Paqe 6
Friday, Feb. 14, 1941
SOUTHERN OREGON MINER
Density of Fogfi
I bones at a touch. Peter served her
[ and George, and as Mat Forbes
Peter said, angrily resenting her ' joined them he served his own plate
refusal to accept his word: •'Don't and then Mat's. When Corkran ap­
talk like a fool. I tell you he's dead!’* peared. a little uncertainly. Peter
Why should Peter be angry because heaped his plate; and he asked in
ahe could not believe this impossi­ an agreeable tone:
“Do you know navigation. Mr.
ble thing?
She forced herself to listen to what Corkran?”
“No, sir.”
Peter said when he now began to
"Mr. Forbes can give you a start.
relate wnat had happened, telling
George, while the others listened. Better work on it” Peter smiled
Peter said they came out at last grimly. ‘The Venturer's had hard
on an open hillside grown with ber­ luck with her officers this voyage.
ry bushes. They saw the pond on Something might happen to me."
“Yes. sir." Corkran assented in a
the saddle of the ridge and a great
toneless voice Peter looked at him
flock of geese in the pond.
"I would have to crawl to get thoughtfully, but he said nothing.
There was little speech during that
near enough to shoot," Peter said,
explaining to them as they listened meal.
“Dick was always a hero to me,"
without speech. Isaiah and Hiram
Peter said, half to himself.
“I
in the door with Corkran behind
didn't think anything could happen
them, George and Mary at the ta­
to him. He seemed so strong and
ble. Tommy Hanline had come to
sure, and luck was always with him.
stand behind Peter, tears streaking
I almost went crazy, running up and
his cheeks.
down that beach today.” He rose,
Peter went on with his story of
shaking his head.
his brother’s death.
George and Mary followed him
"I'd have to crawl,” he said, “on into the common room, and George
my hands and knees. Richard and lay down on the long bench there.
Gee stayed where they were, so’s It was still broad day in these high
not to scare the birds. I crawled latitudes, but the small window gave
within shot range and waited till scant light. Peter lighted the whale
they lined up good, and shot Some oil lamps.
were dead, and some of them flap­
“I don’t like the dark." he said.
ping on the water. The others flew “I’m dreading tonight Probably
away.
won’t sleep." He decided, after a
“I stood up and yelled, and Gee moment: "I’ll go on deck and have
came running.
We chased the a look at her.”
wounded geese in the shallow wa­
George lay quietly. Mary stood
ter. and caught some, till we had looking out of the small square win­
eight
"Then I asked Gee where Richard
was. He said Richard had gone
down to the beach. I went along the
top of the cliff looking for him. and
finally I saw him. There was a
point of rocks running out into the
water, and he was sneaking toward
the point as if he was trying to cut
something off from the water. I
thought it might be seals, but I
couldn't see them.
"I saw him start to run, and then
I saw them coming toward the wa­
ter, galloping on their flippers the
way they do; but they were sea
lions, bigger than seals, some of
them ten or twelve feet long. Dick
got in the way of them and he hit at
one with his club. It snapped at
him. I was too far away to see just
what happened, but they have long
tusks, teeth like a dog's, only long­
er. It must have sunk the tusks into
his hand; and it just galloped on,
dragging Richard with it, into the
water.”
“I think one of the tusks stuck in
his wrist somehow; maybe wedged
between the bones, or hooked into
the tendons. He was jerked off his
feet,
couldn’t do anything. It
dragged him into the water,
and they went under together. The
place was boiling with them, dozens
of them, like a school of mackerel. dow at the boil of water under the
They churned it into foam like milk. stem. The desk was at her left the
Even from up where I was, I couldn’t log book lying on the end of it
see down into it
After a while, she looked down at
“I stayed there, running up and the book; and presently she lifted
down the beach, shouting and yell­ it and turned the pages to the latest
ing like a crazy man, but I never entry. She read it, her eyes glanc­
saw him again."
ing along the lines.
"Hoakes Bay. Day began with
CHAPTER XVII
southwest wind and rkin. Repairs
finished this morning. Captain Rich­
"He can’t be." Miry realized she ard Corr and Mate Peter Corr went
had spoken aloud, for their eyes to shoot geese on shore while the
turned to her. “Richard can’t be water casks were being filled. Cap­
tain Corr descended to the south
dead, Peter.”
