Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1909-08-19

DrOWS.
a mile to westward, three or more
ahead, he could see the hrigantine
standing close in under the Essex
shore. At times she was invisible.
Again he could catch merely the CLINT
Of her canvas. white against the dark
gloom Of the l%ittoral, toned by a mist
of flying spindrift. lie strained his
eyes, watching for the chance which
would take place in the rake of her
masts and sails when she should come
about.
For the longer that maneuver was
deferred the better was his chance of
attaining his object. 1t was a for
lorn hope. Bat in time the brigan-
tine, to escape Maplin sands, would
be forced to tack and stand out past
the lightship, the wind off her port
bows. Then their courses would in
tersect. 1t remained to be demon
strated whether the catboat was
speedy enough to arrive at this point
Of contact in advance of or stimuli
taneously with the larger vessel.
lie watched the catboat anXiously,
quick to approve her merits as she
displayed them. He had sailed small
craft bcfore-frail c~enterboard cat
boats, handy and swift, built to serve
in summer winds nj protected Wa
tiers, never such Il one as this. Yet he
liked her.
Offshore, too, the wind stormed with
added strength or possibly had fresh
ened. For minutes on end the lee
ward gunwales would run green, and
now and again the screaming, pelting
squalls tilat secured the estuary
would heel her over until the water
caScadcd in ovcr the lee combin@. and
the rudder. lifted clear, would hang
die until, Smitten by some racing bill
low. the filler would be all but torn
from Nirkwood's hands. Again and
again this happened, and those We're
times of trembling. But always the
catboat ri%htod. shaking the ~clingin@
waters from her and swinging her
stem into tho wind again. and there
would follow an abbreviated breath
ing spell, during which EirNwocd was
ut liberty ia dash the salt spray from
his eyes AND search the wind lHrricd
waste fox TIE h|ri@antine. Sometimes
he found hcr. sometimes not.
Lons after he bad expected her TO
she Wont abaat, ard thcy began to
close In l9faN @3ell other lie coqII
see tls5 cvon VITA shortened canvas
she vas s.a&ger!aG drual5cnly uader
the 1ioH impacts OF the wind. For
himsctf. it was nip and tack now, and
no man in his normal sense would
have risied a siXpence on the boats
chance to live until she crossed the
b%rigantinc's bows.
Tim" ont OF reckoning he was forced
to kMcel in the swimming cockpit,
steering with II hand, using the bail
ing dish With the other and keeping
his eyes religious!y turned to the belly
ing patch OF sail. 1t was heartbreak-
ing toll. He began reluctantly to con
cede that 1t could not last much longer
And if he missed the b%rigantine he
would be lost.
Long since he had become numb
with cold from incessant drenchings
Of icy spray that piled in over the
WindWard counter, keeping the bottom
ankle deep regardless Of his laborious
but intermittent efforts with the bail
ing dish. And the two, brigantine and
cockleshell, were drawing together
with appalling d~eliberation.
But that his voice stuck in his
parched throat he could have shouted
In his citation when eventually he
gained the point of intersection an
eighth of q mile ahead of the brigan-
tine and got sight of her windward
freeboard as most slowly the catboat
forged across her course.
For all that, the moment of his &C.
tual triumph was not yet. He had still
to carry off successfully a scheme that
for sheer audacity Of conception and
contempt for danger transcribed all
that had gone before.
Holding the catboat on for a time,
he brought her about handsomely a
little way beyond the brigantine's
course and hung in the eye Of the
"AhN' ~ ASoIu u anu tl0lCeD-
ing with reports like rifle shots and
the water sloshing about his calves
battling dish now altogether out Of
mind-while he watched the oncomine
vessel, his eyes glistening with antici-
patton.
She was footing it s,nartly. the brig
antlne. lying down to it and snoring
into the wind. Beneath her stem
waves broke in snow white showers.
whittier than the canvas OF her bulginn
~,iib-broke and, ~gnashing their teeth in
impoient fury, swirled and eddied
down her sleek dark tanks. Bobbinr.
co~urtesying, she plunged onward,
shortening the interval with mighty.
leaping bounds. On her bows With
each instant the golden letters of her
name grew larger and more legible
until-Alethea-he could read it plain
beyond dispute.
Joy welled in his heart. He forgot
all that he had undergone in the pros
pect of what he proposed still to do in
the name of the only woman the world