The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-06-25

DUCK eyes sparks. On, 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"
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 I. TITS crazy! We'd
never live"
But Martin Hartley was already half
way to the skif. or course he didn't
know the risk, and l did. %but-well,
there.
I'll 60" says I 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. TITS splen-
did! Well save the boy and Mr.. Hart
ley VIII Dc I'LL IlbuL Will HtT. I'll, III
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 her 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 l
want hung first.
had one reef in when the Dora Bas-
sett swung clear of the outside point
Of Ozone island cove. / hated to take
another, for l wanted to make time. But
/ had to take 1t afore we tackled at the
end of the first leg. Twas pretty nigh a
dead beat and the sloop was laying
over till / thought sure she'd fill. The
waves was as big, almost, as ever 1
see in the bay, and when one would
fetch us on the s%tarboard bow the big
gest half Of 1t 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.
had the tiller and Hartley was
for'ard in the cockpit. I was using the
mainsail altogether, although later on
l 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 I could see his face, it was
set and quiet. And in his eyes was the
look that I'd seer there once afore-
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 l remember it, something
like this:
81 know that DR.. Jordan" he says
II met him at Cambridge at a football
game. l 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" say he.
IF he won't come" l 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 wine
was rising all the time, the sea KEEP
getting more rugged as we got where
the bay was wider, and the splashint
and banging was worse than a water
wheel working double watches. Aftel
awhile l made Hartley set side of me
SO that, when 1 wanted anything,
could grab his arm.
|, This was after it got dark. And
got dark early. Likewise it begun t.
r rain. The storm that we'd had for tn,
( last few days seemed to be blowing
back over us. Seems as II it ought t
, have rained and blown itself out b,
! this time, but we had proof that 1
hadn't.
J. We want making scarcely anything
on our tacks. The Dora Bassett's
good wind'ard boat, too, but she'd fal
5 off and fall of. BY and by the darl
and rain got so thick that I couldn'
+ see the shore lights, and I had to rul
by compass and guess. There wan
likely to be any other blame fool
afloat to run into us, still I gave Har'
1 ley a horn to blow in case ther
8 should be.
t Twas lucky I did. Along about 1:
a when we was somewheres in the mid
die Of the baylor Sandy Bend,
s should think-it seemed to me that
heard a toot in answer to one Of Har
d ey's. He heard 1t, too. l guess, for h
commenced to blow hard and fas
$ 'Twan't much use, for anything tina
was to wind'ard Of us wouldn't hav
Q heard a sound. And we only hear
that one, I judge, as the noise wa
blown past us down the gale. We lii
tened and listened, but no more COM