The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-20


 curled himself-up without so much as
 from his temporary insanity, but he was obviously unhappy and ashamed of himself. Shil then took the gun
 and wrapped 1t up in his overcoat. Mind you keep a watch all night, Jocelyn." he said. land I'd like one of you to stay down by the creek.
 You can all have day in bed tomor- l row." wen keep our eyes open. sir" the
 man replied, as Shil pushed on the l punt from the quay" And if were | you, sir. I'd make straight for them. islands t'other side of creek. and
 breakfast at Conasea. Good night, | sir.n
 Good night, Jocelyn," Shil answered.
 The man touched his cap, and turn : ed away towards the wood. Then Shii hoisted the sail. andr going aft. sat down on the rug by the>side of the dog. He had little to do but keep the boat in the middle of the stream. The wind was blowing gently but steadily from the west, and the moon shone brightly in a clear sky.
 1 Never had John shil felt the loneli- ness of the marshland more completely | than he did that night. as he slipped gently down the tide towards the sea. | There was absolute silence. and l. ies- olationA which can only be found m 1 desert places. On either side Of him 1 lay the water. silver In the moonlight and beyond that two smooth. low. | had already Been ebbing for three hours, and the naked ugliness of the slime was laid bare.
 It was not a cold night. but on a 1 boat 1t is never warm after sunset, | even in the summer, and Shil was glad | of his thick jerseys and his heavy
 wooIen gloves. He even glanced once or twice at his overcoat, which was trapped round the gun. But the coid | of the damp, raw atmosphere was not so piercing as the chin which had yripped his heart! He could not get | Jocelyn's words out of his head: They 1 do howl like that afore death It was mere superstition, common enough among the ignorant m every part of England. No man or inteiii- rence or education believed in 1t. Het l 1t was older than Christianity, and was almost ingrained in human nature IL self From generation to generation, through countless years, in wnicn dynasties and even religions had risen | and fallen, men had believed that the bowling of the dog, and his ancestor,
 the wolf, had presaged olsas anu death. Enlightment dispeis these gloomy superstitions, but they return when the mind is plunged in darkness. They are hidden ky civilization. but they remain part of our inheritahca from the past.
 The boat moved steadily down the tide, and the breeze fresheneo as the moon rose In the sky. A dark bank or clouds had risen in the west, but 5ohn Shtls back was turned to them, ard he did not notice these heralds oi a storm He sat grim and motioniess, with the oar in his hand, and his eyes fixed on the water ahead of him. The dog lay close against his feet. He was apparently asleep, but his eyes naih covered by bit of the rug. were wide> open. HIS master had not spoken a word to him since they had been on the boat. and the faithful animal was waiting to detect some movement or heard some word that would indicate forgiveness. .: Then suddenly Pat raised his head and listened. And John Shfl, absorpeo
 in his own gloomy thoughts, looked up into the sky and listened also. Faint and far overhead came sound which one does not expect to hear at night,
 and which certainly ought not to pro- ceed from the clouds. It resembled the yelping of a pack of hounds in full cry, But shil knew that of course 1t was nothing of the sort It was mere ly flock ofbarnacle geese flying land- wards from the North Sea.
 The dog jumped to his feet, put his l fore-paws on the edge of the punt, and parked vociferously. He doubtless
 wondered how any of his race had
 managed to get so far above the earth. His bark expressed canine interest and
 pleasure. His eyes were fixed on the
 sky, and possibly he thought that some
 friend would drop lightly out of it to
 welcome him. df
 Then suddenly his whole de- dropped between his legs, and, throw ing back his head. he gave vent to long, melancholy howl
 s'Shut up, you brutep shil exclaimed. The dog turned and slunk, back to his rug. He felt that he had forfetted all further claim to his masters esteem.
 Far overhead went the geese, and Shil fancied he could see them like long triangular blur against the nnoonllt sky. He had only heard them once before, but he knew well enough that the marsh folk regarded them with no favour and many sturdy sailor would pause at his work ana press his fingers into his ears to shut out the sound of their cries. Supersti- tion had it that they were the hounds of the Archangel Gabriel, and that they were pursuing some soul but recently freed from it's earthly prison house.
 It may well be imagined that this trifling incident did not tend to restore John Shil to more cheerful frame of mind. But fortunately his glance at the sky had called his attention to something which at once occupied his thoughts to the exclusion of everything else. He had seen for the first time the dark bank of clouds which was swiftly rising up from the west, and he knew enough of the local weather to realize that he would have as much wind in the esru1Fy as he could do with unless he could reach the shelter of the Conasea Creek before the storm broke.
 The little boat hissed through the water as the wind freshened. There was a white wake behind her stern, as she stirred up a wash that left line of tiny breakers on the mud banks which lay on either side. From time to time John Shil looked back at the advancing of clouds.
 At last he swept out into the broad stretch of the Darkwater, and, hauling in his sheet, he altered his course so as to fetch the mouth of the Conasea Creek on the far side.
 The wind was now on his beam, and he began to realize it's strength. The little boat in spite of her small spread