He stood up angrily. “I tell you beach and tried to Club a sea lion.
The animal bit at him -nd its tusks
he is.”
"We can go back and find him. fastened in his arm and it dragged
him into the sea. He was lost Wind
Please!”
Peter’s face darkened, but he came southeasterly in the afternoon,
spoke without heat understanding- giving us a fair chance to make out
ly. "I’m sorry. Mary. I know how of the Bay. Will stop at Stanley to
you always felt about Richard. But set up new topmast and topgallant.
I feel worse than anyone. He was Rain squalls tonight Corkran was
my brother, wasn’t he?” He looked promoted to be second mate.”
around at them all; he cried, as
Mary read and nodded slowly. As
if their eyes accused him: "Blast she conned the words, she seemed
it, I couldn’t do anything! I tell you to hear, far away, a faintly familiar
he’s dead!" No one spoke. He came sound, not easily identified. She
to his feet strongly. “I want to get tried to hear more plainly. Peter
away from here. This easterly’s had written this. The capitals were
what we need to get out of the Bay. ornate, involved in sweeping curves,
We might not get another for weeks. and there were blotches where the
We're leaving!”
pen had pressed too hard, and the
! No one denied him.
letters staggered erratically up and
Peter said, his tone placating: down. Peter had written this. It
“Corkran, come on deck. I want a was very different from the preced­
word with you.” Without waiting for ing entries in Richard’s small, neat,
an assent, he turned abruptly into careful hand. Richard's hand was
the after cabin.
Corkran went compact and firm, Peter’s large and
through the steerage to ascend the sp. uwling. Peter had written this.
companion ladder there.
What was it she seemed to hear?
George put off Richard's coat that Something heard long ago. Or seen
Tommy had given him and went to long ago. Peter had written this!
his bunk to lie under blankets there. Peter!
She followed him, her legs stiff and
Her eyes widened in a sudden
wooden with the penetrating damp startled attention.
and chill. Standing by the bunk she
Once years ago Richard had writ­
could see through the small window ten her a note, two or three lines,
above it a headland a mile away. brief, curt, cruel. "Wait, till you
She watched the headland fall slow­ grow up. Don’t be a silly little fool.”
ly behind; and she felt the heavier But Richard had written that note
seas outside the Bay begin to lift the way Peter had written this en­
the Venturer. She stood there long, try in the log, in a sprawling hand,
not moving, her eyes fixed on that the words straggling up and down,
bluff which was gray through rain; the capitals ornate.
till presently they changed course,
Suddenly she knew in a complete
brought the wind more abeam, and a:.d overpowering revelation that it
the headland disappeared.
had been Peter, not Richard, who
When Mary came into the main wrote that cruel note long ago.
cabin that night, Peter sat in Rich­
The log book snapped shut with a
ard’s place at the head of the ta­ sound so loud that George sat up,
ble. He told her that Corkran had staring at her, asking quickly:
been appointed second mate. The "What is it. Mary?”
mates had not yet come below. She
She asked in a sharp whisper:
went to speak to George and found "George, what made you think Rich­
him stronger than he had been, bent ard and I loved each other that
on coming to be at table with them. day?”
She sat on Peter’s right as she
"Don’t be unhappy about that. It’s
had been on Richard's right during all right."
"No,” she Insisted. "Tell me.”
these weeks of the voyage. Willie
Leeper had roasted one of the geese She demanded acutely: "Geofge,
shot that afternoon, had cooked it so did Peter give you a letter he said
thoroughly the meat fell off the I'd written to Richard?”
CHAPTER XVI—Continued
—17—
He ItKiked at her steadily, said at
last: "Why—he didn’t give it to me.
no. I wanted to go on deck, and it
was cold, and Peter gave me Rich­
ard’s big sea coat to wear over my
own. After we got on deck, 1 put
my hands in the pockets, and felt
a piece of paper, and before I
thought, I looked at it It was your
letter to Richard, Mary."
She spoke quickly.
“It began:
’Dear Richard, Having been capti­
vated by the charms of your per­
son . . .’?”
