then thar couldn't
be no dispute as to the exact words of Ichabod. The story starts right
from the beginning o' the blow. A part of it, the first part, you
already know, so jest skip along until ye come to whar Sandy Mason shows
up."

Doctor Hudson perused the document with great interest. The unconscious
drollery of the old man's literary style gave piquancy to the account.
At times, the fisherman's bits of humor were amusing enough; again,
there was often pathos of a very genuine sort, in the paragraphs. But as
the physician neared the end of the roughly written record, the Captain
interrupted him.

"Say, Doc," he asked, "would ye mind a-readin' o' that last stanzy right
out loud? I think it has got stuff in it that'll make my blood warm up a
heap to hear it read."

The doctor nodded assent, for he at this moment reached the paragraph by
which the old man set such store.

"I, Ichabod Jones," the words ran, "age unknown, bein' as how the family
Bible was burnt up, announces to my friends, all an' sundry, that fer
the past twenty year I've been a coward an' a fool, but was not
a-knowin' of the same until to-day. I ain't been called to preach nor
nothin' like that. I has jest _woke up_! From this day on to the end o'
me in this world, I aim to git all o' the honest enjoyment I kin out o'
this life. An' I want my friends to know that the rule for twenty year
as made and provided has been busted. From this day forward women, ole
and young, will find a welcome on the shore an' in the shack at
Ichabod's Island."

CHAPTER XII

TOWARD THE UNKNOWN

When Captain Ichabod left the Island in haste to get medical help for
the unconscious Ethel Marion, Doctor Gifford Garnet stood before the
shack and watched the red skiff as it rose and fell on the billows until
it was well on its way to Beaufort. Then, with a smile of satisfaction,
he turned and entered the abode where the girl was lying with no sign of
life save the gentle rhythm of the bosom as it rose and fell with her
breathing. Now, once again, he knelt by the bedside. For a little, he
stroked the forehead with deft fingers, then touched her wrist and
counted the pulse. It was evident that he found the condition of his
patient satisfactory, for a pleased expression came in place of the
anxiety that had hitherto marked his features.

Leaving the bedside, Doctor Garnet went to the kitchen stove, where he
opened the oven door and took out the batteries he had r