Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-04-09
CHAPTER vi

CHAPTER vi
The ship had evidently ridden part
| ly over the rock or reef upon which 1t
was perched and was resting at an
angle with nose downward. This was
| fortunate, because it precluded any i'm
mediate danger of drowning. Hardy's
position was uncomfortable in that
there was not a level surface in the en-
tire room for him to rest on. Man,
] inferior in this respect to cat or a
| fly or a worm, becomes next to help.
| less when his standing-ground is tilt
| ed.
| He can climb mountain. it Is true,
but even the crevices into which he
| digs his toes are tiny plateaus, by
which he mounts from one to the next
above. Let but one step be missing
and he can go no further up his noun
tain. Here was Hardy, tumbled like
a bag of wheat into the angle formed
By the tilted floor and the wall. The
table was screwed to the floor and,
| by throwing himself lengthwise and
extending his arms, he could grasp
one leg.
| He pulled himself to the table and,
holding to one Of its legs, sat in the
middle of the floor and thought and
| listened. The ability to think in a
trying situation, the attempt to make
mind superior. to matter, is the surest
evidence Of courage. That he could
| by throwing his body. gainst it, he had
aldeady learned. and it now became
evident TO him that there was little 70
| !, ro;, Il 11> t{1,,r II, To-
who had locked him there would not
be likely to come to his assistance.
even if they could hear him. They
would have their own Skins to look
after, and besides, had their intentions
been friendly they would not have I'M
prisoned HIM. No, he was the victim
of treachery; he was in the hands CT
| men who regarded him as a spy and
who had been instructedNto dispose Of
him. The malignancy Of the boy was
now explained He thought of Aisome
and muttered, "If get out Of this.
will never trust another woman as
long as | live"
Moreover, shouting would have done
small good, had he been on his own
yacht. The wind was humming with
out, with the low, slow moan Of the
open sea, pitched on the note Of a
bumblebee, yet suggestive of loneli-
ness, ysstness and solitude. The
pounding Of the waves, the kissing and
splashing of the waters, the creaking
| of tinbers. the rafting of things fall
| ing and tumbling about. made a din
| through which no human voice could
have hoped to penetrate. Every mo-
ment some great wave put its~should-
er under the stern and lifted it a trifls.
at which the ship would lurch forward
with that dreadful grating, which now
could be felt rather than heard.
"Sne will soon pound to pieces"
thought Hardy, who we'll knew the
power of the waves; "she can't live
long in this sea-" He was conscious
in every molecule of his brain and
every fiber of his being that he want
ed to live and have another try at life.
All the ennui, the disgust, the suppos-
ed establishment, were gone when
they were now put to the test.
eff she smashes up" he reflected.
81 shall have no more chance than a
chicken in an egg that is hit with Il
hammer But she may not go to pieces
Immediately. Ships have been known
to hang on for days.
Every time she lurched he was
thrown so violently forward that it
required all his strength to hold on
to the table leg. He must have re-
NAMED in this position for an hour,
an eternity it seemed to him. of
mingled fear and hope, for the fact
that the vessel did not Immediately
go to pieces, led him to entertain the
cheerful idea that perhaps she would
hold out. He remembered wreck
off the coast of Massachusetts that
had remained for months on the
rocks defying wind and waves.
There was at last more violent up
heaval than any before. The ship
plunged and settled, leaving the cabin
floor nearly level Hardy sprang to
his feet.
She has either broken her back"
he cried, cor she has gone over the
reef and settled in the shallows!"
She listed to port and rocked gent
lily from side to side, rendering it inn
possible for him to stand without hold
ing to something, and now the
water, which had been pouring into
the forward part of the hold, came
seething from beneath and around the
door and through the cracks of the
partition. Every time the ship listed
to starboard. it reached tink knot