The midland journal., 1946-08-30
TREA = I'D II Z
or THE SEA
BY esszs & MM wND. xstSass
wN.u. skass

When Rose appeared again he
told her of his belief, and she
agreed with him.
"You haven't such a thing as a
searchlight aboard, I suppose?" ne
queried.
mo-" she smiled, "schooners are
not usually equipped with such mod
ern improvements"
WELL" glancing up at the sky,
"it's going to be moonlight until
one or two o'clock. After that 1t
will be black as ink. Until then !
think we're safe"
''Then we'd better take turns
resting" she replied practically.
'I'll take the first watch"
But Dick was in no mood to sleep.
He urged her to rest, pleading that
he could stay awake all night with
out discomfort; but she was obdu-
rate, refusing to rest unless he
promised to do the same.
Their long vigil began the mo-
ment the sun set and the shadows OF
night began creeping across the
ocean. Twilight was succeeded by
intense darkness, which brought
them to alert watchfulness. This
lasted for half an hour until the
moon came up and dispelled the
gloom. It cast a broad path of
white light that revealed every OBJ
ject almost as clearly as in the day
time. The lugger lay directly in
this broad streak of light, enabling
them to see all that took place
aboard. It was better than search
light.
eff it would only last until morn
ing" Dick remarked, "we wouldn't
have much to fear in the way of
surprise"
At first they talked intermittently
of practical matters, exchanging
views of what they should do in
certain contingencies, and then hav-
ing exhausted all possible methods
of attack and counterattack they
lapsed into silence. For nearly an
hour they watched and waited with
out talking, but the moonlight and
the balmy witching air tingled
through their nerves. Dick became
conscious Of pleasant sensation in
watching and waiting, with her
close by his side. Once or twice
he glanced in her direction, and
their eyes met an instant. They
smiled and returned to their silent
vigilance.
"You're a plucky girl" he re-
marked once, breaking long
pause. 'Not many could meet this
situation without getting hysteri-
CAL"
In the few hours before the moon
disappeared, Dick learned much. of
her lonely life with her father on
the schooner. His own life had not
been of the pleasantest; he was
fugitive from justice-unjustly so,
but fugitive just the same. He
had been embittered by circum-
stances that had torn him from his
little niche in life and cast him re-
lentlessly upon sea of adventure
and restless wandering. Even in
his moments of rest the shadow of
the law had always poisoned what
little enjoyment he had managed to
pick up in his exile. ..
The night wore on without any,
thing happening. Their talk was
running into personal matters when
a cloud drifted across the face of
the moon, and temporarily darkened
the sea. They started up with a
jump, as if it were sign of trou-
BILE. Dick laughed after the first
shock.
II thought the moon had gone,"
he said. "It's only midnight, and
we have it with us couple of hours
yet"
"I'm afraid not" she replied.
'Look at those clouds. A cloudy
night is almost as dark as a moon
less one."
"Storm clouds, aren't they?"
She nodded and looked worried.
another storm now," she mur-
100000 St,x,o,,1I .I>1,,k Gx:-l.