THE DARING OF DOROTHY

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 51, 1 March 1930, Page 18

THE DARING OF DOROTHY

'A Lerrible gale was raging oulside the. lighthouse, but all'was warm aiid cosy within. Tom Barry and Dorothy,- his pretty brown-eyed daughter, were having their very meagre supper of br&id and cheese in the quaint living-room. "Terrible gale, Dot," remarked her father. , "Awful, dad, 5' replied the girl. "I do wish that you did not. have to go ashore.to-night I am so afraid for you." , ."Don't-worry about me, yet," laughed the burly man. "It is .you I am most worried about." : "No need to be, father," announced Dorothy. "I have been here by myself1 many a time before." ■'■■-'~: "Well, it is time I was off and away," announced Mr. Barry, hurriedly. So saying, he put on his oilskins and fought his way down the rugged path that led to the boathouse. . . "Good-Bye, dad," sang but Dot, as it was, very hard to make oneself heard above the howl of wind and the dash of the foam against the sides of the lighthouse. ■ ■■'. "Good-bye, Dot," and he-was gone. ;-;... .. . -.■-.. , "Oh, I do hope he comes back safely," murmured Ddrolhy anxiously. She (hurried back to the lighthouse, and up,the stone spiral, which led to the enormous lamp that was sending its gentle flashing across the raging sea.; Quickly she picked up a telescope and- peered through it, but no sign of her father could she sec. It had happened like this: Mr. Barry had received an urgent message bidding him to go ashore, and .gather some very important documents, and, besides that, they were nearly without- provisions. Suddenly a sharp crack reached her ears. , : A ship! A ship in danger and distress! A sharp rocket whizzed near her. i What could she do? .No boat'to'aid her. -Nothing else; but to swim. With great speed the heroic girl tore off her clothes and raced down the steps leading to the sea: Then, just one moment to.think, and she had taken a header. On she fought. On and on. And nearer and nearer she was getting to the ship. But what was that which the bedraggled girl saw near her? A raft, with a mysterious bundle upon it. Quickly she sWam

up, and what should she find but a real baby about a .year old. Scrambling on to the raft, she rowed it to a nearby island. Then Dorothy knew no more. : Dot and the baby awoke to find themselves in a log hut, with.a nan who had a kind face bending over them. "Awake at last," he said, laughingly. , „ "But where are we?" asked Dorothy, in a bewildered way. "You are on an island," replied the man, whose name was Mr. Penther. "I saw a queer thing floating on the water and I rowed my boat out and found you two." "Oh, how can I thank you?" said Dot, gratefully. "Noi need to," Mr. Penther mildly protested. "But I suppose you must be feeling rather hungry, and away he went to prepare some food. In a few. minutes he returned laden with fruit. "Eat these,".he said. After Dot and the baby had satisfied their appetites, they walked around the'island with-'. Mr. Penther, who said that ho would row them to the lighthouse that very afternoon. » • Jt dawned bright and clear, with not a sign of the storm.. When they arrived at; the lighthouse Mr. Barry came down' to meet them with outstretched arms,1; ■■':-.■■• "My-little Dot" was all he said as he hugged her to him. "I thought you.were lost 'tome for ever." ."No fear of that, dad" laughed Dot; "but look at this.baby!" Mr. Barry looked,, only to start back and cry out: ,: "John Harrow's- lost baby!" At this moment a man, with a very sad face, pushed his way through the survivors of the wreck. ' .; "My, baby! t My/baby!" he cried. "Give1 me back my baby!" Dorothy handed it to him. ' This is hqw-it-had occurred: Mr. Harrow had been on board the sinking ship, ajtid, thinking that his daughter besides himself might get drowned, he had put her on a raft .to float. "Well, I think that you have had. enough adventures to last you for many a day," said Mr. Barry, iV:; r■' , , ' "So do I, dad," Dot replied, and she meant every word she uttered. Mlramar. ■'■'■ y* . GLADYS HARVEY.