Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-03-01
A GIRLS DARING.

'" A GIRLS DARING.
Until she was nineteen Years old Dor
othy lived a very uneventful life, for
one week was much the same as anoth-
er in the placid existence of the village.
On Sunday mornings, when the church
bells began to ring, you would meet her
walking over the moor with sprin "
step. Her shawl was gray, and her
dress was OF the most pronounced color
t hat could be bought in the mark ct
town. Her brown hair was gathered in
a net. and her calm eyes looked from
under an old-fashioned bonnet of straw.
Her feet were ALWAYS bare. but she
carried her shoes and stockings slung
over her shoulder. When she got near
the church she sat down in the Shade of
a hedge and put them on; then she
walked the rest OF the distance with q
cram ed and civilized gait. a.. -
- Every boat went away nor h one even
ing. and not a man, remained in the
Row. excepting three very old fellows,
who were long past work OF any kind.
When fisherman grows helpless with
age. he is kept by his own people, and
his days are passed in GU city smok ng
on a kitchen settle or in looking dimly
out over tie sea from the bench at the
door. A souherlv gale with south
erly sea came away in the night, and
the boats could not beat down from the
northward. BY daylight they were all
sa e in harbor about eighteen miles
north of the village. The sea grew
worse and worse, and the usual clouds
o foam flew against the houses or
skinned away into the fields beyond.
tI 1 -
the sounds it made in the hollows
were like distant firing of small arms,
and the waves in the hollow rocks
seemed to shake the ground over the
cliffs. A little schooner came round
the point running before the sea. She
might have got clear away, because it
was easy enough cor her, had she clawed
a short way out, risking he beam sea,
to have made the harbor where the fish.
ers were. But the skipper kept her close
in. and presently she struck on 4 long
tongue of rocks that trended far out
eastward. The tops of her mas s seemed
nearly to meet, so it appeared as if she
had broken her back. The seas Few
sheer over her, and the men had to climb
into the rigging. All the women were
watching and waiting to see her 90 to
pieces. There was no chance of get
ting a boat out. so the helpless villa gers
waited to see the men 90 down, and the
women cried out in their shrill. piteous
manner. INorothy said: Twill she break
up in an hour9 If [ thowt she would
hing there | would be away for the
life-boat' But the old me1 said
''You can never cross the burn Four
miles south. behind the point, there was
village where a iife-boat was kept; but
Just half way q stream ran into the sea,
and across this s T am there was only
plank bridge. Half mile below the
bridge The water spread far over the
brcal sand and be anne very shallow
Sad wi,e. Dorothy spoke no more ex-
cept to say: "rll away" She ran
across the moor for mile, and then
scrambled down to the sand so that the
tearing wind might not impede her. 1t
was dangerous work Or. the next mile.
Every yard of the way she had to splash
through the foam, because the great
waves We're rolling up very nea. to the
foot OF the cliffs. An extra strong sea
might have caught her off her feet, but
she did not think of that; she only
thought of saving her breath by escaping
the iii ect onslaught of the wind. " hen
she came to the mouth of the burn her
heart failed her for n little. The was
three-quarers of mile of water, COW
cred with creamy foam, and she did
not know but what she might be taken
out of her depth. Yet she determined
to risk it. and plunged in at a run. The
sand was hard under foot but she said,
when the piled foam came softly up to
way across she stumbled into a hole.
<,o,,cnI hr, n Hyhir1iror o1I1- nd ho
thought all was over; but her nerve
never failed her. and she struggled till
she got footing again. When she
reached the hard ground she was wet to
the neck, and her hair was sodden with
her one plunge lover head" Her
clothes troubled her with their weight
in crossing the moor: SO she put off all
she did not need: and pressed forward
again. Presently she reached the house
where the coxswain of the life-boat
lived. She gasped out The schooner!
On the Letch! Norrad.'
The coXswain, who had seen the
schooner go past. knew what was the
matter. He said Here. wife. look after
the Lass and ran out The ''lass''
needed looking after, for she had
tainted But her work was we'll done;
the life boat went round the point, ran
north, and took six men ashore from the
schooner. The aptain had been washed
overheard, but the others were saved by
Dorothys daring and endurance. The
girl is as simple as ever, and she knows
nothing whatever about Grace Darling.
If she We're ole ed any reward she
would probably wonder why she should
receive any.-.St. Janacs' Gazette.
One Rainy Dav
One day, it Just rained and rained
and ruined at our no Sc, and we had to