Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-11-19

greater change. One morning while
sitting at his desk In his Office Mr..
Barrows was stricken with apoplexy
and died In a few days. Bess, while
she loved her adopted father, had look
ed forward to a day, after he had fin
ished his career, to her union with
John Baxter. She nov had a double
reason for wishing this union. She had
suddenly come into the possession of
a shipping business and believed-that
which she wished to believeEthat
Johns seafaring life would have fitted
him to manage 1t for her. John was
at sea at the time and was not expect
ed to return for several months.
Miss Andrews, after coming into pos
session of the business, appointed the
best man In it to manage it under her
direction, she going to the Office fire.
quently to overlook 1t. But, being a
practical woman with some head for
business, she soon perceived that her
manager was unequal to the task. She
longed for Johns return, firmly be-
lieving that, though he had not been
educated for the purpose, bis knowl-
edge of sea trading would be valuable.
Then came a disappointment News
came that the Petrol, which John on
sailing had been appointed to COM
mand, had peer wrecked In a storm on
the east coast of Africa and all hands
had been lost. The statement that all
had persisted was given on hazy au-
thority, and Miss Andrews hoped that
some of the crew, including the cap
tain, might have gained the shore In
safety. Africa at that time was a wild
country, and persons wrecked on Its
coast were liable either to be MUIR
dered or made slaves. Miss Andrews
fitted out a ship, made n of her I'M
cle's most trusted captains master and
sent him to look for any members of
the lost crew that might have been
saved from the wreck. She would
have gone with the expedition, but at
this time she was trying to supply her
uncle's place in the management of the
business.
The Last Hope-such was the name
Miss Andrews gave the rescue vessel
sailed for the coast of Africa on the
10th of September. The last words
she spoke to its master were:
Captain, I'll give you 500 for ev-
cry seaman you bring back, 5000 for
each officer and $1,000 for the captain.
And if you will bring them in time for
Thanksgiving I'll add $1,000"
'Il do the best / can, In any event."
replied the captain, and, weighing an
Choir, he sailed.
There were no wireless messages In
those days, and the Last Hope was not
heard from except on being spoken by
an incoming ship on the way out. A
month passed and she did not return.
Six weeks more went by, and since
nothing was heard from her 1t began
to look as if the Last Hope had failed.
The day before Thanksgiving Eliza
beth Andrews had given up any hope
she had cherished of having Captain
Baxter with her for the anniversary.
She shut herself up In her home, In
tending to pass the day without max
ing any effort to observe the usual
festivities, but being alone was 80 try
ing that she determined to go to her
Office and find relief In occupation.
She had not been there long when
she received a telegram, Last Hope
signaled." Then followed three hours
Of suspense. Had the mission been
successful? If so was Captain Bax-
ter among those who would return on
the incoming vessel? She tried to think
that she was as interested In the 9TH
ers' safety as in his, but she knew In her
heart that she was not. She swayed
between believing that she would meet
her lover again and that she would not.
The latter filed her with despair, the
former made her Jingle to the tips of
her fingers.
1t would be some time before the
vessel would reach the dock, and part
of this time she could get away with
by making her preparations to go to
meet the ship, and a part she would
spend on the way. Her Impotence to
know what had peer accomplished led
her to start to the dock so early that
she was obliged to wait there an hour,
and this vas the longest hour of all
and filed with flashes of hope and
despair.
When the ship came in and was
swung around there on the upper deck.
J standing beside her master was a fig
ure which Miss Andrews eager eyes
recognized for John Baxter. He saw
her, and smiling, waved to her.
These two who were eager to come
together were kept separate for awhile
longer by a gap of water some of the
time not twenty feet wide. The ship
was at last locked. and as 500 as the
gangplank was u out Captain Bax-
ter, for whom all the others gave way,
descended and was met on the dock
by the girl who had been instrumental
In bringing him and others of his crew
home. Notwithstanding those looking
ON, the couple were locked in an en-
brace, after which Miss Andrews well