Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-09-14

open. Quite a stack OF folks VIII neeu
to be pitched outside
A comforting reflection truly, yet ms
face bore no token thereof as he 1oln-
ed the lighthouse keeper and several
of the Chinook's officers and men on
the gallery.
The wind had shifted another couple
of points to the north, and the sea,
anar+ from the reef, was running in
heavy unbroken swell. That was the
tantalizing part of it. ANY ordinary
ships boat, properly managed, could
live in perfect safety in the open
But the iron toothed reef, with Its
tortuous channels and battling currents
changing with every stage OF the toe,
surrounded the pillar with an appar-
emily impossible barrier, While the
lighthouse itself offered as frownlng
front as any of the black rocks which
reared their weed covered crests at
low water.
Signals were being exchanged be-
tween the gallery and the Trinity tend
er. Brand seemed to be very emphatic
in his answers to the COMMUNICATIONS
made to him by Stanhope.
mo, no. he muttered aloud, while
the anxious man near him wondered
why he was so impatient.
"It is utterly impossible" he said
again. mo boat can do it. Some one
should stop him. 1t means certain loss
of life''
At last, becoming aware that his
companions could not understand what
was going on, he turned to them with
passionate explanation.
'aThat brave fellow Stanhope says
that, with two others at the oars, he
intends to row near enough to the rock
at half food to endeavor to spring on
to the ladder. 1 cannot persuade him
that no man has ever yet succeeded in
such a mad project. Look below and
see how each wave climbs around
eighteen or twenty feet Of the base.
The thing is wildly impracticable. He
will be swept off and smashed to pieces
before our eyes even if the boat es-
capes."
eff the boat can come near enough
for that purpose, couldn't we heave a
line aboard her?'' asked one of the
ships officers.
"We can try. I shall signal them to
that effect. Anything is better than te
sanction an attempt which is foredoom
ed to failure and must result in the
death Of the man who tries it."
Thereupon more energetic flag wav
ing took place. Finally Brand desiste6
in sheer evaporation.
81 cannot convince him." he cried
. 'sHe has made up his mind. May thu
Lord preserve him from peril which
consider to be mortal onen'
HAS he put forward any theory? 2
asked Pyne. "He was doing lot O
, talking"
/ EYES," explained Brand. Gle be
lfeves that strong boat rowed to tn
1 verge of the broken water might watcl
her opportunity and dart in close to tn
3 ladder on the back wash Of big wave
= allowing it's successor to lift her hig
: enough for an active man to jump o.
3 to the rungs. The rowers must pull TO
: their lives the instant the wave break
and leave him clinging to the ladder a
best he can. There is more chance
| success in that way, he thinks, than i
9 trying to make fast line thrown b
4 /
e all a question Of time, he argues, and
have failed to convince him that nc
, only he but his companions will
, lost"
-. 'Is there no chance?" inquired II
h second officer.
g.. "Look below" repeated Brand hop
lessly, and indeed, when they obey
~ him, craning their necks over the r
70 to examine the seething caldron fro
which the granite tower tapered up
+ them, no man could say that the Igt
10 house keeper deplored Stanhope's
cision without good reason.
IL They understood matters little bt
ID ter, perhaps, when, one by one, they
,t entered the lantern, the Falcon havil
70 fitted away to make her final prepar
Isl tions. Brand asked them not to ma
Nd known the nature of the pending undt
taking.
If. eff thought it would do any good
rs the suffering people I would Gl2a
see them enlivened by the news"
" said. 81 confess, however, I expe
es nothing but disastrous failure
gentlemen Lieutenant Stanhope
d practically engaged to be married
be one of my daughters"
What was to be said? They quit
lie him in the silence that was the do
inant note of their lives just the
ut Pyne >.5ne remained. He wonder
vhy one man should be called on
he endure so much.
nd Though each of those present on
s." gallery was loyal to Brands sorrow1
nd request, it was impossible to preve
others from seeing that something
er exceptional interest was in progre
'ul afloat and on the rock.
re, Brand did not know that the oficl
of the Trinity house had only agre
Or to help Stanhope's hazardous proj'
he under compulsion. The sailor infor