The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-06-10
THE
ENTRIES IN
THE BOOK
Bv CHARLES GIBBS
10 by Short story Pub. Coz

Iron. $50 TO bed now,
Michael Coffin is abroad"
,nnocently perpetuate a name
fomous on the coast OF Massa-
ottc Ask them who Michael Coffin
and they will shake their heads.
nge this, too, for the hand OF
nd has painted certain shadows
kJichael's life with such emphasis,
no of all men, should have sur
a clearly in the popular mind.
rbael Coffin" however, has become
ore threat or danger signal.
Yen in his own day, Coffin was but
understood, and the harbormas-
of Caldron, who, by common con-
was endowed with more wisdom
other men, answered questions In
: hardly satisfying to those that
ID them. Indeed, when hard driv-
Dan yeeder would abruptly close
subject by an apt quotation: 1T
he glory Of God to conceal
e."
bruptness, however, gave Dan only
porary relief. Sooner or later,
IN red flag would be hoisted on
amasset, and would struggle in
breeze, like wild bird trying to
itself. Sooner or later, the storm
al on the island would be seen on
fe. and would, within an hour be-
|f e the only topic of conversation.
a was then that the same questions
th had been discussed and debated
nearly 20 years, again became liv-
issues in the town Of Caldron.
could Coffin know? BY what
hge power was he able to sense,
re all others, the approach of
hther"? Why should one possessed
bis all but miraculous gift shun the
ETY. of his fellowmen, and live in
lack between two hummocks on
zen island? Why did he not ex-
D his gift, spread it, and hand on
power, which in his own hands
worked so much of good?
= hese were the questions, but the
Eers to them remained unknown.
Zee, at least, men had essayed TO
e them, but something in Michael's
had warned one that he must new
Fy again; blow from his mighty
had silenced the other so COM
|ely that further details of the in
Flew never came to light. The mys
persisted, and Michael came to |
Hregarded as one in league with |
Der powers for the purpose of full |
pc some mission which it was not |
the ignorant to question or pry |
d neither he had come in response to
call of fate or not, the remarkable |
Yet that became known after the
Elk of the schooner Falcon off Point
sance, certainly showed that fate
had been at the helm of
hael's life, and had steered him
the channel which, of all others,
gished most to follow
nightfall, heavily laden cumuli
fatefully blackened until they
like a sentence Of death over the
Pc bay and sound. Veeder, whose
bal capacity rendered him, in "a
sure, responsible for what might
I'll in the harbor under his juris-
pon, did not sleep soundly that
Il. Instead he peered anxiously
Il of his bedroom window whenever
tfiaw spent itself against the side
MS house. Once or twice he
ned the west from his rear stoop
RE the wind struck him with the
OF flying solid. Now and again,
|sky was offset in all its virulence
orks of lightning that leaped like
hands of a pianist, and brought
titanic crashes that outranked
Pther noises of the night. At times,
Us less loud, but well known to
Ter, and infinitely more terrifying
the storm itself, could be distinct
eard in the caldron, sounds like
an cries. On nights like this, the
ipool seemed peopled with a mad
4, VINO had drugged their reason
howled In hideous discord. Often
many-tongued mob would subside
some one voice, overlapping all,
III invoke the rest to let loose with
next flaw, more fiendishly even
before.
en- said that the caldron talked"
indeed, it would have been more
frate had they said it bawled.
iracy of description, however,
III give no clew to these CHASTITY
Pus' Was Il the wind? Some an
eu yes, whereas others traced the
10 the bursting of huge bubbles
(air. The Portuguese had their
view of the matter. and believed
'he spirits of all who had ever =.
drowned in the whirlpool rose
Fhe surface whenever the caldrop
suihclently stirred. 1t is of no :
Fequehce now to inquire which of
H. stories was the most plausible,
II is Important to know that the
+ 'ney were invented to explain }
oewiidered and unnerved men I
III all their lives, had never be- u
known fear. v
was well after midnight when Il
was suddenly startled v
'he violent pounding at his door. II