Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-08-10


the ordeal to come.
AS he could not leave the lamp, and
they refused to eat apart from him,
the dinner, in three courses, was a
breathless affair. Going up and down
five fights OF stairs with soup, joint
ard pudding, While one carried the
tray ard ti,e Other swung a hand Ian
tern il front, required time and exer-
ton. They were cheerful as grigs
over it.
Enid. whose turn it was to bring up
the plates CT taptoco. pleaded guilty tc
a slight sensation OF nervousness
ST could not help refacmbering,'' she
said. "what al awfrl Let of dark iron
steps there we're beneath me- I felt
IS if something were creeping I'D
quickly behind to grab me by the
ankles
you should go up and down three
times in the dark was Brands recipe.
when you quilted the door level for
the third ascent you would cease to
worry about impossible grabs"
Constance looked at her watch
"OnIy 8 O'Clock! What long day it
has been!' she commented.
"You must go to bed early. Sleep in
my room. You will soon forget where
you are. Each of the hunks is COM
Portable. Now 1 will leave you in
charge of the lamp while go and lock
up
They laughed. It sounded so home
| like.
"Any fear of burglars 2" cried Enid.
Eyes; most expert cracksmen-wind
and rain and-sleet,'' he added quietly.
II must fasten all the storm shutters
and make everything snug. Don't stir
until wake you in the morning"
'Poor old dadr' sighed Constance
what vigil"'
He was making new entries in the
weather report when she remarked
thoughtfully:
''It is high water about half past 1.
[ think?'
He nodded, pretending to treat the
question as Of no special import.
From all appearances there will be
a heavy sea- she went on.
"Just an ordinary bad night" he said
coolly.
"Do the waves reach far up the light
house in gale?" she persisted.
Then Brand grasped the situation
firmly.
$50 that your slumbers may be
peaceful he said, 81 will call your
kind attention to the fact that fhe
Gulf Rock light has appeared every
night. during the past twenty-five
years, or since a date some four years
before you were born, Constance. 1t
contains 1000 tons of granite and is
practically monolithic, as if it were
carved out Of quarry. Indeed, I
think its builder went one better than
nature. Here are no cracks or fissures
or undetected flaws. The lowest course
is boIted to the rock with wrought
iron clamps. Every stone is dove
tailed to its neighbors and clasped to
them with iron, above, below and at
the sides. If you understand comic sec
tions I could make clearer the scien-
tific aspect of the structure, but you
can take it from me you are far safer
here than on natural rock many
times the dimensions of this column"
'"That sounds very satisfactory"
murmured Enid, sleepily.
II am overwhelmed" said Constance,
who grasped the essential fact that he
had not answered her question.
Soon after 8 o'clock he kissed them
good night. They promised not to sit
up talking. AS guarantee Of good be-
baylor, Enid said she would ring the
electric bell just before she climbed
into her bunk.
The signal came soon and he was
glad. He trusted to the fatigue, the
fresh air, the confidence of the knowl-
edge that he was on guard, to lull
them into the security of unconscious
ness.
The behavior of the mercury puzzled
him. In the barometer it fell, in the
thermometer it rose. Increasing tenn
perature combined with low pressure
was not healthy weather combina-
ton in January. Looking back through
the records of several years, he dis
covered a similar set of conditions one
day in March, 1891. He was stationed
ten on the northeast coast "a. E1.:-,.
to remember any remarkable circum-
stance connected with the date, so he
consulted the lighthouse diary for that
year. All! Here was a possible ex-
planat ton. The chief keeper, a stran-
ger to him, was something Of meteor
ologist. q.
He had written: "At 4:15, p. m. the
barometer stood at 2716 degrees and
the thermometer at $3.50 degrees.
There was a heavy sea and No. Z gale
blowing from the S. S.-W. About
o'clock the wind increased to a hurri-
cane and the sea became more violent
than 1 have seen it during five years
experience of this station. Judging
solely by the clouds and the fight of
birds, I should imagine that the cy-
clonic center passed over the Scilly
isles and the Lands End"
Then next day:
ga steady northeast wind stilled the
sea most effectually. Within twenty
four hours of the first signs of the hur-
ricane the channel was practicable for
small craft. A fisherman reports that
the coast is strewn with wreckage"
Brand mused over the entries for
awhile. With his night glasses he