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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1908)
hited Tale of By Will Levington Comfort Copyright. 19)6, br Will Lerinrton Comfort Copyriiht, 1907. by J. B. Lifpincott CouPA.fr All rights reserved CHAPTER III. (Continued.) They had reached the highway. Con , stable was thinking that he would have journeyed across the world to study a laboring monster, like Pelee in his pres ent stress, but the idea of the girl b'eing in the shadow of danger took all the relish from the work. "I should prefer to hear you discuss the treachery of volcanoes outside of the fire lone," she said, shivering. "It's like listening to ghost stories in a haunted ouse." "I'll tell you the best' way out of it," he declared. "I don't say that Pelee Is about to rise and rend Saint Pierre, but I want to take you all out to sea for a few days. The Madame will behave her prettiest with you on board." "I can't imagine anything finer, but you know mother is not a graceful sail or." "Unfortunately, any effort of mine to prevail upon her might spoil matters," Constable sai'd. "Oh, I don't think that," she replied; ''but it will be something of a conquest for any one to shake her trust in Pelee. Still, I'll do what I can." "And I'll begin work to-night upon Uncle Joey. By the way, Miss Stans bury," he added in a lowered voice, "don't you think that if I chose to stay here in Saint Pierre, your mother, might consent more willingly to try a few days on the Madame? You know Pelee is more than eiver interesting to me now." "That would be entirely unthinkable," he replied hastily. Telee rumbled again, and the girl's fin gers tightened upon his arm. The heavy wooden shutters of the plantation house rattled in the windless night ; the ground upon which they stood seemed to wince at the monster's pain. The man was con scious of the fragrance of roses and mag nolia blooms above the acrid taint of the air. It was as if, through some strange freak of the atmosphere, a pressure was exerted upon the flowers, forcing a sud den expulsion of perfume. The young (noon was a ellow, formless blotch in the fouled sky. A sigh like the whimpering of a sick child was audible from the ser Tants' cabins behind the big bouse. "You'll plead with your mother to night?" he whispered, as they walked tack. Mrs. Stansbury was on the porch. Her nicely modulated voice, as she spoke to her daughter, struck Constable with a cold force. The women went indoors. Breen and L'ncle Joey were in conversa tion. Constable drew his chair to the north end of the porch, and faced the mountain a vast black beast couchant under the dim stars. Since he had gazed In that direction from the ship the night before, the whole purpose of his life had changed. Then he had asked no sweeter favor of the Fates than to be permitted to observe the giant's struggle to contain the fury of his fluids. Now his thoughts were magnetized by a new substance the substance of fear. Self, the tribune of all his reckonings heretofore, had been ' lifted from his brain, as a familiar vol ume Is lifted from its case. . "I knew it," he muttered. "I knew it five years ap;o that I should come back here some day, look upon that girl, and become a raver like other men. To think that I could stay away from her a year t a time !" He regarded the double chain of lights out in the harbor the Madame pulling at her moorings among the lesser craft, like'a lustrous empress in the midst of dusky maid-servants. Between the black mountain and the illumined ship stretched a battle. It was his own particular bat tle. His name was called from the lists. To win was to run away. The old mas tering complication was his at last. Yes terday a splendid contribution to the Im perfect records of seismology, such as was now within his grasp, was Identified with his highest ambition. To-day the safety of the woman towered above it, as the dome of St. Peter's above the head of a tourist. He was afraid of Pe lee. Breen drew over to him and sat down upon the railing. "What's on your mind, Peter?" ' "A mountain," said Constable. Rain did not fall in the night, and Constable was abroad with the dawn, regarding the white world and the source of the phenomenon, with the sketchy tints of earliest morning upon the huge eastern slope. He had slept little, and that with his face turned to the north. He would scarcely .close his eyes before a cortege of