The Cairo bulletin., 1906-07-12
They Wanted to Be Heroes

, he fails to make good in this particu
lar he is"
Hes a dead one" said Conover. Is
agree with YOU
The big difficulty Is" continue,
Whighams, that opportunities 4
show that a fellow Is made of the rea
stuff never turn up in the humdrun
life We lead, There is nothing start
ting in being designer of apartment
buildings or a dealer in desirable rea
estate. What the women like Is some
thing SNOWY, something spectacular
And | hold that the SNOWY kind OF
heroism is the poorest brand on the
| market"
! "A man needs to be a policeman OF
coast guard really to fascInate a
woman" said Conover. There's nc
| chance for us.
Mrs. Whighams caught Mrs. Con-
overs eye. They they laughed aloud
Don't you worry" said Conoyers
wife. You'll both get your chances.
And they did get them that very
night
At 12:15 a. m. Conover was awak-
aned from deep sleep by the wife
Of his bosom, who was saying: John,
what Is that awful noise? Is it fire
whistler. O-o-ol And do you hear
that dog bowling? john. She
squeezed his arm. 1T makes me
afraid"
Conover listened foot, loot, foot
toot!" long drawn ont and mournful.
ut isn't a fire. said Conoyer. Its
4 boat. She must be in distress and
pretty close in shore"
In five minutes they were dressed
and creeping down the stairs AS they
passed the Whighams' door a voice ar
rested them. whats up?" Whighams
asked, In two minutes more this
Whighams had joined the relief party
The four of them hurried up Sheri
Ian road to the north. Sure enough,
as they looked out into the darkness
that covered the lake, they saw the
tights of the boat-three lights. She
was close in shore and crying dis
mally
A policeman they passed asked ioyi
ally if they were going to rescue tbs
ship.
in other and happier times there
might have been a chance for us to
show our mettle," said Conover.
What a pity that we cannot man the
iifeboat and earn a few Carnegie med
ais, The boat will be pulled off in
half an hour by the tugs. There's no
opportunity for us"
But there was It came on a wheel
barrow. The thing on the wheelbar
row was a canoe, metal canoe about
as big and as seaworthy as tin bath
tub. A man WAS pushing the wheel
barrow through the sand. Whighams
and Conover helped him. They ought
to have kept their hands off ana bur
ried away with their wives and theil
regulations, but they didn't.
II was the craziest little canoe any /
one ever saw. The benedicts heipe1 |
the man drag it to the waters edge
and then--oh, complete fatu0usness! !
they helped him launch it,
Suddenly it became evident that the !
man with the tin bathtub intended tc
rescue the stranded steamship. Also /
the man was human and he did not /
thirst to go alone. Perhaps he real
zed that If there was glory to be won
Il would not be necessary for him "a
'orner the market.
"Say" said the man in the canoe
Is he picked mp his oars, don't one OF
'ou fellows want to come along!
There's room"
Neither Conover nor WhiEhams
poke The man in the canoe re.
,eated his question and repeated it
gain. Afterward Whighams philos
phlzed with himself on the workings
f the human mind at such times. He
vas not afraid He was sure of that
fe simply could not see the use OF
rying 10 rescue a l0000-ton freight
teamer by means Of a tin canoe.
he night was black and the water J
ark. cold and treacherous looking I
BESIDES. he had already lost an hours
leep and he had 10 be up early In
be morning. His life-insurance pay /
lents were a bit behind There was
o sense in il anyhow The man was
oolish to go ont on the lake that way
The two men on the bench We're
lute. The man in the hathWh dipped
is oars. gave pull and his frail
raft began to melt into the darkness
lot a light did hs carry and inside
T ten seconds the night had swallowed
I'm.
After that nothing happened The
roup stood stll and watched. The
ark. chilly waves rolled fawningly
p along the shore. breaking into lit
e whitecaps The sand continued 20
ak into their shoes Was the man
! the canoe drowned?
At the end Of half an hour the prov
: the sea-going bathtub grated on the
and The lone navigator w,s safe.
NJ perspiring
THAT blessed oreboat." said he. IS
most a mile from shore. She is the
rewerton. from Marquette to South
hicago I'm going 10 telephone q {
.essage from tho captain 10 the com