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20
Thor, the
Norwegian.
BY FREDERIC VAN RENSSELAER
DKY.
(Copyrighted, 1900, by F. V. R. Dey.)
There is no place in all the world eo des
olate, particularly when a nor*west *.ale
had been on the rampage for three suc
cessive days, lashing the sea into a Tury of
foam and turmoil, as that part of the
North sea where it washes against the
western coast of the peninsular of Den
mark. At such times the air i< frost
laden and benumbing, even in mid-sum
mer. The water itself is of an cm nous,
leaden tint, like a battleship with her war
paint on. Even the foam which caps the
waves is not white and flakey as it is In
the Southern zones, but seems to have
been adulterated with some refuse tint
suggestive of the dirty suds of wash-day.
The wind Is as erratic as the waves which
chop unmercifully; it howls and shrieks
end roars with deadly energy for a time,
end then moans sullenly while It generates
new force for a more furious ons aught.
iDeep-sea sailors dread this region and
avoid it when they can, but the amphib
ious Norwegian and the storm-born Dane
Jove It as a savage loves the wilderness.
If you should study one of the older
charts of this bad-tempered sea you
would discover that flfty-two miles off the
coast of Denmark, by the compass north
northwest from Tyboron, there looms a
APPROACHING THE DEVIL’S NOSE.
rock with an unpronounceable Danish
name, which, being translated Into Eng
lish, means the Devil's Nose. At the
present time it has disappeared, for upon
it had stranded ao many vessels and to it
was due the loss of so many lives and so
.much property that the Danish and the
German governments united to destroy it.
It is not located on the charts in use to
day and the deepest draught war-vessel
may now pass over the spot in safety.
Originally it loomed sixty-four feet into
the air, and from the westward had the
appearance of a huge nose, the more so
when the tide was low. for then at the
water’s edge could be seen indentations
that had been ground out by centuries of
pounding waves, and these cavities w*re
the nostrils of this mammoth proboscis
To the eastward it extended from the sum
mit to the water at an angle of 23 degrees.
This part of the rock was concave in form,
and it broadened as it descended until it
finally disappeared beneath the water like
the tines of a pitchfork, leaving a shelter
ed bay about fifty feet in length by thirty
in breadth, and as deep as the sea Itself.
Many a belated craft returning from a
fishing voyage and overtaken by a furious
nofwester, found shelter here b Tore the
ro.-k was destroyed, and in the little hay
role out the gale In safety; and it was Just
u< h an occasion as this which, one after
noon in August, compelled two men, the
cole occupants of a sloop-rigged craft to
seek the little haven of refuge.
The gale had come upon them almost
turnout warning. They nad reefed and
double reefed their sails, but the wind, as
if It enjoyed their discomfiture, increased
Its strength in proportion as they reduced
the resistance to it, so that at last they
were obliged to scud before it with only
sail enough left standing to give th'm
Bteeraff* way.
One of these men, almost a giant In stat
ure, held the tiller and watch
ed with unerring eyes the ptav
of the savage water around
them. He knew these waters as the half
grown child knows the dooryard of its
birthplace, and he loved the sea, the leap
ing waves and the rushing wind with a
passion that was hereditary. He loved It
and he delighted to defy Its dangers. His
companion held the sheet rope, which
notwithstanding the fact that he had tak
en two turns around the cleat, was, with
each fresh gust of wind, almost snatched
from his
"We’ll make the Devil's Nose, Crad
dock," said the big man at the helm, "and
we ll be there In 10-mlnutes' time. Pass
the sheet to me. I can hold It with my
left hand. Now take the heaving line and
go forward. Make one end fast to the
oapstaln, tie the other end around your
Waist, and when T round to Into the little
bay, Jump and swim for your life! She'll
have headway enough to carry her in'o
the neck of the cove, but not a hit more
There is an Iron ring set In the rock near
the point on the north shore and another
at the head of the cove. If you can make
one of them, and get a hitch through It
before the line pulls taut, we will be as
safe as a church. Put vour clasp knife in
ytour teeth, Crad, and If you cannot make
one of the rings in time, cut yourself adrift
and swim ashore and wait. I'll ride out
the gale alone, and then I’ll come hack
for you. Go forward, now. Not a worl 1
I’m captain of this croft.
When the sloop was again upon the sum
mit of a wave. Craddock, from his posi
tion at the bow, could see the huge reck
to which his companion had referred. He
had heard him describe it many times, but
he had never seen it before.
