The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-03-18

, that she put her head under her shaw
J and for the Grst time cried bitterly.
When she raised her head again the
boom of the surf was behind her, and
z she knew that her ark had again swung
8 around. She dipped up the water to
cool her parched throat, and found that
/ it was salt as her tears. There was q
relief though, for by this sign she was
drifting with the tide.
It was then the wind went down, and
the great and awful silence oppressed
her. There was scarcely ripple against
| which she rested and around her all was
black gloom and quiet. She spoke to
the baby Just to hear herself speak, and
to knew that she had not lost her voice.
She thought then-it was queer, but she
could not help thinking it--how awful
must have been the night when the great
ship swung over the Asiatic peak, and
i the sounds of Creation were blotted out
! from the world. She thought, too, of
mariners clinging to spars, and of poor
women who were lashed to RATS and
beaten to death by the cruel sea. She
tried to thank God that she was thus
spared, and lifted her eyes from the
baby, who had fallen into fitful sleep.
Suddenly, away to the southwark, a
great light flashed and fickered, and
fickersd and flashed again. Her heart
huttered quickly against the baby's cold
cheek. 1t was the lighthouse at the en-
trance of the bay. As she was yet won-
dering, the tree suddenly rolled little,
| dragged q little, and then seemed to lie
quiet and still. She put out her hand
and the current gurgled against it. The
tree was aground, and by the position Of
the light and the noise of the surf
| aground upon the Dedlow Marsh.
Had it not been for her baby, who was
ailing and crupy, had it not been for the
sudden drying up of that sensitive foun-
tain, she would have felt safe and re-
lisved. Perhaps it was this which tended
TO make all her Impressions mournful
| and gloomy. As the tide rapidly fell
great flock of black brent futtered by
her screaming and crying. Then the
plover few mp and piped mournfully, as
they wheeled around the trunk and at
last fearlessly lit upon it like grey
cloud. Then the heron flew over and
around her, shrieking and protesting,
and at last dropped its gaunt legs only
few yards from her. But strangest of all,
pretty white bird, larger than dove
like pelican, but not pellican-cir-
Lit upon rootlet of the tree, quite over
her shoulder. She put out her hand
stroked its beautiful white neck, and it
never appeared to move. It staid there
SO long that she thought she would lift
up the baby to see it, and try to attract
her attention. But when she did so the
child was so chilled and cold; had such
q blue look under its little lashes which
it didn't raise at all, that she screamed
aloud, and the bird flew away, and she
tainted.
Well, that was the worst of it, and
perhaps it was not so much after all to
any but herself. For when she recovered
her senses it was bright sunlight, and
dead low water. There was confused
noise of guttrel voices about her, and an
old squaw was singing an Indian hus-
bady," and rocking her from side to
side before fire built on the marsh, be-
for which, she, the recovered wife and
mother, lay weak and weary. Her first
thought was for her baby, and she was
about to speak, when q young squaw
who must have been mother herself,
fathomed her thought and brought
her the mowich," pale but living,
in such queer little willow
cradle ALL bound up, just
A0s
laughed and cried together, and the
young squaw and the old squaw showed
their big white teeth and gilnted their
black eyes and said, plenty get well,
skeena nowltcn, wagee man come Pienty
soon, tnat sne couia nave Kissed tnelr
brown races IN ner JOY. Ana tnen sne
found that they had been gathering Der
RES on the marsh IN their queer coDlcai
baskets, and saw the skirt OF her gown
hutterlng on the tree from afar, and the
old squaw couldn't resist the temptation
OF procuring new garment ana came
down and discovered the 'wagoe" woman
and child. And Of course she gave that
garment to the old squaw as you may
imagine, and when he came at last,
ana rusned up 70 her, LOOKING ten years
older IN ms anxlety-she feit so 1alnt
again that they had TO carry her 70 the
canoe. For You see he knew nothing
about the flood until he met the Indians
OF Utopia, and knew by the signs that the
poor woman was his wife. And at the
next high tide he towed the tree away
back home, although it wasn't worth the
trouble, and built the house, using the
old tree Tor the foundation, and called IL
guess the next house was built above
high water mark. And that's all.
= ~ O.