The Vici Beacon (Vici, Okla.), Vol. 12, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 15, 1923 Page: 2 of 8
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I
THE VICI BEACON '
AT AN
By H DEVERE STACPOOLE
A Romance of the
Bahamas
Copyright by Robert IL McBride A Ob
CHAPTER XIII— Continued
—18—
Be rose up and they went on with-
out a word Then presently tiey be-
gan to talk about indifferent matters
almost as though nothing had oc-
curred They found a nest of turtles' eggs
and Jude marked It farther along
they came upon something strange a
sort of platform half-covered with
sand Jude said It was the foretop
of a ship sunk and sanded over
“It’s the Kombre de Dios maybe”
said Ratcliffe
“Maybe” said Jude "It’s the fore-
top of an old ship anyhow See
where the mast's broke oif— she’s
thirty or forty foot under that"
“Not much good to us even If she
is the Nombre de Dios”
“Not much"
' The gulls seemed to agree and the
little waves falling crystal clear on
the beach
It woe near the end of the spit Just
here and the sands shelved out los-
ing themselves In the Immeasurable
loneliness of the sea stretching to
Mariguana and the Caicos and the
northern shoulder of South America
Jude on her knees with a bit of
driftwood was scraping away the
aand from the edge of the sunk fore-
top when something caught her eye
A turtle had landed where they had
marked the eggs It was so far away
that It did not look bigger than a
half-dollar
She flung the bit of driftwood away
rose to her feet and started running
taking the extreme sea-edge where the
sand was bard Ratcliffe followed
They were half a minute too late the
turtle turning back to the sea and
leaving them spent and laughing She
got down on her knees and hived the
eggs In her hat still laughing He
helped filling his hat and his pockets
and then they started for the lagoon
edge Jude suddenly In the wildest
spirits He had never seen her In
such high good spirits When they
got aboard It was just the same Even
Satan's maniacal passion for old Junk
expressed at supper In the determina-
tion to spend two more days picking
and scraping at the Hallotis did not
depress -her It only made her laugh
“You'll be cryin’ before you’re done
If you got on laughin' like that” said
Satan “What’s possessed you eh 7”
Sure enough she was The words
acted like a pin on a bubble
She flushed pushed her plate away
half rose and then sat down again
“You're always going on at me I
Whatch'a want me to do? If I’m
crying I ought to be laughin’ an' If
I’m laughin’ I ought to be crying 1
I’ll laugh as much as I want — ’’
Then logically she broke Into vio-
lent tears rose and ran on deck
“Whut the h — l-nntlon’s the matter
with her?” asked Satan
“I don’t know" replied Ratcliffe
He had time to think over the mat-
ter as he lay in his bunk that night
He fell to wondering among other
things what the spell was that drew
him toward Jude and held him
Was It the Indefinable attractive
quality that had made her mother a
nacheral calamity" where men were
soncerned or Just the power of youth?