There Is nothing so dead y uncertain in
the life of a sailor as running straight be
fore a gale of wind. Billows, like moun
tains, tower In front and rear up out of
the ocean’s depth astern, making destruc
tion appear Inevitable. And there is an
angry swish and a resentful seething in
the rushing water as it lifts the strn on
high and hurls the craft like an arrow
from a bow before it. Bui neither of these
men seemed to realize the danger they
wrre in, or If they realized It, they were
careless concerning it Aid while he at the
stern stood with Get apirt. Ids light h-. n l
gt.-taping the tiller and his if ft flrmlv hoi -
inc the straining sheet, Ciaddo k rr pa el
himself for the leap he was to make, t p tt
the successor which (heir safety depended
)• rom ,-t small thing In the distance the
Devil's Nose loomed greater and mightle
as they advanced. It seennd to be rushing
toward th-m at fearful speel,
growing taller and mightier, „ni
more ominous as It approached. The
waves beat against It with savage fucy
* n<l cloud* of spray and chunks of wn
ler were hurled almost to the summit
It secmet! to Craddock as they drove
onward, as If hia friend was steering
straight for the forbidden rock; but he
never looked astern. He knew that the
hand that held the tiller was strong, tried
and sure.
Then came the mighty boom of the mad
dened waters against the barrier of rock
and the yacht was enveloped in a show
er of foam and mist through which, half
obscured, the black monument towered.
The helmsman released his hold upon :ho
sheet, the boom llew forward with a sud
den crash against the shrouds, the sloop
heeled over to starboard until her deck
was half submerged in water and she
came about like the snapping of a whip.
It was at that instant that Craddock
mode his leap. •
Twenty minutes later the sloop was
safely moored within, the little boy, whicn
was as placid os a mill pond, and the two
men were snug in the cabin with nothing
but the roar of the rushing wind above
them and the booming of the water
against the Western extremity of the
rock to remind them of the perils through
which they had Just passed.
While the torm raged on and daylight
became smothered by advancing night,
they cooked and ate their supper, and
smoked their pipes in tranquil security.
Why they were where they were, over
taken by a furious gale in the most dan
gerous part of the North sea, does not
matter, bu 4 if a coast guard, or n customs
officer could have inspected the articles
that were stored away in secret lockers
aboard the sloop, he might have called
them by the now almost obsolete term,
smugglers. Ostensibly, however, the
sloop was nothing more than a mere pleas
ure boat, and they, two venturesome sail
ors, who found it possible to navigate a
cruft which ordinarily should have car
ried a crew of four or five.
When morning came the storm had in
creased in violence, and so mighty were
the seas which swept before it that not
infrequently clouds of spray and masses
of water leai>ed over the summit of the
rock, to again fall into the sea many
fathoms to leeward. The rushing of the
wind, split in twain by the barrier which
sheltered them, came together again be
yond the Devil'6 with a noise like
distant thunder.
After they had disposed of their coffee, !
he who had held the helm through the
storm of the preceding night, and brought
the sloop safely Into this strange retreat, I
“THERE IS BETWEEN USA DIVINITY OF LOVE.”
said to his companion, while they stocsl
together at the bow:
"Craddock, this pile of nature’s ma
sonry contains the unwritten epitaphs of
thousands who have perished here. it
has other secrets, too, and one of them
I have discovered, and will show you. Do
you think, If we climb to the summit
yonder, that you can keep your hold upon
the slippery rock against the gale?”
Craddock shrugged his shoulders, and,
without reply, turned toward the dingy
which had already been launched and
was moored on the port aide of file sloop.
They sculled It quickly to the head of
the bay, and soon began the precarious
ascent of the Devil's Nose. Two-thirds
of the distance to the summit they eirne
upon a level space no bigger than a din
ing table, which In the center was cleft
apart, leaving a space not more than two
feet wide and as dark as midnight within;
and Into this forbidding place the big
man, without explanation or hesitation,
dropped. Craddock followed, and a mo
ment later they stood in a natural cavern
that was created when the rock was
formed.
"I doubt,” said the leader, "if there
lives another man to-day who knows of
the existence of this cavern. Hark! Do
you hear that whistling moan? It is like
the vibration of a hundred aeolin harps.
