Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1907-02-25
Ole PILLAR
OF LIGHT
BY LOUIS TRACY.
Au,hor Of The Wings Of the Morning"
Copyright, ioOL By Edward J Clods


snugly seated la armchairs at the fire
side
lie hurried 10 the gallery, putting on
an Oilskin coat.
I'VE must win through, and l guess
IN play ball with my father-in-law,"
quoth Pyne to himself as he followed.
This time IL was the Falcon alone,
and she signaled with a lamp that it
was deemed best TO defer active opera
tons until the following afternoon.
The tide at dawn would not suit.
She went of and the two men re-
turned to the grateful shelter Of the
service room.
Brand forbade further talk. Pyne
must rest now and relieve him at 3 |
O'Clock The yOungster needed no |
feather bed; he was asleep in amaZ- |
inCly quick time There is a supper |
lees hunger which keeps people awake |
at night with full larder in the house.
The crude article differs from the cul-
tured one so greatly that the man who
hungers OF necessity cannot sleep too
much.
Thus far the Inhabitants Of the light
house had been given quite enough
nutriment to maintain life There was
no reason why any. even the most deli
cate. should he in real danger during
the next forty eight hours. But scien-
tifc reasoning and the animal instincts
OF mankind clash at times; in that lay
the danger whose sullen shadow was
deepening the lines in the corners of
Brands eyes.
Every hour the officer on duty and
some men Of the watch visited him to
report that all was well below. Some
OF the less drunken mutineers were
ptifully sober now; the others were
maudlin. Beyond the few words eX-
changed on this and kindred topics he
was left alone with his thoughts
throughout the silent watch Pyne
slept heavily. CHANGING at times at
the youngsters stalwart figure and
firm. handsome face. Brand found him
self reviewing the buried years. He
thought of the days when he. too
looked forth on the world with the
stern enthusiasm Of triumphant youth
Long forgotten ghosts were resur-
rectcd, shattered ideals built up again.
lie wondered, if the decades rolled
back would he decide second time to
abandon the fine career which lay at
his feet and withdraw his grief and his
talents to the secusion of lonely rocks
and silent headlands.
lie had been happy, as men count
happiness, during the decades. No
cloud had arisen to mar the complete
content Of his life. The blossoming of
the girls into delightful womanhood was
an increasing JOY to him. and il was
passing strange that his little house
hold should be plunged into whrl-
pool of events in the very hour when
their domesticity seemed to be most
assured The changeful moods of the
elements found no counterpart in his
nature. He, knowing the sea, did not
expect it to remain fixed in one aspect
Whether in calm or storm, the con-
trary would surely happen ere many
days had passed. But life was q diff
ferent thing. How came it that at the
very close OF so many years of asso-
citation with the tickle ocean she should
play such a trick on him and his
daughters. infold them with perils
snatch them from the quiet pleasures
OF the life they had planned for the flu
ture and thrust upon them, even il
they escaped with their lives, a pub
licity which he. at any rate. abhorreG
and even dreaded?
He harbored no decisions on this
point. He knew that the drama of the
Gulf Rock was now filling the columns
of newspapers all over the world. He
and his beloved girls would be writer
about. discussed. described in fulsomt
language, pictured by black and white
artists and eulogized by wideawakt
editors eager to make much of a topi,
dear to the public mind.
On the rock they were undoubtedl.
in grave danger. Death confronte
them-death at once extraordinary an,
CHASTITY. No tyrant of the middle ages
with all his poraphernalia for wiring
ing truth or lies out of cringin
wretches. had devised such a fate a
threatened if the inconstant sea shoul
choose To render the reef altogethe
unapproachable for many days. Yet j
help came he and those dear to hir
were already stepped in unavoidabl
notUiety. bringing in its train certai
vague disabilities which he had strive
TO avoid for over twenty years
And all this because one fierce gal
out of the many he had endure
Sprang into being at a moment whe
his mates were incapacitated and hi
daughters happened to pay him a SUI
prise visit.
1T is an insane freak Of fortune" b
muttered. so incomprehensible. so u
terly out Of focus with common event
that If were a supersttious man
should regard il as betokening the AZ
prOach OF some great epoch in my lif
Surely. q merciful Providence woul
not bring my girls here to subject the
90 the lingering torture of hunger an
thirst / must not think of it furthe
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