Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Next Page
OCR
TilTrony ae
Copyright, 1922, by David C. Cook Publishing Company.
Vol. 21. No. 24. { runtisien
EEKLY,
.O you sup-
pose, Neal,
there'll be
time to take in
the other net and
get back to the
island, before the storm breaks?
Neal Otis shot a quick glance at the sky.
The great bank of- black clouds was rising
with startling rapidity ; even as he looked
the bright summer sunlight was blotted out.
» Again there came a mutter of thunder, and.
both boys realized that it was nearer than
the one they had heard before. Not
breath of air stirred the far-reaching wa-
ter of Lake Superior.
“There may not be time, but we'll try it.
I’m not sure those stakes would hold
through a hard blow, and. we can’t run
the tisk of losing one of Uncle Timothy's
nets.’
The boys sprang to. their task with a
will, It took but a moment to bring the
“ Gull,” their staunch motor boat, into posi-
tion. Then in haste they fastened the end
of the net to the stout windlass on the boat,
and, turning the crank by hand, they wound
the net in, and, at the-same time, dumpe
the fish on board.
Jack nodded, “ Good catch that. ‘There
are two fine white fish in the lot.”
In their hurry they tangled:the net and
had to stop. By the time it was coiled, the
clouds were veined by fiery lightning flashes.
Neal wiped his face. ‘“ Whew! but it’s
hot! Now for Loon Island.”
“We are due for a good soaking before
we get there. But the water will cool us
off,” and Jack laughed lightly.
For a month the boys had been on the
jsland, using the nets and boats of Neal’s
uncle and also occupying his camp.
sent their fish, packed in ice, off,
* steamer that called at their dock once each
eeRK.
“The Gull” had covered only half the
distance to the island when the storm broke.
It came with a mighty rush of wind, one
that lifted the water on high. The rain,
in a thick gray sheet, blinded the two boys.
No word passed between them, Neal was
busy at the wheel, and Jack stood ready e
aid him, should his help be needed.
last Jack shoute
“Loon Island's jn sight.
the turn for our harbor?”
“Tm not sure. Just get a grip on the
wheel, Jack, If we don't make the turn,
we'll haye to run along the shore a bit.
This blow’ll not last long.”
Neither boy had ever seen the wind
sweep the lake with such force, They at-
tempted to tack but a towering wave struck
them, and, for a moment, it seemed as if
the boat was going over, Slowly it right-
ed, but both saw that they had missed their
chance to enter the harbor,
ning almost parallel with the shore, but at
some little distance out.
The rain ceased as suddenly as it had
begun, After a gust of wind so fierce that
both boys expected to be thrown into the
lake, there was a partial lull, . When the
next blast came it was much lessened in
force. .
“The worst is over. We'll soon be able
to circle back,” Jack shouted.
‘As they came closer to the shore, Neal
Can you make
ey were run- ©
DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING COMPANY, Etern, ILtrnors,
N TRE WAKE
of the
, -ORNADO
By Hope Daring
’
said, “ Why.
down! It was something like a cyclone.”
“ Tere’s hoping it didn’ t strike the camp,”
Jack cried,
«As they drew nearer they saw that the
stout log buildings erected by Timothy Otis
were unharmed. roken branches littered
the ground, but no damage had been done.
The lake was still very rough. While the
wind had lessened, it continued to blow
hard. But because their little harbor was
sheltered, the boys were able to make “ The
Gull” fast to the dock and take off their
fish, Loading them on a truck they took
them to the fish house and at once began to
clean them.
“Tl ice the fish, Jack, if you'll go and
get dinner,” Neal offered, when the cleaning
was finished. ‘ Make some iced lemonade.
I'm not so much hungry as I am—well, all
gone.
“ It’s the heat. The storm isn’t over;
we'll have another blow before dar
They were still seated at the dinner table
when they heard footsteps outside. Nea
sprang up, but, before he could reach
the door, an Indian girl of fourteen ran
into the room. Ler clothing was torn and
disordered; her swarthy face was stained
with the tears Indians shed so rarely,
“Why, it’s Odahmin!”’ Neal exclaimed,
recognizing the girl whom he had seen on
his visits to the near-by Ojibway settlement.
“What's up?”
“It is Kago, the brother of Odahmin.
Help Kago must have, or he will die. And
then the sun of life will have set for Odah-
min. Help he must have, and for it you
must go.”
“Oh, rot! Drop the poetry stuff, ‘and
tell us what's up,” Jack cried impatiently.
It took the boys some time to get from
the distracted girl a statement of her errand.
