The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1916-03-23
D. he Merciless
Waves
:. DWIGHT NORWOOD

L.
CO... he winter OF 1914. being as, N
during -. "A desiring to see something
England w I european war. crossed
Of the pa i FLANDERS. But when
ibe ea ,nsrs was not permitted g =. 80 g
] SGT u' sase Il conflict. Not caring 20
b tns s Immediately went to a hotel
Is = ne ssashore. intending 70 spen' Sss'
Z al days there :. 80 Tho chan
the we 'ss,ro out indefinitely toward
mel s'ls sssest was gloomy sight 70
tne VII md morning / heard a boom
ben0'u. :, sea but had no knowledge
y , Jsr i portended- During the uas s
q Wa ~ always booming on the land
iD 's,s and "a south Of me, and sometimes
n0ls .,a s family from the east. THESE
J I., saiss continually reminded me that
1850 y. surrounded by war ana its conse-
Qv sss !, Nm was the channel that most at
~ me- knew that out there
lss merchant crew was sailing IN
s'sv q being sent to the bottom OF
oaDs Ia HACK waters. Many -1b-
~ ., S crew was dreading lest their
- .ss, hecome entangled In the enor-
' 'u wire lets laid by the British
.ravlers to trap them.
l,na evening when there was misty
.,oon,Icht was tempted to go out and
M III the beach. ! was warmly
, S and enjoyed the icy air that
Nav against my cheeks So enjoyable
~ nv jaunt to me that ! walked for
i ho,,r toward the north, then was
.hout 10 turn and retrace my steps
when saw something denser than the
surrounding atmosphere a short dis
tapce ahead Of me.
stood watching 1t. A thin cloud
that had covered the moon passed from
4 face. giving slight increase of light
md revealed what seemed to me to be
4 knot Of men huddled together.
had once seen ship at sea about tc
founder. and these shadowy beings re
minded me Of its crew standing togeth
a. about mast, doubtless gaining some
sljQht comfort from one another while
waiting for the fatal plunge.
Curiosity led me to approach what
saw, and walked forward. Blu
somehow | got no nearer to them
though they gradually became less In
distinct for by keeping my eyes fixet
upon them they became individuals
though confused with one another
Their relative position was that of mel
discussing some momentous question
Nevertheless heard no sound, no
could discern any one OF them ad
dressing the rest.
Then 1t seemed to me that they wer
al looking toward me, but this wa
rather their position with reference {
one another, for had no evidence tina
they were facing me. Immediatel
after this they began to move ava
from me. | followed. and since di
not gain on them FASTENED my step
But the faster I walked the quicke
they receded. Sometimes it SCENE
that they we're tramping, sometime
that they were moving from me witt
out taking steps.
When at last ! saw them, or VIII,
they appeared to be, leave the beac
and move out on the surface Of Il
water began to suspect that som
thing was wrong with me. / swur
my arms, plnched myself, rubbed II
eyes The group remained in my '
slon till they had gone a few hundr,
yards from the shore. then stopped al
slowly settled down, 1t seemed, In
the water either this or they fad
before me; could not tell which.
This was the end of my dream, hi
mclnation or whatever 1t might be.
waited for some time, peering out
Wnere the men had disappeared, VIC
uerlng II they would return, but tn
ga not and | considered it high til
.nat ! went back to my hotel. Befo
uolng 50 ! noted the locality that
mlgnt know 1t again. There was a
ue stream Of running fresh water ii
Moved from lake or swamp a sh,
distance from the beach,.
me next morning after an ca,
breakfast started to go over my W,
u the night before. Soon after lei
ing the hotel found myself In an
lequented region. There was not
1vuse In sight. / walked to the rum
mao seen and knew that was VIII,
ny vision had disappeared. Turn
seaWard, | scanned the waters.
ues eDD tide. The waves were b
unuef a west wind. Presently. afte
wave had rolled over a certain poi
saw N the hollow 1t had left Sol
sulng that looked like the top OF
ss'ah steamers smokestack. Anot
wave passed over 1t, and when 1t |
LIVED on | saw the article again.
nao no glass, and the interval
sneen the waves was too brief to
e me to get a good view of it.
as 1 could judge, saw the tor
smoKestack of sunken vessel.
cohciuded to return to the hotel
spOIt what l had seen. made
luton ion OF my vision. After a 2
Ish. q talk and many assurances I