For answer, he fumbled tn his
pocket, produced a crumpled paper,
gave it to her. She smoothed it out,
read it swiftly with racing eyes that
nevertheless lingered over the fa­
miliar, not-to-bc-forgotten words.
She smiled as she read.
Once
these words had seemed to her so
impassioned and tender and beauti­
ful that they made her senses swim;
and once she had treasured this
scrap of paper in her bosom happi­
ly. But now even in the tension of
this moment she was amused; and
she looked up at George in a deep
mirth.
“You really thought I d written
this to Richard?"
"What could I think?"
“I mean, since we came aboard
here?”
"I'm afraid I did," he admitted.
"My dear, can you imagine any
girl really writing a letter like
that; so many long words, so stilt­
ed and silly and everything?"
He said, half-smiling at his own
confession: “I’ve never had a love
letter, Mary. I don't know much
about them. Didn't you write it?”
“Yes, but years ago. My hand­
writing doesn't even look like that
now!"
"I’ve never seen your handwrit­
ing. you know. We’ve not been sep­
arated, so we’ve never written let­
ters to each other.”
“And it's signed ’Mary Doncas­
ter.’ ” she insisted. "Not Mary Me-
Ausland."
"I thought you had forgotten you
were my wife.”
He spoke so humbly that for a
moment she caught him close in ten­
derness; but then she spoke in swift
explanation, and soberly now. "Lis­
ten. George. I copied this letter
out of a ’Complete Letter Writer’
when I was in school in New Bed­
ford. It was supposed to be from a
man to a girl, and I thought it was
perfectly beautiful."
“I see," he assented. "But Mary.
Richard kept it all these years. So
'perhaps he loved you too!"
She shook her head.
"No, he
didn't keep it! He never saw it. I
know that now. Peter stole it from
me in school. He told me he was
going to give it to Richard. I begged
him not to.” Her cheek colored,
and she said honestly: "Next day he
brought me what he said was Rich­
ard's answer; but I know now that
Peter wrote the answer himself, be­
cause it's the same handwriting in
the log; and he must have kept my
letter all this time . . .” Her voice
checked as though some thought
struck her; then she went on:
"And he put it in Richard's coat,
to fool you, to make you mad!”
He said grimly, remembering that
storm of emotion which had racked
him so: "I was crazy, Mary. I'll
spend the rest of my life making
up to you for the way I acted that
day.”
She told him, warmly comforting:
"I didn’t mind really. George.” Her
eyes twinkled almost mischievous­
ly. “You know, you've never told
me you love me. It’s only when you
Jet terribly jealous that I can see
ou do.” Then she cried, tense
again, leaning close to him so that
they could not be overheard: “But
don't you see, George, this means
Richard isn't dead! If he is, Peter
killed him; but I know he isn’t!”
He asked gropingly: “How does it
mean Richard's not dead?”
"Why, don’t you see?” she in­
sisted. “Peter's a coward and a
sneak and a thief, or he wouldn't
have done that with my silly let­
ter! George, we’ve got to make him
go back to Hoakes Bay and find
Richard."
After some consideration George
agreed with Mary to seek aid from
the crew in forcing Peter to re­
turn to search for Richard. Mary
sat beside George and in a whisper
explained that when Peter was sure­
ly asleep, they could creep across
to wake the mates and enlist their
aid. For if help were to be found
against Peter it must come from
those next in authority aboard.
Mat Forbes and Corkran were
sound asleep when George in dark­
ness opened their door and felt
his way to Mat's bunk and whis­
pered in the mate's ear, warning
him to silence. Mary pressed the
door shut without a sound; and
George lighted the candle, and Cork­
ran woke at the sudden flare. Ex­
cept for their boots, he and Mat
were both fully clad, sleeping in
their clothes against the pitiless and
searching cold.
Mat and Corkran, when the lamp
was lighted, looked at their visitors
in a sleepy wonder, waiting to hear
what this visitation meant; and
Mary tried to explain. She found
that there was terribly little she
could say. She had no evidence be­
yond her own certainty that Richard
was alive, and that Peter knew it,
and that they must return to Hoakes
Bay.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
pockets, make this an unusually
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There's mighty little to the
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faultless chic. And thia is n style
becoming alike to misses and to
women. Sew chart included.
ass
Pattern No SHU la dralsned for alia«
13. 14. IS, IS. 30; 40. 43. 44. 44 and 441
Sila 14 requires 4’» yards of 3D Inch ma­
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SEWING lIKd.K I’ATTKHN 11 KPT.
