Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1909-04-03

You can get him. she cried, her
black eyes swapping sparks ..Oh, you
cant
How" Martin and me said to-
gether-
She pointed towards Ozone island.
The sailboat," she said. The Dora
Bassett! Sail over in her Then he'll
come on the morning train
1 swung around and looked at the
waves and the clouds. Wapatomac
was clear across the bay miles and
miles away. And a night like this was
likely to be,
Lord" says L Its crazy. We'd
never live
way to the skiff. Of course he didn't
know the risk, and l did, but-well,
there.
I'll CO." says / to Eureka you
head for the school fast as your horse
can travel. Tell the Page girl not to
let Duncan touch the boy till the Jor-
dan man comes or the train comes
without him. You understand
You bet you," says she. It's SPLEEN
did, Well save the boy and Mr.. Hart
ley will be all right with her Oh, I'm
so glad Mr.. Van Brunt want here!"
She whirled the horse around and
off she went. I gave one more look at
the weather and then ran after Hart
ley. Save the boy. A considerable
bigger chance of not saving ourselves.
Well, my school teacher always used
to say I'd be drowned some day-if
want hung first.
1 had one reef in when the Dora Bas-
sett swung clear of the outside point
of Ozone island cove. I hated to take
another, for I wanted to make time. But
had to take it afore we tackled at the
end of the first leg. Twas pretty nigh
dead beat and the sloop was laying
over till l thought sure she'd fill. The
waves was as big, almost, as ever L
see in the bay, and when one would
fetch us on the starboard bow the big
gest half of it would shoot clean from
stem to stern. We was soaked afore
we'd hardly started. 1t couldn't have
been much worse unless twas the mid
die of February.
l had the tiller and Hartley was
for'ard in the cockpit l was using the
mainsail altogether, although later on
| did use some of the jib to help her
point up to wind ard. There was
plenty of water and would be for
hours, so l could give her the center
board full. That didn't bother us
not then.
L was too busy to speak and Martin
didn't seem to care to. He set there,
looking out ahead, and when he
turned, sos l could see his face, it was
set and quiet. And in his eyes was the
look that I'd seen there once afore-
the day of the pig race 1 wouldn't
have known him for the reckless, lazy
chap he'd been for the last month
or so.
The only thing he said to me at"this
time was, as I remember it, something
like this:
Il know that DR.. Jordan he says.
Il met him at Cambridge at football
game. I was there at college and IA
Their came over for the game. The doc
tor was one of fathers friends
That's lucky" says I. Maybe
that'll give you some pull"
Perhaps so,' says he
IF he won't come" I asks, "whatll
you do?"
He'll have to come" was all the
answer he made.
Even this little mite of talk meant
hollering your lungs loose. The wind
was rising all the time, the sea kept
the bay was wider. and the splashing
and banging was worse than a water
wheel working double watches. After
awhile l made Hartley set side of me,
so that, when / wanted anything,
could grab his arm.
This was after it got dark. And it
got dark early. Likewise it begun to
rain. The storm that we'd had for the
last few days seemed to be blowing
back over US. Seems as if it ought to
have rained and blown itself out by
this time, but we had proof that it
hadn't.
We want making scarcely anything
on our lacks. The Dora Bassett's
| good wind'ard boat, too, but she'd fall
off and fall off BY and by the dark
and rain got so thick that | couldn't
| see the shore lights, and I had to run
| by compass and guess. There want
| likely to be any other blame fools
afioat to run into us, still I gave Hart
ley A horn to blow in case there
| should be-
| Twas lucky I did. Along about u,
/ when we was somewheres. in the mid
die of the bay-off Sandy Bend I
should think-it seemed to me that /
| heard toot in answer to one of Hart
ley's. He heard it, too 1 guess, for he
commenced to blow hard and fast.
'Twan't much use, for anything that
/ heard a sound. And we only heard
that one, l judge, as the noise was
blown past us down the gale. We lis