volcanoes would pass before him, as in a dream all the destroyers of history, each with a vivid Individuality, like the types of faces of all nations the story of each, and the smearlt had mado of men and. the works of men. . Most of them had given warning. Pe lee was warning now. His warning was written upon the veins of every leaf, . painted upon the curve of every blade of grass, sheeted evenly white upon the tiles of every roof. Gray dust blown by steam from the bursting quarries of the moun tain, clogging the gutters of the city, and the throats of men ! It was a moving white cloud in the rivers, a chalky shad ing that marked the highest reach of the harbor tide. It settled in the hair of the children and complicated the toil of the bees in the nectar-cups of the roses. With league-long cerements, and In a voice that caused to tremble his dwarfed cohorts, the hills and mornes, great Pelee had proclaimed bit warning In the night. 1 S epulchre Pelee Constable was standing In the garden. "Good old Vulcan, to wait for her!" he murmured. "Sit tight for another day, and keep a stiff bridle-arm for one more day !" "It isn't really ash, you know," he found himself saying at breakfast, "but rock ground as fine as neat and shot out by steam through Pelee's valves." "How intensely graphic!" Mrs. Stans bury observed. "It's a graphic morning," said Breen, "and Peter is virile from a night of medi tation. I believe he has made a covenant; with the mountain." Constable had met the eyes of the daughter, and found no hope there. He had taken bis uncle apart and charged him to labor for the cause of flight. "Ursula," the planter began gravely, ad dressing Mrs. Stansbury, "Peter has .ask ed us to spend a few days with him in the Caribbean, on board the Madame. I confess that I don't like the way Pelee is acting, and the heat is telling on us all. The prospect of a refreshing breath of the Trades is a mighty pleasant one to me. Doesn't it sound so to you?" "As a specialist in volcanoes, I should think Mr. Constable would find it im possible to leave ul bacli a time," the elder woman answered smoothly. "The mountain needs his doctor more than ever now." "I have not yet attained unto such a scientific passion that I can forget my friends entirely," Constable said earnestly. "For my part," the girl hastened to say, "Mr. Constable's invitation is im mensely alluring." Mrs. Stansbury's eyelids contracted ever so little, and she lingered upon the words of her ultimatum, as if there were a tang of pleasure in the utterance. "The Panther arrives day after to-morrow morning, with the New York mail. I would not under any condition think of leaving Saint Pierre before receiving Mr. Stansbury's letters." Constable stared at the face of the daughter. He read there terror of the mountain, and pity for himself. He arose, not daring to trust himself to speak again. Breen found him in his room a few min utes later. "Peter," he said softly, "has it ever occurred to you that the map of Europe and the history of France might greatly have been altered if our beloved Joseph ine had been gifted with a will like that?" CHAPTER IV. In the Rue de Rivbli there was a little stone fruit shop. The street was short, narrow, crooked and ill paved a cleft In Saint Pierre's terrace work. Just across from the vault-like entrance to the shop, the white, scarred cliff arose to another flight of the city. Between the shop and the living rooms behind there was a little court, shaded by mango-trees. Dwarfed banana shrubs flourished in the shade of the mangoes, and singing birds were cag ed in the lower foliage. Since the sun could find no entrance, the shop was dark as a cave, and as cool. One window, if an aperture like the clean wound of a thirteen-lnch gun could be called a win dow, opened to the north ; and from it, by the grace of a crook in the Rue de Itivoli, might be seen the mighty caliber ed cone of Pelee. Tere Rabeaut's fruit was very good, and some of it was very cheap. The ser vice was much as you made it, for if you were known you were permitted to help yourself. In this world there was no one of station too lofty to go to Tierre Rabeaut's ; you would meet no one there to whom it was not a privilege to say "Bon jour." "Come and see my birds," the crafty Rabeaut would say, if he approved of you. "Where do you live?" you might ask, being a stranger. "In the coolest hovel of Saint Pierre," was the invariable