Chapter Forty-Four
Alfred had kept to the office most of the day while Joseph returned telegrams and visited captains at the harbor to catch wind of any potential news before it made it inland. When the afternoon rolled around, Joseph relieved him, and he spent the warmer part of the day in the dunes collecting measurements, noting wave formations along the southern shores, and stopping by the telegraph office on his way back to the office. As afternoon grew into evening, the fourth envelope of the day arrived by messenger—the New Orleans office had received numerous telegrams of a potential storm in the gulf that was now tracking for the harbor. It had turned east. Galveston was safe.
When Alfred slid his bicycle behind the house, he adjusted his pack on his shoulder and made his way ba
