Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-08-23

I'm view OF this heat. a wettiug wuUlS
be a distinct luxury. but / think. rs YOU
say. there Is something else coming be
sides. Oh. Pat, here il is. Run, Or W.
shall be caught"
=, The storm gave but one weird moan
a rustic and a shrek from over IN,
tree tops and then was upoa them. IL
= minute II was blowing with a Eurri
cane force which 10 human being could
stand against
The wind piucked the fees from undeI
them. ms they fell 10 the decAings q.
the pier. gripping with their fingers in
the gaps between the planks, 4 S;ocm
against their heads. The crazy t~CeStle-
work % the pier buckled ana swung
beneath their bodies
we must get shoreward," [Ambe,
yelled in his conlpanioa's ear. This
taE' crack thing viii SO by the board
directly"
~Rignt-o.~ came back the response
cheerily enough. and together they be-
gan 10 warp themselves toward the
beach and tbs wind, plank at a time
The girl was strong and accustomed 10
using her muscles. but skirts are a poor
I rig TO play caterpillar i'm, n her pro-
greSs was SLOW eve with Gamblers
help When they had gained a score Of
yards. she bade hin leave her 10 make
the best OF mis- way. Il shah get
along AL right" she cried GO and
tell them I'm coming
Naturally / should" he shouted
back. with a laugh Here. let me link
my arm inside yours That's right.
Now ucu ferry alenG AZ twice the
pace
But iney did not get much farther.
A Eainute R~fterward, to the kick OF A
hard squall. the gray old pier tottered
and Gathered and crinched. and the
wind was filled with flying boards. and
Camhel foGnd himself with n ann
clGtching 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 Your
"Al right"
~Bul where the water? There
Shouts be six feet here. and L can feel
none"
Blown away 10 sea. We may thank
God the wind is not on shore or we'd
have Geen drowned. as hundreds of
other poor wretChes are this moment.
An! That's a shave"
\ lightning flash showed them a
huge tree plucked from its roots and
blowing past them, squirming n
crushing about like a live mad thing.
Then a heavy squared roof beam hit
their jagged pile n missed Gamblers
arm by a nails breadth.
The hotels going down." ne shout
ed. 1.-The air will be full of this stuff
in a minute. and IL 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 l shall stand"
She dragged at his sleeve and pulled
him to her side. Stay by me, here,
Pat. You might get swept away, and
I could bea that"
"Of curse I'll stay by you, dear. I'll
never go till you turn me away" He
ook now grip with his arms, pinning
her between his breast and the weed
ragged leg OF the pile. Elsie l want
TO tell you something. You know I'VE
always liked you as a friend, but now
IL has come to more hi that. Muc
m0re-Eyve. darling. Once my mind was
full of another oma and / thought
/ could never care for anyone else as
/ cared for ner, but that was years
since. thousands of years, it seems now.
and. Elsie, Twelve forgotten her. She
is only a name to- me and your sister.
Dear, II We get away from this. do
you think YOU could like me. too, q little
more than an ordinary friend2"
She put her lips to his ear. DO you
think We shall come out Of it alive,
PATE Tell me honestly
II hope So"
Honestly. Pat"
-Fm afraid. darling. It's a poor
chance"
Her soft. wet cheeks nestled against
him. n trands of her hair inter-
twfned themselves with his. Pat"
she Said won, npypP knew hft 7 lny-ad
you all along from the first"
Then for the first time during many
years Patrick Cambel knew what 1t
was TO fear death Beforetime life had
held many uOrments for him, and IL
lead or water or steel chose TO show
kim the great secret he did not very
much care. Now it was all different.
He iusted to live with a f~erceness
| which almos drove him mad.
You are trembling" the girl said
~rnxieusly-
Il know I am. You have made me a
rank axard, 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 hend fingers OF the
wind did mischief beyond all reckon
ing. Timber which had stood hundreds
of years, ceihas and Expresses, live
oaks and pines. sprawled down among
the tangled underground. mere masses
of spiintereG matchwood. The man
grove shickets were clogged with
st0rcs. with grasses. with grany tam
gles OF Spanish moss. Lakes were
licked from their beds and spirited
far owe the waters of the
gulf. This land birds We're driven like
helpless spurne fakes far away to sea
and choked with the gale before they
were lung breachless from It's clutches.
h palmetto hacks OF the humber
coast jewellers 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
wooden hotel on Point Sebastian dis
solved away like a sand bank in q
flooded estuary. First the heat twisted
shingles bad been stripped off, iyins
away Into che wind like some strang,
dark Tow sent as avant couriers OF
more fearsome things to come. Their
weatherboards followed. singly and III
coveys. hen gable ends and joists anc
~rafters. all floating ana pitching IL
the mir as though the wind had thu
density OF a tossing ocean stream
Chairs and wooden bedsteads, clothe,
blown out into grotesque shapes al
though the freakish spirits OF the storm
|, had douned them. the scantling of tn
long piaxxa. and still more board
|. whirred out into the night and van
= 1 frhaA fnrouar Anrun tho tr>rN ~ -