I woan'ti'
1t was the Mystery! skipper 10,
by" the old man whispered, you be
one.o o. they poor folk that can't 'bide
the say Little Skipper" he said.
crooking his arm about the lad :
waist never care. Iss, sure-you be
che o. they the say clothes-hke YOU
fawther-iss, sure"
Thereafter 10 knew the sea for his
enemy.
Thence, to his tenth year, when all
things were Suddenly revealed, ne
wondered concerning many things:
and chief among his perplexities wa
this: Where did the tide goP Where
did the waters bide until they ran
hack through the tickle TIC cover
agoin the Shiny harbor bottom?
Hut, b'y!" said Uncle sammy
''They be a hape o curious .IiilSs
about the say Sheer off from they
ISIS, sure. The tide DO goa III d Hodie
IN he bottom
10 had abandoned that theory
months ago; and so he puzzled, untll
enc day, when he and Ezekiel ldleu
together. the punt slipped, at IN.
turn of the tide, from under the laden
flake. where the shadows are deel
and cold. into the fading sunshine oil
the open harbor. Her shadow Wrlg-
eIed to the dull, green depths Whefs
the starfish and sea eggs lay; anu tne
wary dories darted, flashing, INTO the
security of the black waters beyond
She tugged at her painter IKE uos
of the leash-swinging fretfully
reaching, clacking with petulan'
rinnle: it was as though she painted &c
ioin the waters in the race through
The tickle to the wide, free open NOW
the sea was here restrained IRON
treacherous violence by encifcllns
rocks: so. with rocking and ripple
ana snorous glitter, 10 was lured te
concentration of the mystery ina
Law beyond the placid harbor. Tht
ses,s ripple and glitter and SLOW
mighty swell; her misty distances, ex
nanse and hidden places; the guns
winging, free and swift, in her piu'
heights; the fresh, strong wlnu piow
inp@-these are an enticement TO li'
tbouehts of men. They soothe al
fear of the seas changetui Hloous
excite strange dreams, wake soaring
fantastic longings; and to those WA
Ill and hearken comes the Impulse
and hot on the heels of the impuls'
the deep resolve, and after the deel
resolve. and after the deep resoiV'
the perilous venture. 1t was SO VIII
the boy in the shute of the punt "
ing with his head on sncker an, an
lie ewes staring vacantly through tn
tickle rocks to the glistening dis
lance. ahr,,ht,y ..
"Iss. b'y?" little Ezekiel answers
st low he heaps hisself up; an
,,wilI he like climbin' hill tt paddi
t. the top" ot;ann
sure of JOS WISDOM.
"The tide-he do. =, :, Gov.
"They be mar hill t the say
Ezekiel cried with scorn. - .s;stoi
"You be cany lad" 10 persisted
at ,Iovv he heaps hiSself UP.