answer. And presently, if you were truly alive, you would find yourself in the little stone shop, listening to the birds. In due course Soronia would appear in the shad owy doorway and it would seem that the bird songs were hushed as she crossed the court. If the little stone shop were transplant ed in New York, artists would find it and have difficulty in getting In and out, for the crowd o' nights. Thither Con stable and Breen made their way on this burning morning which Mrs. Stansbury darkened with her decision. The pair sat down In the cherished cpolness, Constable at the little window, so that he could look at the mountain. "Breen, I dare not leave them here for forty-eight hours, until the Panther comes," Constable said. "Do you really think Pelee can't hold out that long?" Constale shook his bead impatiently. "I'm not a monomaniac at least, not yet, Breen," he said, and his voice suggested the world of pent savagery In his brain. "The ways of volcanoes are past the pre visions of men. I do not say that Pelee will blow his head off this week, or this millennium. I say I'm afraid for this girl. I say there are vaults of explo sives in that monster, the smallest of which could make this city look like a leper's corpse upon the beach. I say that the Internal fires are burning high ; that they are already fingering the vital cap ; that Pelee sprung a leak last night, and that the same force which lifted this cheerful archipelago from the depths of the sea Is pressing against the leak at1 this instant. I say that Vesuvius warnwl before he broke ; that Krakatoa warned ' and then struck ; that down the ages these ' safety valves scattered over the face of earth have trembled before giving way. Pelee is trembling now,- and there is a woman here whose safety Is important to me. She is two miles away this mo ment, and I am as powerless as a man in a street fight, with bis lady's arms about him. What shall I do?" "Peter, there is a short cut," Breen said. "Tell me !" Constable urged. "Are you zealous and strong-souled?" "Try me." At this Juncture Soronia entered the shop from the little court of the song birds. Ailing the eyes of the Americans. A dark, ardent, alluring face; flesh like dull gold, made wonderful by the faintest tints of ripe fruit ; eyes that could melt and burn and laugh ; a fragile figure, but radiantly abloom, and as worthily draped as a young palm In a vine richly blossom ing. Such, vaguely, was Soronia. She made one think of a strange, regal flower, an experiment of Nature, wrought in the most sumptuous shadow of a tropic gar den. She was gone. Breen's face bore a drained look. "An orchid?" he whispered. "Will the visitation be repeated? Do I wake or sleep?" "Old Pere Rabeaut married a French woman," Constable observed. "Some Daphne of the islands, she must have beeu, since Pere Rabeaut does not seem designed to father a sunrise," Breen added, his eyes, lost in the shadows of the court, from whence the bird songs came. . Pere Rabeaut was a worthy soldier ot France, I have heard," said Constable. "I have never seen the mother, but every year I have seen Soronia for a moment like this. She was but a child when I came first five years ago but a radiant child even then." "Five years ago," Breen mused. "Fivt years ago I had not ceased to paint. I should have put her on canvas." There was a moment of silence, then Constable said in a low voice, "I must go back. Tell me the shorter way." "Peter, you are a man, and she a wom an. Forgive me, but I know what has sprung into your heart in the past twenty four hours from the seeds that have been there five years. Tell her tell, her all about those five years and the one day what they have meant to you, and your dream of the future. If you tell her mightily enough, she will follow you to the Madame, and cast no longing look be hind ! I shall stay here for an hour or two." Constable left the shop. He was'' very miserable, full of undirected wrath. Nev, er in his life before had there been a time when a stiff shoulder, dollars, an ath letic mind, or all three, had failed entirely to move an obstacle in his way. Here he was ground by impotence absolute. The suggestion of Breen entailed such a deep and vital thing that he dared not think of it, here in the glaring day, with the pant ing crowd about him. It was against the very structure of his mind to act precipi tately in this, of all matters, most deli cate. It