The new enterprise., 1905-06-01
HASKITS.
%tAkAS
BY FtANK H. SWEET.

seekS3ees ASKITS was crouchlng un.
4"H ~ der one Of the tcn-inch
Y * guns, white.faced and
Sw ~ trembling, lie cared moth.
&AlA49k*k ing about the war lie
was not a fighter, but a
grower Of things 10 cat. And any way.
if be must he in the war, he should be
on The other side among his own peo.
pie, and not on this Russian cruiser
that was sinking.
lie could hear the water rushing in
even above tho noise Of the engines
that were urging the warshlp toward
the shallow water near shore. sharp
commands were being issued, and
there were hurYlng feet, and above
all other sounds and dominating them
were the occasional thunder Of ships
guns booming across the harbnr.
What If the cruiser should sink before
reaching shallow water? What il n
shell from one Of his own vessels
should blow up and sink the cruiser
in an instant? Would his not be the
FIT ending Of a traitor, even though
he were not here voluntarily and had
done nothing more war-like than holy
stone decks and help polish the brass
fittings?
He crouched still lower, crnging alb
jectly Perhaps they were needing him
to do something about the vessel, But
he would not goat most one could but
die, and he would not help any more
Oh this
"Hoya, you skulker! Out OF thatw
came fierce voice, and he felt some.
thing sharp pierce his shoulder and the
trickling Of blood, and with a whining
shrek Of protest he scrambled out and
upon bis feet, and was presently a
link in an endless chain that was hur.
rylng ammunition from the cavcrnous
depths Of the vessel. conscious only of
his miserable existence and the fact
that he was not a fighter, but a grower
of things to eat
And then the expected happened.
A flying shell struck the cruiser, and
though she did not sink or even re-
ceivc material injury, the sudden con-
fusion and uproar implied the worst,
and Haskits climbed frantcally M
one ladder and another and up steps
and stairs until he reached the deck,
where, with n wild cry in which was
mingled terror and despair and de-
iance, he threw himself over the ves-
& In g,,t1 30
stop him, and n few bullets whistled
about his head as he sank in the
water; then the confusion Of tie mo.
mcnt caused him to be forgotten.
As boy he had lived near the coast
and been accounted an expert swim.
mer; 50 now when be struck the water
he sank and did not rise until he was
a hundred yards from the vessel The
town was a mile distant, but instead
of swimming in that direction he start
ed toward a point Of land full three
miles away. From the vessel this
point had shown to be an agricultural
section, thinly settled, and his eyes had
filed when he first saw It, There the
people were happy, for they lived on
farms and worked with the soil.
It was night when his feet touched
n muddy bottom and he waded to the
shore. But he did not make himself
known at the nearest farm house as he
had at first thought; instead, he kept to
the bitches as much as possible, and
when obliged 10 cross a piece Of land
near farm buildings, he wormed his
way along slowly and cautiously, as an
animal might, on all fours, and keep
ing to the deep shadows. Russians, of
course, would be near the coast, and
would be on the lookout for such de-
serters as he. When daylight appeared
he was fifteen miles in the interior.
He was in the midst Of a small
farm and where all kinds OF vegetables
seemed to be grown, with every one
of which he was familiar AS it grew
lighter, so he could see, he suddenly
dropped upon his knees sobbing and
kissing the green leaves. 1t was a
coming home to his own, after ten
years Of exile in servitude.
All else was forgotten, past, future,
possible danger, hunger, everything, IN
the Joy of again being with his own.
He did not even rise from his knees,
Joy -of-the-Farm found him there
when she went to begin her days
work and the girls almond eyes grew
wide at the sight. 1t was hard to get
laborers in these times. The young
Eaen were all going to war, and the
women were drifting toward the silk