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” turned grave and serious again,
Copyright, 1917, by David C. Cook Publishing Company.
Vol. 16, No. 46.
SUBLISHED
BKLY.
DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING COMPANY, Etcrn,
ILLINOIS.
November 17, 1917,
Bessie Wildman and =
Point Reef dig
eee
orn
. CHAPTER VII.
IE fog bell had to be rung every
two minutes. -
affair
suspended from two iron
- €rosspieces that rose ten feet above the
platform on whieh the girls stood. The rim
ef the bell was on a level - with: their -
wastes, which made the lifting of the ham-
mer high enough to strike it a little diffi-
_eult.
The automatic trip hammer, operated by
2 lever, which rose and fell at regular in-
tervals,.took the place of the ordinary bell
elapper. The lever controlling the hammer
had broken off short so the head-had fallen
to the ground below.
When Mary had got the knack of strik-
ing the bell properly, Bessie decided to
hunt for the hammer head and see if she
“T won't be gone long,
“Tt must have fallen on
She descended the ladder with the lan-
tern and made a search of the ground. be-
Jow. - Mary, meanwhile, remained above on
the platform, and counted the seconds slow-
ly. Isvery two minutes she raised the ham-
mer. and brought it down on the rim of
the bell with a resounding. whack.
The exercise increased the circulation of
her blood, and in a few moments the cold
moisture ceased to make her shiyer. There
was something exciting in tolling the bell.
Every time she struck it. her mind fol-
lowed the sound through the fog. and in
imagination she could see the sailors out
there on the ship nod their heads in relief.
So long as the bell was ringing at regular
intervals, they knew where the dangerous
shoals were located.
ce climbed the ladder-after a while,
and said: “I can't find the hammer head.
it must have rolled down the rocks into the
es
“ Couldn't we use this one in place of it,
Bess?
- “No,” sighing. “and I don’t know that
finding the other one would do any good.
The lev ors broken. and I - haven't any
duplicate.”
She got up and made a thorough exam-
jnation of the machinery. It did not re-
quire very much study to conyince her that
the work of repairing it was beyond her
akill. ©
“I'm no mechanic.” she had to admit.
“Perhaps Reb or Uncle Ben might—no, I
don’t believe they could fix it. either, They'd
have to get a new lever. * Tf I had that I
could screw it in position.” | ~
“Well, I wouldn't let it bother me,
Bess.” Mary remarked. |‘ We've saved the
ship. and if any other one comes along we
eat warn it off the shoals. I rather enjoy.
pounding away at the old bell. I always
did like to hammer something that made a
big noise.” :
Bessie but. her face quickly
“Yes, for
2 little while, Mary, but if the fog lasts all
night and into the -morning—why, © I've
known fogs to hang off the coast for nearly
a week) .
“You mean,” her sister asked, staring in
dismay at her, “that if the fog lasts that
smiled,
It was a big stationary~
“have a turn at it,
_take my cloak while I’m striking.’
In eight chapters 3
long we must keep ringing this bell?”
“Why, certainly! What else can we do?
We couldn't neglect it and let a ship run
on the shoaly could we?”
“No, I suppose not,” was the slow an-
swer, “ but it will be fearfully hard, and—”
- “I - know it, Mary!”. said Bess leaping
to her feet. “It’s going to test our
strength to the limit, but we’ve got to do
Within a hundred yards was a ghostly ship.
it. We can't afford to fail. Now let me
while you rest. Here,
Mary yielded the hammer to her sister,
and pulled the cloak around her shoulders.
The seriousness of their position was just
beginning to dawn upon her mind, She
had been ringing the bell less than twenty
minutes, and yet her arms began to feel
the unusual strain of lifting the heavy
hammer. She wondered how long she could
keep it up.
“Now we must prepare for the worst,”
Bess added. “We've got to conserve our
strength all we can, and take turns. I’m
stronger than you, and will do double
juty—"
“No, I'll do my share.” :
“You will be if you relieve me every
hour, and give me half an hour's rest be-
“tween.”
“But when will
Bess?” :
“ “Tl doze between watches. I can do it,
and you'll have to learn to do the same.”
Mary shook her head at this improbable
suggestion, but Bess knew that when she
began to feel physically exhausted she
would be able to sleep in any place or posi-
tion on short notice. The actual danger
was that one or the other might fall asleep
and forget to keep track of the time.
