The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-04-23

riage shed, In fruitless search for some
thing that would answer my purpose.
I had offended Aunt Mary by not ans
wering her question. and she would give
me no assistance. Finally, after nearly
an hours delay, seized as a last resort
the water-pail, and started down to the
beach. ... ..... ....... -. ...... q.
When I arrived at the spot had LETT, !
looked up and down the shore but / could
see nothing but my hat, which, propelled
by some unseen power, was slowly and
laboriously travelling up the beach. The
boat, too, was gone. recovered my tile,
and In so doing liberated our ugly cap
tive, on whose account I had already been
put to so much trouble. But where was
Miss Gardner? Was she playing me some
tricks And the cavalry captain made
coup d'-siai In my absence, and carried her
off? Neither of these things seemed likely,
but where was she?
/ ran along the sand and mounted
great rock which jutted out Into the
water In great deal Of distress 1 shad-
cd my eyes with my hand. and gazed ear
nest,v far and near over the sleepy, shin
inc sea. All could that be herP that
b,acE speck upon the waterP Yes, for In
moment more I could distinguish the
waving Of the handkerchief. There could
be po one with her. and it needed but lit
tie reflection to convince me that the
scbool.mIstress was alone m the boat, and
was driftlnp out to sea.
Still was puzzled to know how Il was
that she had let herself foot helplessly
,w,v from the shore without making an
or,r, 70 s,vs herself. for knew that Miss
lc.rdn.r uo. almost M yood n snilor as I.
u.,,,... ,horo sho ,yas M nil events.
.nd 7 ran nm and down the shore several
times ., n state of semI-,Iistraction. There
w.s NOT another boat within miles, and
every second of delay separated me far
ther from nv life. At that moment l
tnov how much loved her. s...t -..
,,,,.. =, ,,,or ,..,.ro,,o, r throw off
49,, 600, .nd hoo,o o,d wodod into tho
-. -. ~ Ih.d h..n an axoo,,or, .w,mmer
WOW, 49, ,,,..""S ~, ,.,,n 90 .moo,h !. On,
~, - 49,. ,,,,o u,,,n,ru o,,, ,o,, hon.o,, of
..,n,na ,ho ho,,
III, ~, ,,,,, 7 UNA ,,-od aud
,,on ,rrn.I ovor on mv h,ct ~ rest 7.
..omed an ,,e before reached the school
u,,s,ro,. onJ hoc,m. so ,borouublv ok.
ho,s,od that 7 vos severol tImcs ON the
noin, of letting myself sink. In despalr.
Then the Thought Of sharks came over
me and become seized with a wild panic,
and swan as though swimming fer my
life. as nj last really was. | had gone so
far from shore, that to return would be
impossible. and I knew that the only
chance for nv ewn salvation was to reach
the boat.
As pcorcd Il, I saw the moor little
scbool.mistress IN the agony of snpplica-
,,o, ~, mn, ,,,roo,,o, sho r.,,r.d IN the
cr,hor s,do While 7 c,amhered In. and
,hon 'r.,, s,I,,cn,v down at INV fact sob.
b,,o hi,,er,v
..Tbere" said 7 ..vou are ouIte safe
pow.n
"Alas. no." she said. "You will be
one more. What hone Is there for either
ofusr
Ilooked around the boat. and NV heart
sank within me. Not a thing did 1t con-
tain beside ourselves. The oars had been
left on shore.
"There Is hope where life is" I replied.
"The food tide will surely carry us back
ayain.n
We could do nothing hut sit still and
await its turning. I tried TO lead Miss
Gardner,s attention away from our fear
o,l situation. and with that end IN view. I
t,,red of other things. told her stories.
I ouo.ed poetry. we criticized the last |
books we HAD read, we discussed botany,
geology, and philosophy; we sang songs
together; and when we were tired Of all
these things, we made puns Mt each other,
and laughed until tears rolled down our
cheeks. The sun descended into the sea
a scarlet, merry Dall; anu thc stars came
out In countless myriads, and we saw the
glttering armies form together. and take
up their march through space. Under
the glorious dome Of night we drifted out
upon the darkening sea.
was wet and cold. and 80 the little |
scbool.mistrcss modestly removed one of |
her skirts and insisted ON wrapping It
about my shoulders. l told her that we
would divide the night into watches, and |
that mine should be the first, but she
stoutly declared that VIC would watch to-
cether. Before long, however, her eye.
lids began to droop, determination gave
way to nature, and Miss Gardner lean
ed her head against me and fell fast |