Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-01-02

tongue to. but pointing out all man
ner OF dainty sea-gcing OF rather
sea h~oceromfng - devices, to which
the "Ouid I'M could turn his hands
in the brief spells when he was not
'1afd UP entire wild laziness.'
There was. for instance, a spot
where a tall Flagstaff must be erected.
Billy knew the tree and the man that
owned 1t. Then there must be a
brass cannon to fire salutes with And
Billy knew the sailorman who had
NEARLY finished wild that" ct turned
out that the man In question had
near finished" with life as well, and
that his next visitor would likely be
One for whose coming no salltes are
1red.)
Brass" said Billy triumphantly,
wild white waterproof sheeting and a
ball to shut It's mouth when its done
talking. And a good thing for you,
Dick, II you had the like. Then there's
a summer house. with a stand for
the telescope Billy = ships for to see
and sailormen going by, hanging out
their shirts to drystn the sun, and me
on the lantern platform Of the Skier
ry, shaking my clout for cleaning the
refiectors at We and wondering what
you and Vida here are having for
breakfast"
Nothing could have delighted Vida
more. She vas still within six miles
Of Kirktown. from which Rose often
came to visit her. The eternal whirl
and reverse of the pithead wheels
were done with. The miles of wood
land shut them out with tufted moors,
green and purple in the summer. grey
and brown in winter! Vida could have
sung for JOY only to look at them.
In fact, when there was no one to
hear her, she did. Phil said she sang
like an angel - but Vida thought
better Of the angels than that.
Then there were the birds. Outside
in the great green. deems of the bay,
between her and the tall granite col
m Of the Sherry, she loved to
watch the gannet swinging their
heavy. direct flight shorewards.
Straight from Ailsa' they came. max
ing no more of the distance than did
Phil Calmont on his bicycle when he
came down from Kirktown to "caa'
the crack" with old Dick = or after
church on Sundays. to have a peep
through the telescope at Billy Bryan
on the skerry platform. The gannets
In the morning and Phil in the after
noon, filled happily enough Vida's
day.
There was a. piece Of white sand In
front OF the cottage. Thence, with only
n narrow port, rugged, far-jutting
skerries ran seward. Behind were
little rocky knobs with cunningly,
sheltered green hooks where the turf
was emerald, the ferns grew high and
the heather made a hundred coverts
for wind.blown birds,
Rough Island cottage was the ideal
home for two old lighthousemen. And
Just at that moment it was good for,
Vida also. 1t took her mind away from
kirktown. its narrow issues of church
and trade - above all, the sullen at
mosphere of grit. volleyed forth from
the chimneys of Incubus, Romer &
The change was good for another
person also.
All that winter and spring, through
biting sleet. driving foods OF rain and
binding snow, Phil Calmont drove
his cycle up I'VE the edge Of the cup
In which lay Kirktown. out Of the
smoke circle, past the raw towers Of
CORN Castle, and. so on over the moor
Stewards. 1t was bad for the ma
chine, of course, and in the summer
it was with difficulty that Phil could
get a noffer of ten shillings for it.
But 1t was good for Phil, and, to tell
the truth. for Vida also. At least she
did not object.
OF course she cared nothing about
his coming. Dick was enough company
for her and Billy, when it was his
shore-leave. Dick could tell her all
about the birds, and how the Coal
and-Candle-Light Duck called Cal
loo-Calloo" like a ships syren, only
in a clear tenor note, prolonging the
last "alloo" till 1t was cut off sudden
ly as If the singer had turned the cor
of a street
Having arrived, the A1lsa gannets
fell like bolts out Of the blue squirt.
ing high columns Of white water as
If emulous Of the Skerry tower. Dab
chicks made sport for her all through
the winter, playing hide-and-seek
among the fronds Of the sea-weed in
the rocky pools. Then sometimes
towards the lingering cleaning of the
spring days, old Dick would take his
little girl" out in their boat, which
Billy had bought cheap from the Port
Ling fishermen. Vida liked to visit the
breeding places OF what Dick called
contemptuously the Foolish Guile
mots. Multitudes of these birds stood