The Virginia enterprise., 1906-10-26

/ ! q, yg .
passed ID consciousne and ] spent
that terrible time Of darkness IN more
or less prayeyful meditation: j VI: IS. 5s5s :
After ages, the dawn arrived. l. lit
another ciga-.g and wriggled YEARLY to-
the bow of the boat and scanned the
| waters. t<*"=%|::' = X ~. - ~
| There was a vessel!s Far, far away,
to be sure, but steaming so that we
must cross her path in another Is min
| utes. :,
I tore off my overcoat and scram-.
bled to the little deck, wound one arm
about post, and waved the coat
frantically.
Nearer and nearer we came to the
steamer. More and more feared that
the signal might be unnoticed, or no.
t1ced too late. But it wasn't.
1 have known some happy sights in
my time, but I never saw anything
that filled me with one-half the 10Y
l felt on realizing that the steamer
people were lowering one: of their
boats. s.
They were doing it, there was no
doubt about the matter. In five min
utes we should be near enough to thsir
cutter to swim for it,,
| I dived to the stern to awaken
Hawkins. He was already awake. He
stood there, tousled and happy, sniff
ing the crisp air, and he had seen the
approaching boat.
Got it ready?" he inquired, placid
ly.
''Got what ready?"
Why, the message" exclaimed Haw-
kins, opening his eyes in astonish-
ment. We'll have to hustle with it.,
/ reckon"
Hawkins, what new idiocy is this?'
I gasped.
Surely we're going to give that
steamer a few lines to tell the world
about our trip"
Seconds passed before. the full, ter
sible significance of his words Uttered
into my brain.
DO you mean to say" I roared.
that you are not going to swim for
that boat?"
Certainly l do mean to say IT," he
replied, stif1y.: ''Let me have your
fountain pen, Griggs.''
l took one, glance at the boat
took another at Hawkins. Then l
gripped him about the waist and threw
my whole soul into the task of pitcn-
ing him overheard.
Hawkins, as have said, is heavier
than l.. He puffed and strained and
pulled and hauled at me, swearing like
a trooper the while. And neither of us
budged an inch.
Inc cutter came nearer, nearer al
ways nearer. Thirty seconds more and
we should shoot by it forever. The
thought of losing this chance of rescue
almost maddened me.
had just gathered all my strength
for one last heave, when the middle of
my back experienced the most excru-
ciating pain it has ever known. Some
thing seemed to lift me clear Of the
launch, with Hawkins in my arms; I
heard a dull report from somewhere,
and then we dropped together, right
through the surface of the sparkling
Atlantic ocean! .rr
Hawkins was picked up first. When
l came to the surface two dark skinned
sailormen were dragging him in, strug-
Cling and cursing and pointing Wild
ly toward the horizon, where his
launch was careening away with the
speed of the wind
! 1t was the French liner La France
which had the honor of our rescue
She deposited us in New York on
Wednesday morning.
Over the rest of this tale. hover
some painful memories. 1 am not a
fighting man, but I am free to say
that when my wife and Mrs. Hawkins
delivered to me their joint opinion on
broken promises, their sex alone
saved them from personal damage.
1t was upon me that the blame ap.
peared to rest entirely. At least, Haw-
kins didn't come in for any of it at
the time.
Just at the moment of that emotionai
interview Hawkins was busy in his
workshop-perfecting something.
It seems that the motor, after all,
was our salvation. Hawkins says that
some of the power must have dribbled
out of the machine proper and blown
the steel dome from its foundations
Assuredly there was plenty %of en-
ergy behind the thing when it, struck
me; have darting pains in that por-
tion OF my anatomy every damp day.
The launch has never been reported,
which is probably quite as welt:h
Perhaps it has reached the open
polar sea, and sisa@butting itself into
flinders against the ice-cakesl Per-
haps it is terror1zing some cannibal
tribe, in the southern oceans by in
flicting dents on the shoreline of their
island
Wherever the poor little boat may
/ be, it contains II of my best cigars,
I the better part Of a substantial meal,
and, what is in my eyes of less impor-
tance, the sole existing example OF
what Hawkins still considers an ideal