Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-02-06
ter in her and carried helpless pas.

| ter In her and carried a helpless pas.
senger.
Little by little, still running before
the wind, the captain edged In toward
the shore. Luther Davis moved once
or twice, but said nothing. His Oil
skins were frozen stiff. and his beard
was lump Of Ice. Captain Eri began
to fear that he might die from cold
and exhaustion before the attempt at
landing was made. The captain re-
solved to wait no longer, but to take
the risk of running directly for the
beach.
He was near enough now to see the
leaping spray Of the breakers, and their
below sounded louder than the howl Of
the wind or the noises of the sea about
him. He bent forward and shouted
In the ear Of the prostrate life saver.
"Lutherv he yelled. "Lute!"S
Captain Davis head rolled back, his
eyes opened and in dazed way he
looked at the figure swinging back
and forth with the oars.
"Lute," shouted Captain Err, listen
to me! I'm goin' to try to land. D'you
hear me?'
Davis thoughts seemed to be gather
ing slowly. He was ordinarily man
Of strong physique. courageous and
fighter every inch Of him, but bis
strength had been beaten out by the
waves and chilled by the cold, ana the
sight of the men with whom he Lad
lived and worked for years drowning
one by one had broken his nerve. He
looked ut his friend and then at the
waves.
whats the useT he said feebly.
They're all gone. I might as well 90
too"
Captain Eri's eyes snapped. Lutte
Davis" he exclaimed. II never thought
I'd see you playln' cry baby. Brace
up! What are you, anyway"
The half frozen man made a plucky
effort.
"All right, Eri," he said. I'm with
you, but amt much good"
"Can you stand up?'
81 don't know. I'll try"
Little by little he raised himself to
his knees.
"'Bout as fur's 1 can 60, Err" he
said between his teeth. "You look out
for yourself. I'll do my durndest."
The dory was caught by the first Of
the great waves and on Its crest went
flying toward the beach. Captain Eri
steered with the oars as well as he
could. The wave broke and the half
filed boat paused. was caught up by
the succeeding breaker and thrown
forward again. The captain. still try
ing to steer with one oar, let 90 Of the
other and seizlng his companion by
the belt pulled him to his feet.
"Now. them" he shouted, stand by"
The boat poised on the curling wave,
went down like hammer, struck the
sand and was buried in water. Just
as it struck Captain Fri jumped as far
shoreward rs he could. Davis sprang
with him, but 1t was really the cap
tain's strength that carried them clear
of the rail.
They kept their feet for an instant,
but In that instant Captain Fri dragged
his friend yard or so up the shelv-
Ing beach. Then they were knocked
fat by the next wave. The captain
dug his toes into the sand and braced
himself as the undertow sucked back.
Once more he rose and they staggered
on again, only to go down when the
next rush Of water came. Three times
this performance was repeated, and as
they rose for the fourth time the cap
tain roared, "Noww
AE,sther plunge, splashlng run and
they were on the hard sand Of the
beach. Then they both tumDled on
their faces and breathed in great gasps.
But the captain realized that this
would not do. for In their soaked con-
dition freezing to death was matter
of but q short time. He seized Davis
by the shoulder and shook him again
and again.
"Come on, Lu:e! Come on" he in
sisted. "Git up! You've got to git up!
And after awhile the life saver did |
get up, although he could scarcely
stand. Then, with the captains arm
around his waist, they started slowly
up the beach toward the station.
They had gone but little way when
they were met by Ralph Hazeltine and
Captain Perez.
Mrs. Snow had been, for her, rather
nervous all that forenoon. She per-
formed her household duties as thor
oughly as usual, but Elsie. to whom
the storm had brought holiday, no
ticed that she looked out Of the WIN
dow and ut the clock frequently.
Dinner was on the table at II