I have a lantern here; -wait till I strike a
light and I will show you. something
grander than you ever saw before." Then,
presently he led the way up the slippery
rock, and as they advanced, the weird
moaning and whistling became louder and
shriller, until It seemed as if there were
living things hovering around them, and
shrieking in their ears. It was the voice
of the gale as it rushed through an open
ing In the rock high over their heads; and
after they had mounted to it. Craddock
saw his friend put the lantern down; then
his arm was seized in a firm grasp, and
he was led around a Jutting boulder into
the light of day.
The wind struck them like a blow and
for a moment forced them back again,
but they held their ground and presently
stood upon a ledge formed by an Indenta
tion which Nature had left In the mighty
mass, with the summit of the Devil's
Nose, a scarce three fathoms above their
heads.
The view was grand and awful. The
storm was at its hlght. Black clouds
rushed toward them and above them like
chargers of a Hadean host. Seas, moun
tains high, plume-crested with white foam
tumbled onward in mad expostulation to
be shattered against the rock on which
they stood, which of Itself did not even
tremble.
Craddock loved such scenes with not
less passion than his friend, and while
he stood entranced, his arm was seized
again with crushing force, and the voice
of Ills friend, but faintly heard above the
tempest, shouted In his ear;
"Book yonder, t'ro<l! Hook there!” and
with his disengaged hand he pointed
straight to windward.
Scarcely a mile away and driving tow
ard them with the speed of a locomotive
was a schooner yacht under bar® poles,
rolling and pitching and tossing, now half
submerged beneath torrents of water that
fell upon her from the pursuing waves
and again appearing like a helpless chip
uion the summit of an angry s<>.
She seemed to be making straight for
the Devil's Nose. I’pon her deck a dozen
forms were visible, lashed to their places
to. prevent being swept away by wind
and water.
As she drove onward nearer and nearer,
Craddock’s companion again shouted In
his ear.
"I know her, Crad. It Is the favorite
yacht of tho Princess Charlotte of Den-
mark. God grant that she may not be
aboard it now. She loves the sea as we
love it, Crad, and—look, for God's sake,
look!” He pointed with his disengaged
hand, and Craddock saw’ the figure of a
woman wrapped in a cork jacket, lashed
to the binnacle of the beleaguered yacht
which was now not more than 30 fathoms
from the rock.
At the very instant that the two men
discovered her, a mighty wave rolled up
over the stem, and broke in mid air,
overwhelming the yacht with a flood of
water that crushed and made a wreck of
her before their eyes.
For two seconds they gazed spellbound
upon the scene, and then without a word
of warning or intention, Craddock’s com
panion leaped upw f ard and outward, and
plunged head downward io the water, fif
ty feet below.
Craddock did not move. He stood as if
petrified, clinging wdth both hands to the
rock from which the wind seemed deter
mined to hurl him; and he gazed with
every faculty concentrated in his eyes
upon the awful scene of wreckage and
destruction. The yacht careened over,
half filled with w’ater, and surely foun
dering, was thrown by the violence of
the wave that struck her out of line with
•the Devil’s nose, and a.most before there
was time to realize the awful thing that
had happened, she had passed beyond his
view to leeward. He was dimly con
scious that the binnacle and wheel and
all the after-rigging of the yacht had
been torn loose and swept away in the
vortex, and with them had disappeared
the figures of iho woman and of the two
men who were lashed to the w’heel.
Then almost directly beneath the spot
whore he stood, on the crest of a wave,
and breasting it with the pow r er of a
giant, he saw his friend. Beyond him.
in the trough of the sea, another figure
appeared. Then both were loet to view.
There was no sign of excitement in
Craddock’s face or manner. He turned
with deliberation, passed around the jut
ting rock into the cavern, found the ship’s
lantern still burning there, made his way
rapidly down and out through the cleft
into the open air, thence hurriedly to the
water’s edge, and in a moment more he
was in the dingey, sculling rapidly past
the sloop toward the open sea.
When he had reached a certain point
beyond which It would have been folly
to have ventured, by artfully working
his oar, he held the little craft almost sta
tionary, while he, standing upright, shad
ing his eyes with his disengaged hand,
gazed eagerly to windward. He seemed
also to listen. Presently high above the
roar of the wind and waters the strange,
weird bar of a yodel song in a minor key
came to him. A moment later he saw the
form of his friend swimming toward him
with powerful strokes, and clinging to
his back, with her arms around his neck,
was the cork-jacketed woman of • the
wreck.