Scarcely the latter He had met lots
of youth in bis time and It had not
attracted him much besides when
you have only to look Into the looking-glass
to see youth It is at a dis-
count Puzzling over the matter he came
to the bedrock fact that Jude In
some extraordinary way had the pow-
er to make him feel more alive than
he had ever felt before
Leaving other things aside there
were au honesty faithfulness and
simplicity about Jude that removed
her from the category of bifurcated
beings and raised her to the level of
a dog
Instinct told him that this compound
quality was worth more than all the
gold lying under the hatches 'of the
Nombre de Dios more than all the
diamonds In the Rand when com-
bined wltb that other quullty speak-
ing In her level gaze — steadfastness
the something thnt would make her
keep the wheel In all weathers
But these excellences would have
been nothing without the Impossibil-
ities with which they were allied-
social and conventual Impossibilities
Tbe one reacted on the other making
an Irresistible whole combined with
the something else that was Jude
He remembered the queer- little
laugh wltn which she had freed her-
self from hla hand round her list—
then he fell asleep and dreamt that
be and Jude snd a lot of larrikin
were lying In wait by harbor' blue
as the sea o(T Jamaica to clod bathing
nigger girls and then he was chasing
Jude round and round a tree only to
catch her and find that she was Car-
qulnez When he got on deck next morning
he found the ship deserted The oth-
ers were away on the sandbank and
he amused himself by fishing till they
returned
Jude showed no traces of the tears
of the last night and Satan wao elat-
ed He had been examining the
wreck-wood and hs experienced eye
backed the declaration of Jude It
was the foretop of a ship right
enough and a hundred to one so he
declared the foretop of the Nombre
Ratcliffe wondering vaguely why
he seemed so pleased over the find
considering the sand conditions asked
him the chances of raising her Then
said Satan seeming t' turn Ills gaze
Inward upon his awful and profound
knowledge of the'sea and Its ways:
“If you was to get all the drldgers
from H’vana to Pensacola and drldged
till your eyes bulged out o' your head
an’ your "'tongue hanged down to your
tieels you wouldn’t clear — siltin’— but
she’s a sure enough mug trap”
“How do you mean?”
“Why with that story and that
chart an’ that old foretop I could set
half Havana dlggln’ like dogs for a
bone to say nothin’ of private parties
an’ syndlklts an’ such things— maybe
I will tov some day" '
They put out after breakfast for
the Hallotis and another load of “old
Junk” Satan rowed back with It
leaving Jude and Radcliffe on board —
RatclIITe collecting things forward
and Jude grubbing about In the sa-
loon Having collected the odds and ends
In a heap he turned his eyes to the
Sarah Satan having tied up the
dinghy was busy transhipping his
plQnder Then the beauty of tbe morn-
ing sea flooding Into the lagoon held
him for a moment He followed the
gulls In their flight noted the sudden
break frdm emerald to ultramarine
deepening to pui'ple and beyond tbe
reefs the sudden glitter of a leaping
fish Then be remembered Jut’ down
below
He came to tbe companionway and
down the stairs
Tbe cabin was brilliant with sun-
light with water reflections through
the open portholes playing on the
celling and polished maple and "enesta
of the walls Across a pile of truck
and bunk bedding heaped on the table
he caught a glimpse of tbe upper part
of Jude
Jude fancying - herself entirely
alone and yielding to some prompt-
ing or other had picked up the de-
spised go-ashore hat and put It on
she was looking at herself In the mir-
ror fixed to the after bulkhead She
was looking at herself with her head
now straight and now tilted slightly to
one side then the head turned but
she did not see Ratcllfife her eyes
were still fixed on the hat she was
looking at It sidewise
She had not heard him coming down
the companionway owing to the fact
that he was In his bare feet and she
did not henr him go up again
On deck be took his seat on an old
box upended close to the mainmast
stump and considered the thing be
had just witnessed In a philosophical
spirit
It was like seeing a chrysalis crack
and a butterfly's wing protruding
If Jude had not been admiring her-
self In that hat then sight was a liar
and Its evidence worthless But Jude
was as honest os the day She had
greeted the thing with 1 derision
brought It on deck to sho'v as an ob-
ject of mirth and flung It down the
skylight opening with contempt-
yesterday morning
What had happened since then to
make her consider the thing at all let
alone wear It before a looking-glass?
Had she put It on In derision and to
see what a guy she looked? Not a
bit I She had made friends with that
hat! Those few movements f the
head spoke of consideration not deri-
sion in a language old as the earliest
leather headdress and more universal
than Esperanto
Then he remembered last evening
on the sandsplt and her sudden pas-
sage from despondency to high spir-
its he remembered her queer little
laugh as she removed his hand from
round her waist— had that been the
sound of the rift coming In the chrys-
alis casing?
