Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-06-21
Dorothy Afloat in the Hen-coop.

easily frightened, whatever happen
| ed, and when the wind began to
howl and whistle, and the waves
began to tumble and toss, our little
girl didn't mind the uproar the least
bit.
"Of course we'll have to stay in
the cabin" she said to Uncle Henry
and the other passengers, "and
storm is over. For the Captain
says If we go on deck we may be
blown overheard"
No one wanted to risk such an
accident as that, you may be sure;
so all the passengers stayed hud-
died up in the dark cabin, listen
ing to the shrieking OF the storm and
the creaking of the masts and rig
ging and trying to keep from bump
ing into one another when the ship
tipped sidewise.
Dorothy had almost fallen asleep
when she was aroused with a start
to find that Uncle Henry was miss
ing. She couldn't imagine where
he had gone and as he was not very
strong she began to worry about
him, and to fear he might have
been careless enough to go on deck.
In that case he would be in great
danger unless he instantly came
down again.
The fact was that Uncle Henry
had gone to lie down in his little
sleeping birth. but Dorothy did not
know that. She only remembered
that Aunt EN- had cuationed her
to take good care of her uncle, so
at once she decided to go on deck
and hnd him. in spite of the fact
that the tempest was now worse
than ever, and the ship was plung-
ing In a dreadful manner. Indeed,
the little girl found it was as much
as she could do to mount the stairs
to the deck, and as soon as she
got there the wind struck her so
fiercely that it almost tore away the
skirts of her dress. Yet Dorothy
felt sort of joyous excitement in
defying the storm, and while she
held fast to the railing she ,peered
around through the gloom and
thought she saw the dim form OF
a man clinging to a mast not far
away from her. This might be
her uncle, so she called as loudly as
she could:
Uncle Henry! Uncle Henry!
But the wind screeched and
howled SO madly that she scarce
certainly failed to hear her, for he
did not move.
Dorothy decided she must 60 to
him; so she made a dash forward,
during lull in the storm, to where
a big square chicken-coop had been
lashed to the deck with ropes. She
reached this place in safety, but no
sooner had she seized fast hold OF
the s'ats of the big box in which
the chickens were kept than the
wind, as If enraged because the
little girl dared to resist its DOW
err. suddenly redoubled it's fury
with a scream like that of an angry
giant it tore away the ropes that
held the coop and lifted it high
into the air, with Dorothy still cling
ing to the Stats. Around and over
it whirled, this way and that and a
few moments later the chicken-coou
dropped far away into the sea- where
the big waves caught it and slid il
uphill to a foaming crest and then
down-hill into a deep valley, as IL
II were nothing more than a play.
thing to keep them amused.
Dorothy had a good ducking, YOU
may be sure. but she didn't lose her
presence of mind even for a second
She kept tight hold of the stout
Stats and as soon as she could get
the water out of her eyes she saw
that the wind had ripped the cover
from the coop, and the poor chick
ems were fiuttered away in every d.
rection. being blown by the wind
until they looked like feather dust
ers without handles. The bottom
of the coop was made of thick boards
10 Dorothy found she was clinging
to a sort of raft. with sides of Stats,
which adily bore up her weight
After coughing the water out of her
throat ana getting her breath again
she managed to climb over the stats
and stand upon the firm wooden