Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1906-12-31
HE PILLAR
OF LIGHT
~ LOUIS TRACY,
The Wings Of the Morning
49,. 1904. by Edward j, ClOde

~. ,+ ofrectually Within twenty |
m n,rrs Of the first signs of the hur-
our n' t1q channel was practicable for
c'a' .,f- A fisherman reports that !
Fna' ~, &c strewn with wreckage."
le Coa 5 unused over the entries for
B la with his night glasses he
"ui'5' ,ona into the teeth of the grow
e'Ieu IN see if he could find the
5'' q,sb of the magnificent light on
oug pisboo Rock, one of the Atlantic
,n.otars of the Sicily isles. 1t was
y @ tbirtv-fve miles distant, but it
'r W, ~ radiance over the waters from
W. 7.h+ Of 143 feet, and the Gulf Rock
I'VE stood $50 feet above high water
ut landsman would not have dis
Ii.bod even the nearer revolutions
,%a St Agnes light, especially in the
.,lon+ gloom. and wisps of spindrift
,,roodv striking the lantern and
hiring the glass.
r.-,rtbalass he caught the quick
81 .t,. reflected from clouds low, but
# -l,,ton AS vet there was a chance
bo incoming tide bringing better
thor and he bent again over the
.o,1 Of the cquinoctial gale in 1891.
M bo abandoned this hope. The
-,riro thunder of the reef as the tide
,-,raol gave the first unmistakable
-,riro of what was 20 come. AS a
ara matter of noise the reef reared
lordest at half tide. He understood
,r that a gale had swept across the
AZ ,,n+c I'm an irregular track. How
,srar the winds may rage the tides
r.-,n steadfast, and the great waves
-r rushing up from the west were
nanv harbiugers of the fierce blast
Httb had created them.
M course the threatened turmoil in
o~jse Disconnected him. 1t might be
9t the rock would remain inaccessi-
NJ during many days. In that event
Aa Girls would take the watch after
he amp was extinguished. and they
rnSt learn to endure the mOnotony and
y lseomfortS of existence in a storm
bound lighthouse. They would be nerv-
Gus muuestonably perhaps he had
trsotten how nervous-but Brand was
philosopher. and at present he was
most taken up with wonderment at the
curious blend Of circumstances which
resulted in their presence on the rock
that night
Ha uemor shook the great pillar.
He heard without the frenzied shrek
Oi the FIRST repulsed roller which flung
itself On the sleek and rounded wall.
Would the girls sleep through the next
few hours. Possibly. II awake, they
would attribute the vibration Of the
column 70 tie wind. He trusted il
mslt be 80 Shut in as they We're
'leT could not distinguish sounds. Ev,
erylIlg 70 them would be a confused
num- with an occasional SILVER as the
granite oTced its mighty heart to re
sist tie enemy.
but what new note was this in the
olteF chaos: an ordinary gale shud
Ns'eu add vhistled and chanted it
=" PAST the lantern in varying tones
u sang it pped, it beloved, ii play
81 ou giant reeds and crashed wit
''NO1N NOW-he looked at the clocE
''eT Aldnight-there was a sustaine
.IsgcA III the voice of the tempes
'D''l lie did not remember havin
'4'u DeIOre. At last the eXplanatio
"'usu Oh him. The hurricane wa
Ly'e' few feet away, shut off froI
rl l' D| mere sheets of glass. Tn
~ s''1ouSe thrust its tall shaft int
, en AIeFclIess tornado with grim stea(
r'ue'S' ana around its smooth col
,,J IS poured a volume of unearthl
n ,'I'| winch seemed to surge up frol
-, Wy OEoad base and was flung off int
conce VI F." op
sat. Wind was travelling sevent
mayhap a hundred miles q
MOI during all his service M
b.5 liner travels through distant lane
fr... ue ever witnessed a storm Of sue
e,,. NE thought he heard somethi1
all overhead. He looked aloft, br
Ia ,Veilled we'll Not until next df
5oad ne discover that the wind vane hi
sb,n,. carried away, a wrought ire
yno,,. nearly two inches thick havil
no 'pPeu Ike piece of worsted at Il
srt where the tempest had found
a ~ uled to look out into the hea
n, 'e e gale. The air was full. of f
If tb0 Iii Dut the sea was beaten fl;
u A., e'oWllng monster beneath tri
,bo s defiant crest at the lorna
vsis J4Ole mass of water, many tons
sprfo NNs Instantly torn from t
SOM : ana flung into nothingne
By tbo " neSe Adventures, forced
greata s reef' hit the lighthouse wi
cred - lorce than many a cannon b
tOrv " battles which have made b
stuctr.I lime after time the splent
If St WINGED beneath the blow.
hOv, tepnen Brand were ever fated
Oglv ~ car he was face to face with |
pnD I pnantom then. The granite {
With" V ~ not yield, but it was gu
lie an. the bounds of possibility Il
svav lure lantern might be carr
ny ny and he with If