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

Anyhow. we can have chat and send
up the vegetables by the derrick"
"We'm never get there thiccy tide Il
WEN stop here much longer" inter
rupted Ben.
Hello, old grampus! How are youi
Mind you keep these young ladies of
the stones"
And mind you keep your tin pot on
the stones,' growled Pollard. "They
was a-sayin' larst night her wert
aground at Portsea."
"They said right, Father Ben. That
is why I am here"
Enid glanced ut him with ready anx.
iety. There was nothing Of the flirt In
her manner now.
II hope you had no mishap," she
said, and Connie mutely echoed the in
quiry. Both girls knew well what a
serious thing 1t was for a youngster to
run his first boat ashore.
Don't look so glum," he chuckled
II am all right. Got bit Of kudos out
Of it, really. We foulcd the Volcanic
and strained our steering gear. That
Is ALL"
1t was not all. He did not mention
that during torpedo attack on
foggy night he ran UP to three battle
ships undefended by nets and stenciled
his initials within a white square on
five different parts of their sleek bulls,
thus signifying to an indignant admiral
and three COMPOUNDED captains die
,ionary meaning of "confounded') that
these leviathans had been ingloriously
sunk at their moorlngs by torpedoes.
ut sounds unconvincing," said Con-
stance. "You must supply details to-
morrow. Enid. that horrid pun Of
yours ruins the word
Are we also to supply luncheon?"
chimed in Enid.
Perish the thought ! have lived on
sandwiches and bottled beer for a
week. There. OF you CO."
He gave the boat vigorous push
and stood for little while at the foot
Of the steps, ostensibly to light a cigar.
He watched Constance shipping the
rudder while Enid hosted the sail and
old Ben piled a pair of oars to carry
the boat into the fair way of the chan
mel.
They neared the harbor lighthouse.
The brown sail filled and the Daisy
got way on her. Then she sped round
the end Of the solid pier and van
ished, whererpon Lieutenant Stanhope
walked slowly to the promenade,
whence he could see the diminishing
speck OF canvas on the shining sea un-
til 1t was hidden by Clements island.
At last the devotees of twist and
shag, resting their tired arms on the
railing, were able to exchange com
ments.
Brace o. fine CELLS, them" observed
the acknowledged leader, broken
down captain" Of a mine abandoned
soon after his birth.
Fine" agreed his nearest henchman.
Then, catching the gloom of the cap
tain's gaze after Stanhope's retreating
figure, he added
But what docs that young spark
want turning their pretty heads for
them, l should like to known
They didn't seem particular stuck
on 'lm," ventured another.
1.-THE ways Of women is curious"
pronounced the oracle. II once knew
gell"-
But his personal "reminiscences were
not Of value. More to the point was
the garbled, but, in the main, accura te
account he gave of the rescue Of an
unknown child by one of the keepers
of the Gulf Rock lighthouse on June
morning eighteen years earlier.
Stephen Brand was the name of the
man, and there was bit of mystery
about him too. They all knew that q
light keeper earned a matter Of go to
$50 year-not enough to maintain q
daughter and an adopted child in slap
up style, was it? A small villa they
lived in, and a governess they had,
and ponies to ride when they were big
enough. The thing was ridiculous,
wasn't it?
Everybody agreed that It was.
People sale Brand was q swell. Well,
that might or might not be true. The
speaker did not think much of him.
He was quiet, unsociable chap,
though Jones, a Trinity pensioner, who
kept the "Pilchard and Seine now,
wouldn't hear wrong word about
him and always called him "cap'n."
A pretty sort OF captain. But. then,
they all knew what an old slow coach
Jones was. They did. Jones pints
were retailed on the premises for mon
ey down.
Then there was Spence, lame jim,
who lived at Narration. He told fine
tale about a fight with shark before
Brand reached the boat in which was
the blessed baby-that very girl Enid,
they had just seen. Was it true? How
could he say? There was a lot about
it at the time in the local papers, but
Just then his own mind was given to
thoughts Of enlistlng, as British ex-
petition was marching across the des-
ert to relieve Khartum, and cause Cor
don's death.
No, Brand and the two girls had not
dwelt all the time in Penzance. The
light keepers went all over the king
dom, you know, but he had hit upon
some sort Of fog signal fad-Brand
was always man of fads; he once
told the speaker that all the Polwena
mine wanted was work-and the Gulf
Rock was the best place for trying It,
At his own request the Trinity people
sent him back there two years ago,