The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-10-16

when did man ever like to be told that
he is not perfectly az .tdit in such matters,
even by the lips of pretty girl. Mr..
Dorman only laughed, and pointedlv ig-
noriug Polly's proposition to have Joe
Miner, who was hoeiDg in the vegetable
garden, accompany him, set forth with
his face turned whartward.
Easiest thing in the world to handle
boat, if one only has little gumption," :"
sollloquised Mr.. Dorman, as an hour later
he leaned back in the stern sheet of the
'stanch little cat boat that headed seaward
the boom jibed we'll out, and running di-
rectly before the strong southerlv breeze.
And then, having lit his pipe, the Young
man gave himself up to luxurious day
dream in which the witching face of Polly
Preston was the prominent feature, for
young Mr.. Dorman was in love-and for
the first time
An hour passed. Their 5Gr. Gorman's
revere was abruptly-not to say rudely
broken. The boom ijibed over with
such startling and fendish snddenuess
that it banged Mr.. Dorman's head, and
sent his hat with his pipe spinning lee
ward.
cow" was the involuntary but natural
exclamation, and it speaks well for the
young mans moral character thlt he
checked a more impetuous ejacu alton.
And AS, with great difficulty, he got the
boat rounded, he saw that there was
threatening bank of thunder clouds ris-
ing behind the Covert hills, presaglng
one of those sudden wind and rain squalls
peculiar to our coast.
OF his wrathful and eminently unsuc-
ceSstul efforts to recover his hat, need say
nothing. 1t is sufficient to add that IN
giving it up, after nearly a half hours
striving in vain, Mr. Dorman t1attened
down the sheet which he immediately
made fast to the cleat in the securest Of
knots. And as the Wave, well over on
her side, went spinning along toward the
harbor mouth, the young man began to
realize that IN practice, as in metaphor,
there is a vast difference between sailing
with the wind and sailing against it,
Now, as the storm clouds blotted out the
sun, and a livid lightning flash was fol-
lowed by rattling thunder peal, Mr.
Dorman should have emulated the exam
pie of the fitting coasters and fishermen
everywhere in sight and shortened sail at
once.
But he was anxious to reach the harhor
mouth before it began to rain
For of course there won't be any
wind to speak Of" he added half aloud,
when all at oncc-with a rush and roar
that filled the air with dust and tlvng
leaves from the bending trees on the
shorc-the squall struck And the sheet
being fast, the unvarying result followed
In another moment the Wave was upside
down, and a drenched young man, cling
ing convulsively to the keel, was being
drifted seaward as fast az the wind and
tide could carry him.
At the sound of the first thunder peal
Polly, who with much apprehension had
been watching the coming squall, ran up
stairs to Mr.. Dorman's room, which COM
manded a grand outlook over the sea,
with her fathers old-fashioned spy-glass
in her hand. On her wav to the open
window she stopped to pick up some
scattered papers which the wind had dis
lodged from the table
Upon my word ~ exclaimed Polly
aloud, in an indescribable tone. For be-
fore her. upon sheet of drawing paper
was Polly's own exquisite face, with its
broad white forehead, about which clus-
tered thick, tendril-like rings of dark hair,
and eyes of unfathomable depth, and un-
derneath was written: Polly caris-
sma."
81 wonder what carissima means"
she said very softly, with tender light
filing her eyes, as she laid the drawing
on the talle, and turned to the window
Adjusting the glass with fingers that
trembled visibly, Polly looked seaward,
just as a great gust of wind tore across
the harbor, its roar almost drowning the
terrible bass OF the thunder peal.
One minute she gazed, and then, as a
little cry escaped her lips, the glass fell
to the floor, and Polly fled swiftly down
stairs.
".Joc, Joe - she cried; but alas Joe
had sought shelter from the storm at
the corner store, while her mother was
away somewhere, making neighborly
call.
Only brief moment of hesitation, and
then Polly sped out through the driving
rain towards the wharf, cables length
distant, where lay her own pet row boat.
And Hve minutes later the boat itself was
fving toward the harbor mouth, through
the driving spray and storm, impelled by
the light oars in the hands of young
girl, whose supple, white wrists seemed,
for the time, to hold an athletes power
81 could not have hung on many min
ntes longer quietly said Mr.. Dorman, as,
an hour atterward, he pulled the boat
back toward Covert, with Polly drenched
to the skin, very much exhausted and
strangely quiet, sitting in the stern, and
the look which accompanied his words
was more eloquent than speech.
"No 2" returned Polly, dreamily.
"Mr Dorman,' she continued a trihe
abruptly, What does carissima
mean =
The young man started visibly, and
then, bending his eyes on Polly's crimson
ing face, said:
" 1t means that to me you are the dear
est thing in existence" And Polly could
only hide her bushes by placing her
hands before her face, while her heart
was beating with a strange tumult of
JOY.
"Mv own Polly carissima !" Mr..
Dorman repeated this over and over
again, in a dazed sort of way, while in
the solitude of his own room he went
through the prosaic operation of making
the necessary changes of raiment conse-