La Junta tribune., 1907-11-30

tOtc uuN kFctt nhu Dttu uUIe,
he almost had succeeded.
To Miss Ruth In her poverty the loss
OF her garden stun would have been =
very serious matter. She was truly
I grateful to Teddy for saving 1t and
told him so with some warmth.
Being thus encouraged, he was en-
boidenei to ask her II she wouldn't
Aorse time or another let him take n
look around In her oil house. And Miss
Ruth. stiil mellowed by her gratitude,
said almost kindly that maybe some
time or other she wouid.
Nye's wharf down on the point was
where the boys usually went In swim.
ming Marbles wharf was nearer. but
because OF the bar the swimming was
not very good there. even Mt high wa
ter. But II happened one hot June day
that Teddy felt too lazy To walk all the
way down TO the point. so he thought
he would Just step down to Marbles
wharf and get cooled of a little.
Although II was low water and the
bar was bare. there was a cool looking
pool just In front OF and shaded by the
old oil house. and into this pool he set.
tied down very comfortably. While he
was sitting on the sandy bottom In this
pleasant place. with only his head out
delightful discovery.
II was dead low tide. and the stone
foundation wall OF the oil house was
bare clear down To the tops OF the piles
on which II rested. The sliding door
was ont OF water entirely. To his JOY
Teddy perceived that 30 large part OF
one corner OF this door had been knock
ed away, probably by n bang from the
nose of some badly st,%red boat In a
long past time, that boy twice as big
as he was could wrigglc through the
hole,
He gave look up and down the riv-
er to see II anybody in boat was in
sight. and then. having assured himself
that the coast was clear. he slipped
out OF the water and across the bit OF
bare sand and through the hole.
He found himself In something like n
little open dock in the floor of the oil
house, evidently place where in for
mer times n boat had been kept. Steps.
black rotten with age. led to the level
of the hoor. Up these slippery steps
Teddy went gingerly. His first object
of investigation was the shadowy place
under the stairway. He found that he
had been right. 1t was cannon. a lit
tie six FOUNDER. such as whalcrs used
to carry to fire signals with, and 1t was
II regular little beauty.
He did not stop to examine the other
lat it.t, fnr
about him. With these. thanks to his
frequent peepings through the cracks,
lie already was tolerably familiar. The
sail loft was an undiscovered country
that he longed to explore, so up the
stairway that led to 1t he went two
steps at time. The loft was far light
er than the room below. for the sun
beams came through the cracks In the
walls. 1t was a great bare place. with
some old sails piled up In one corner,
some sail making gear still lying on
little bench and some chalk marks still
on the floor that doubtless showed the
exact cut of the Harmony Homes last
suit OF sails.
There was something a little awe
some In finding all these things just as
Captain Marble. years and years be-
fore, bad left them. but unpleasant
thoughts of this nature were driven
quickly AMI completely ont Of Teddy's
head as he caught sight of delightful
fat little tub of boat standing close
to the side wall Mt the end Of the build
ing nearest to the water carefully
checked up on blocks SO that 1t stood
on an even keel The oars and little
mast with the sail wrapped around 1t
lay fore and aft on the thwarts. and the
rudder. all ready to be shipped, was
lying in the stern sheets. Running
tackle was rove to rings In the bow
and stern. and to stout hooks in the
ridgepoIe of the roof. The ends of the
lines were coiled away neatly over be-
laying pins in two Of the upright
beams.
Then Teddy perceived that great
trapdoor riggel with CONFERENCE.-The
opened in the floor just over the little
dock below. Obviously this as the
identical boat for which the dock had
been built.
As he thought of what fun he could
have in that boat, along with Noah
Barkum and Lem Harbud and Pud
Nye and perhaps Sam Wyburn, he
forgot everything else in the world.
He wanted 10 go right to work at
swinging the boat up by the tackle and
then lowering her through the trap
door, bus he found. to his surprise. by
the way that the light was fading. that
the sun must be nearly down. Accord
ingly he went downstairs again and
found that the tide was half In and
that the hole in the door was foot
under water.
There was pin that held the door
down. and when be had pulled this out
he found that he could raise the door
easily, for II also was hung with coun-