Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1906-08-27

tie boat stationary, waiting for ,,o
second to break. and then hale r,s,n,
PIT all bis weight and strength on the |
oars. The struggle had begun
They used to say on board tho Han
nah NJ. that the skipper never got RAT
tel. The same cool head and steadv
nerve that Josiah had admiral xrha,
the catbOat threaded the breakars o.
the entrance of the bay now served
the same purpose in this more tangled
and infinitely more wicked maze Tho
dory climbed and ducked, rolled and
slid. but gained inch by inch. foot bv
foot The advancing waves strucl,
savage blows at the bow, the wind did
its best to swing her broadside On br+
there were $50 pounds of clear grit
and muscle Juggling at the oars. and
though the muscles were not assvotlng
as they had been, there were vears of
experience to make every pound count.
At last the prel Urinary round was over.
The bo8tssprang clear of the breakers
andrept out farther and farther. with
six inches of water stopping in her bet
tom. but afoat and seaworthy.
Ii was not until she was far into
deep water that the captain turned her
bow down the shore. When this was
done it was on the instant, and, al
though a little-more water came in
board. there was not enough to be
dangerous.
The dory jumped from crest to crest
like a hurdler. The sleet now beat
directly into the captains face and
froze ON his eyebrows and lashes, but
he dared not draw in an oar to free a
hand. The wind caught up the spin
drift and poured it over him in icy
baths. but he was too warm from the
furious exercise to mind.
In the lulls he turned his head and
| gazed over the sea, looking for the
boat Once he saw it, before the storm
shut down again, and he groaned aloud
to count but two black spots ON its
white surface. He pulled harder than
ever and grunted with every stroke,
while the perspiration poured down
his forehead and froze when 1t reached
the ice dams over his eyes.
At last 1t was in plain sight, and the
two dots, now clearly mr.. n beings,
were still there. He poll 81 the bow
straight at it and rowed on. When he
looked again there was but one, fig
ure sprawled along the keel, clinging
to the centerboard.
The flying dory bore down upon the
lifeboat and the captain risked what
little breath he had in hail. The
clinging figure raised its head and
Captain Fri felt an almost selfish sense
of relief to see that it was Luther
: Davis. If it had to be but one, he
would rather it was that one.
The bottom of the lifeboat rose like
dome from the sea that beat and
roared over and around It The cen
terboard had floated up and projected
at the top, and it was about this that
Captain Fri shot the dory alongside
pulled in one oar and the two boats
fitted closely together. Then Err reach
ed out and Selling his friend by the
belt round his waist pulled him from
his hold. Davis fell into the bottom OF
the dory, only half conscious and en-
tirely helpless.
1t was out of the question to attempt
to get back to the cove. The landing
must be made on the open beach, and
although Captain Fri had more thar
once brought a dory safely through {;
) high surf, he had never attempted /
/ when his boat had nearly foot Of wa
ter in her and carried a helpless pas
senger.
-. Little by little, still running befor
the wind, the captain edged in towar
{ the shore. Luther Davis moved ono
\ or twice, but said nothing. His OF
skins were frozen stiff, and his bear
: was a lump Of ice. Captain Fri bega
: to fear that he might die from col
and exhaustion before the attempt 6
;. landing was made. The captain n
q solved to wait no longer, but to tax
I the risk of running directly for tn
beach.
n He was near enough now to see til
A leaping spray of the breakers, and the
O below sounded louder than the howl {
% the wind or the noises of the sea abol
him. He bent forward and shoute
4. in the ear of the PROSTATE life saver.
:" Luther he yelled. "Lute!''
ID Captain Davis head rolled back, b
eyes opened and in a dazed way
m looked at the figure swinging BAG
and forth with the oars.
Ie Lutte" shouted Captain Fri, "liste
40 to me! I'm goin' to try to land. Dye
=. hear me?'
NJ Davis thoughts seemed to be gathe
ing slowly. He was ordinarily a ma
p, of strong physique, courageous and
fighter every inch of him, but
ba strength had been beaten out by Il
be waves and chilled by the cold, and Il
IN sight of the men with whom he b.
ba lived and worked for years drownil
20 one by one had broken his nerve. Z
ON looked at his friend and then at II
"a waves
m What's the use" he said feebl