Licking Valley courier., 1922-06-01


cred, became mOnstrous missiles hurt. !
ing forward, sidewise, aslant, recoil-
ng. Yet men, though scattered slngly. !
ried to stay them by ropes and chains |
while the water washed higher and |
higher Dimly, far away. deafened out
~ the clangor the steam whistle of |
Number 25 was blowing the four long
blasts Of distress; Alan heard the
sound now and then with Indifferent
wonder. All destruction had come for
lim to be contained within this cal
leck here the ship loosed on itself all
elements Of annihilation who could
aid 1t from Without Alan caught the
end Of II chain which COrvet flung him
md, though he knew 1t was useless,
ne carried 1t across from one stanchiOn
% the next. Something, sweeping
tcross the deck. caught him and cdr
rled him with 1t; 1t brought him be-
tore the coupled line Of trucks which
hurtled back and forth where the rails
Of track three had been. He was
hurled before them and rolled over;
something cold and heavy pinned him
down; and upon him, the car trucks
came.
But. before them, something warm
and livlng-a hand and bare arm
him quickly and pulling at
him, tugged him a little farther on.
Alan, looking up, saw Corvet beside
him; COrvet, unable to move him
farther, was crouching down there
with him. Alan yelled to him to leap,
to twist aside and get out Of the way;
but Corvet only crOuched closer and
put his arms over Alan; then the
wreckage came upon them, driving
them apart. AS the movement stopped,
Alan still could see Corvet dimly by
the glow of the incandescent lamps
overhead; the truck separated them.
II bore down upon Alan, holding him
and. on the other side, 1t
crushed upon Corvet's legs.
He turned over, as far as he could,
and spoke to Alan. "YOu have been
saving me, so now tried to save yOu,"
he said simply. "What reason did you
have for doing thatf Why have you
been keeping by me"
"rm Alan Conrad of Blue Rapids.
Kansas" Alan cried to him. "And
you're Benjamin Corvetl You know
me; you sent for mel Why did you
do thatT
Corvet made no reply to this. Alan.
peering at him underneath the truck,
could see that his hands were pressed
against his face and that his body
shook. Whether this was from some
new physical pain from the movement
Of the wreckage. Alan did not know
till he lowered his hands after a mo-
ment; and now he did not heed Alan
or seem even to be aware Of him.
"Dear little Connie !" he said aloud.
Dear little Connie She mustn't
marry him-not hlml That must be
seen to. What shall ! do. what shall
I doq
Alan worked nearer him. "Why
mustn't she marry himi' he cried to
Corvet. "Why7 Ben Corvet, tell mel
Tell me whyp
"Who are your" Coryet seemed only
with an effort to become conscious Of
Aan's presence.
"rm Alan Conrad, whom you used
to take care Of. I'm from Blue Rap
Ids. You know about me; are you my
father, Ben Corvetl Are YOU my fa-
ther or what-what are you to meT
"Your father2" Corvet repeated.
Did he tell you thatf He killed your
father"
"Killed himi Killed him, howf"
"Of course. He killed them all-all.
But your father-he shot him; he shot
him through the head"
Alan twinged. Sight Of Spearman
came before him as he had first seen
Spearman. covering In Corvet's IL
brary In terror at an apparition. "And
the bullet hole above the eyer So
that was the hole made by the shot
Spearman fred which had killed
Alan's father-which shot him through
the headl Alan peered at Corvet and
called to him.
Father Benitot" Corvet called in
response, not directly In reply to
Alan's question, rather In response to
what those questions stirred. "Father
BenitotW
Some one. drawn by the cry, was
moving wreckage near them. A hand
and arm with a torn sleeve showed
Alan could not see the rest Of the fig
ure. but by the sleeve he recognized
that It was the mate.
"who's caught herer he called
down.
benjamin Corvet Of Corvet, Sher
rlll and Spearman, ship owners Of Chi
cago," Corvet's voice replied deeply
fully; there was authority In II ant
wonder too-the wonder of man find
Ing himself In situation which hi
recollection cannot explain.
"Ben Corvet" the mate shouted Il
surprise; he cried II to the Others
those who had followed Corvet an
oheyed him during the hour before an
had not known why, The mate tried I
pull the wreckage aside and make hi
way to Corvet but the old man stoppe
him. "The priest, Father Benltot
Send him to me. shall never leay
here; send Father BenitotW
The word was passed without III
mate moving away. The mate, after
minute made no further attempt
free Corvet; that indeed was useles
and Corvet demanded his right Of sa
rnment from the priest who came M
crouched under the wreckage beslt
him.
"Father Benitot"
~ nm not Futher Benitot. ! am #
ther Perron OF L'Anse."
ut was to Father Benltot OF st. |
mace | should have zone, Father i