The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-05-04
Say. Var .d.liit 2
"y'pS- whaf is III ~


pcaed beiw:xi her and Cap'n Whit
taker that afternoon is responsible fOI
for his s,ayil away so. do you: You
know what he told me TO tell her
about her not comm here?
Asnph tidgeted with the wet cap.
Jaw. that amt nothin'." he STAN
mered-"that is. / hope it Amt ! did
say sometlin' to him that-but Phoebe
understands She's smart woman"
lyon haven't told them lnardin
house tattletales about the--Emmie
You go fetch me card Of matches
from the kitchen. won't you-of what's
been foand out about that Thomas
thing?'
Course amt. lint Peabody say
not to tell a soul I'll we was sure?
S'pose I'd tell Ike. ,.rah and Angie?
Nights well paint i; IN a sign and be
done with it. No. no. I've kept mum,
and you do the same. Well, must be
goin'. Hope to goodness we hear some
good news from Whit by tomorrer."
But when tomorrow came news Of
any kind was unobtainable. No trains
could get through. and the telephone
and telegraph wires were out of COM
mission owing to the great storm. Bay
port was buried under a white cOverlet
three feet thick on level. which
shone in the winter sun as If powdered
with diamond dust. The street shovel
ing brigade. meaning most of the ac-
tive male citizens. was busy with
plows and shovels. Simmons was de-
serted in the evening. for most Of the
regular habitues went to bed after sup
per tired out
Two days of this; then Gabe Lum-
ley, his depot wagon replaced by
sleigh, drove the painting Daniel into
the yard of the Cy Whitaker place.
Gabe was much excited. He had news
of importance to communicate and was
puffed up in consequence.
The wires all right again, Georgi-
anna" he said to the housekeeper, who
had hurried to the door to meet him.
"Fust message just come through.
Guess who it's for?'
stop your foolishness, Gabe Lum-
ley!'' ordered Miss Taylor. Hand
over that telegram this minute! Don't
you stop to talk! Hand it over"'
Gabe didn't intend to be "corked"
thus peremptorily.
Its pretty important news. Georgi-
anna" he declared. Kind Of bad
news too. think I'd ought to prepare
you for it sort of. When Cap'n Obed
Pepper died p
"Died For the land sakes! What
are you sayin'? Give me that. you
fool head! Give it to mev'
She snatched the telegram from him
and tore it open. 1t was not as bad as
it might have been, but it was bad
enough. Lawyer Peabody wired that
Captain Cyrus Whitaker was at his
home in Ostable sick in bed and threat
ened with pneumonia.
Captain Cy. hurrying homeward in
response to the attorneys former tele-
gram. had reached Boston the day of
the blizzard. He. had taken the train
for Bayport that afternoon. The train
had reached Ostable after 9 o'clock
that night. but could get no farther.
The captain, burning with fever and
torn by chills, had wallowed through
the drifts to his lawyers home and
collapsed on his doorstep. Now he WIS
very i'll and at times delirious.
For two weeks he lay, fighting off
the threatened attack Of pneumonia.
But he won the fight. and at last
word came to the anxious ones at
Bayport that he was past the danger
point and would pull through. There
was rejoicing at the Cy WHITAKER
place. The board Of strategy came and
performed an impromptu war dance
around the dining room table.
"Whe-e-e! shouted Bailey Bangs.
tossing Bos'n above his head. Your
Uncle Cy's weathered the Horn and is
bound for clear water now. Three
cheers for our side!, Won't we give
him a reception when we get him back
here"
Wont wer' crowed Asaph. We'll.
l just guess we will! You ought to
hear Angie and the rest of 'em chant
hymns Of glory about him. A body d
think they always knew he was the
salt of the earth. Maybe l don't rub
it in a little. hey? Oh. no. maybe
notv'
"And Heman!' chimed in Mr.. Bangs.
"And Heman. Would you ever believe
he'd change so all of sudden? Bully
old Whit! l can mention his name
now without Ketury's landin' on to
me like a snowslide. Vince! say
wh-e-e-e!"
He continued to say it. and Georgi-
anna and Asaph said what amounted
to the same thing. A change had come
over our Bayport social atmosphere. a
marvellous change. And at Simmons
and-more wonderful still-at Tad
Simpsons barber shop plans were
being made and perfected for proceed
ings In which Cyrus Whitaker was to
play the most prominent part.
Meanwhile the cOnvalescence went
on at a rapid rate. AS soon as he was
permitted to talk Captain Cy began
to question his lawyer. How about
the appeal? Had Atkins done any
thing further? The answers were sat