Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1917-10-13
>. OCTOBER 10, 1917
BIG TIM Der
Continued from Sixth Page.


there's any occasion to worry. Ho
with them constables that went up last
night. How's Charlie Bcnton2"
She told him briefly.
"Thnts good" said Lefty. "Now, I'd
go around to Cougar bay If was you,
Mrs. Jack Hos liable to come In there
any time. You could stay ut the house
tonight. Everything around there,
shacks and I'LL, was burned days ago, SO
tho fire can't touch the house. Tho
crew there has grub and cook I
kinda expect Jackll be there unless ho
fell In with them constablcs."
She trudgcd silently back to the Wa.
terbug. Barlow started tho engine, and
tho boat took up her slow way. AS
they skirtcl the shore Stella began to
sec here and there the fierce havoc Of
tho fire. Black trunks of fir reared
markedly to the smoky sky, lay crisscross
on bank and beach. Nowhere wns there
green blade, n living bush-nothing
but charred black melancholy waste
OF smoking litter, with here and there
pitch soaked stub still waving its
banner of flame or glowing rcdly. Back
or those scared skeletons q shifting
cloud Of smoke obscured everything.
Presently they drew In to Cougar bay
Men moved about on tho beach; two
bulky scows stood nose-on to tho shore
Upon them rested half dozen donkey
engines, thick bcllied, upright machines,
clown down. dead OH their skids. About
these In great coils lay piled tho gear
Of logging, miles OF steel cable, blocks,
the varied tools of the loggcr's trade.
The Panther lay between tho scows,
with lines from each passed over her
towing bits.
Stella could sec tho outline of the
white bungalow on its grassy knoll.
They had saved only that, Of oil the
camp. by fight that sent three men
to tho hospital OH day when tho wind
Shifted into the northwest and sent a
sheet of flame rolling through tho tim.
Der and down ON Cougar bay like Il
tidal wave, so Barlow told her. He
cupped his hands now and called to his
fellows on the beach
No, Fyfc had not como back yet.
go up to tho mouth Of Tumbling
creek" Stella ordered.
swung tho Watnrbug about,
cleared tho Scfnt anu stood up along
tho shore. Stella sat on cushioned
seat ut the bnck of tho pilothousc hard
eyed. struggling against that dead
weight that seemed to grow and grow
In her breast. That elemental fury
raging In tho woods made her shrink.
Her own baud had helped to loose 1t,
but her hands were powerless to stay
1t; she could only sit and watch and
wait, eaten up with misery of her own
making. She was horribly afraid, with
a fear she would not namo to her.
self.
Behind That density of atmosphere
tho sun had gone to rest The first
shadows of dusk were closing In, be-
tokened by thickcning of the smoke
fog into which the Watcrbug slowly
plowcd. To port dimming shore line;
to starboard, aft and dead ahead, water
and air merged In two boat lengths.
Barlow leaned through the pilothouse
window, one hand on the wheel, strain
Ing his eyes on their course. Suddenly
he threw out the clutch, shut down his
throttle control with one hand and
yanked with tho other at the cord
which loosed the Watcrbug's shrill
whistle.
Dead ahead, almost upon them, came
an answering toot.
II thought heard q gas boat" Bar
low exclaimed. "Sufferin' Jerusaleml
Hi, there!"
He threw his weight on the wheel,
sending 1t hard over. The cruiser still
had way Oh. The momentum of her
ten ton weight scarcely had slackened,
and she answered the helm. Out Of
tho deceptive thickness ahead doomed
the sharp, fiaring bow Of another forty
footer, shecring quickly as her pilot
Sighted them. She was upon them and
abreast and gone, with whtery purl
Of her bow wave, subdued mutter of
exhaust, passing so near that IN active
man could have leaped the space be.
tween.
"Suferin' Jerusalcm! Barlow repeat.
ed, turning to Stella. did you SEQ
that, Mrs Jack7 They got him."
Stella nodded. She, too, had seen
Monohan seated on tho afterdeck, his
head sunk Oh his breast, irons on his
wrists. A glimpse, no more.
"Thatll help somc," Barlow grunted.
"Quick work. But they come blame
near cuttin' us down, bcltin' along ut
ten knots when you can't SEQ forty
feet ahead"
An empty beach greeted them at
Tumbling creek. Reluctantly Stella
babe Barlow turn back. 1t would soon
DO dark, and Barlow said he would
be taking chances OF piling on the
shore before he could SEQ it or getting
lost in the profound black that would
shut down on the water with daylights
end.
But by luck Barlow made his way.
laundering fairly into the landing at
tho foot Of the path that led to tho
bungalow as If the cruiser knew the
way to her old berth. And rs he reach
cd tho float the front windows on the
hillock broke out yellow, pale blurs In