The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-08-23

| had been In them before.
Il The car shot forward like
mechanical animal, racing on ant
on through veritable wall O
rain.
4 But no matter how much speed
| Tommy forced into the rocking
lswaying roadster, the storm swept
| on past him. II roared into Miami
| smashed windows, slprooted trees
overturned automobiles and troll
Il ley cars, played horrible tricks on
humans an ID anim ais alike,
| crushed bungalows and bath
houses. And not content with this,
Hit rushed on along the beach,
blasting sand dunes, tearing up
i the Trailer palms, bending almost
| fiat the more sturdy ones, and
| flashing the ocean into black
and roaring rage. On and on,
| wailing, sobbing, whistling.
Terror
lE UELLA PELL was standing In
IL the living room of Tommy
lMcIntyre,s cottage, wild Re y d
with terror. She had pushed the
heavier pieces Of furniture against
the doors, and closed tight all the
windows. But it seemed useless.
| IT seemed to her that the wind
would blow In the windows as
though they were made OF tissue,
and sooner or later tear the doors
from their hinges.
Then, suddenly she heard new
noise. She uncovered her ears,
and listened, tense, curious. There
liz was againl A knocking. A
pounding at the door. And a voice
calling, high above the storm. oh.
| thank Sod, q voicel She ran for
ward, stumbling over a rug, strik-
| ing her knee against a chair.
AUST a minltel" she cried.
The door swung in as though 1t
had been blown open by blast of
dynamite. She staggered back,
gasping before the wind and rain
that beat upon her.
"Quick, give me a hand" some
one commanded.
Luella brushed the water from
her eyes.
TOMMY" she cried.
She ran to his side. She pushed,
struggled, helped aim to force the
door shut again. She helped him
re-pile the furniture against it.
And then, wet, bedraggled, she
turned to look up into the face Of
a Tommy who was even more wet
and bedraggled than she was.
ssLuella Luella," Tommy said
softly. Thank God, ] got hereF'
He reached out for her, drew her
unresisting into his arms. "You
poor little thing--here all alone"
Luella began to sob brokenly.
Its been going on for hours,
Tommy" she walled. tits been
terrible. I've seen two cottages
swept out to sea I've seem"
There, there" Tommy soothed.
He held her tight against him. un-
mindful of his water soaked
clothing. "Tommy's here with you
now
Tommy, lookp' Luella inter-
rupted sharply. water - coming
in under the door!'.
The cottage moved again, this
time with q sudden lurch as
though the foundation had given
away entirely. Tommy held Luz
ella closer for a moment. staring
fascinated at the water that crept
along the floor, toying with the
legs of a table, coming nearer
and nearer to Luella's heels.
Come onl" he said. We'll get
UP on the roof"
mo, Tommy, we'll
Tommy didn't wait for her to
| finish He picked her UP, carried
her out to the rear porch.
Its not so windy back here"
he said. raising his voice in or
der to be heard above the roar of
the wind and the rain and the
surf. Here. stand on the railing!"
he directed. Hold tight. while I
climb up"
Then. somehow, Tommy got her
up beside him upon the roof.
They sat huddled together. close
to a small dorrner window that
was some slight protection from
the storm sweeping in from the
ocean.
The cottage was now complete
| ly surrounded by water. 1t seemed
to be floating Those crawling fin-
gers of the angry sea, wet and
clutching. had found their prey.
Luella tried to smile. Tommy
when did you Henry last?"
Con Saturday" Tommy replied.
Slut let's not talk about him. He
and Marie have done enough to
you.
There was roar. 1t started in
the distance, grew and grew in
volume. 1t came near and nearer.
Tommy raised his head to look
over the ridge of the roof toward
the ocean. He saw a great wall
Of water sweeping toward them,
a wall of water that rose higher
and higher. He eroucked down
again, holding LueIla to him.
Darling" he called, ssno mat
ter what happens. always remem-
Der / love you--love YOU"
Please, Tommy, you mustn't. |"
said LleIla. Then she screamed
Tommy, Tommy. the cottageI It's
g0lng-it'S golngl j. Oh, Tom
my
There was crash. q great en-
gul6ng deluge Of water. Luella
closed her eyes. She felt herself
being lifted, being tossed far. far
out into space. And then dark
ness darkness that caught her,
pulled her down. down, down.
xn Be eonfanuea