Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1920-07-15

VI Two uhyS i luT1lCu IL over III my
mind, and ON the third there came
something which first brought my res
olutions to a head and then blew them
all to nothing, like a puff Of smoke
in the wind.
I had strolled out in the afternoon
with Cousin Edie and Rob, until we
found ourselves on the brow of the
slope which dips away down to the
beach. I pulled an armful Of bracken
to make a couch for Edie, and there
she lay in her listless fashion, happy
and contented, for of all folk that I
have ever met she had the most Joy
from warmth and light.
There was a ship coming up with
the wind-a black, sedate old mer-
chantman-bound for Leith as likely
as not. Her yards were square and
she was running with all sail set. On.
the other tack, coming from the north
east, were two great, ugly, lugger-like
craft, with n high mast each, and a
big, square, brown sail. A prettier
sight n would not wish than to see
the three craft dipping along upon so
fair a day, but of a sudden there came
a squirt of flame and a whirl of blue
smoke from n lugger, then the same
from the second, and a %rap-rap-rap
from the ship. In q twinkling hell had
elbowed out heaven, and there on the
water was hatred and savagery and
the lust for blood.
We had sprung to our feet at the
outburst and Eide put her hand, all in
a tremble, upon my arm. a#
"They are fighting, jack" she cried.
"What are they? Who are they?"
My heart was %thudding with the
guns, and it was all that 1 could do
to answer her for the catch of my
breath.
cts two French privateers. Edie,"
said /. "Chasse-marees, they call
them, and yon's d of our merchant
ships, and they'll take her as sure as
death, for the major says that they've
always got heavy guns, ard are as full
of men as an eggs full of meat. Why
doesn't the fool make back for Tweed
mouth bar?"
But not an inch of canvas did she
lower, f1oundering on in her stolid
fashion. while a little black ball ran
up her peak and the rare old flag
streamed suddenly out from the hal
lizard. Then again came the rap-rap-
rap of her little guns and the boom
boom of the big ~carronades in the
bows of the lugger. An instant later
the three ships met, and the merchant
man staggered on like a stag with two
wolves hanging to it's launches. For
a stricken hour the hell-cloud moved
slowly acros the face of the water,
and still, with our hearts in our
mouths, we watched the flap of the
nag, stra1ning to see If it were yet
there. And then suddenly the ship,
as proud and black and high as ever,
shot on upon her way, and as the
smoke cleared we saw one of the lug
gers squattering like a broken-winged
duck upon the water, and the other
working hard to get the crew from
her before she sank.
For all that hour I had lived for
nothing but the fight. My cap had
been whisked away by the wind, but
l had never given it a thought. Now,
with my heart full, I turned upon
Cousin Edie, and the sight Of her took
ME back six years. There was the
vacant, staring eye and the parted lips,
just as I had seen them in her girl
hood, and her little hands were
clenched until the knuckles cleaned
like ivory.
"Ah, that captain J" she said, talking
to the heath and the whin bushes,
There Is a man-so strong, so reso.
lutte! | would give a year Of my life
to meet such a man. But that is what
living in the country means. One
never sees anybody but just those who
are fit for nothing better"
/ do not know that she meant to
hurt me, though she was never very
backward at that; but, whatever her
intention, her words seemed to strike
straight upon a naked nerve.
Very well, Cousin Edie,' I said, try.
ing to speak calmly. "That puts the
car, on it. I'll take the bounty in Der
wick tonight"
"Oh, you'd look so handsome in a
red coat, Jack, and it improves you
vastly when you are in a temper. ]
wish your eyes would always flash like
that, for it looks so nice and manly
But | am sure that you are joking
about the soldering"
I'll let you see if I'm Joking Then
and there I set off running over the
moor, until I burst into the kitchen
where my father and mother were sit
ting on either side of the ingle.
Mother" I cried, "Im off for a
soldier"
Had I said that I was Off for a bur.
glar they could not have looked worse
over it. for in those days among the
decent, canny country folks it was
mostly the black sheep that were
herded by the sergeant. But, my word,
those same black sheep did their coun-
try some rare service, too! My mother
put up her mittens to her eyes, and
my father looked as black as a peat
hole.
4 HF..-- tL -EFI &AhEl A<EE