The Sunday herald., 1881-03-13
HIGH-WATER MARK.
II riiiing Incident Of Humboldt Hay.

BY BRET n,RrE.
When the tide was out on the Dedlow
Marsh Its extended dreariness was made papable
Its spongy, low-ying surface sluggish, inky pools,
and tortuous slOughs twisting their Shiny way, eel
like, toward the open bay, were all hard facts. So
were the few green tussockG, with their scant blades
their amphibious flavor, and unpleasant dampness
And II yoit choose to indulge your fancy-athough
the fiat mouotoHy Of ned,ow Marsh was not inspir-
iug-the wayy line of scattered dIiit gave an un-
pleasant consciousness of the spent waters, and made
the dead certainty of the returning tide u gloomy
rcfec ton which present sunshine could dssipatr.
The greener meadow land seemed oppressed with this
idea, and made no positive attempt at vegetation
until the work of reclamation should he complete.
In the bitter fruit Of the low cranberry bushes your
fancy might detect a naturally sweet disposition
curled and soursi by an inludcious course pf too
much regular cold wafer.
Again, the vocal expression of the Deinw Marsh
was melancholy and depressing. The sepulchrai boon
of the lttern the shrek of the curlew the scream
of passing brent, the wrangling of quarresome teal
the sharp, querous protest of the startled crane and
syllabled complaint of the ''kideer'' plover were
the aspect of these mournu fowls at all cheerful and
inspiring. Certainly not the blue heron standing
midleg deep In the water, obviously catching cold in
Its gloomy disregard OF wet feet and consequences:
nor the mournful cuilew, the detected pover, and
the low spirited snpe who saw fit to join him In his
suicidal contemplation. Certainly not the mpassiye
king fisher review Ing The desolate expanse like that
awful Marius and depressing people by the nvolun-
tary recurrence of that dreary, worn out simile
Certainly not tine black that went to and fro
over the face of the marsh continually hut evidently
couldn't make up his mind whether the waters had
after all this trouble lie wouldn't be able TO give
definite answer. on the contrary 1t evident
at glance that the dreary eXpansd of Dedlow Marsh
told fearfuy on the archaeological sense, and that
the season of migration was looked forward to with
feeling OF relief and satisfaction by the full grown
and extrapagali ANTICIPATION by tle caliow brood.
But If DcdlOw Marsh was cherries at the slack OF
the tide you shOud have seen 1t when the tide was
strong and full. When the damp air blew chilly oven
the cold glitterng eXpanse and came 10 the faces
| those who looked seaward like another tide. When
| steel-like CLINT marked the low hollows and the
lfS fh.T
trunks of fallen trees arose again, and went forth
their dfeary, purposeless wanderngs drifting hithei
and thithar, but getting no further toward any goa
at the falling tide or the day sdeclihe than the cursed
| Hebrew in the legend. when the glossy iuCks swan
silently, making neither ripple nor furrow on ihi
shimmerng surface. When the fog came In witt
the tide and shut out the blue above the greeI
below had been oberated. When boaimen los, IL
that fog, padding about In hopeless way, started
at what seemed Tie brushing of mermen's fingers or
the boats keel, or shrank from the tufts of grass
spreading around like the floating hair of corpse
| and knew by these signs that they We're lost upol
| Dedlow Marsh, and must make night of 1t, and
| gloomy one at that-then you might know something
| of DsllDw Marsh at high water.
| Conspicuous In my memory is an incident con
nected with this gloomy picture which failed Il
recur to me In my long cunning excursions upon lDed
low Marsh, and perhaps cast sensitive shadow owe
| Its gaunt outlines Although the event was brief,
recorded In the county paper, had the story In al
Its eloquent detail from the lips Of Of the prn
cipai actors and hardly need say that the pubsne,
record 10 the spoken recital as the heading of
| chapter Is to this spoken events which follow. can
In the narration OF real adventure by the par
tcipaor himself which Is as much In the look an,
gesture the spoken work-still less can / hope /
| catch the varying emphasis and peculiar colorng o
feminine delineati0n, for my narrator was woman
| But III try to give At least Its substance
She lived mtdwaypf the great slough OF DedOw Mars
| and u good sized river, which debouched four mile
beyond into an estuary formed by the Pacific Ocean
on tile long sandy peninsular which constituted til
southwestern boundary OF noble bay. The house il
| which she lived was small frame cabin raised frol
| the marsh few feet by stout piles, and was thre
fha gattl .aaltf.
