St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-08-18

= Now Dan had been in The habit Of lend:
ing me his; boat Because jhe, knew / could
pull and d. manage, it :prqperly., did .,no1
anticipate any trouble pbtle in getting it, 50
was surprised when be appeared, to hesi
itate: - - '@'D -l '}' 10 ss's'}s''s 'tfh 1io
!, What are you going to do With it sir
may Il ask?' hHldH d.l0 !a92 3dt w4.t.s
|,A Z: ::Never' You mind Dan: You ]end;imc t,ie
boat, What 1s!de with the boat is: nothing
you; that is as long as don't dqmagf an
PE You are right sir. Youu shall have IT,
r" He smiled as lie spoke, ana I could easily
see that. he guessed for what purpose
wanted the boat. aHowevcr, =lle.said Moth
ing till the hour we S. CUP. ns Then as I was
Pgetting, opt; hst called me by name, and saii
'Iiin a low; tone: 49,, ...r
II 4 have known you for long time Mr.
4 Fred. Do you mind What: you are aboiu1
sir. Young women are cBang geable crsa.
/ 4tures.'G1 should not;like you to beItakeniins
ii His voice iwas;so sad and tisold bpanzet
face looked 'l So troubleg 1e that knew be was
speaking from, experience----perhaps from
some bitter lesson lie had learned in hi.
youth, and which in some way accounted 70,
the odd name Of His boat. s:i:lTao 81 IEG
,, "Come, old Cato,'' said, ''It is only L
win the bet; l am: not .ini love with the
young lady; See, yyoqI q q morrow. Ia {a::'
nj The nsxt morning according to our agree:
2ment,, Dan brought tie boat round to the
part Of the Beach nea nearest to t. ID my house Il
did not live in2the town, but some ten min
es'HWah from it, along cthe cliff; and
. there was y path from the house ,doWn to
the beach,, ga He found me, there; dressed in
AN old boating suit, with my face hid as
mu uch as possible by a large slouching hat.
Fl was then twenty fou'r, but looked a little
older, and I meant in this. disguise to lay
|,seise to Miss Leith.
Is :"Be careful, Mr.. Fred, were the only
words he said as we exchanged places and
then I pulled leisurcly to where, the visitors
generally resorted. now all this would
help me to obtain an Introduction 1 was
not quite clear; But was, to tell the truth
jealous of her having spoken to Ned; and
L thought that, ,aat any rate. J. should be
able, in my capacity Of boatman, to get, a
word from her, ! had al o a hazy idea
that might possibly give her hand little
shake as out af the boat, 1r evs
er I were fortunate. enough to opsrsdade
| her to- come IN. y i thought that, it, would be
extremely agreeable to sit opposite to her
for an hour, hearing ;her talk Ind almost
near enough, to kiss her, as Dan said, when
ever | leant forward. /. .:.9y: =; ~.
r. ''Boat this morning, sir 2'' said, as l
pulled past tile plaoe where MISS Leitl1 and
her broher were sitting ,, ,'4 4.- A., =, =,
I mot this morning, thank +, on, = be, an
swered 3:a5@ 5.,,5:.t oil @a:!,ls.2*,G 9re
y thad spoken as much like the Cliffgate
boatmen as Twas able. Lucas, too, had
heard me, and looked up but did not seem
to recognize; either me or my voice, and
that emboldened me-. Then the Major
came down with his Times, and Mr., Leith
| left them for his morning bath: saw him
plunge in and swim, +outt to sea and, as l
wanted to follow his example, / determin-
| ed to pull home and change my clothes. =.
"Well,, T Will have one" more try" l
thought, '.as / have, to pass the Major.
Perhaps he may like. to, 60. -; =. -.
When ] came up to him lie had put down
the paper, and was watching his son through
a field glass. Miss Leith was sitting al his
feet, sketching and talking to him -:
I, II am afraid Harrysis going out too far,
I!elen, Ioheard him say,ed, h1" >yn:2 ~:.ss
i ''But he IS such a capita al swim miner, papa
Where is he now % She then closed her
sh etch-book and stood ty his side, looking
across the sunny water for her brother.
"There That little black speck is his
head He is coming back now -''.'.' '.'>
ooh, what way he is out! Oh, papa !!
what is the matter p she said, as a strong
cry from Mr.: Leith reached her cars. - ii
:Nothing, nothing. Keep still, girl he
said, beckoning to me. In minute he had
scrambled into the boat, AID we had left
the beach. .}t. IN ssr9 l:2sI Il .:..-,,,.
Pull, man! He has got the cramp! A
hundred pounds if yo'' reach: him before
he sinks Harry! Harry!'' he bawled
out, t'keep up Oh, my boy !! for Gods
sake keepaup Pull with your left. Now.
you are straight Pull both Hard poe
+ have often rowcdin race; but I new
!er pulled with such will as did on that
day. The boat was the best in Clifgate;
and it seemed to fly over the water as put
all my strength and weight into each stroke.
I have justa dim recollection of seeing
crowds upon the beach running about,
while the Major stood in the stern, without
moving or speaking, watching his sinking
son. I3t""ei2 g6f,i,t +59I4a3 q sTH,Gi 9ft
"Oh, my God, he is down!' burst from
the old gentleman, as he sank backwards
upon theses and covered hts face with his
hands ll.. ... = s.5s 2ss'"5s8 i'fis. Fss
| can remember dropping the oars and
tearing off my hat and boots:4 As turned
round ]. saw, scarce six yards from the
head of the boat, ? hand rise, then a head
it was his last struggle-and then both
s,E Es,lFl s.--y[ss