The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-29

mighty piece of tho wreckage to the spot and fastened 1t there like swing ing gate. Then. and not till tn en, did he remove the sloop from her safe an- chorage and work her around to the defile between the two Douvres The aspect of the man who had ac- complished all these labors had become terrible. His hair and beard had grown long. He was scared everywhere He was continually hungry thirsty and cold. For more than two months he had eaten only shellfsh and subsisted on what little fresh water gathered in the crevices from rains and dews. The bitter rocks were consuming him. But now all was in readiness for the end. l The sloop was moored to nicety un- | der the engine room of the wreck. The | planking had been cut everywhere, l freeing the engines from above. The ' keel immediately under the machinery | was cut square, ready to descend with | 1t while still supporting 1t. All this | frghtful mass was now held only by | one chain. When a certain link of | this was filed away the weight would all come on the cables, and with these, | guided by the single controller tackle, l the engine was to be lowered to the sloop.
 Gilliatt climbed to the wreck and l seized the regulating cable with one l hand With the other he began to | file through the chain. Suddenly there
 was a crash. The link snapped before | it was half cut through. The severed | chain beat against the rock. The cables l strained. The huge mass detached itself I from the wreck. The hull opened and | the iron flooring of the engine room | was visible beneath the keel.
 It descended steadily. Then the pull
 leys stopped. The vast machine stood
 upright firm, unharmed, on the deck | of the sloop.
 l All was ended. He had but to de- part.
 And then suddenly great wind | came over the sea. The waters stirred. | The tempest, long delayed, was com
 ing. It was as If the sea had waited thus only to get its foe more wholly
 into its power.
 Gilliatt hastened to the gate. Swiftly
 he swung it. With superhuman
 strength he 1ashe ed 1t with cables and
 chains. He swam and waded to the 1 outer rocks just before the dehle, drag l ging more beams and chains and there l built a breakwater, striving like a ] madman and compressing work that ! should have taken hours into a half l hundred minutes.
 Then he stood with his back against
 the wall, as it were, and face to face | with the hurricane. It came. Rain, | wind lightning, thunder, waves, foam, 1 hoarse noises, whistles, mingled to- | gether like monsters suddenly un- | loosed. All the tumult of the wide | expanse rushed toward the DouVres. The enormous surf screamed over all
 the rocks As far as eye could reach the sea was white; ten leagues Of yeasty water filled the horizon. 1 heavy swell came rolling in. It re-
 sembled huge wall of glass It was | green and without foam and 1t stretched | across the wide expanse. It was as
 a singular kind of gigantic cylinder 1 rolling upon the ocean.
 The great wave came down on the | breakwater with a terrible shock It's
 whole bulk became roaring surf. For | some moments 1t drowned everything. | When it subsided the barrier was still | there. firm. undisturbed. Another great | wave came; and another and another. Then there advanced one that was I'm l mense The rocks themselves sh/ok ! as 1t broke on them. Tne parrler De- I gan to give way
 | Gi1lIatt rushed to the rescue. With @ great beam he uprooted rock ana heaved it into the boiling. He tore at 1 the suspended wreck of the Durande | and let a mass of 1t fall into the defle to act as a barrier from the other | end. For twenty hours he wres<ied,
 matching his strength against the sea, | his wit against the tempest. Then l suddenly the sky became blue. He had won.
 Gilliatt dropped on the deck of the | sloop and slept where he fell. When he awoke again the swell was still too heavy to venture to sea with his
 precious freight. He stripped himself | to the waist and climbed on the reer l 10 look for food. Crayfish and crabs | were scarce. He saw a large crab after
 A long hunt. It scuttled under @ great shelf of rock. He put his knife be- ] tween his teeth and crawled after It. | When he got under the rock he stood up in dumb amazement. He was in an 1 underground cavern. Before him lay | a mystic green pool. out of which rose | great columns. losing themselves In | the darkness of the roof. Strange sea | growth hung everywhere and waved tender filaments in the gloomy depth It seemed to him that the crab had | taken refuse in tissure. He waded Into the water and began to grope in the dusk.
 Suddenly he felt himself seized by
 the arm.