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San Franrlero
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Enclose 13 esnta In coIna for
Pattern No.
Slxe .......
Name
Addreel
In 1921, the British weather bu­
reau set up standards for describ­
ing fogs which full into more or
less definite categories.
They
range from “Very dense,” in
Which objects become invisible at
27 yards distunce in the daytime,
through “thick," “rather thick,"
"fog," "moderate," "mist or thick
haze," and "slight mist or haze"
—in which objects ure visible ut a
distance of 7Vi miles.
Help to Relievo Distress of
FEMALE
PERIODIC
COMPLAINTS
Try l.ydln B. Pinkhams Vi-ico tabla
Compound to help rvllava monthly
pain, headaches, backache ami
ALB» alm Irritable nerves due to
monthly functional duturbenoee.
Pink lam a Compound to almply
marvelous to help buUd up
sure naninat distress of dIStoult
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Hundreds of thousands of Kills and
woman report remarkable bench ta.
WUKd*’™^21L—*-a^
Increasing Doubt
We know accurately only when
we know little; with knowledge
doubt increases.—Goethe,
miles YOUR EYES TELL
Cause Enough
I’m afraid of my own shadow."
No wonder. It's so large it looks
like a crowd following you.”
The man who Is described as a
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very easy.
Taking Over
Waiter—Aren't you going to give
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Hompuff—Then just take a look
at me. I'm the new Champ.
IF YOU'RE taking a midwinter
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Look-In you* mlftoi- Mee If («mpuraty tonall-
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at dtugafuree.
GARFIELD TEA
Returned With Thanks
It was a very tense scene in the
film. The audience sat enthralled.
Suddenly the hero slapped the her­
oine in the face.
In the stunned silence which fol­
Sweetest Plum
lowed a little voice piped up.
“Mummy,”
it
said,
“why
In all the wedding cake, hope la
doesn't she slap him back like the sweetest of the plums. —Doug­
you do?"
las Jerrold.
FOR PERFECT BAKING RESULTS. . . USE
CLABBER
Jlsk Me »Another
A
hew you
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A General Quiz
——- ----------------------------------------------
GIRL
1. What capital letter is used
most frequently in English words?
2. What is a Jolly Roger?
BAKING POWDER
3. Of currants, grapes, cranber­
ries, oranges, tomatoes and ba
An old standby in
nanas, how many are classified by
millions of homes
botanists as berries?
4. Without stopping to count,
give the number of zeros in one
billion.
5. In major league baseball, how
Tide Will Turn
hold on a minute longer, never
often are games won by a no-hit,
When you get into a tight place, give up then, for that is just the
no-run pitching performance?
and everything goes against you, place and time the tide will turn.
6. Are glow worms worms?
7. Where in the United States is till it seems as if you couldn't —Harriet Beecher Stowe.
the longest stretch of railroad
track without a curve?
The Answers
1. The letter "S," according to
Funk and Wagnails New Stand­
ard dictionary.
2. A pirate flag.
3. All of them.
4. Nine—count them—1,000,000,-
You needn't grin and bear a cough due io a
000.
cold. Get Smith Bro*. Cough Drop*! just if!
5. Only one in about 1,400
Smith Bros. Cough Drops are the
games.
6. No, glow worms are actually
only drops containing VITAMIN A
beetles. The males can fly, but
Vitamin A (Carotene) raite* the resistance of
the females cannot, so they light
mucous membranes of no«- and throat to
up to let their lovers know where
cold infections, when lack of resiM-
MARK
anca is du« to Vitamin A deficiency.
they are.
7. North Carolina claims this
record. Between Wilmington and
Wishes
t
Hamlet, a distance of 78 86 miles,
had only one heart; grief, two
Anger wishes that all mankind tear-glands; and pride, two bent
there is a stretch of track without
had only one neck; love, that it knees.—Richter.
a single curve.
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3