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jruu cun get wnai you want flow* to Blaekport The s«a*a calm now and yon can row acroi* the bay lahalf an hour,**The summer sun had tanned Bettington to a rich brown. In his sea hoots—the only ones Gibbs had to lend—his faded blue sweater and khaki shirt he looked the sort of fishing type he had oftenpainted.At the dock he took a ten-foot rowboat and set out to the village. He had gone, perhaps, half the distance. when a fast motor boat overhauled him. slackened speed as It passed and then swung round and waited In the path he was taking.There were two men In It. One was a vastly broad-chested man with a trim sweater and white canvas trousers. He had the look of a yacht sailor. The other, who was steering the boat, had no physical peculiarities other than that general air of following the sea.“We’ve had an accident, said the broad-chested man and pointed to something at the bottom of thelaunch.Bettington clung to the side of the drifting motor boat and stood up. There, on the bottom of the other craft, was a man lying immobile. And as the artist stooped over him, the recumbent sailor gave a tremendous half-arm jab which caught Bettington on the point of the jaw. The other two grabbed him as his head fell forward and hauled him on board where, unconscious, he took the place of his assailant, who rosegrinning.The broad-chested man. who wascalled Sam. clapped him on theback in approval“Dandy, he cried “A»d thatrock prevents anyone seeing usfrom the village.” Sam bent overthe unconscious form and neatlytrussed it up with rope. “The Boss will be tickled to death over this. Stove in that rowboat, one of you. A man with a hoat hook smashedin some bottom boards and Jonathan Gibbs' dinghy slowly filled with water. Then the launch put out of the bay, past the buoys, and headed north for Bar Harbor.Bettington had recovered from theit nock-out within five minutes. He could see from the brightly polished brasswork and mahoganythat he was in a yacht's launch He knew that the hum of the mo-fttor would make any call for help useless. He had been neatly knocked out and was now to be expeditiously shanghaied. It was incredible. Then the real meaning of the thing flashed on him. He was mistaken for Jonathan Gibbs. He was rowing Gibbs’ boat and wearing Gibbs’ clothes. With a two days’ growth of beard and a face burned with the sun, he might easily pass for the fisherman.This is all a mistake, he said, addressing himself to Sam. “You think I’m Jonathan Gibbs.”“I know d—n well you’re not, said Sam, without animus.The thing was inexplicable. They knew him for himself, and knowing it, they were carrying him off. bound with ropes, to the open sea There was seemingly no sort of personal grudge in this high-hand ed matter. The three men were carrying out orders.Listen, bo,’’ said Sam, we’ve got orders not to say a thing to you till the Boss sees you. It won’t do you no good asking why we did it. or who we are. We had to get you alive and unharmed, and we didthe best we knew how.”It was dark when the lights of Bar Harbor came in sight. Bettington was carried up the gangway, across a deck and then placed in a small cabin lighted with a sinitle DorUiole.ed their family there, and in the Civil War days Bill Cloud joined the Southern Cause. In 1870 five years after he returned to his home on Sandy Creek, he died, leaving a widow and nine children. Three of the children were here for the reunion: Mrs. M. J. Rowe of Rogers, Jim Cloud of Spur, and Bob Cloud wl»o lives at the old family place onSandy Creek.The Pratt family came to this section in 1870 and settled at what is now the Rice community. W. J. Pratt and his wife, Sarah, were the original members of the family. Two of their children, Jim Pratt of Milano, and G. W. Pratt of Rice, wereat the reunion.Those present were Mr. and Mrs.R. S. Cloud, Rockdale; Mrs. M. J. Rowe, Rogers; Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Cloud, Spur; Mrs. A. Nettleton. Shive; Mrs. H. E. Murphy and family of Brady; Mr. and Mrs. John Cloud, Wewoke, Ok.; Mr. and Mrs.B. J. Rowe, Brady; Mrs. W. G. Has-ley and family, Dallas; Burton and Florence Nettleton, Hamilton; Jim Cloud Jr.. Spur; Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Cloud, Wewoke, Ok.; Mr. and Mrs. T. F. Cloud, Rogers; Mrs. Mary Raines, Wewoke, Ok.: Tom Cloud, Wewoke. Ok.; Mrs. Lillie Clary and family, Rogers; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cloud and family, Rogers: Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Diver and family, Rockdale; Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Martin and family, Austin; Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Hairston and family, Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Brannon and family, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Cloud and family, Mr. and Mrs. John Leeper and family, Rockdale; Byron Cloud. Houston; Maggie Trusdell, Houston; T. Cloud, Vernon; Mr. and Mrs. Louis Davenport, Rockdale; Mrs. Louise Krummow, Austin; Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Cloud, Rogers; Mr. and Mrs. Er-Cochran,Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Cochran and family. Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Mullins, Mr. and Mrs. Isbell and family, E. H. Walston and family, Mrs. Hester‘ CoraPratt, Temple; L. D. and Lillie Baker, Hoyte; Mr. and Mrs. Henry McFarlane. Rice; Miss Ruth Scar-Mrs. SamPratt and family, Dallas; G. W. Pratt and wife. Mr. and Mrs. W.Ed Cochran, Cameron; Mrs. Larissa Adair and son, Oliver, San Antonio; Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Pratt, H. A. Kimball. Mrs. B. N. j Phillips and family. Charles Pratt, Mrs. C. Clinard, Travis; Mr. and Mrs. Mabry, Milano; Mr. and Mrs.L. Wingren.An old negro. Tuck Griffen, who has been with the Cloud family for five generations, was present to pregoodCCcFtFtBt•:iccmwifcindlt;ccblt;titlDSIplt;si44444444i444444444444444I4♦i♦+4I♦444444Ii44I14His service with the Clouds dates back from slavery days.Although this is the first affair of this kind, the families plan to meet for a reunion every year succeeding this.Iii— —4JLJB. VANMETERTYPEWRITER SERVP Phones 214 and 155ROCKDALE. TEXAS(To be continued next week)PH ATT AND CLOUD FAMILIES « ATTEND REUNION MONDAYI Monday. August 11.—Members of the families and friends from throughout the state and some from other states were here to attend the Pratt-Cloud lamily reunion at Way-»■■ siae Park on Little river. The twofamilies are among Milam county’s oldest and best families. The Clouds first settled here in 1853 when Bill Cloud and Jane, his wife, made their home on Sandy Creek. They rear-J#
Newspaper Details
Rockdale Reporter and Messenger
Rockdale, Texas, US
Thu, Aug 14, 1930
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Glenn R.
USA 29 Aug 2021
Other Publications Near Rockdale, Texas
Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale Reporter and Messenger
