Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1908-10-22


him. The pleasure of a thresh to
WlndWard lies in making as much
ground as possible on each tack Many
sober man has come to grief in the
mad Joy Of sailing too near shallow
water, and it was hardly to be ex-
pected that man whose brain was
fired with drink would be over care
full
Black Spit Island was small de-
tached piece of land lying about five
miles from the shore and on the very
edge of the Black Deep Sands. But
for the fact that 1t was surrounded
by a strong stone wall faced with
lines of wooden piles. it would have
shared the fate of all the tract Of
country which the sea had eaten away
from the mainland and buried in the
sand. The highest part of the island
was only ten feet above the spring
tide high water mark 1t remained
as fine example of how determined
man might fight against nature
house had once stood on the island
and nearly hundred years ago, when
the sea had almost completed its
work OF destruction, the owner cut off
on all sides by the sea, had sworn to
keep his home from the grasp of the
encroaching tides. He had done so
successfully. And long after he was
dead and his house had been pulled
down to strengthen part of the sea
wall, this little patch of land re-
mained to bear his name. He had
been one of the Black Hall folk. and
for many years the place had been
q Tc1o I,,f l.,
Trinity House authorities had placed
buoy on the end of the sand, some
miles distant, and had named it the
Black Spit buoy, the sailors had alter
ed the name of the Island.
The Hope and Glory was now we'll
in the open, and was driving into the
teeth of the gale. AS she plunged
her nose in it, she literally ran with
water from stem to stern. Her lee
rail was hardly ever out of the sea,
and the waves which broke over to
windward sluiced along her decks in
continuous stream Of foam. Tanker
lane, whitefaced and shivering, had
crept UP the ladder from the cabin,
and was sitting on the combing of the
hatch. The wind and spray buffeted
him severely, but he would have pre-
ferred the sea itself 70 the warm stuff
ness of the cabin.
Joe Playle was enjoying himself
hugely. Clad in oilskins, sor'-wester,
and sea-boots, he stood at the tiller
like black statue. glistening as the
water ran from him in streams. He
even disdained Yardleys assistance,
when he put the boat round Letting
on nf J,n I, l. -,
as the smack swung round into the
wind, and threw the waves from her
like some black sea-monster strug-
Cling out of the deep Then. as she
came round, he made the lib sheet
fast on the other side with quick
turn on the elect. and sprang back to
the tiller. Tankerlane watched him
with mute wonder in his eyes, and old
Yardley smoked his pipe quietly be-
fore the stove in the cabin, only too
glad to find that the man whom he
had suspected of being drunk was
capable Of handling the boat by him
self
AS they neared Black Spit Island on
the port tack, Playle gave whistle of
surprise. The tide had been ebbing
for more than three hours, but the
water was still up to the wall AS a
rule there would have been nearly
twenty feet of sand between the wall
and the channel.
Good he said to himself. it's a
big tide" And the lust of stealing a
few more feet on that tack seized him
body and soul.
Hang old Bill" he muttered, It's
n ~
bank
And he kept the Hope and Glory on
the tack. till the wall was within thirty
yards of her bowsprit. And Bill Yard
ley smoked peacefully in his cabin.
Now said Playle aloud, as if Civ
ing an order, "stand by"
He loosed the tiller and sprang for
the jib sheet. But the boat did not
swing round into the wind, and the
next second there came a shock
which sent him staggering to his
knees.
YardIey brushed Tankerlane aside,
and sprang out of the hatchway
You cursed fool" he cried, as he
paid off the mainsheet. and the boom
swung out with crash. Here, push
her off at the bow with the sweeps.
You. sir, get up and push, or, by
Heaven. we're here for six hours" He
ran for'ard and held out the jib with
both hands. in the hope that the wind
might force the boats head off the
bank.
For two minutes there was a scene
of stupendous physical energy. Playle
pushed at the sweep till the thick
wood bent like a cane, and even Tan
kerlane worked as though his very life
depended on the result of his labor
And none Of them paid any attention
to the waves which poured over the
black hull, breaking on it as though it
were an immovable rock
But all their efforts were in vain.
The Hope and Glory was hard and fast
on the Black Spit Island, and the ebb-
ing tide would leave her there till it
returned again.
CHAPTER XXXII.
"This be nice thing you'm at
cried Yardley, as he lowered the jib
"1ou amt fit to sail boat, you lub.