•****
While and wan and drenched, yet con
scious, with something infinitely pathetic
in her wonder and amazement, they as
sisted her along the sloop's deck to the
little cabin. It was Craddock who en
tered with her, and from a locker he se
lected clothing of his own, which he laid
out upon Ihe berth; until then there had
been no word spoken.
"Madam,” he said, pausing beneath the
hatch, "do you understand English?"
She replied with an inclination of her
head, and he added, "This is the only dry
clothing I can offer you. There 1s brandy
on the table. If there is more that I can
do, you have but to call through the
hatch." He turned then to leave her, but
she detained him by a gesture.
"Tell me,” she demanded, with nervous
intensity, “who is the man who took me
from the sea?”
"He is a Norwegian, madam; by name
Thorgensen.”
"Well named,” she murmured. "A Nor
wegian Thor. Tell him that he saved
tho life of a daughter of the King of
Denmark."
When Craddock returned to the deck
he found his friend stretched at full
length at the bow, lying upon his back,
with his eyes fixed upon the coursing
clouds; and there was an Indescribable
smile upon his face. He seemed to have
forgotten that he was bedraggled and
wet, and that his tawny hair and heard
was matted and unkempt, and as Crad
dock paused bes'de him, he turned his
big blue eyes upon his friend, and said:
"Who Is she, Craddock?”
"She told me.” said Craddock, calmly.
In reply, "to tell you that you had saved
the life of a daughter of the King of
Denmark.”
The Norwegian did not Immediately re
spond. There was a dreamy, faraway
look in his eyes, and presently he mur
mured :
"The daughter of a King. I am glad
of that. The daughter of a King. Yes, I
am glad of that.”
He ceased speaking, rose slowly to his
feet, and standing before hts friend, said
In that same half dreamy tone;
"Shall I tell you how It happened, Crad?
It seemed when I stood up there on the
rock, and saw that wave hang over her,
ready to fall and <Aush, as though I heard
her cry aloud to me to save her, and I
leaped. How I found her I do not know,
hut when I came to the surface she was
near to me, and I seemed to leap through
the water, Impelled by greater strength
than I ever possessed before. Then—why,
then It seemed as if there was no danger,
nnd I remember that I laughed aloud ar.d
told her to put her arms around my neck,
and somehow, Crad, It seemed ns If she
felt the same as I, that the wind and the
waves and the fury of the storm could
not, dared not harm us; that the water
could not drown us, and I swam around
the rock, knowing that you would be
waiting for us. And all that time she
did not speak. I have not heard the sound
of her voice. A daughter of a king, you
say, but only a woman, after all. A wo
man with a heart—ay, two hearts,for now
by heaven, she possesses mine. The
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daughter of a king, but only a woman,
Crad, only a woman.”
An hour later she called to them from
the hatchw’ay, and it was Thor who an
swered her. She had made no change in
her apparel, and seemed to be as uncon
scious of the w*et as her Norwegian savior.
It seemed, too, as if they had known each
other always, he towering over her like a
god, and she gazing up into his eyes in
silent amazement.
“Princess,” he said, “it has leased God
to let me take you from the sea. Tell me,
did you c'all aloud from the deck of the
schooner before the mountain of water
fell upon you, and did you call my name?”
“No,” she said, “I could not call your
name. I did not know that any one was
near. Who arc you, sir? I do not moan
what is your name. You friend has told
me that. Who are you?”
“Yesterday if you had asked me that.”
replied Thor, ”1 could have answered.
Now I do not know. There was a man
upon the rock when your yacht founder
ed in the storm. That man leaped into
the sea, but the man who swam out of
the sea with you upon his back is not the
same. You, madam, are a princess of
royal blood. lam a man who never knew
his father, and yet there is between us,
belonging to both, a divinity of love. It
is stronger than I or you,” and he bent
forward and kissed her on the forehead.
She made no reply, and she did not re
sent the salutation.
“Thor!” she said, dreamily. “Yes, it is
true.” And she reached out and took his
hand, raised it to her lips and kissed it;
then she turned back into the cabin and
disappeared.
“The daughter of a king,” he said to
himself. “Craddock, I never cared till now
to know’ who I am. She asked the ques
tion and I could not answer. Will you
help me to find out who I am? The daugh
ter of a king, Craddock, but only a woman
after all.”
**•••••
The storm that had promised to invest
that part of the world for three or four
days began to lull as the day advanced,
so that when the sun was at meridian the
fury of it was spent, and only the unquiet
waves told w’hat it had been through the
preceding night.
