The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1920-07-19
By n. LOUIS HAYsoLp.
SIT nat C)nA Three Point.
o,t ~ he barren Shoals,

yOQf opportunity Ieo neIe, CUB
yested Mary gently. re IS getting
| pld and the store vii! soon pc Ioo
INCH for him."
know" said Jim inpatient
4but he can always sell out.
Mary said no more, convinced
gt The futility Of argument. Why
Wouldn't Jim see that here In bis
Iold home town lay mis- biggest
|tchaace Of success?
For miles around W. Newton
y 6 sSon held the trace In groceries,
hard fare and dry goods, and .
md b growing trade II was, what
With the yearly increasing influx
il summer people VINO crowded
ne hotels and boarding houses
( ind cottages. THIS business 10
which jim now contributed part
nt the name and a few hours every
i morning, would eventually become
entirely his. Let him combine
GONE youthful energy with Lis
fathers reputation and there was
I.a gold mine IN 1t for him. But ac'
\ cofding to jim the Goddess Sue
cess had her temple only III the
4 city.
n.when the sail was over, Mary
fssi9hM IA she helped him fastel
the canvas covers, 1t was partly
with regret for happy days gone
By, partly with apprehension as
4 TO what the future held in store.
Three weeks later, as Mary
falked down North Barnstable's
finding, elmshaded Main street TO
M poStoftice. Jtm's father, fus''
hGoyer a window display OF can
4 iled cheese, beckoned ~ her iron
the Store.
Mary be said, after she had
followed him into the store. y
wertSou; 10 do something Tor me.
u 8 Whitlock, at the barnstable
house, Is Fostering me 10 aeaIh
10 sell out to hin-at q price moi
half what the business Is worth.
But I'm tempted to take him up.
It's MORE than | can manage alone
] and Jim Is planning 10 get out In
the fall. But II | thought Jim was
putting him up to 1t, I'd stick II
out til | pass In my checks. |
won't be bulldozed by JIM
How can l help you?:" asked
J Mary as the other paused.
This way" replied the man Gag
srly. .Find out, II you can, what
Jim knows about Il. haven't
mentioned II to him. II it's his
{ doings, / Il have nothing 10 do with
It. but II he doesn't know about II,
4 III Try and jack up the other TEL
lows offer q little, and close tns
, deal"
.I,l do what | can, Mr.. New.
ton, Mary agreed and a momen;
later left the store. She did not
relish the commission. Il meant
Arranging a meeting with Jim and
4ehe had not seen Jim since the
opening Of the hotel. That he had
goneTo several Of the hops with
Cynthia Whitlock she had gather.
ed from very reliable information,
IS source being none other than
cynthia's brother, Bert Whit.
lock who was trying to buy Jims
fathers store.
And it was through that very
same young man thar Mary's first
opportunity to see Jim came, when
be, invited her to 30 sailing with
bis sister Cynthia and himself on
the Nancy Ellen.
On the afternoon Of the sailing
party, as they stepped aboard the
sloop from the tender, Mary
( noticed with a queer little pang
that Cynthia went straight to the
helm. That had always been
Aarys place, and SO many times
y bad she steered that Jim often told
her she knew the channel better
Man he did, and called her tbs
5Nancy Ellen's first mate" Ey!'
IDENTITY she had lost her job.
It was on the return sail tha,
Jim said:
u envy you, Wh!tock, born and
brought up In the city-thats
whore opportunity lies"
Not always returned the other
pleasantly. y have found q very
GOOD opportunity decided else
,Wbert than IN the city. It ism,
~ Ne yet. I'm still negotiating
L I get it-well. I'm satisfied
/ supposed you knew Il. ] want To
Tiny your fathers"
sThe shoals! The shoals!" cried
Mary wildly.
jim leapei for the helm, Bul
before he could grasp the tillel
from Cynthia's hands the Nancy
Ellen struck, paused, Shivered
nom bow to stern, then slid on tc
The outer edge Of the Barrer
Shoals. Halt turned over, she wa
!, Transformed in an instant from
responsive, buoyant creature rid
Ing the waves TO a thing inert, the
plaything Of the swells which
broke over It.
"A Fortunately the day was fail
Ind the wind off shore. Otherwise
he would not have lasted unit
ms keepers Of the Narcross light
EWho had witnessed the wreck
t:e0uld launch their motor boa
I md hasten to the rescue. Wit
;oims difficulty the drenched girl
Wera.taken aboard. The men stay
"a manipulate the ropes witt
which the craft was eventual!
hauled off.
That night, Mary, a bit shaker
{. up and weak, sat in the coucl
hammock on her little veranda
bethsd in the fragrance Of honey
suckle. How strong Jim's arm
I shad felt about her, the secont
8 Sfter they struck! But had his &C
don meant anything, or had !
been Dluntarily, the result Of
siranSe impulse at the moment 0
I possi6le death? She wanted 4
dE51aEt from 1t the ultimate drol
b consolation. for now that sh
cculd report to Jim's father he
conviction that Jim was In no wa
responsible for the offer for tn
business. Jim's father would SCI
out and Jim would so to the city
Some one was coming In tn
gati Bert Whitlock, to see Il sh
~ gotten over the effects Of he
drowning? Mott was Jim
.oiickly he swung up the wal