At last they understood that the cyclone
which had swept the island had struck the
Indian settlement. <A, great tree had come
crashing (lown on the shedlike building used
as a fish house, where Odahmin’s brother
“ Kago!
look-at the trees that are-
had been cleaning fish, and he had been
badly crushed.
“So bad that all say he will die, if the
white doctor does not come from Superior
to (Stop the blood,” the girl murmur
“Tsay, Neal, how much of this is “pure
bunk?’ Jack asked scornfully.
“Oh, I reckon it’s all straight. If Kago
is so badly hurt that none of the Indian
women can stop the flow of blood, it’s plain
that he'll die, if there
brought over from the mainland.
l have to go, Yes,
into some kind of trouble, but we
can't let him die.”
Jack's face darkened. “ Of course not.
But I can’t forget how; when he had tried
to run us off the island, you saved him
from arrest for it. Instead of appreciating
what you did, he’s taken every. chance Le
could get to be mean to us.” &
“I know. Dut as our Onaway says, we
who know the right must try to show him
the. better way.
"ell, I suppose we'll have to go,” Jack
admitted. He statted to leave the house
but stopped in the doorway. “I say, there's
a big blow coming.”
Neal saw that his friend was right. The
storm was as threatening as the other, but
different. .\lready there was a chill in the
air; the wind, which had veered around to
another direction was whipping the lake
into a stretch of foam-topped wares,
“We'll have to wait a bit.”
Odahmin dropped down on her knees,
drawing her long black hair over her face.
’ “Wait! And Kago dying! Is it hearts of
stone you have? And soon darkness will
‘ome "
The eyes of the two boys met. Jack
closed his lips resolutely. “Tm not
afraid,”
“Well, I am, but I am going just the
same, Iago may not be worth it, but he
needs help, and there is no one but us to
bring it to him.”
The boys waited only to make sure that
“The Gull” was in perfect order for the
trip. Once in the buat they gave all their
attention to hastening ber speed. Ordinar-
ily they could have made the run in an hour,
“We'll be lucky if, we get across by five.
Here comes the rain,” Neal cried.
It came in a deluge. Neal set his teeth
and sént the boat flying along before the
“But it will be in our faces. coming
back. Well, I am sure ‘The Gull’ can
hold her own.”
Their progress was impeded by the con-
stant shifting of the wind, and danger of
capsizing whenever their course was
You here.”
June 17, 1922.
changed, Still they managed to make Su-
perior a little before the time set by Neal.
When they made fast at one of the docks of
the busy little town, the rain and the wind
re still sweeping the town.
“ hello, there!” called a man who looked
out from a shed on the wharf. “Isn't that
‘The Gull’? You boys didn’t come over
from Loon Island in this storm, did you?”
The boys stepped into the shelter of the
shed, while Neal briefly told the reason for
their coming. <A grave look came to the
man’s face,
“ You ran more risk than I'd like my sons
to run, But of course a fellow must do his
duty, It looks as if the going back would
be harder than the coming over, but Doctor
Howard will go with you. Hle’s that kind.”
The physici man.
tanned face fell into resolute lines as he
listened to the lads’ story.
“Of course I'll go across with you. Tust™
wait until I get my instrument case.”
The man who had guided the boys walked
2 -_
“Help Kago must have or he will die.”
back to the dock with them. Le pointed to
the storm signal that was flying from a
pole. “I don't like to see you fellows try
it. The worst is not over, Doctor Llow-
“Perhaps not, but I cannot be more of a
cowatd than these boys. - This is a good
boat, and I am used to the lake storms.”
For a time they crept along in the face
of the wind, Their progress was so slow
that all saw darkness would be upon them
long before they reached the island. Some-
times “The Gull” rode the crest of the
waves, again she plunged along in a trough,
threatened by the towering banks of dun
“Suddenly the clouds dropped lower; the
rainfall, which had almost ceased. in-
creased; the wind raved and roared around
them. ‘Doctor Iloward lent his strength -
at the wheel.
“You fellows get your breath for a nio-
ment, one at a time. Don’t you think ‘he
wind driving. us too far to the north-
ward
Neal nodded. “It is. When darkness
comes, we may run by the island, without
seeing it.”
It was not long before the gray light of
day was succeeded by the blackness of night,
They shaped their course as they thought
best, but all were oppressed by the fear
that they might miss the island and blow
out into the lake. Neal was conscious of
intense weariness; his arms ached, while
the rest of his body was num
Time dragged by; it seemed. to Neal that
it must have been days before when they
left Superior, Ue was chilled, trembling
with cold and fatigue. All at once he saw
straight before them in the gloom, a faint
gleam of light. Neal was conscious of a
(Continued on page 7.)
Ilis .