The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1907-10-03

said almost kindly that maybe some
time or other she would.
Nye's wharf down Oh 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 at high wa
ter. But it 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 off Il little.
Although it was low water and the
bar was bare. there was 4 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
of water. he made very exciting and
| delightful discovery.
| 1t 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 it rested. The sliding door
| was out of water entirely. To his Joy
| Teddy perceived that so large part of
one corner of this door had been knock
ed away, probably by a bang from the
nose of some badly steered boat in
long past time, that a boy twice as big
as he was could wIggle through the
hole.
/ He gave look up and down the riy-
er TO see if anybody in a 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 a
little open dock in the floor of the oil
house, evidently place where in for
mer times a boat had been kept. Steps.
black rotten with age. led to the level
! of the floor. 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 Il cannon, a lit
tie six FOUNDER, such as whalers used
to carry to fire signals with, and it was
a regular little beauty.
He did not stop to examine the other
interesting things which We're scattered
about him. With these. thanks to his
frequent peepings through the cracks,
he 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
or 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 a
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 little awe
some in finding all these things just as
Captain Marble, years and years be-
fore. had left them, but unpleasant
thoughts of this nature were driven
quickly and completely out of Teddy's
head as he caught siglf of delightful
fat little tub of a boat standing close
to the side wall at the end of the build
ing nearest to the water carefully
checked up on blocks so that it stood
on an even keel The oars and a little
mast with the sail wrapped around it
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
ridgepole of the roof. The ends of the
lines We're coiled away neatly over be-
laying pins in two of the upright
beams
Then Teddy perceived that a great
traploor rugged with CONFERENCE.-The
opened i'm the floor just over the little
dock below. Obviously this was 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
Rarkum and Lem Harbud and Pud
Nye and perhaps Sam Wyburn, he
forgot everything else in the world.
He wanted to go right to work at
swinging the boat up by the tackle and
then lowering her through the trap
door. but 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 4 foot
under water.
There was pin that held the dool
down, and when he had pulled this out
he found that he could raise the doo'
easily, for it also was hung with cOun
: terweights: so he got out without div
: Ing and pulled the door down again
: Even at high tide he saw that the wa
: ter would not be much more than tws
feet deep. Now that the door was no
, fastened he would roll mp his trouser:
and wade in whenever he chose
: It was just half tide the next morn
ing when he went down to the wharf
and there was only about 4 foot Of wa
! ter mt the sliding door Ho was bare
{ footed to start with. and it did not taxi
him many minutes to roll up his trou
9 sers, slip down the edge of the wharf
open the door and shut 1t behind hin
! and then scamper upstairs to the sal
loft
It Is possible that Teddy would hav'
! been uneasy had he known that Mis-
} Ruth Marble had happened to see hin
2 70 down on her wharf and then dis
J appear over the edge Of it; that sh
: had felt instinctively that somethin
was going wrong and had made q
: her mind to go down to the whar