The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-07-09
CHAPTER XXI.


IA body was flung over the cliff
M it rushed down through the
summer air feet foremost.
Then in obedience to the law of grav-
ity 1t spun round until at the moment
OF impact with the water the head and
shoulders plunged first into the waves.
At that point the depth of the sea
was sixty feet at the very base of the
rock. At each half tide and especially
in stormy weather an irresistible cur
rent swept away all sand deposit and
sheered off projecting masses of stone
so effectually that in the course of time
the overhanging cliff must be under
mined and fall into the sea.
High tide or low, there was always
sufficient water to float a battleship
and the place was noted as a favorite
nook for salmon, at that season pre-
pairing for their annual visit to the
sylvan streams Of the moorland val
leys.
The lordly salmon is peculiar in his
habits Delighting at one period of the
year to roam through the ocean wilds,
at another he seeks shallow rivers, in
whose murmuring fords he scarce finds
room to turn his portly frame.
And the law protects him most jeal-
ously
In the river he is guarded like king,
and when he clusters at its mouth
lazily making up his mind to try a
change of water, as monarch might
visit Homburg for change of air, he
can only be caught under certain Sc
we're restrictions.
He must not be netted within so
many yards of the seward limit Of
the estuary. He may not be caught
wholesale. The nets must have a max
imum length of 400 feet They must
not be set between p. N. on a Friday
and a. m. on a Monday.
Viewed in every aspect, the salmon
is given exceptional chances of longev-
ity. His price is high as his culinary
reputation, and the obvious sequel to
all these precautions is that certain
try every artif1ce to defeat the law
and capture him.
A favorite dodge Is TO run out large
quantity of nets in just such a tide
way as the foot of the cliff crowned by
Grange House. None can spy the op-
erations from the land, while a close
watch seaward gives many chances
of escape from enterprising water bail
ifs. who. moreover, can sometimes be
made conveniently drunk.
When Philip hurtled into the placid
sea, his naked body shone white, like
the plumage of some gigantic bird.
Indeed, q man who was leisurely
pulling a coble in a zigzag course
while two others paid out net so thai
It's sweeping curves might embarras:
any wandering salmon who found him
self within its meshes-marked the fall
ing body in its instantaneous passage
and thought at first that some huge Sc;
fowl had Owed after its prey.
But the loud splash startled the three
; men, Not so did a cormorant or ;
white winged solan plunge to secur
an unwary paddock.
The net attendants Strengthened thei
backs; the oarsman stood up. The dis
turbance was SO near, so unexpected
; that it alarmed them. They locke,
aloft, thinking that a rock had faller
They looked to the small eddy causes
by Philips disappearance to see IL an.
sign would be given explanatory of al
unusual occurrence.
Were Philip thrown from such
: height when in full possession of hi
E senses in all likelihood such breath a
:, was in his lungs ut the moment of hi
: fall would have been expelled by tn
4 time he reached the water
l. He must have resisted the rush G
, air, uttered involuntary cries, Strus
4 gled wildly with his limbs.
s But as it CHANGED Mason's roug
u handling In carrying him to the ba
cony made active the vital forces ths
3 were restoring him to consciousness.
: He was on the very threshold of r
d newed life when he fell. and Ii
h downward fight helped rather than r
a tarded the process. Indeed. the rush {
n air was grateful. He drank in the Vi.
e ! orous draft and inflated his lungs rea'
Il lily. His sensations were those of
e man immersed in a warm bath. an
e the shock OF his conclusion with tt
surface Of the sea in nowise retarde
e the recuperatiye effect of the dive.
r OF course he was fortunate after IA
II ing from such a height IN striking Il