Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-08-28

SET anywhere clSe, dduid, ahu sIOhi
pointed to the declining sun, hanging
without cloud above the wilderness OF
waves. They looked back at the city,
and all the western windows were
aflame
az did not think before there was so
much gold in Frisco" said Tom.
go, Tom, l don't want to die and leave
it ALL" said Laura, tremblingly.
The dallying breeze had shaken off the
spell The air had grown suddenly chill.
Far ahead they could see the ominous
white of the careenng swell, and along
the shore they heard the dull boom of the
surf Lower and lower sank the white,
electric dazzle, buff and pink and orange
toning into narrow belts of opal. Right
ahead rose the black Farallones, and as
the sun sunk still lower they stood out in
unbroken outline against the disc.
With his soft hat Tom made slow prog
ress in bailing. Until then the water
had oozed in so slewly that danger from
leakage had not alarmed him; the current
too, had carried them along so gently
that the danger of upsetting had not pre-
scented itself But after they passed the
fort the motion of the waves changed,
not suddenly, but gradually, until at last
the boat was rocking like cedar chip IN
the eddies of q mill-race. And still the
tide had not turned.
Ceasing his bailing for an instant, Tom
thought he heard the sound OF water
trickIing into the boat. Perhaps it was
his instinct of danger that warned him,
for the waves were FLASHING against the
outside, and the motion caused constant
tapping of the water within the boat.
Tom made a careful examination, and at
last found little hole through which the
water poured in a fitful stream as the
boat rocked from side to side.
81 must stop that leak" he said, 'can
you bail?'
The sun had set, and the flush was fad
ing out of the western sky. Laura took
one long look around IL all the waste
of waters there was no moving object. Ii
there had been ship in sight, she could
have seen it, she thought, almost de-
spairlngly.
She began to bail as well as she could
with the felt hat, and in her cramped
position. A long line of gray was COM
ing up from the South.
at is a fog" whispered Tom.
Until he said sit is a fog" she did not
realize the almost utter hopelessness of
their position. Even if the tide turned
before they reached the bar, it would be
impossible to protect themselves in afog.
For a moment she thought she would
quite break down, the fate before them
seemed so terrible Tom had succeeded
in stopping the leak, and had resumed
bailing. To make that task easier, he
had cut the brim from his hat. The fog
was now all around them, and it was
quite dark They thought they heard
the surf more distinctly.
ssThe tide has turned" said Tom.
| And so it had, but just how they would
be affected by the change they could not
tell. Tom kept on bailing till the
amount of water in the boat had materi-
ally DECEASED. They had not spoken for
some moments At last Laura leaned
forward. Her hand touched Toms, and
he took it in his own. That hand-clasp
meant to them things unspeakable. Her
hand was very cold, almost as cold as his
own In his pocket was a silk handker-
chief, he handed it to her, and babe her
| tie it about her neck, for he dared not
rise to fasten it there himself Then he
took both her hands between his own,
striving to keep them warm.
Laura was the first to speak, and her
voice was quite firm, scarcely even sor-
rowful:
'sTom, dear, l do not want to die, and
vet death cannot take from us the boon of
having died together
"But we shall not die now, Laura; L
know We'll not" There was the ring OF
conviction in his tones. The profound
resignation underlying her words had
struck the right key in his own nature,
and the thought of his first despairing
mood made him almost angry. "But it's
awfully hungry we are, my DEAR" were
| his next words.
'I'm ashamed of YOU" said Laura, and
she actually laughed.
Tom laughed also.
When two persons in such position
can laugh, it IS either every brave'' or
every shocking" according to the creed
we first sucked and the $50 FORTH OF our
salad days.
The fog was all around them, and
neither could see the others face. The
fog was cold, and from time to time Laura
had shivered once or twice, audibly,
though quite involuntarily, for she was a
brave little woman. When the ripple OF
the young girls laughter rang out amid
the fog-above the boom of the surf, the
PARKWAY barking of the sea-lions on Seal
Hook, and the near, yet distant, scream OF
the fog signal-and when his own laugh
ter was smothered in the fog folds, Tom
repeated:
s'But am hungry, awfully-"
What he might have gone on to say is
forever scaled. The next moment the
boat struck something with great mo-
mentum, and that is all Laura remem-
bered till she awoke in the queer little
cabin of the Sarah Emma, brigantine, in
bound from Australia.
A woman's gentle face bent above her
own in anxious, motherly regard, and
dear Tom sat on locker behind the gang
way, with glad tears in his eyes to see
the color steal back to her cold cheeks.
"And now you must have bit to eat, -
said the captains wife, in hospitable
accents.
But Laura shut her eyes, half malic-
iously, and murmurred: 81
.sGive it to him, please; he's always
hungry"
'sThat's what you'll not dare to say
when you become Mrs. Tom,'' said the
Young man, triumphantly; and, as the
matronly figure of the captaid's wife DIS
appeared IN the shadow Of the gangway,
he kissed her shut eyes softly, and turned
away