Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-10-23

test. Half an hour later old Barnacles,
from about the middle of his barrel
down to his shoes, was painted beau
tiful sea green. Like some resplendent
marine monster shone the lower half
of him. 1t may have been u triae BIZ
zarrc but with the sun OH the fresh
paint the effect was Enthusiastically
striking. Be.idGs. his color HOW match
ed that of the dory with startling ex'
acincsS.
That's what I call real sh!pshape."
declared Car;.in Bean, viewing the re-
SUIT. Got aGy more notions. Lank?
Strikes me we ought to ship mast
sos we could ris spritsail in case the
ol horse Should give out, cap'n."
Wen do it, Lank; fust rate idee"
so Il mast and apri,sail were rigged
in tie dory. .Llso the lines were length
c-rL with rope. that the captain might
stcc.' from the stern sheets.
les ia fine land goin' craft as
eve" see anywhere" said the captain,
which was certainly no extravagant
statement.
How Captain Bean and his mate
steercd the equipage from Sculpln
Point to the village. how they were
checrcd and hooted along the route.
how they ran into the yard OF the Met
ropOlitnn livery stable as port OF ref
ugc, how the captain escaped TO the
home Of Widow Buckett. how the
"splicin'" was accomplished - these
are details which must be sighted.
The climax came when the newly
made Mrs. Bastabol Buckett Bean. ber
plump hand resting affsctionately on
the sleeve OF the captains best blue
broadcloth coat, said cooingly. Now.
cap'n. I'm ready 90 drive 20 sculpin
Point"
"All right. Stashla. Lank's vaitin'
for us at the front door with the craft '
At first sight Of the boat on wheels
Mrs. Bean could DO no more than at.
tempt. by means Of iniistinct ejaculH-
ton. 20 express her obvious emviipii.
sic nNItN4 Wv tAAAAAaA NARRH
layers. sarcpta Tucker among uhem-
She saw tie white and green dory
with its mast. and with fank. villain
ou.ly smiling. at the top Of steplad
der which had been leaned against the
boat: she saw the green wheels and
the ver,lant gorgeousness of Barlacles
lower half. For a moment she gayed ~
the fantastic equipags aud sPOke not
Then she slammed the front dOor with
ar Indignant bang marched back into
the sitting room and threw herself on
the haircloih sofa with an abandon
that carried away bali n dozen spring'
For the first hour she reiterated. bc
tween vast sob'. that Captain Bean
was soullcss wretch. that she would
never set foot on Sculpin Point and
that she would die there ON the sofa
rather than ride In such an outlandish
rig.
Many time had Captain Bean
wcathcred Il.tteras in southeastern
but never had lie met such n storm OF
feminine fury as this. However. he
stood by lik. II man. putting III so1'h'
Ing words OF explanation ana en!ear
mcnt Whenever Il lull gave opportr
nifty.
Toward evening tile storm spent IL
se,f The disturbed S;hshia became
somewhat calm. Eventually she laugh
ed historically ut the captain's arsu'
mcut:. and in the end she compromised.
Not by day would she enter the dory
wagon. but late in the evening she
would swallow her pride and 50, just
to please the captain.
Thus II was that soon after 10 O'Clock,
when the village folks had laughed
their fill and gone away, the new Mrs.
Bean climbed the stepladder. bestowed
herself unhandily on the midship
thwart and, with Lank on lookout IN
the bow and Captain Bean handling
the reins from the stern sheets, the
honeymoon chariot got under way.
BY the time they reached the Shell
road the gait Of the detected Barnacles
had dwindled to a deliberate walk
which all of Lank's urgings could not
hasten. 1t was a soft July night. with
a brisk offshore breeze. and the moon
had come IN out nf tho aea tn silver fhe
highway and lay strip of milk white
carpet over the waves.
"Ahoy there, Lank!" shouted the
bridegroom. "Can't we do better'n
this? Amt hardly got steerage way
on her."
Cant bulge him, cap'n. Hadn't we
better shake out the spirit sail? Winds
tair abeam."
"Yes, shake 1t out, Lank."
Mrs. Beams feeble protest was un'
needed. As the night wind caught the
sail and rounded 1t out the Tapping
caused old Barnacles to cast an In
yestigatlng glance behind him. One
| look at the terrible white thing which
loomed menacingly above him was
enough. He decided to bolt. Bolt he
did to the best Of his ability. all OBJ
stacles being considered. A down
Grade In the Shell road where 1t dipped
toward the shore helped things along
Barnacles frightened the traces, the
spritsail lid its share. and In an amaz.
ingly short time the odd vehicle was
spinning toward Sculpin Point at
ten knot gait. Desperately Mrs. Bean
gripped the gunwala and Justify she
screamed:
"Whoa, whoa! Stop him, cap'n; stoI
him! He'll smash us all to pieces"
"Set right still, Stashia, an trim snip
I've got the helm" responded the cap
tain. who had set his jaws and wa'
tugging ut the rope lines.
Breakers ahead, sirw shouted LAM
at this juncture.
Sure enough, not fifty yards aheat
the Shell road turned sharply ava!
from the edge Of the beach to make
detour by which Sculpin Point wa
cut of.
~ see 'em, Lank."
think we can come about, cap'nT
asked Lank anxlously.
"Aln't soin' to try, Lank. I'm layin