A strange unrest abode with Thor, the
Norwegian. Many times he drew near to
Craddock and paused as if about to speak,
then silently withdrew’. As many times he
strode to the hatchway and seemed to
meditate upon entering the cabin, only to
turn away and stand gazing across the
water toward the coast of Denmark. His
strong and noble face wore an expression
of introspection which could not be con
founded with anxiety, and frequently he
ran his fingers through the wavy, tawny
masses of his hair, as if by doing so some
obstacle to collected reflection might be
dispelled. Craddock also seemed dis
traught. He kept his place at the bow
and gazed, not at the sea, as did his friend,
but upward, toward the summit of the
Devil’s nose, aiivl there was anger in his
eyes and r&cnaee in 'the expression of his
face.
At last Thor drew near him again.
"I cannot help It, Craddock,” he said,
as if in continuation of a discussion be
tween them. “I cannot help it, my
friend. I love her. Yes, and she loves me.
It was her soul that cried aloud to me
from the sea when I stood up there on the
rock and hoard and answered and obeyed.
What matter if she is the daughter of a
King? Do you know, Craddock, that since
she came to us I believe that J. too, am of
royal blood? You ate angry because you
know I love the rilneess.”
“No, Ralph," and Craddock turned and
face(l bis friend. "I am not angry; that Is
not the word; but I have grave misgivings.
I wish that you had not taken me to the
summit of Ihe rock.”
The Broad shoulders of the Norwegian
gave expression to a shrug. He raised his
head proudly, and smiled at ihe clouds,
the sky. and the world around him.
“I did not take you there, old chap,”
he said. "She called to me. and I went,
although I did not know that she called.
Blame destiny—not me. I am going to her
now.”
He strode away without another word,
paused at the hatchway, and suid:
“May I enter, Princess?"
Again they faced each other In the shal
low cabin, scarce higher than his stat
ure .
"Princess," he said, and without being
oonscious of the act he possessed both her
hands In his. "I am a Norwegian waif,
and yet, you love me. You are a Princess
of royal blood, yet I love you. It Is some
thing that our souls have done without
our knowledge, perhaps in the unremem
bered past before these shells In which we
live, were made. They knew each other
then, and doubtless loved 1 . To-day, may
hap after cycles of time which destiny
cannot count, have come and gone, they
meet again and remember. Have I spoken
truth, Princess?”
"Yes, God’s truth,” she murmured.
He bent over her white hands and
touched first one and then the other with
his ilps.
"That destiny which shapes our ends,
In whose control our entries are as mere
feathers in a gale, brought us through the
tempest, face to face, and you, Carlotta—
you see I know your name—and you and
I, will remember and will live up to this
hour, henceforth. Some day when you are
safe in the palace of your father, I will
go to you there. I know not how. nor
when; but I will go. Until then, Princess,
I may not say more than I have said.”
She raised her" eyes to his and looked,
and looked, and looked. She did not
speak; there was no need. And while
their souls communed together In silence
Craddock leaped Into the hatchway and
called aloud;
"Sail, ho!”
Once more the Norwegian touched the
forehead of the Princess with his lips,
and then he left her and hastened to the
deck .
Not three miles away to the eastward,
a Danish cruiser was steaming toward
them. Craddock was at the stern of the
s'.oop wildly gesticulating to attract the
attention of those upon tho ship of war;
and from the starboard how there pres
ently Issued a puff of smoke followed by a
distant report, and the cruiser glided Into
the less tumultous waves beneath the
shelter of Devil’s Nose. Davits swung out
ward, a cutler dropped into the sea, was
manned, and presently pulled under the
stern of the sloOp.
The cruiser had been sent from Tyboron
in search of the belated yacht of the
Princess Charlotte.
• •••••••
Twenty minutes later the Princess had
departed. The cruiser, with black smoke
spouting from her funnels, was coursing
with nil speed for Denmark with the Joy
ous news of the Princess' safety; and Thor
stood silently leaning against the tiller of
the eloop, with one hand shading his eyes,
watching the w’arship while she became
smaller and smaller in the distance.
Presently he turned and motioned to
Craddock to come nearer. Then, resting
one hand upon the shouider of ills friend,
he said, slowly: x
“The daughter of a ICing, Craddock, but
onlj’ a woman after all. I love her, and
she loves me; and w T ere she the daughter
of a hundred kings, ehe were no less mine.