Her husband was logger-a profitable business In
| county where the principal resource was the manu-
| facture OF lumber.
| II was the season of early spring when Ger husban
left on the ebb of high tide with a raft OF logs TO
the usual transportation 10 the lower end OF the bay
As she stood by the door OF the little cabin when III
| voyagers departed she noticed a cold look upon tn
southeastern sky, and she remembered hearing he
husband say to his companions that they must en-
deayor to complete their voyage before the coming
the southwesterly gale which She saw brewing. An
that night II began to storm anu blow, harder tia
she had ever before experienced and some great tree
fell IN the forest by the river, and the house rocke
Ike her baDy' $ cradle.
But however, the storm might roar about the lIttl
cabin she kne~ that Dne she trusted In had drive
bolt and bar with his own strong hand and had h
had any fears for her never would he have left her
This, and her domestic cares and the tending of lac
little sickly baby, helped TO keep her mind froI
dwelling on the weather. except, of course, TO hop
that he was safely harboTed with the logs at utopi
| In tie dTeaTy distance. But she noticed that day
when she wont ont To feed the chickens and look aftt
the COW, that The tide was mp TO the fence of the
|
beach, though miles away, she conlG bear distinctly
And she began 10 think that she would Ike 70 hay
some one TO talk 10 about matters, and she believe
that II II had not been so far, and stormy and III
| trail impossible, she would have taken the baby an
| have gohs - iyeknan's s. her nearest neghbOr. Bl
| then you sec, ba might have returned In the storm
| all wet with no one 10 see IL MIN, and II Ion
exposure for hahy, who was croDpy and alliRg.
| Hut that night, she never could tell why, hut 5l
didn't feel like sleeping or even lying down. III
storm had somewhat abated but she SIN ''sat an
sat and even tried to read. l don't know wheth,
| IL m q M "a
Door woman read, but most probably the latter, f.
the words all t0gethera made snCh sad nonseu
that she was forced at last TO put the book down an
turn TO that dear volume which lay before her ia Il
cradle, with Its white initial leaf as yet unsOiled an
| Try to look forward to Its mysterious future. Al
rocking the cradle she thought Of everything an
everyday, but still was wide awake as ever.
IL was nearly " clock when she at last lay down
her clothes. How long she slept she could mol Temen
| beT, hut she awOke With dreadful choking In h,
throat and fonnd herself standing Trembling ali oy
In the mille Of the room, with her baby clasped to Ia
breast, and sle was saying 'something. - The bal
cried and sobhed ana cried and s0bbed and she walk,
up and down trying To- hush u, when she heard
scratching AT The door. sheOpened IL i6arilly and
glad 1t was only old Pete their dog, Who craW
dripping with water into the room. She would Ill
to have looked OutnOt In the faint hope Of her hu
band coming, but too how things looked, but Il
wind shook the door so saYagey that she could hard
> hold it. Then she sat down little while and th'
walked up and down little while, and then she |;
down again little while.
Lying close by the wall OF the little cabin she thong
she heard once or twice something scrape slow
against the clapboards Ike the scrapng OF branche
Then there was little gsTgiing sound like the bal
made when II .aG swallowing, then something We
"click-cllck and 'eluck-cluck, - 50 that she ga
in bed. When she did so she was attracted by som
thing else that seemed creeping from Tue beck do
toward the centre of the room. II wasn't much wid
than her little finger but soon II sweed to the wild
of her hand and began spFeadinga all over the floor.
| vas wafer.
She ran TO the front door and threw II wide op
and saw nothing but water. she ran To tue back DO
and saw nothing but water. She ran TO the sid
| window and throwing that open saw nothing b
| water Then ahe remembered hearing her husba
once say that there was no danger from the tide,
that fell regularly and people could calculate on
aud that he would rather live near the bay than I
river whose banks might overflow at any time h
was 1t the tdeS SO she ran again 10 the back dc