The Washington times., 1908-12-15
CHAPTER II.
look. THE ISLAND

with a screen IKE q LAlOu-
n sand md. demons 9,f5's a.,.n. va. toss
ed high in the air, dashed
.irther and thitcher. whirled about like
a chip in maeistrOm-
How wood and iron and canvas ever
wfthstood that terrific onslaught Is i'm
possible to say. Nothing but a miracle
Of seamanship could have accomplished
il. and Captain Ezra performed the
miracle.
Somehow she remained afiOat: some
how her rigging held; somehow she met
and surmOunted those great pillows
which rolled up mast high, threatening
10 engulf them.
Through a world black as midnight
they sailed-black except for the blind
ing flashes of lightning and the white
crests Of the angry waves.
With all sail still set the sIoop ran
before the swoOping gale like a scared
deer before the hounds It seemed to
Jim as If she were but touching the
high places. and he chung fast. holding
his breath and expecting every moment
10 he his last.
Like a cat. though. the captain was
watching her every move: nimble as a
cat, he weathered her through the foam
and wrack, and held her steady to her
course.
Constantly he talked to her. encOur-
aged her, told her what she must do.
IT'S a hurricane" he shouted "A
regular typhoon, But we've only struck
the outer fringe Of it as yet. Wait until
II really begins to blow. and then Wen
show EN- what you can do. won't we.
my beauty
Then suddenly his wild frenzy seemed
10 leave him. and. making trumpet
with his two hands, he ordered Jim
to heiD him take in sail.
Rejoicing that the evil fit had passed
the other FASTENED 10 obey, and. al
though 10 was no easy task. every rag
of canvas was soon down
Well, indeed, was It for the Helene
that such a glimmer Of reason had re-
turned to the shippers brain, for IN if
teen minutes more they were. as he had
prophesied, in the grip of the typhoon
itself
Jim had thought he was in a tempest
before; now he realized his mistake.
That was only a summer breeze.
With swoop and a roar greater than
all the previous noises combined, the
hurricane. which had luned for a mo-
ment, pounced on them again
Not all the seamanship in the world
could avail anything now. The orIv
thing possible was 10 hold the sIoop as
steady as possible. and to hope.
ret with the utmost OF their efforts
she spun like a teetotum in the swirl
OF the churninE seas: every moment II
seemed certain that she would can
size
She shook. and shivcred, and groansd
under the impact as one tremendous
wave after another washed over her;
still, despite this labOrinG, she was max
ing heddWay All the time like an ex-
press train, flying faster under bare
poles IMAM she had gone before with
wings fun spread.
II was impossible for Jim to gather
any definite impression of that expari-
ence- lie was conscious Of being buf
ieted about like a shuttIecocI i'm the
play Of elemental forces. of bearjp,, a
din and uproar such as ne had never
conceived Imaginable. Of seeing a con-
fusion and chaos Of uplifted waters in
the dazzle Of electricity which stream
Cd rather tnan flashed from the iukv
sky; but half the time he Gid not know
whether he was under the ocean n,
above it,
He could but cling blindIy as the
roaming surges swept over hen, and
asonizedly pray for sea room and the
holding together OF the sIoap.
How long the fury OF the tenDest
continued he could not tell II might
nave been minutes; it might have been
= hours.
Presently. however he observed that
the extreme violence OF the manifesto
uon-whcther it was that the little yes
sci had been driven outside its track
or whether the storm had passed by
was somewhat abated
True the waves still roared and piIed
themselves up in tons. the LIGHTNING
flashed and the wind drove the Helene
reslsuesSly along; but there was a sen,
sible Improvement in conditions.
Thank GOd.' murmured Harrison de
voutly. we have lived it outv'
And then. while his heart was swell
ing with Thanksgiving, a sudden new
danger presented itself.
Above the screech of the wind and tn,
thud of battling waves he heard, ike q
deep bass IN the Wagnerian uproar
a regular, tnintermittinE roar 1t wa
the pound OF breakers on some neigh
boring beach
He struggled quickly to the captain
side and laid warning hand upon hi
arm.
DO you hear that?" he cried.
Aye I have been listening TO it 70
the last ten minutes
But can we escape? Will we not b
driven head on2''
The captain did not answer, Instead
as a vivid fash Of lightning burst from