The Tomahawk., 1925-06-11
THE
ENTRIES IN
THE BOOK
% by Short Story Pub. Coz
BY CHARLES GIBBS

they innocently perpetuate name
once famous on the coast Of Massa-
chusetts. Ask them who Michael Coffin
was, and they will shake their heads.
Strange this, too, for the hand of
legend has painted certain shadows
Of Michael's life with such emphasis,
that he, of all men, should have sur
vived clearly in the popular mind.
Michael Coffin" however, has become
a mere threat, or danger signal.
Even in his own day, Coffin was but
little understood, and the harbormas-
ter Of Caldron, who, by common con-
sent was endowed with more wisdom
than other men, answered questions in
ways hardly satisfying to those that
asked them. Indeed, when hard driv-
en-, Dan Veeder would abruptly close
the subject by an apt quotation: 1T
Is the glory of God to conceal a
thing"
Abruptness, however, gave Dan only
temporary relief. Sooner or later, a
small red flag would be hoisted on
Nonamasset, and would struggle in
the breeze, like wild bird trying to
free itself. Sooner or later, the storm
signal on the island would be seen on
shore, and would, within an hour, be-
come the only topic of conversation.
1t was then that the same questions
which had been discussed and debated
for nearly 20 years, again became liv-
Ing issues In the town of Caldron.
How could Coffin know? BY what
strange power was he able to sense,
before all others, the approach of
weather? Why should one possessed
of this all but miraculous gift shun the
society Of his fellowmen, and live in
shack between two hummocks on a
barren island? Why did he not ex-
plain his gift, spread it, and hand on
the power, which in his own hands
had worked so much of good?
These were the questions, but the
answers to them remained unknown.
Twice, at least, men had essayed to
force them, but something in Michael's
eye had warned one that he must new
er try again; blow from his mighty
fist had silenced the other so COM
pletely that further details of the in
terview never came to light. The mys-
terry persisted, and Michael came to
be regarded as one in league with
higher powers for the purpose of full
filling some mission which it was not
for the ignorant to question or pry
into
Whether he had come in response to
the call Of fate or not, the remarkable
secret that became known after the
wreck of the schooner Falcon off Point
Pensance, certainly showed that fate
itself had been at the helm of
Michael's life, and had steered him
into the channel which, of all others,
he wished most to follow.
BY nightfall, heavily laden cumuli
had fatefully blackened until they
hung like sentence of death over the
entire bay and sound. Veeder, whose
official capacity rendered him, in q
measure, responsible for what might
befall in the harbor under his juris-
dictiOn, did not sleep soundly that
night. Instead he peered anxiously
out of his bedroom window whenever
a catflaw spent itself against the side
Of his house. Once or twice he
scanned the west from his rear stoop
where the wind struck him with the
force of flying solid. Now and again,
the sky was offset in all its virulence
by forks of lightning that leaped like
the hands of pianist, and brought
forth titanic crashes that outranked
all other noises of the night. At times,
sounds less loud, but we'll known to
Veeder, and infinitely more terrifying
than the storm itself, could be distinct
ly heard in the caldron, sounds like
human cries. On nights like this, the
whirlpool seemed peopled with q mad
crew, who had drugged their reason
and howled in hideous discord. Often
the many-tongued mob would subside
while some one voice, overlapping all,
would invoke the rest to let loose with
the next flaw, more fendishly even
than before.
Men said that the caldron talked"
but, indeed, it would have been more
accurate had they said 1t bawled.
Accuracy Of description, however,
could give no clew to these CHASTITY
sounds. Was it the wind? Some an
swered yes, whereas others traced the
talk to the bursting of huge bubbles
of air. The Portuguese had their
own view Of the matter, and believed
that the spirits Of all who had ever
been drowned in the whirlpool rose
to the surface whenever the caldron
was sufficiently stirred. 1t Is Of no
consequence now to inquire which Of
these stories was the most plausible,
but it Is important to know that the
thing they were invented to explain
had bewildered and unnerved men
who, in all their lives, had never be-
fore known fear
1t was well after midnight when
the harbormaster was suddenly startled
by the violent pounding at his door,
and as he opened it, man, wet, pant
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