The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-08-23
The P1underers:
BY C. !. cuTLIFFE HYNE.

-IT re nYNE, Y
In for something different. We hac
better turn back, Elsie"
In view of this heat, a wetting woulG
be a distinct luxury. but / think. as you
say, there is something else coming be
sides. Oh. Pat. here it is. Run. or we
shall be caught"
p The storm gave but one weird moan
n rustic and Il Shrek from over the
tree tops and then was upon them. In
a minute 1t was blowing with u hurri-
can force which no human being could
stand against.
The wind plucked the feet from under
them. and they fell to the d%eckings OF
the pier. gripping with their fingers in
the gaps between the planks. A storm
of SAND and leaves and twigs beat
against their heads. The ray t~restle-
work OF the pier buckled and swung
beneath their bodies.
We must get shoreward.' Cambel
yelled In his companions ear. This
jam crack thing will go by the board
directly"
"Right-o!" came back the response
cheerily enough. and together they be-
gan to warp themselves toward the
beach and the wind, plank at a time.
The girl was strong and accustomed 10
using her muscles. but skirts are a poor
rig to play caterpillar in, and her pro-
Ishelp. When they had gained a score of
yards, she bade him leave her to make
the best OF his WI way. II shall get
along all right" she cried. Go and
tell them I'm coming" :.
Naturally 1 should" he shouted
back. with a laugh. Here. let me link
my arm inside yours. That's right.
Now We'll ferry along at twice the
pace"
But they did not get much farther.
A minute afterward. to the kick of a
hard squall. the gray old pier tottered
and clattered and crinched, and the
wind was filled with flying boards, and
Cambel found himself with one arm
clutcllng the weed clad stump of a pile
and The other wrapped round Elsie Kill
dare.
Hurt" he shouted ~anxiously.
Not a bit. Sound as a bell. You?"
All right"
But where. the water? There
should be six feet here. and l can feel
none
Blown away to sea. We may thank
the wind Is not on shore or we'd
ave been drowned. as hundreds of
other poor wretches are this moment.
All! That's a shave"
A lightning flash showed them a
huge tree plucl5ed from it's roots and
blowing past them, squirning and
crushing about like a live mad thing
Then n heavy squared roof beam hit
their Jagged pile and missed Gamblers
arm by Il nails breadth.
THE hotels going down." he shout
ed. The air will be full Of this stuff
in a minute. and if we try to move we
shall be Drained before we've got a
yard. Crouch down. dear. at the bot
tom of the post"
You, too"
mo. there isn't ROOM"
"Then I shall stand"
She dragged at his sleeve and pulled
him to her side. Stay by me, here,
Pat. You might get swept away, and
] could, bear that"
"Of course I'll stay by you, dear. TIL
never go TIL you turn me away" Fe
took now grip with his arms, pinning
her between his breast and the weed
ragged leg of the pile. Elsie Il want
to tell you something. You know I've
always liked O as q friend, but now
1t has come to more than that. Much
more-love. darling. Once my mind was
OF another woman, and 1 thought
I could never care for anyone else as
since. thousands of years, it seems now.
and. Elsie. Twelve forgotten her. She
is only a name to me and your sister.
Dear. il we get away from this, do
you think you could like me, too, a little
more thar an ordinary friend?"
She put her lips to his ear. DO you
think we shall come out of it alive.
Pat? Tell me honestly"
* hope so.'
Honestly. Pat"
I'm afraid. darling. It's a poor
chance"
Her soft. wet cheeks nestled against
him, and strands of her hair inter-
twined themselves with his. Pat"
she said. you mover knew, but 1 loved
you all along from the first"
Then for the first time during many
years Patrick Cambel knew what it
was to fear death. Beforetime life had
held many ,orments for him. and II
lead or water or steel chose to show
him the great secret he did not very
much care. Now it was all different
He lusted TO live with a nerceness
which almost drove him mad.
You are trembling" the girl said
II know I am. You have made me q
rank coward, DEAR
She understood him and kissed his
mouth. but no other words passed be-
tween them.
The cyclone blew on, believing and
tearing, and the f1end fingers of the
wind did mischief beyond all reckon
ing. Timber which had stood hundreds
Of years, ceibas and Expresses, live
oaks and pines. sprawled down among
the tangled underground, mere masses
OF sphntcred matchwood. The man
grove thickets were clogged with
with grasses. with grany tam
giles OF Spanish moss. Lakes were
licked from their beds and spirited
far over tho creamlng waters of the
gulf. Tho land birds were driven like
helpless spume flakes far away to sea
n choked with the gale before thew
were flung breathless from It's clutches.
The palmetto shacks OF the humber
coast dweilers vanished in dust. The
frame houses of the better to do burst
at all their angles and spread like plat
forms upon the ground.
And meanwhile the great Struggling
woode hotel on Point Sebastian dis
solved away like a sand bank in a
CODED estuary. First the heat twisted
shingles had been stripped off, flying
away into the wind like some strange
dark fowl sent as avant couriers of
more fearsome things to come. Then
weatherboards followed. aingly and in
coNeyS, then gable ends and joists and
%rafters, all floating ana pitching in
the air as though the wind lac the
density OF a tossing ocean stream.
Chairs and wooden bcdsteads clothes