The daughter of a king, Craddock, but
also the sweetheart of Thor, the Norwe
gian.
(THE END.)
The Blue Wolf
of Ocean County.
BY CHAHLE. BATTEIL LOOMIS.
(Copyright by the author, Charles Battell
Loomis.)
You boys who live In cities don’t know
what a nuisance wolves can make ol
themselves when they set their crafty
minds to It, and even those of you who
live in the wolf country or who have read
the ripping good stories about them by
Ernest Seton-i Thompson, can have no idea
of the trouble that the blue wolf of Ocean
county, state of Maine, caused to the
farmers thereabouts.
Ocean county may be said to lie just
100 miles due east of Portland, and if
you'll look it up on the map you will un
derstand me.
The selectmen of Tatham had offered
a standing reward of SI,OOO to the man,
HE WENT FIFTY FEET BEFORE lift FELL.
woman, boy or girl who would bring in
that blue wolf dead or alive.
The wolf stood eight feet high in her
stocking feet and It didn’t make a bit
of difference to her whether mamma had
a headache or not, when she felt like com
ing in and eating up the canary or the
gold fish or the horse or a whole flock of
sheep, why she did it and there was no
sheep dog, so brave nor any marksman
so sure that he was able to damage old
Blueskin as she was called.
Why, she had enough lead In her to sink
a ship, but she grew fat on lead and cried
for more when the farmers got tired of
shooting at her.
It’s singular that no one suspected that
she was an enchanted wolf. Of course,
you knew It as soon as you began to read
this, hut that’s only because of the name
of this series. Those hard ’headed Maine
farmers never thought of Blueskin being
enchanted even when they considered her
preposterous color which shaded from
POOR JED COULDN’T SfOP ROLLING.
light blue at the tip of her tail to marine
h'ue at her collar and a greenish blue
around her wickedly scarlet eyes.
One day she came down like Sennache
rib's aimy on a sheepfold and spoiled for
ty-eight legs of mutten, which gave the
alarm by crying baa in twelve different
ton s, there being one voice to every four
legs, as Is usual with mutton and other
roasts.
It was the morning after this slaughter
among the sheep that Ike. the scissors
grinder, suggested to little Ned Soule that
the wolf was enchanted. Ike tramped all
over Maine and nobody knew where he
had originally come from but he was
lppularly supposed to be one hundred and
three years old and he himself said that
he remembered the battle of Bunker Hill
very well, whiqh If he had stopped to
think, was ridiculous because the battle
of Bunker Hill was fought In seventeen
hundred and—er—
Well, as I was saying, he stopped at
the Soule’s to sharjvn their scissors and
when little Nd told him how his father's
flock of a dozen sheep had vanished, Ike
said the wolf was enchanted.
His head was always shaking and his
voice was as wheezy as a pump windlass
that needs oiling. “That wolf ain't no ord
’nary wo f. It’s enchanted and no one but
a p rfectly brave boy can kill It. Ho
don't mind men no more'n a bad hoy
minds his mother. Now, If you get two
companions an' go up to Tathanj Four
Corners you'll find a holler log right be
side the s’gn pest. Creep through It to the
country rf the Blue Wolf and you'll come
to a helm tree 200 feet high. The boy that
lellfß on himself an’ clear grit will climb
to the top and he'll find there a crimson
tipped arrow, an arrow with a blue tip
and a white tipped one. Then each boy
must take an arrow and armed with a
bow of his own make he must seek the
wolf. The rest you must do for yourself,
but (he real brave boy will bag the blue
wolf. There, take that scissors to you in*
and tell her It’s a quarter because It was
very dull.”
After Ike had gone down the road with
his quarter Ned went off to hunt up Car
roll Mdllken and Jed Wadsworth and find
ing them he told them Ike’s story without
delay.
’’l’ll bring In old Blueskln to-morrer.
See If I don’t,” said Jed Boastfully.
“I’m most afraid to go, but if you fell
ers can go I guess I can,” said Carroll,
his rosy cheeks growing several shades
paler at the thought of his Cerulean High
ness.
That afternoon they made bows out of
hickory wood, and strung them with whip
cord. The next morn ng early, the day
being Saturday, they left home without
string a word io any one and sat ovK for
Tatham Four Corners. It was at the fag
end of the winter and the roads were
frozen here andfsnow covered there but
they didn’t mind the mud and they liked
the snow. Each boy had made his own
preparations for the coming events.
