Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-08-29
through his glasses he distinguished

| Stanhope on board the Trinity steam.
er, standing by the side of the inspect
ing officer of the south coast lights
Other officials were there, but neal
Stanhope was n tall elderly man, un.
known and certainly a stranger in Pen
Zance.
| The Falcon was now chartered by
press men, so the civilian on the official
boat was evidently n person of con
sequence Indeed, Brand Imagined
long before Pyne was able to verify
the impression, that the newcomer was
Mr.. Cyrus j. Trail. whom he had failed
to notice in the poor light of the pre-
viOus evening.
He knew quite well that the expert
cnced chief of the lighthouse service
would appreciate fully the disabilities
under which he labored, with eighty.
one mouths to feed from stock al
ready far below the three months
maximum.
The first telegraphed question be-
traycd the prevalent anxiety.
Hope all is well?"
What was he to say? Was II moi
best to speak boldly and let men know
the truth, not alone as to their presen,
desperate plight, but revealing the
measures he had devised for the pro.
lection of the light? He could NOT
make up his mind to launch out into q
full explanation that instant.
So he signuled:
every one alive. but many cases OF
grave collapse"
Stanhopc was again the slgnaler-
evidently he had arranged matters with
the admiral ut Portsmouth-so Brand
expected the prompt reply:
How IRE Constance and Enidr
quite we'll and cheerful"
The tall man near Stanhope bent
| closer.
"Are Mira. Vansittart and Pyne all
right?"
Brand assumed that the lady was In
no worse condition than others. Con.
stance, telling him the state of the sick
during hnsty visit. had not mentioned
her name
So he sent the needed assurance and
went on forlornly:
Suppose no effort can be made 70
| open communication"
To his great surprise the, answer
came:
1--WE are constructing n raft. When
the tide falls this afternoon we will try
what can be DONE"
All, how glad he was that he had not
obeyed his earlier impulse and horri.
fed the anxious rescucrs by n prophe-
cy of lingering death for many, with
the prelude, perchance. of murderous
excuses committed by men on the
verge of madness. If that story had
to be told he would not finch, but 1t
was grateful thing that the hour of
Its telling might at least be deferred.
A long message followed, string of
loving words from relatives ashore to
those known to be imprisoned on thu
rock. During the merely perfunctory
reading o% Of the signals his active
mind was canvassing the probabilitie.
of success or failure for the venture OF
the afternoon. 1t was high water abou
3 o'clock, and, In his Judgment, witt
the wind m Its present quarter, about
northwest by west, the cross seas
which would sweep the reef and engull
the lighthouse at half tide would rem
der it wildly impossible for any raf,
ever built by mans hands to live in the
immediate vicinity Of the rock.
However, the issue lay with Others
now. He knew that they would do MI
that brave men would dare. He was
tempted to make known the inspiring
news to all hands, but refrained. be-
cause he feared ultimate failure. Be
meath his feet was human volcano
Stirred too deeply, 1t might become ac
tive and dangerous.
So the mpathetic multitude in his
charge, hungrily awaiting scanty
morsel of food which only provoked
what it failed to crafty, must rest
content with the long statement writ.
ten out by the purser and read by him
at the door of each room.
Pyne took to Mrs. Vansittart the
news Of his uncle's presence on the
steamer.
IF you would like to see him." he
said, Il have no doubt Mr.. Brand will
let you stand on the gallery for n lit.
| tie while"
She declined, excusing herself on the
| ground of weakness.
In this high wind" she said, at will
be very cold out there, and any further
exposure would make me very ILL.,"
THAT'S true enough" he agreed
though he wondered why she raised nc
question concerning the message she
wished him to convey to Mr.. Trail.
Had she forgotten the urgency of hel
words overnight? He had carried her
instructions quite faithfully to Brand
and the latter smiled ut the fantasy.
| Thine enough to think Of such things
when we are assured of the lady's de.
parture," he said, and they left 1t at
that.
Thinking to interest her, Pyne told
her of the crowd on the Falcon.
Mostly reporters, Brand thinks" he
said. What story they will build
up in the New York papers! 1t will
be more fun than box of monkeys to
get hold of this weeks news and read
all the fiapdoodlc they are printing"
But Mrs. Fansittart was not to be
reused from her melancholy. She
dreaded the least physical suffering.
PrivatiOn was new thing in her life.
Today she was inert. timid, woman
who covered away from the door and
was obviously anxious that he should
leave her to the quiet misery of the
packed bedroom.
AS the day passed, a wearisome tier
alton Of all that had gone before, a
new feature In the relations of the
crowded community made itself disa.
grecably apparent. Men drew apart
from each other singly or In small
groups. An incOnsolable gloom settled
on the women. BY some means the
knowledge spread that they might all
starve to death in the heart of this cold
dungeon. They began to loathe 1t, to
upbraid Its steadfastncss with spoken
curses or unrestrained tears. The sane
tuary of one day was becoming the
tomb Of the next No longer was there
competition to look ut land or sea from
the open windows. Everywhere was
settling down a nall of hlonk horrIhla