Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1912-08-29
CHAPTER VI.
In Which Captain Nat Picks Up a
DerolIct,

W WHICH SeptA,n NaI ptcko I'd q
Derellct.
It Is probable that John Ellsry new
Or fully realised the debt Of gratitude
he owed to the fog and the squall and
10 Captain Nat Hammond. Trumet, a.
ways hungry for sensation. would
hsve thoroughly enjoyed arguing and
quarreling over the minister's VISIT to
the Gomez Outer meeting. and, during
the fracas, Kssiah's parson might have
been moro or less battered. But Cap
tain Mats brilliant plotting Of the old
packet was bit Of seamanship which
every man and woman on that foam.
bordered stretch Of sand could under
stand and appreciate, and the minis
tsr's ind1scretton was all but forgotten
In consequence. The DAILY Advertis-
srs" gloated over 1t, Of course, and
Captain Elkanah brought 1t up at the
meeting Of the parish committee, but
there Captain Zeb Mayo championed
the young mans course and pro-
claimed that. fur's he was concerned,
he was for Mr.. Ellery more'n ever. "A
young greenhorn with the spunk to
cruise stnglehanded right into the mid
die Of the Come-Outer school and give
an old bull whale like Eben the gaff
10 the man for my money" declared
Zebedee. Most Of his fellow.commit-
tee agreed with him. mot guilty, but
don't do 1t again." was the general
vsrdict.
Keziah watched anxiously for hint
concerning her parsons walk In the
rain with Grace, but she heard moth
ing, 80 congratulated herself that the
secret had been kept The tide at Tru-
met. on the bay side. goes out for a
long way. leaving uncovered a mile
and half Of fats, bare and sandy, or
carpeted with sea eed. Between these
flats are the channels. varying at low
water from two to four feet In depth,
but deepening rapidly as the tide flows.
The best time to visit the flats-tide
serving, of course-is the early morn
Ing at sunrise. Then there is an inspi-
ration In the wide expanse, snap and
tang and Joy in the air Ellery had
made up his mind to take before
breakfast tramp to the outer bar and
80 arose at five. tucked a borrowed
pair Of flsherman's boots beneath his
arm, and. without saying anything to
his housekeeper. walked down the
lawn behind the parsonage. climbed
the rail fence. and "cut across lots" to
the pine grove on the blun. There he
removed his shoes, put on the boots,
wallowed through the mealy yellow
sand forming the slope of the bluff,
and came out on the white beach and
the inner edge Of the flats. Then he
splashed on, bound out to where the
nsh weirs stood, like webby fences, in
tho distance.
A cart. drawn by = plodding horse
and with single individual on its
high seat. was moving out from be-
hind the breakwater Some fisherman
driving out his weir, probably. The
minister had been on the bar con-
siderable time before he began to
think Of returning to the shore. He
was hungry, but was enjoying himself
too we'll to mind. The fats were all
his that morning. Only the cart and
Ats driver were in sight and they were
half mile of. He looked at his watch;
sighed, and reluctantly started to walk
toward the town; he mustn' keep Mrs.
Cofhn's breakfast waiting too long.
The, first channel he came to was
considerably deeper than when he
forded 1t on the way out. He noticed
this, but only vaguely. The next, how.
ever, was so deep that the water
splashed in at the top of one of his
boots. He did notice that, because
though he was not wearing his best
clothes, he was not anxious to wet
his other ones" The extent Of his
wardrobe was in keeping with the size
of his salary.
And the third channel was SO wide
and deep that he saw at once it could
not be forded, unless he was willing
10 plunge above his waist.
He hurried along the edge. looking