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

weather, and he bent again over the
record of the equinoctial gale in 1891.
Soon he abandoned this hope. The
growing thunder of the reef as the tide
advanced gave the first unmistakable
warning of what was to come. As q
mere matter of noise the reef roared
its loudest at half tide. He understood
now that gale had swept across the
Atlantic in an irregular track. How
soever the winds may rage the tides
remain steadfast, and the great waves
now rushing up from the west We're
f.! actually harbingers of the fierce blast
which had created them.
! Of course the threatened turmoil in
nowise disconnected him. 1t might be
+ that the rock would remain inaccessi-
BILE during many days. In that event
/ the girls wolsld take the watch after
! the lamp was extinguished, and they
must learn to endure the monotony and
discomforts of existence in storm
bound lighthouse. They would be nerv-
GUS unquestionably - perhaps he had
| forgotten how nervous-but Brand was
philosopher, and at present he was
most taken up with wonderment at the
curious blend of circumstances which
resulted in their presence on the rock
that night.
Ha! A tremor shook the great pillar.
He heard without the frenzied shrek
of the first repulsed roller which flung
itself on the sleek and rounded wall.
| Would the girls sleep through the next
few hours? Possibly, if awake, they
| o{& fhn vii Of fhn
column to the wind He trusted it
might be 50. Shut in as they were,
| they could not distinguish sounds. Ev-
| erything to them would be a confused
| hum, with an occasional shiver as the
granite braced it's mighty heart to re-
| sist the enemy.
But what new note was this in the
| outer chaos? An ordinary gale shud
dered and whist1ed and chanted it's
| way past the lantern in varying tones.
1t sang, it piped, it beloved, it play
| ed on giant reeds and crashed with
cymbals. Now-he lookeS at the clock,
| after midnight-there was a sustained
screech in the voice of the tempest
which he did not remember having
| heard before. At last the explanation
dawned on him. The hurricane was
there, few feet away, shut off from
him by mere sheets of glass. The
| lighthouse thrust its tall shaft into
this merciless tornado with grim stead
| fastness, and around it's smooth con-
| tours poured a volume of unearthly
| melody which seemed to surge up from
the broad base and was flung off into
| lhe darkness by the outer sweep of the
| cornice.
The wind was travelling seventy,
eighty, mayhap a hundred miles an
hour. Not during all his service nor
In earlier travels through distant lands
I had he ever witnessed storm of such
J fury. He thought he heard something
crack overhead. He looked aloft, but
all seemed well. Not until next day
did he discover that the wind vane had
been carried away, wrought iron
shank nearly two inches thick having
snapped like piece Of worsted at the
place where the tempest had found
fault.
He tried to look out into the heart
of the gale. The air was full OF fly
ing foam, but the sea was beaten fiat.
If the growing monster beneath tried
to fling a defiant crest at the tornado
the whole mass of water, many tons in
weight, was instantly torn from the
surface and flung into nothingness.
Some of these Adventures, forced up
by the reef, hit the lighthouse with
greater force than many cannon ball
fired in battles which have made his
tory. Time after time the splendid
structure WINGED beneath the blow.
If Stephen Brand were ever fated to
know fear he was face to face With TIC
ugly phantom then. The granite col
umn would not yield, but it was quite
within the bounds of possibility that
the entire lantern might be carried
away and he with it.
He thought, with a catching of his
breath, OF the two girls in the tiny
room beneath. For one fleeting instant
his mortal eyes gazed into the unseen.
But the call of duty restored him. The
excessive draft affected the lamp.
It's arlor must be checked. With
steady hand he readjusted the little
brass screws-they were so superbly
lnGlIIer0GL To lll lulS pduutIiOAlulu-
Just little brass screws, doing their
work and needing naught beside. Sud-
denly there came to him the trium-
phant knowledge that the pure white
beam of the light was hewing its path
through the savage assailant without
as calmly and fearlessly as it lit up
the ocean wilds ON midsummer night
of moonlight and soft zephyrs.
'"Thank God for thatv he murmured
aloud. "How can a man die better
than at his post?''
The ring of iron beneath caught his
ears. He turned from the lamp. Con-
stance appeared, pale, with shining
eyes. She carried the lantern. Behind
her crept Enid, who had been crying
She strove now to check her tears.
rs this sort of thing normal, or
special performance arranged for our
benefit?' said his daughter, with fine
attempt at smile.
"Oh, dad, I am so frightened" cried
Enid ''Why does it howl so?"
CHAPTER VI.