The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-26
Bill and the Magic Coral


J he vanished cupboard with a slight, al
most inperceptible sound. / heard the
crunch and rattle of the loose coral
as he clambered up the bank, and then
I saw him lunging along in the moon
! light toward the chill. He had aim 1st
reached her when the planks beneath
! my feet swung upward, the air 1n-
| ed with choking fumes, End a vast roar
beloved out of the depths. / saw, as
| if a huge, swift arm had been out
stretched, invisible fingers pluck the
childish figure out of the moonlight and
draw her with incre 1ible velocity 20
the turbid pool. / saw Bill pause and
stagger as if he had been STOPPED by
wall; saw him whirl round and start
back to the dredge, Then the fumes
pressed me down and i threw myself
on the lettering deck in a spasm of
physical agony,
The below of the blast rolled away
toward the hills and before its din
departed I heard the elank of the
machinery overhead and felt the
dredge CULVER as the huge boom thun-
dered down I raised myself up and
saw Bill astride his engines, his hands
on the levers, his white face shining
under the electric light that glowed
in the brown dusk. The clatter of the
outgoing chain increased to a sullen
roar, and then I heard the hiss of the
wire cable as it rushed out after the
swooping bucket. I crawled up little
and peered out.
The pool foamed furiously. Little
spirals of smoke curled out of it, and
whirling masses of milky water came to
the surface, revolved with efferve-
scence, and subsidized. glistening
block of coral rolled, porpoiselike, and
settled again. A missile falling back
from some airy height Kissed into the
turmoil like hot knife. Then I saw
the huge shovel dip deeply into the
tumult. The cable came taut with
twang, and the boom under me gave
like a reed. I stared back at Bill. His
lips were parted over his teeth. He
was at bay As I felt the boom which
clasped recover from the sudden
strain of the descending buckec,
and heard the cable come swift
" in over the whirling drums, /
saw his lips close. His hand flung a
lever over, and then he leaped past
me and out upon the shaking boom.
The bucket swung in midair. Milky
the middle rose needle of rock Be
tween me and the shovel Bill leaped
swiftly out along the big boom, his
arms outstretched, his feet dancing to
the give and take of the jumping
beam. On shore I saw Brennan, mouth
agape, hands uplifted in some useless
signal. A trimmer. his spade held like
gun at his shoulder, pored over the
scene. And at the end of the boom.
one little arm clasping the big chain
that held the bucket, I saw the baby.
She had been dipped out of the rave
nous pool.
Bill leaped the last ten feet and
landed in the bucket. An instant later
he was on his feet in it's loose coral,
trying, with the child in his arms, to
regain the boom just above his head.
But something behind me gave, and
the chain slipped couple of lengths.
The bucket swung ten feet below the
boom, now, and the pinnacle of coral
that had been upright lay balanced on
the iron edge. ready at a slight i'm
rulse to fall back into the water There
the chain held again
Brennan's open mouth gave forth a
yell. 1t was unanswered. He started
to run toward the dredge. swinging his
arms grotesquely. But Bill raised him
self once more in the bucket and look
ed quietly down upon us. The pool
was settling into stiffness. Along its
bank. gathered men watched silently
the osciHating bucket and its human
burden. Suddenly, from the interior of
the dredge came a shrill creak, sound
of steel biting into steel The big
boom quivered and settled slightly
As it gathered momentum in its
descent, Bill leaped upon the topping
rock balanced on the buckets edge,
heaved the child up and flung her
truly into the arms of Brennan, who
was staring upward from the bank
just where the hast warning sound had
halted him. And before the child had
reached that harbor. the poised rock
tilted downward and Bill went with it
in thunder into the pool.
We assembled in the dredge while
Brennan, sweat pouring off his arms
took the engines and dragged the
bucket once more into the fading moon
light. He swung the boom shoreward,
and we all went down to peer into the
buckets depths. We found nothing.
The still pool reflected stars. Nothing
rose from it's dark profounds to tell us
of Bill. With a final oath, Brennan