is true that he meant now to win Lara Stansbury, if such a stately citadel lay within range of a man of his caliber; but be had vouchsafed to strike only after a flawless investment were laid. Breen did not return for luncheon, and the name of Pelee was not beard. In his room, afterward, Constable fell asleep, with his face to the north. He awoke out of a horrid dream, in which black fingers were . tightening, like a garrote, upon his throat. It was the ash and sulphur fumes again. Pelee was obscur ed by the fresh fog. Instantly, upon awakening, the old thoughts and dreads resumed their hateful swing in his brain. The sight of the Madame, lying out in the harbor, her needle-boom pointed like a black, fleshless finger across the smoky sunset, whipped him again to the sense of action which had no means of expres sion. Thoughts of the night the locked doors, the still halls, the wail of chil dren from the native cabins, sleeplessness without hope, vigilance without meaning, and this new master-romance shining far and bright and alone, like a brave star above wind-hurled clouds--out of these were moulded thoughts of little mercy, as the shadows grew long upon the whiten ing lawn. Pelee's moods were variable that after noon. The twilight brought ease again, and with the old freshness of evening came' a glad hour of reaction. There was a rippling wave of merriment frjm the darky quarters, and a score of childi'en went blithely forth to bathe in the sea. Never before was the volatile tropic soul so Imperiously evidenced simple hearts which glow at little things, 'whose swift tragedies come and go like blighting winds, which slay but leave no wound. Constable was ashamed for the ma ment. Throughout the day bis eyes had fixed in stubborn gloom upon a cataclysm. Up the stairway, airily as laughter, came a bright melody from the piano, lie was thrilled, and held, and his mind was stir red with tendernesB. She was like her island people, quick to enter the groves of serenity when the blact cloul bad blown by. Could Breen be tight? he thought. The suggestion appealed to him now in a new high-light. Were there not some words which ,had never yet found the ears of woman from the Hps of man some key to instant supremacy in the undiscovered country of a lovely woman's nature? (To be continued.) Ambiguous. "I would like to see more moving verse from your pen," said the ad mirer. "Do you mean something pathetic, asked the poet, "or something about springtime moves?" - Kansas City Times. Flah-Skin Disease. Ichthyosis from the Greek word fot Huh is the scientific name for a pecul iar disease, or rather deformity oi me skin characterized by an overgrowth of a horny, scaly layer and an abnor mal dryness. It usually exists from birth, although u few fuses of acquired fish-skin disease have been observed. Its cause Is uuknowu. It often affects several members of the same family, and In many eases is evidently hered itary. Although existing from birth, it ma, not be very marked In the' Infant, but may be little more than a roughness and unusual scallncss and dryness of the skin. It Increases gradually, be coming very apparent by the third or fourth year, for Blx or eight years per haps, and then its progress stops and It remains practically unchanged for life, although a slight Improvement Is some times noticed as the child approaches manhood or woma'nhood. It varies with the seasons, being bet ter In the summer and better the hot ter und inulaier Ihe ull" li UliJ worse again In winter. The skin Is also liable to Inflammation In cold weather and chaps easily, giving rise to painful cracks over the knuckles and at the tips of the fingers. The nails are rough and often break and split, and the hair is also dry and frayed at the ends. There are all degrees of the disease, from a simple, dry roughness and scall ness, to a condition In which the sur face Is covered with thick plates resem bling the scales of a crocodile. In al most all cases there are more or less definite markings, especially over the extensor surfaces of the Joints, resem bling fish scales or a serpent's skin. The disease may occur In patches or in curved bands of vnrylng width, with, healthy or nearly healthy skin between, but most commonly it Involves the en tire surface, being least marked where 'he skin Is naturally thin. The treatment is mainly local, Its ob ject being to remove the excess of horny scales and keep the skin