Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-08-24


man named Lawton. Brand discovers that it il
sailed by Stanhope lie signals for them not 10
lard. and Stanhope retnrns to Penzancc The
d, rls spend the night at the rock.
CHAPTER N-Continued.
'But in hazy weather the oil WINS"
he said. with the proper pride Of every
man In his own engine. FISHERMEN
sailing into PenZance along q course
eQaidistant from the two points tell
me that If they can see anything at all
on foggy night they invariably catch
dull yellow radiance from the rock,
while the Lizard is invisible. The oil
has more penetrative power. Its chem
1cal combination is nearer the mean Of
natures resources
At the proper time he banished them
to the kitchen to prepare dinner,
feast diverted from the hour of noon
by the chances Of the day. He adopted
every expedient to keep them busy, to
tire them physically and mentally, to
render them so exhausted that they
would sleep in blissful calm through
the ordeal to come.
AS he could not leave the lamp, and
they refused to eat apart from him,
the dinner, In three courses, was a
breathless affair. Going up and down
five flights of stairs with soup, joint
and pudding, while one carried the
tray and the other swung a hand Ian
tern In front, required time and exer-
ton. They were cheerful as grigs
over It.
Enid, whose turn 1t was to bring up
the plates Of tapioca, pleaded guilty to
slight sensation Of nervousness.
II could not help remembering" she
said, what an awful lot Of dark iron
steps there were beneath me- I felt
as II something were creeping up
quickly behind to grab me by the
ankles"
"You should 60 up and down three
times in the dark" was Brands recipe.
"When you quilted the door level for
The third ascent you would cease to
worry about impossible grabs"
Constance looked at her watch.
"Only 8 o'clock! What a long day It
has beenr she commented.
You must go to bed early. Sleep in
my room. You will soon forget where
you are. Each Of the hunks is COM
Portable. Now I will leave you in
charge Of the lamp while 60 and lock
up"
They laughed. 1t sounded so home
like.
ANY fear Of burglars" cried Enid.
Eyes; most expert cracksmen-wind
and rain and-sleet," he added quietly. J,
" must fasten all the storm shutters,
and make everything snug. Don't stir,
until wake you in the morning"
"Poor old dadv sighed Constance.
"What a vigilv'
He was making new entries in the,
weather report when she remarked
thoughtfully:
1T is high water about half past 1.
I thinkT
He nodded, pretending to treat the
question as Of no special import.
"From all appearances there will be
. heavy sea-" she went on.
"Just an ordinary bad night" he said
coolly.
do the waves reach far up the light
house in a gale" she persisted.
Then Brand grasped the situation
firmly.
$50 that your slumbers may be
peaceful" he said, II will call your
kind attention to the fact that the
Gulf Rock light has appeared every
night during the past twenty-five
years. or since date some four years
before you were born, Constance. It
contains 1900 tons Of granite and Is
practically monOlithic, as II it were
carved out Of q quarry. Indeed, I
think its builder went one better than
nature. Here are no cracks or assures
or undetected flaws. The lowest course
is bolted to the rock with wrought
Iron clamps. Every stone is dove
tailed to its neighbors and clasped to
them with iron, above, below and at
the sides. If you understand comic Sec
lions l could make clearer the scien-
tl1c aspect Of the structure, but you
can take 1t from me you are far safer
here than or a natural rock many
times the dimensions Of this column"
THAT sounds very satisfactory"
murmured Enid, sleepily.
Il am overwhelmed" said Constance,
who grasped the essential fact that he
had not answered her question.
Soon after o'clock he kissed them
good night. They promised not to sit
up talking. AS guarantee Of good be-
haviOr, Enid said she would ring the
electric bell just before she climbed
into her bunk.
The signal came soon and he was
glad. He trusted to the fatigue. the
fresh air, the confidence Of the knowl-
edge that he was on guard, to lull
them into the security Of unconscious
ness.
The behavior of the mercury puzzled
him. In the barometer it fell, in the
thermometer 1t rose. Increasing tenn
perature combined with low pressure
was not healthy weather comblna-
ton In January. Looking back through
the records Of several years, he dis
covered similar set of conditions one
day In March, 1901. He was stationed
then on the northeast coast and failed
to remember any remarkable circum-
stance connected with the date, SO he
consulted the lighthouse diary for that
year. All! Here was a possible ex-
PLANTATION. The chief keeper, q stran.
ger to him, was something Of meteor
ologist.
He had written: "At AIS p. m. the
barometer stood at 27.18 degrees and
the thermometer at $3.50 degrees.
There was a heavy sea and a No. gale
blowing from the 8. S.-W. About 5
O'clock the wind Increased to q hurri-