For a moment he almost yielded to
the desire to go below and see If the
butterfly had really arrived Then he
checked himself There was time
plenty of time besides Satan was
putting off again In the dinghy for
another load
Satan over thin business like a man
In drink or a lunatic had bis hot flu
and cold fits A hot fit had suddenly
come on him ' g
The petrol-para (Tin engine bad-ha-gun
suddenly to shout to him that It
must be taken A glorious Idea too
had evolved Itself In his brain— why
not fit It to the' Sarah not there II
the lagoon of course but In some
port? All that was required would be
some structural alterations and a
shaft-hole In the quarter he reckoned
the fitting would cost under three hun-
dred dollars
He didn’t want the th ng really —
masts and snlls were good enough for
his potterlng-about work — It was the
passion of a woman for Jewelry The
Sarah would be a nobbier boat with
on auxiliary — sea swank purely ex-
hibiting the only apparent weak spot
In his character
That spare Berglus propeller had
begun revolving in his mind days
ago— “thrud — thrud — thrud I See me
drive the Sarah see me drive the
Sarnh I” He had examined the pro-
peller already attached'and found the
blades all broken The shaft was In-
tact and beaching the Hallotis stern
on In that quiet lagodn It would have
been possible to fit on the spare one
and take her off unmasted as she was
under her own motive power
He lmd a vague notion of the struc-
ture of engines and Yankee Ingenuity
enough to have driven her but the
fact of her anchor being down as
before stated and the fact ' that he
had already “torn the tripes” out of
her plundered the sail room and the
store room removed brasswork that
would have taken weeks and weeks
to replace and generally left her like
a scooped cheese prevented any idea
of salvage
Taking the Hallotis Into port he
would have to declare her like a box
of cigars — a box of cigars belonging
to another man and half the cigars
gone
Coming over the rail Ratcliffe saw
the new light In his eye and wondered
what It portended
“I’ve been thlnkln’" said Satan tak-
ing bis stand by tbe mast stump and
surveying the heap of stuff collected
by the other ‘Tve been thlnkln' It’s
tomfoolery to leave that engine”
Jude brought up by the sound of
the dinghy coming alongside appeared
at the saloon companionway She
wore no hat -
“Good Lord I” said Jtatcliffe aghast
“You don’t mean to say — but it's im-
possible We haven’t the means to
take It”
“There's enough of the mast left-to
rig a tackle to” said Satan “and that
hatch leads right down to the engine
place The heavy fittln’s kre easy
raised from tbe bed-plates aud they’re
not too heavy to go In the diugby
We can tow her with the c'lapsible”
“But what can you do with the
thing?”
“Fit her to the Sarah of course"
“Here In the lagoon?” asked the
horrified Ratcliffe
“Well I wouldn’t mind f I bad the
hands and the tools for the job” re-
plied Satan “Naw It’s blont me
I'll have to take her to a port to have
It done— not Havana neither: there's
too many eyes In Havana and people
that know my business Vera Cruz U
the place I know a Spanish yard
there’ll do tbe Job”
"The year after next” put In Jude
“suppaslng you do manage to get it
aboard you know what the dagoes
are and you’ll knock the Inside of
the Sarah to flinders She won't be
the same boat with that old tructlon
lnjln In her — I wish we'd Dever struck
this cay I”
She sat down on tbe combing of thq
skylight and folded her hands Rat-
cliffe bad never seen her do thnt be-
fore He stood torn between - two
things — the desire to please Satan
and tbe desire to please Jude Pull-
ing on the side of Jude there was also
the sure foreknowledge of tne heavy
work that would be required That
did not frighten him but It did seem
to him that they had done enough and
ought to be satisfied
All the same be could sot but ad-
mire Satan Time was pressing It
was quite possible that a salvage boat
might poke her nose Into the lagoon
at any moment - Satan knew this as
well as be yet It did not move him
“It’s not a dago yard" suld Sutan
evading the traction engine dig “It's
French and I've been wanting nn aux-
iliary for years Pap was with me
only he was awful slow over business
and here’s one for nix I'm goln' down
to have a look at her”
He dived below
Jude sat brooding
“Never mind” said Ratcliffe “It’s
not a big engine and he and I will be
able to do It with a tackle I’m not
going to let him put you to work
on It”
“I’m not bothering about thnt” snld
Jude fatefully “It’s when It’s fixed
up Tm thinking of”
“How?”
