Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-10-11

Ing rocks and ultimately. If not sub
merged in an unknown sea, finds itself
again msandering through new plains
Of wider horizon.
Such a perilous passage can never be
'foreseen. The rapids may begin where
the trees are highest and the meadows
most luxurisnt No warning Is given
The increased pace of events Ia pleas
ant and oxhilara ting. Even the las.
wild plunge over the cascade ia neither
resented nor feared. Some fraH craft
are shattered in transit, some wholly
shaken some emerge with riven sails
and furnished embellishments. A few
net only survive the ordeal, but there
by At themselves for more daring ex-
plolts, more soul stirring adventures
When the two girls stood with Ste
phen Brand in the narrow entrance to
the lighthouse. the gravity Of their
bright young faces was due solely to
the fact that their father had announc-
ed the serious accidents which had be-
fallen his assistants No secret moni-
tor whispered that fate in her bold and
merciless dramatic action had roughly
removed two characters from the sta &c
to clear Il for more striking events
Not once In twenty years has 1t hap
pened that two out of the three keep
ers maintained on a rock station with
In signaling distance Of the shore have
become incapactated for duty on the
same day. The thing was so bewllder-
ingly sudden, the arrival of ConstRn nee
and Enid on the scene so timely and
unexpected, that Brand, a philosopher
of ready decision in most affairs of
life, was ut loss what to do for the
best now that help, Of a sort I'M
dreamed of, was at hand.
The case of Jackson, who was scald-
ed, was simple enough. The board OF
trade medicine chest supplied to each
lighthouse is facsimile of that car
ried by every seagoing steamship. 1t
contained the ordinary remedies for
such an injury, and there would he lit
tie difficulty or danger in lowering the
sufferer TO the boat.
But Bates affair was different. He
lay almost where lie had fallen. Brand
had only lifted him into the storeroom
from the foot Of the stairs, placing a
pillow beneath his head, and appealing
both to him and to Jackson to endure
their torture unmoved while he went
to signal for assistance.
The problem that confronted him
now was one of judgment. Was it bet
ter to await the coming of the doctor or
endeavor to transfer Bates to the boat
He consulted Ben Pollard gain. The
girls were already climbing the steep
stairs to sympathize with and tend to
the injured men.
do you think 1t will blow harder,
Ben, when the tide Z" he asked.
The old fellow seemed to regard the
question as most Interesting and novel.
Indeed. to him some such query and
its consideration provided the chief
problem Of each day. Therefore he
surveyed land, sea and sky most care
fully before he replied:
1T may be almost anything afore
night, Misser Brand"
At another time Brand would have
smiled. Today he was nervous, dis
trauCht, wrenched out of the worn rut
Of things.
II fancy there is some chance of the
doctor being unable to land when he
reaches the rock. DO you agree with
meT
His voice rang sharply. Ben caught
its note and dropped his weatherwise
ambiguity.
It'll blow harder, an mebbe shaw
agin," he said.
Il shall need some help here in that
case. so l will retain the young ladies'
OF course you can manage the boat
easily enough without them"
Pollard grinned reassurlngly.
"We'm run straight in wi thiccy
wind" he said.
So they settled it that way, all SO
simply.
A man sets up two slim masts a
thousand miles apart and flashes com
prehensible messages across the void
The multitude gapes at first, but soon
accepts the thing as reasonable. Wire
less telegraphy' IS the term, as one
says by mail"
A whole drama was flowing over a
curve of the earth at that moment, but
the Marconi station was invisible
There was no expert in telepathic SEN
satlon present to tell Brand and the
fisherman that their commonplace
words covered a magic code.
Jackson white and mute, was lower.
ed first. The brave fellow would not
content himself with nursing his
agony amid the cushions aft. When
Bates, given some slight strength by a
stiff dose Of brandy, was carried with
infinite care down three fights of steep
and narrow stairs and slung to the
crane in an iron cot to be lowered in
his turn, Jackson stood up. Needless
Of remonstranceS, he helped to steady
the cot and adjust it amidships clear
Of the sail
"Well DONE Artie" said Brands
clear voice
ooh, brave" murmured Enid.
1--WE will visit you every day at the
hospital" sang out Constance.
Jackson smiled-yes. smiled-though
his bandaged arms quvered and the
scared nerves Of his hands throbbed
excruciatingly. Speak aloud he could
not. Yet he bent over his more help
less mate and whispered hoarsely:
"Cheer up, old man. Your case Il
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