New-York tribune., 1908-11-01

ordinarily wore in the hope of conserving
little warmth In his sh1ver1ng body Every
breath he drew carried the perfume OF the alcO-
hOl on II, and that to him IN his present con-
dition spelled madness. So that at last, before
he was fully dressed. buttOn1ng his jacket
about him, he fled from his quarters IN Wild
eyed haste, like man hagr1dden- The streets
Of the town were little better than his own
house had been. He could smell AddlngtOn
rumshop or thought he could, from one end
of the town to the other. So at last. IN despair,
he set out stumbling along the ties OF the little
railroad for the open country.
But really he was a beaten man already
He no longer had anything left to resist with.
His fund of vitality already lowered by the
vigilS of previous nights, had been completely
exhausted by his prolonged immersion IN the
waters of the bay and the events that had
succeeded 1t.
After stumbling on along the railway line
for mile or more. he stopped: stood still tor
a little; tried to force himself on; and then
turned back The one thing IN his mind now
was a full quart bottle OF Irish whisky IN his
cupboard.
FIFTEEN minutes later, with savage Impa-
tience over rotted cork, he cracked the
neck of this bottle against the iron tOOtTan OF
his bed and poured out his first drink
This was what l needed he reflected. /
was a fool not TO have taken It before Now
| viii put the bottle away and go to sleep
But even while ne reflected thus, his hand
poured out second drink After his third
drink, OBrien resolutely put away the bottle
This was, however, not a sober acton, but
drunken one
There was by that time not the slightest
idea of any further resistance. He meant to
get drunk, gloriously drunk Already his
nerve racked body was pervaded with a sense
of comfort, of warmth, of buOyanCy. His tired
mind was again luminous and resilient, full OF
'nimbe, fiery. and delectable shapes. He
was perfectly aware even then that It would be
possible to extinguish this brilliant illu1uina-
ton in a flood OF the very liquor that served
a fuel for It.
So. with a strength born of the drink itself.
he put it away from him. He would take
more of course, as much as he wanted, and
whenever he wanted 1t, but, with view OF
prolOngIng the delights of the situation, he
would go slowly. He closed his blinds, locked
his door, and took his telephone receiver off
the hook. Then, secure from interruption, he
settled down to enjoy himself
1t was mere drunken, ainleSs whim that
took him out into the street at eleven o'clock,
1t was equally without purpose OF comprehen-
sion that he fell III with the crowd drifting
down toward the landing stage.
OF the storm, which had already reached
appalling dimensions, he entirely una
ware. He attributed the fact that he found 1t
hard to get about that the sides of buildings
had way of coming up and hitting him, that
he heard all the while a most tremendous
roaring and yelling IN his ears, to the simple
and obvious explanation that he was very
very drunk.
As soon as his reelIng eyes caught sight of
the Pheasant, he recognized her arrival as an
event of serious Importance, and Immediately
set about thinking out what was to be done
about it.
Two things he realized quite clearly: first.
that Smith had planned to leave Georgetown
in the Orpheus the night before; and that he
hadn't been able TO 60 because somebody
had taken off the tugs propeller. But here,
provIdentIally was the Pheasant with her pro
pellers intact. From this idea the cheerful
inference was obvious that the Pheasant had
come IN expressly TO get Smith and take hum
wherever he wanted to 90.
the shore seemed. to his drunken mind. To
justify this Inference completely. He was alb
Solutely innocent of malicious intent IN Turing
the boat to destruction among the boulders
in the Mermaids' Shower Bath. indeed he
was filed with sorrow when he saw 1t hauled
up the beach unfit for further service
Clearly Captain Corcoran must send another
boat ashore, or Smith wouldn't be able To- 90
away. But how 70 get word 10 Captain Cor
Coran, that was the question.
Almost Immediately a luminous idea flashed
INTO his mind. IL was simple enough of
course. The Pheasant was equipped with a
wireless outfit. All he had to do was To 90 up
to the station and telegraph. He could send
a message, even II he was drunk