. you. get any sleep,
“Counting the seconds between<strokes
is going to add to our burden,” Bess said
thoughtfully after a while. “ Suppose you
go up and bring down the old clock. We'll
set it here in front of the lantern where
we can watch the time. That will save
counting.”
Mary rose to obey, but Bess changed her
mind. She was beginning to feel that she
must save her sister’s strength in every
possible way. Mary was frail compared
with her, and she was not used to ex-
posure and outdoor exercise. .
“ Wait until my turn is up,” she added,
“and I'll go and get the clock and. some
other things. Now you sit down there and
wrap yourself up in that cloak. I'll keep
track of the strokes.”
Mary demurred at first, but finally con-
sented, and for a long time she sat there
- talking in a low tone to her sister or watch-
ing and listening in
silence. An occasional
distant blast of a
steamer’s whistle
reached their ears, but
nothing else broke - the
silence. Far above their
heads towered the light-
house. The revolving
path of light from its
reflector swept rhythmi-
eally seaward and land-
ward, but its rays pene-
trated only a short dis-
tance through the dense
, mist,
“J hope nothing will
happen to the light,”
Mary murmured once,
looking up ‘at it. “If
that should stop or go
out we'd have to’ give
The fog bell’s
to keep two
“T don’t think any-
thing will happen to the
light. If it does we'll
have to divide our
forces. Now are you
rested enough to take a
n?”
I'm as fresh
and strong as at the
beginning. In fact,
I'd rather, be bham-
mering the old bell
than sitting here do-
ing nothing.”
“All right, then,
Vil go and * get _the
clock.”
Taking the -lan-
tern with her, Bess
worked her wa
down the iron ladder
and soon disap-
peared in the dark-
ness, She emerged
from the house again
shortly with the
clock and another
lantern.
“These will keep
you company,” she
said, placing the
clock and lantern in
front of her sister.
“TH take one lan-
tern ‘with me.”
“Where are you
going now, Bess?”
“ After some more
things — warm
clothes and comfort-
ables. It's going to
“Iocan see the bive sky.” . any
get very damp and cold out here before
morning.”
She realized the serious situation facing
them, but was anxious not to alarm Mary
more than necessary. When she emerged
from the house again, she was dragging a
light mattress behind her. She called to
Mary to help her get it up on the’ plat-
form. and then returned for comfortables
and a rubber blanket.
“What in the world are you going to do, -
Bess?’ exclaimed Mary. “You'd think
you were going off on a camping trip.”
“It will amount to the same thing in
the end, Mary,” was the quiet reply, “and
we want to be prepared for it. Here's
some hot coffee for you to drink. Take
it, and I'll drink a cup.
Ringing the bell in the fog had begun to
. tell on Mary’s strength, and the smell of
the hot coffee was welcome. She drained
the cup. «
“That puts new life into one,” she said.
“I'm going to try you out a full half-
hour,” Bess said, “and then I'll ring for
an hour. If you can't stand it—”
“Don't worry about me, Bess.
so weak as you imagine.”
But Bessie was not so sure, She watched
her a little anxiously, and promptly at the
end of the half-hour she took her sister's
place. Mary was a little more fagged than
she cared to acknowledge, but she smiled
bravely. _
“Now drop down on the mattress and
cover yourself with the blankets, and then
pull the rubber sheet over them,” Bess
commanded. “If you fall asleep, I'll call
you.”
“Not much danger of sleeping,”
Mary. “I’m as wide awake as an ow
But within five minutes she was in deep
slumber. Less, looking down at her, smiled.
Not even the loud clang of the bell aroused
her beyond a slight twitch and start.
“Poor thing,” -Bess murmured. “I'm
afraid she can’t stand it.”
Instead of calling her sister at the end
of the hour, Bess waited two hours. They
were two very long hours. The moisture
of the fog seemed to penetrate to the very
marrow of her bones, and the strain of
raising the hammer made her muscles ache
and pain. But rather than call ‘Mary
from her sleep. she Kept tolling the bell
ery two minutes.
I'm not
eyes suddenly, and
wilderment. She
leaped to her feet,
and exclaimed:
“Was I asleep,
Bess? I think I
must have dropped
off for a moment.”
“Yes, dear. a
very long minute.
morning.” .
“Oh! You didn't
call me? That
for it. you
gon let me do my
art—
mT will the next
heart . to
you oversleep.”
“Don’t you do
euch thing,
(over)
smiled -
“Mary opened her_
looked up in be-~
disturb .
UL. a
“Then I'll let
i
aad ewe eboney
ewer wt