“He'll make me drive the durned
thing"
“No he won’t”
"What’s to stop him?"
"Oh lot’s of things — leave It to me"
He was cut short by Satan's voice
calling hra to come below Down
below he had to follow all sorts of
details pointed out details proving the
desirability of tbe prize and the mirac-
ulous ease of It x removal
Then they came on -deck and put off
for dinner Rut Satan was never des-
tined to lift that engine Fate had
fixed It to tbe bed-plates more securely
than screws and nuts ceuld hold It
TO BB CONTINUED)
in
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The Compensation
A popular clergyman says that If
his sermon ever stretch beyond the
20 minutes to which he Intends to
limit It the words of his little daugh-
ter ring In his ears and he reflects
that some of his congregation doubt-
less share her feelings
The " occasion was the little girl’s
sixth- birthday which chanced to come
on Thanksgiving day
She went to church with her moth-
er and sat quietly through the service
The sermon was unusually good the
minister could not help thinking he
had plenty to say and he said it flu-
ently "How did 'you like my sermon?” he
asked his young critic as they walked
borne together her small hand in his
big one
“You preached awful long father”
said the little' girl “but I stood It be-
cause I love you and I knew I’d have
a nice dinner when I got home and for-
get what I’d been through” — Harper’s
Magazine
If a man’s debts grow numerous
enough he Is discouraged from paying
enybody
44
It Keeps Me
Awake Nights
is the familiar confession of the tea
and co See drinker The reason is that
both tea and coSee contain caffeine—
a drug which is the foe of night-time
sleep and day-time energy
Postum the pure cereal beverage is
delicious and satisfying— and free from
all the elements which so many users
of coffee and tea find disturbing to
nerves and digestion
Postum contains no stimulant to keep
you awake nights A '
Sold by grocers
for Health
“There s a Reason
Your grocer eelli Poatura in two format
Imam Pomun in am prepared in-
stantly in tha cup by the addition of
boiling water Poetum Cereal in pack
agea lor thorn who preier the flavor
brought- out by boiling fully 20 minutea
The coat of either Iona ia about one-hall
cent a cup
by Poa
Baals
Creek Mich
No man realizes as promptly that
he is a failure as he does that he Is a
success '
For your daughter’s sake use Red
Cross Ball Blue In the laundry She
will then have that dainty well-groomed
appearance that girls admire — Ad- '
vertisement
A Disappointed Lot
A wealthy man visited a school and
gave an address When he was through
he called a little boy up to him and
said: "My lad have you a purse?”
“No sir”
“I’m sorry" said the rich man “If
you had I’d have given you half a dol-
lar to put Into It"
The spine man was scheduled to
speak there again the following
month and when he came the boys
were prepared for him an empty
purse lay hidden In every pair of
trousers And sure enough at tbe end
of his speech he tailed another bby to
him “Have you a purse little man?”
he asked
“Yes sir”
"I'm glad of that" said the speaker
“If you hadn't I should have given yon
half a dollar to buy one" — Boston
Transcript
Profit and Loss
A domestic disaster had occurred In
the household and ten-year-old Bobble
had been sent on a hurry call to bring
the family physician
“Doctor doctor I” he cried “My lit- r
tle brother's swallowed a quarter
Would It pay to have you take It out?”
— American Legion Weekly
everywhere!
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Cain, R. F. The Vici Beacon (Vici, Okla.), Vol. 12, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 15, 1923, newspaper, November 15, 1923; Vici, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1978307/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.