soft. Anoint ing the body at night with soft soap, followed by a warm bath and thorough rubbing with a coarse towel or a flesh- brush will, If often repeated, keep tbq scaling within limits. The free use of a good cold cream, borax and glycerin In water, lanolin or vasclln, applied Imme diately after the bath, and If necessary again In the morning, will go fnr to keep the skin soft and pllnble. More severe cases will require more severe remedies, which should be used only under medical direction. Origin of "America." "I supiKwe I am the only person here who heard 'America' sung the first time in this country," said the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D. 1)., in an ad dress at the Old West Roxbury meeting house. "It was on a Fourth of July when I was a hoy. I had spent IT celebration money and on my way home had to pass Park Street oh inch. I decided to go Into the church, where there was a celebration of the natlou's holiday. "There was a chorus of boys and girls who sang 'America' on that day for the first time. I don't remember whether I tried to "sing It. I-ater In life Dr. Smith told me how he came to write the versos to the tune of 'God Save the King.' - "The minister of Park Street church told him that there was to he a cele bration of the Fourth of July at the church and that he wanted Dr. Smith to write some verses of a song for It, and handed to Dr. Smith a number of English and German music books and told him to find some tune In them and flt his verses to the music. "Dr. Smith looked through the books and selected the tune, which he had never heard, and which has been sung as 'America In this country ever since." Boston Transcript. After That the Delna-e. Towne There are some hot games up at the bull grounds these days. Why don't you take your wlfo to one of them? Browne Gracious! I don't want to be a widower. She's too tender-hearted and sympathetic. Towne What has that to do with It? Browne Why, It would be Just like her to sympathize with the umpire. Philadelphia Tress. What It Was. "Oh, John!" she exclaimed, "now that you've seea my new bonnet, you simply can't regret that I got It. Isn't It Just a poem?" "Well, If It Is," replied John, "I guess a proper title for It would, be 'Owed to a milliner.' "Philadelphia Press. SOCIETY MEETINQS. CHAMROCK CIRCLE No. 195. W. O. W. Kee ular mectinm the Second and Fourth Thurs day! of each month in Smith ' Hall. MRS. ELWOOD CARET. GEORGIA BENNETT, Guardian Neishbor. Clerk. CUGAR LOAF CAMP No. tog. Vf.of theW. Meets on the Fint and Third Tuesdays ef each month. c. E. HULING. E. SCHNEIDER. Clerk. Consul JyJYRTLE LODGE No. 78. A. F. A A. M. Meota moon. E. SCHNEIDER, L. A. ROBERTS. Secretary. W. It, CLGIN CHAPTER No. 24. O. E. S. Meets on the First and Third Friday evenings of each month. MKS. J. C. BROWN. GEORGIA BENNETT, Secretary. W. it. POL. JEWELL POST No. 53. G. A. R. Meets w on the First Saturday before full moon, at s'clock p. m. ,. W. LUN DY. T. M. HERMAN, Adjutant Commander flYRTLE POINT LODGE, T. O. 0. F. Meets " every Saturday nljfht at S o'clock. LLOYD SPIRES. L. H. PEARCE, Secretary Noble Grand PROFESSIONAL CARDS. L A. ROBERTS, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW MYRTLE POINT, OREGON A. LEEP, M. D. PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON Office on Spruce street, adjoining Myrtle Point Hardware store. Res. on Willow street. MYRTLE POINT, OREGON. E. A. DODGE U. S. Commissioner Myrtle Point, Oregon THE MODERN LIGHT Soft, but Brilliant Off or On in an Instant Electricity Is a Modern Necessity Residences and business houses that are up-to-date are wired for electric light. They are handy, clean, economical, pret ty, stylish, neat and right in all ways. This popular light is furnished by the ille River Electric Go, FRANK MORSE, Proprietor COQUILLE OREGON TRANSPORTATION. STEAMER ECHO K. H. JAMKH, Master Lcavei Myrtle Point every day ezoept sun day at 8 a. m. and arrlrss at Coqullle City at 10 a. m. Leaves Coqullle City at 1 p. :a and ar rlTes at Myrtle Point at 4 p. ra. " r dispatch r. D. WHITI, Mistsb. 1 caret Bandan at 7 a. a. and arrives at Oo qullle City at :N a. m. Leaves Coqullle City at 1 p. m. and arrives at Bandon at 8:10 p. ra. All kinds ol steamboat work done at reason, able rates. ROSEBURG-MYRTLE POINT STAGE LINE - Leaves Roseburt and Myrtle Point all, at a. m. and arrives at p. a. ec pasrliessie apply o B. Fcnton, Prop- Myrtle Point. Orcta