“I’ve got a contraption that'll take me
to the top of that elm qulcker’n scat,”
said Jed.
"I nope mine will work," said Carroll.
Little Ned said nothing.
At the sign post at the comers lay the
hollow log and into It crept Carroll. It
was a tight squeeze for he was a chubby
boy but he managed to work his way In
and then Jed went after him and as he
was slim he had no trouble.
It might have frightened some boys to
notice that although the two boys were
each four feet high and the trunk was
only six feet leng they didn't come out
at the other end, but Ned didn’t quite
know what fear was so In he went.
A moment lattr all three boys found
themselves in a field starred with crim
s n dalslts. so that the meadow looked
allame with the flowers. In the middle of
the field grew the great elm. Its top seem
ing to touch the clouds.
"Oh. how easy, how easily, easily easy,
sand Jed, boastfully and he fitted to hts
knees climbers made of leather garters
I ierced with sharpened horse shoe nails.
He sprang at the trunk and went up
about ten fi et and then he came down so
hard that all climb was knocked out of
him. and he set his teeth and Imped pain
fully away from the tree with nothing to
say, f, r a wonder.
It's hard work, but I think that rubber
sleeves will do it for me. I can’t slip
with them on,” said Carroll.
He went fifty feet before he fell and
it’s a wonder that he didn’t break every
bone in his fat body, for he came down
like a pile driver.
"I’m afraid I can’t do it, as all I have
is my tw r o hands,” said Ned, but he went
manfully io work and to the great won
derment of the bigger boys he climbed
that tree as easily as If It had been a
fruit tree.
When he reached the top he found three
branches that were shaped exactly like
arrows even to the feathering. One had
a white point, one had a blue point, and
the other a red point.
”1 bony the red one,” yelled Jed from
below.
“And I guess I'll take the blue one,"
said Carroll, and that left Ned with Hob
son's choice or the while one. Person
ally he would have liked the red one,
but he didn't want to make a fuss, so ho
broke the three arrows from the tree and
threw them down and then he slid down
the trunk and fortunately reached the
ground with falling, although his hands
and knees felt warm from the friction.
“That's the highest tree I ever climbed,”
said Ned, with pardonable pride.
“If I hadn’t slipped ” began Jed.
“But we did slip,” broke In Carroll,
“and it was Ned who got the arrows. Now
let’s start for the wolfs den."
Before them, rising to a great hlght, lay
a steep hill, which they hadn’t noticed
before.
Jed rushed at It with his usual over
confidence and found himself sinking up
to his knees in mud. Carroll ran to his
assistance, but became mired himself. So
Ned said: ”1 guess It will have to be
taken slowly,” and with that he gave
them each a hand and bucked the hill
with head down and sturdy, steady stride
and in a minute it began to rise ilke a
billow and the three boys found them
selves at the top. And there what a
view disclosed itself. For at least three
miles in front of them the descent was
steady and the whole country was cov
ered with snow and with an ice crust, the
very- best kind for coasting.
“Oh. if we only had our sleds," enll
Carroll.
“What’s the matter with sitting down
and sliding," said Jed, preparing to do
80.
“Hold on,” said Ned, "there's a shin
gie. On such a glare as this that'll
as well as a tobogan. You boys
o double ripper of yourselves with rh
shingle under you and I'll sit on you ant
we’ll go kiting. * u anJ
So Jed end Carroll locked legs j P<5
his stomach and Carroll eitting down !,
the shingle under- them. Then with N.t)
In place on thl3 human toboggan *h '
went kiting down that hill licketty cut'
But before they reached the foot of
hill they saw a pile of rocks right acm '
their path and there sitting in front of
a ceve was the wolf, old Blueskln eatin!
a sheep. =
Ned saw her first and he said, "Qulov
boys, unlock and roll off from the shin
gle, or you'll be In the wolfs den in
a minute. Get your bows ready ana
shoot steady.
The boys minded tnstanter and the thrr
went rolling oft to one side while the sh'n
gle sped on alone and hit the wolf sauarl
in the nose.
That was unlucky because she had not
seen them before, being too busy wl h
her dinner. But now she looked up aril
saw them and let out a howl that shook
the hill and that stayed In the bovtf
minds for many a long day.
“I’ll him,” said Jed, and he fitted
his red arrow as he rolled and fired to n,
blank nt the Mg blue monster.
