Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1940-12-20
LETTER RECEIVED
FROM P. ISLANDS
Continued from page 81

Continued from page 81
Homer, grabbing the back of my belt.
"Going to get Dopey," shout back
(Dopey is tied under the kitchen
part of the house.)
"No, you're not" yells Homer, and
frantically and effectively pulls me
back and pushes me on my way.
When we come out from behind
the shelter of the house, the force
of the wind is terrific! I re-
member battling my way with both
arms like l was swimming. l stumble
once, but Homer has vice-like grip
on my belt. It was only across the
road to the Middleton door, however,
and we pound and shout until they
let us in. Nick Flittinghoff and Hunt
are there too. I am hustled into the
bedroom and given a change of cloth
ing. Homer has contrived to bring
his own change of clothing all wrap
ped in a bath towel. Whiskey looks
like a drowned rat. She managed
to follow US somehow. Hot coffee
and toast and jam are on the chow
bench. Nick and Hunt are wearing
ill-fitting clothes, too-some of Cam
Niddleton's. Water is dripping thru
the big window stills and coming thru
the louvres.
Homer wipes the steam off the
window and watches our house. Pref
ty soon he announces that the roof
had blown off the porch and sala. !
wall, "Oh, my nice new housed" and
everybody laughs. Then I begin wor-
rying about Dopey.
There is a banging at the door
and it is Cam and Homer who have
gone to get Mrs. Bates. She states
that her roof is gone and going too,
but that Ben, her husband, and the
servants are retrieving what they can
and taking it to the kitchen and the
back bedroom. Her house only cost
a thousand pesos or so. She is CIV
en- dry clothes and coffee.
Finally, I can't stand it any longer
and I give Homer's raincoat to Ho-
nesto and order him to bring Dopey.
And at "long last" wet monkey is
clutching my arm and making CRATE
full sounds, and Whiskey is trying to
climb into Homer's lap because there
is not a dry place on the floor where
she can lie down, and the general
managers wife is wrapped in blan-
ket on the settee. We all just sit
in the gloom and listen to the wind
and rain, except one man at least
who is always pacing the floor be-
cause there is nothing to do, can't
even see to read. It's certainly time
for Agathe Christie to plot a murder
mystery-1O Americans marooned in
. typhoon-lashed house atop a hill.
Plenty of atmosphere.
At nine o'clock we think the wind
is shifting little, but it is at II
o'clock that the big shift comes. We
had all moved over in far corner
around a big table and those who
wanted them were having whiskey
sodas and branded gingerales, or just
starting to, and the girl was bringing
in an armful of plates for an early
dinner, when the wind made big
and sudden turn and up went the roof
Of the porch. Now as I must've said
before, there's few things more dis
concerting than big slabs of galva-
nized iron being ripped off the roof
and what doesn't go off just stays be-
hind and flaps.
Tommy, aged 6, began to scream
and that sent Jeanne, aged A, off. All
in all, it was pretty noisy. But we
took it like they tell us the English
take an air raid alarm. Just went
on slipping, and closed in little
tighter on the corner. And I got
Whiskey and the monkey and the suit
case all together in case of an exit.
Finally the men decided that the rest
of the galvanized iron wasn't going
to blow off the sala and that we
might continue to sit in that corner
and eat dinner. The plates were call