The Republican journal., 1914-07-23


clambakes are good, but some clam
| bakes are better than others.
These congratulations filled my mind as
| embarked on the Nantasket steamboat
bound for Pemberton and still stayed by
me as | left the train at Allerton. l
turned down to the beach and immediate
| lv saw a numerous company gathered
around blazing fire. My invitation was
conditioned on the wind: they dare not
build beach fires when the wind is blow
ing from the east because flying spark
might kindle the row of finder. boxes
that front the waves and back against
the railway track. A timely telephone
message assured me in advance that the
wind was all right and as the fire was In
front of the pretty new cement cottage
of nv friend Newton, my president soul
told me that I had reached the right
spot, though there were several other
| fires blazing like beacons at various ols
tances along the beach. Enough cement
had been left over from stuccoing the
house to build stone fireplace as per-
petual altar to the god of the clans.
fond that l was the guest OF honor
(pernaps pronounced JEST and after
general introduction to the assembled
company, was seated in comfortable
armchair which, like throne, com,
manded the whole scene. Friendly and
hospitable hands brought me-this was
the menu!-clam-juic to drink, oh, the
intoxicating flavor, liquid happiness
then wooden or paper-pulp plate OF the
happy creatures themselves, happy to
sacrifice themselves for their more high
ly-evolved brothers and sisters, with
melted butter; all kinds of sandwiches,
huge ears of boiled corn, also corn to
roast on pointed sticks; life-preservers
and cheese-but perhaps the term, life
preserver," applied to large and succu-
lent doughnuts is not known to the read,
ers of the Transcript; it is a WORD OF
good and regular standing among all the
everyday ''mealers' at Bar Harbor-
enormous melons-see the appropriate
ness of the bill of fare: sandwiches tor
the sand, watermelons for the sea- COT
fee, bonbons and cigars.
Meantime night has come broodlng
over the world. The moon, like an lllum-
mated golden clock-face, with Jupiter as
it's pendulum, suggests the Hight OF tlme
but only to the children who have to go
to bed too early for their ambitions and
to me, hapless one, who have to catch
I lHS last UUdG DdCh " lllC Ivy. AhN 80
aggerated 'lightning-bugs" at the OPP
posite edges Of the horizon are winking
at each other-they are the flash lights
of the stately beacon that guards The
Graves, a will-o -the-wisp of flash, APP
propriately warning men of the ghosts
of dead ships that have been buried IN
these Graves, and at the right its sister
of Minot's Ledge. A great ocean-lner,
all ablaze with electricity, comes up a.
iestically and vanishes behind the head
, land of Hull-facilis descendsus Avernl,
which here means: easy is the descent to
: Hull. The long beach is strung with PIN
points of brilliancy ending in the distant
blaze of Paragon Park, from which now
begin to rise into the faint blue OF the
evening sky the ire-lines Of rockets
bursting into circles of various-colored
brilliancies outlined for a brief moment
and then vanishing like pretty thoughts
in a poets mind.
The sea purrs gently at our feet, like a
sleeping old lion, and the little wavelets
that do the purring break in graceful
curves of rudy melted gold where the
nearest fire throws Its reflection seaWard.
Four men bring out of the house a large
cubical box and carefully deposit 1t on
the sand: it is Victor Victrola with an
admirable charge of records. We have
tirst-class concert contributed by Calve,
Scott, Caruso-al the high-priced min
strels of the opera charming waltzes
and long programme of bigh-class
music 1t is easy to imagine that old
Poseidon just outside is giving orders to
his court. "rasten me, - he says, ''to
nv chariot, as the sailors once fastened
Odysseus to his mast, and stuff your own
ears with seawax, lest any of you be
tempted to crawl up on shore and perish
among those land sirens, and pay no heed
to me if kick and yell and struggle to
get free.
A dance was suggested and the Vic
trola was primed for the emergency; 1T
was quadriIle with the ''calls' distinct
ly pronounced by the spirit that hides in
that circlet. The four couples quickly
took their places. have seen smoother
floors but never gayer set or more
enthusiastic ring of spectators. During
the intervals there was gay talk. stories
were told, awful puns were exploded,
the red sparks, the young people f1ocked
together down the beach: the older ones
grew soberer-m etaphorically speaking
and began to feel the solemnity of the
night and the stars.
The small boys and girls had been col
lected by their stern parents and shooed
off to bed. The flamboyant bouquets of
parti-colored sparks had ceased to bloom
over Paragon Park, one automobile with
chance party which had joined US had
turned its headlights Bostonward. The
last OF the steamships had gone into
harbor or vanished down the horizon.
Only one other fire was still blazing on
the beach, and it reminded me of some
verses which came to me one summer
night as l came late to little picnic
party on our wilder and more lonely and
primitive beach at Ogunquit. l i'm
agined l was disembodied spirit wan
dering down the sands, and it sang itself
to me in weird and almost uncanny
melody.
| THE FIRE ON THE BEACH.
The Night inexorably spread
| Her sable curtain strange and dread
That shrouds the Living and the Dead