But bless you, the arrow never wont
near the wolf at all. but overshot the mark
and wont over the rocks and at the
moment out from the den came Blueskln
Jr., as large as a Bt. Bernard and as fern
clous as a bloodhound.
And poor Jed couldn’t stop rolling but
slid and rolled right into the arms 0 f the
whelp who fetched him, such a blow on
the head that It laid open his scalp a n i
closed his mouth—for he fainted with pain
and fright.
I dare say that Mrs. Blueskln told her
son that they'd have an extra nice din
ner in a few minutes, but for the present
they must leave Jed alone and try to get
a breakfast and lunch out of the oth-r
kind little boys who had invited them
selves to visit them and stay for meals
Certainly Jed was not touched after his
head had been damaged, but Mother Rlue
skin made ready for Carl-oil, who with
trembling fingers was fitting the blue shaft
Into his bow. He had managed to strip
rolling a rod or so above her den. He
looked around, but he was alone Lithe
Ned had disappeared. Carroll was too had.
ly scared to take accurate aim and where,
as he meant to hit Mamma Blueskln h
keeled over the whelp, who fell on ' Its
side with a fierce yelp.
When Blueskln saw her baby go down
she ripped out a hideous howl that sent
Carroll’s blood down below freezing She
bounded at him with her jaws wide open
and her red tongue lolling and her scarlet
eyes blazing like fire brands. A few
yards more and It would have been all
up with the poor boy, because the bine
wolf was not thinking of food now, only
of the loss of her whelp. But Just as she
leaped upon him a red-tipped arrow fol
lowed In her wake and caught her in the
small of her back, which Is a blue wolf’s
most vulnerable spot, and she reared up
on her haunches howling horribly. Car
roll rolled out of reach of her terrible
paws and saw Ned above the wolf den fit
ting his own white arrow Into the bow
for the ending of the wolf.
He had managed to steer past the mouth
of the den and climbing the rocks hrhiti 1
It he had found Jed's red arrow. This had
come in handy to save Carroll’s life and
now the white one, carefully aimed and
sent with a good will, entered the wicked
brain of the big wolf and the formers of
Ocean county -were free to keep all the
sheep they cared to.
Jed had meantime recovered conscious
ness and rose to his feet saying: "Walt
till I get another chance,” but Just then
he saw old Mamma Blue and her offspring
lying on the ground and knew that Ills
share In the fun was over.
"You’ve saved my wife,” said Carroll
to Ned, but Ned laughed In a shy way and
said: "I wish we could coast home wiih
these wolves.”
As he spoke the ground gave Indica
tions of rising as It had done on their
way there. Quick witted Ned made the
boys pull the baby wolf’s carcass on to
the other and then all three boys sal down
on them and in a jiffy the ground ro<e
at least a thousand feet and tilted the hill
the other way. Of course, with such u
slippery crust of frozen snow the bodies
of the wolves were as good as sleds and n
little shove started them off and they
went down like a meteor and In some un
explainable way they never stopped until
they reach the town hall at Tatham.
It being Saturday the town was full of
farmers who had come in to do their
shopping and when the three boys came
coasting down Main street on their new
fangled blue double ripper, why the who!'
•town went wild and nothing was too good
for Ned and' his friends.
And I want to- tell you that Ned divided
the reward equally with Jed and Carroll,
so that each boy had $331.33. And the
wolves blue skins are stretched on the
front wall of the town hall os ony one
may pee who drives through Tatham.
—As there is an absence of coal in Switz
erland, it Is not possible for the people of
that country to produce the iron used in
many of their manufacturers, and It must
be Imported from Germany. Instead of
being dependent on coal for smelting t e
iron ores which are to be found within the
boundaries of Switzerland, it has reczn ly
been determined to make use of the elec
tric furnace for this purpose, and such a
proposition Is now being develop'd by Herr
Muller Landsmann in the Bernese Ober
land, near Melringen. A concession has
been obtained from the government to
work an outcrop of hematite which occu s
along the mountain face at this loea'ity,
the vein having a thickness of seven ffct.
and being visible for about two miles. The
ore will be transported by aerial ropeway
to Innertkerchen below, and power 10 the
extent of tiO.uOO horse power will be de'ic
ed from the Aar, and used to drive the ma
chinery and supply the current for the
electric furnaces. Switzerland is particu
larly rich in water-power as well as defi
cient in coal, and the resulls of this en
terprise will be awaited with much in
terest.
■ Ml I Dili
HOXBAN, I. T.
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