The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1916-03-02
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learned that young Fowler, superin-
tendent of the diving crew, had come
over from Hog island and was to be
one of his table mates. He contrived
to leave the dining room simultane-
ously with the other, and in the hotel
lobby touched the young fellow upon
the shoulder aud begged a few min
utes' private conversation.
by CAD, Mr.. Hazard!" Fowler ex-
claimed In tone that betrayed his
troubled mind, I'm glad to have some
body here with brains and experience,
for, believe me, I'm up against a hard
proposition. What ought to be the
easiest sort of job has from the be-
ginning been beset with the most un-
expected and amazing sort of difficult
ties" He lowered his voice and
glanced uneasily across his shoulder
Here's the truth of the matter,
though l wouldn't admit it to my men:
there's some sort of a monster-a
huge, hideous, frightful thing-that
lives down among the rocks off Pigeon
island"
Here, here, Fowler!-a sea serpent
in Lake Michigan?' Hazard interject-
ed.
The others sober mein did not
change. He pursued:
Il know it sounds ridiculous, alb
surd; I'd laugh at anybody who told
me the same thing; but after days of
seeing my mems suits ripped open,
their air tubes cut and hauling them
up fainting with terror, I went down
myself I saw it. I know what I'm
talking about"
ANYBODY live on Pigeon island?"
Yes. There's an old fisherman liv-
ing in a hut there. A fellows been
with him lately who got blown up
while blasting stumps; he's sight"
"Ah-h-h," breathed Hazard. "That
accounts for the doctor, then!"
eyes, believe ones been going over
there every day."
The detective rose to his feet. II
suppose you came over from Hog
island in some sort of craft?" said he.
"A catboat with two-horse kicker
Why"
Il want you to go with me over to
Pigeon island-tonight. And if there's
wind enough to maneuver your boat
We'll dispense with the kicker. Got a
gum"
81 should say! Catch me fooling
about this job without one!'
Some time after midnight Fowler
was guiding his companion over mar
row, rough, broken path that seemed
to Hazard to be all abrupt activities
and steep descents and interminable
zigzags that led nowhere.
At last the young man halted and
whispered:
careful now! The shack's not
more than fifty feet away"
It was dark and silent, and as far as
either could make out, untenanted. But
even as they watched and listened a
sound of movement came from within;
light suddenly shone through numer-
GUS chinks and cracks; and then Haz-
ard strobe boldly forward and ham
mered upon the flimsy door.
Instantly quiet fell. Hazard was
about to essay another knock when a
quavering voice within called: "That
you, Doc? Wait jest a minute and
I'll unbar the door,"
Something more than a minute it
was that the two were obliged to wait;
but at last the door was opened and
a stopped old man, holding aloft a
lantern, peered out at them. He
showed no surprise when he perceived
it was not the doctor, but ENORMOUSLY
told them he had no accommodations
for folks who didn't know any better
than to get themselves lost among the
islands. II got a sick man here" he
added, conclusively. Hes bad to-
night; Doc ought to be here now"
Through the doorway Hazard could
descry a meanly furnished single room
against the farther wall of which were
two hunks, one above the other. AS
the old man moved backward to close
the door the light from the lantern
shone full upon the lower of these.
Upon it was figure whose head and
face and hands-indeed, the arms to
the elboWs-were so swathed in ban
dages that, if it hadn't stirred Hazard
wouldn't have known it to be alive.
Hazard and Fowler retreated a con-
siderable distance along the path, then
at word from the detective they
crept noiselessly back and crouched
in the darkness, watching the hut. The
sole reward for their pains was a view
Of the lantern being extinguished and
stiffness again falling; a stiffness that
remained unbroken through more
than an hour of impatient waiting.
In the early morning hours, before
Mackinaw's telegraph office had
opened, Hazard sent a telegram to a
railway operator at the freight yards.
It was addressed to Miss Helen Bertel,
at Chicago, and bore this appeal:
! "Open season for sea serrents
Hurry up; the waters f1ne.-F. H."
| ".
Felix Hazards experience in a div.
Ing suit was SO uneventful that it need
not be enlarged upon. He saw no