Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-06-13

Eetnaps, sald ne. But neither O
them had any trust in the hope.
He had seen In the moment whe1
they looked ut each other that she wa
indeed younger than his first suppose
ton, though hardly so young as his sec
ond4 She might be iive-and-twenty. /
was not the face of girl. She had re
turned to her former position, and now
leaning back against the chimney. lift
ed up her face to the sky. Her eve
were closed and her lips drawn in
There WAS hut time TO look once befor,
the lips curved again into n smile anC
the eyes opened to a calm gaze.
The man sitting by he- heard tn,
changing and deepening tone of tn,
water as IL came up and up.
You are too young for this" sale
he, abruptly.
His voice had changed and deepeneC
like the tono of the water.
No, no." she answered, after n mo
ment. "Don't trouble about me-"
4" L do trouble about YOU. It's horri
BILE! horribleI'
She again kept silence for a littl,
space; then she said: "When heard
you say-that in the boat, and get up
to say. l felt. suddenly. as if it was
cruel thing not to stay with you. too =
as well as to save them"
She had been obliged TO speak the
last words loudly; for the wind rose
suddenly and fiercely, and the shock oi
the water broke noisily on the walls.
And as she ceased came a terrible
crash; the whole building creaked and
swayed; there were heavy splashes in
the water, and water spouted over
them as they caught and chung to each
other. Long hair was blown before his
face. They held each other fast, pant
ing and trembling. She freed a hand
and drew aside her hair. There was a
sound of water, running. trickling and
dropping. The calm moon. pursuing
her leisurely pathway. passed out from
behind cloud, and showed them that
the platform at the other end of the
house had given way, and the stack of
chimneys opposite had fallen.
IF it had been theser' said she.
They crouched nearer together, each
still holding to the other. The fear in
each mind now was the fear of being
divided, OF losing all human compan-
ionship. The waters were rising faster,
rising. as it seemed, with malignant,
hungry JOY.
''lt cant be long now," said the man.
mo, said She
There were few more lifelong mo-
ments in which they sat silent, breath
ing hard. The wild gust of win1 abat-
ed; the moon found a wide, open arch
way among the clouds; the face of the
waters grew by comparison still again.
And So" said he, lit was for me
you staid, and even at the end can't
20 away in peace without pulling down
some one else. And you, who staid.
are stranger, and we shall die here
together, strangers. Oh, the IRONY of
this world All nv life have been
solitary and deserted. 1t has been NV
fault; and now lite is over. It's all 200
late. and there's no time"
She remained silent, and the monoto-
nous pulse of the water throbbed be-
low.
do we? Well, the depths, perhaps.
OF each other. but not the shadows. If
we were to be saved we should feel like
friends till we came to land, and then
you would go your way and l mine;
and II we were to meet once a week
Tor twelve-month We should speak to
each other at first, and then we should
mol and smile. and by and by we
should pass and take no notice. No.
what knowledge or friendship we have
does not belong to this life!''
You believe, then, in aaother?"
at is hardly that believe in another
life, so much as that | can't believe in
death. We could not be capable of so
much, and DESTROYS of so much. and
nothing come. We have not half
enough. feel so much. much more.
No, am not afraid. There's more. 3"
He in his turn was silent. Perbaps
he forebore, out of pity, to put forth
word against her hope; PERHAPS. in his
soul. too. like hope, which he had
taken to be long dead began to stir
and murmur.
The moon had put on, minute by
minute. fuller glory; it was illumin
ing an arch of clouds, and beyond the
arch lay measureless, liquid, lucid
depths. She l0bked and pointed up-
ward. The full glow shone on her
face. He saw in her dark eyes n slow
inefable softening; in all the lines of
her features breathed spirit of ex-
ultant reception.
The open doorway of infinity," said
he, fitting to this radiance its apt poetic
description, but without anything of the
poets rapture or belief. Her lips moved
to a recognizing smile.
And can you look up to that and
despair" she asked.
That has no voice for me. II is
nH 20 81
That glory may come back, as serene.
to look down on my drowned face. But
you have to die with me- What hope
there is in life or death you have shown
me. don't know that it is lasting OF
that it is good for much; but such as il
Is, 1t comes from YOU"
Again the waters came rushing owe,
the fallen chimneys, and they looked
out in momentary apprehension. But
the sudden torrent subsidized, and the
waters went on rising again slowly as
before.
de then quietly proceeded: Zone
thinks of life rs the life one has known.
Tonight glimpse has come to me of
something that seems to make lie
worth going on with. 1t NAV be life
on the other side of a division; / can't
tell. don't want to be carried back
into the old life, but do want life-the
life that nearly saw just now, when
we thought that our time was upon us
And have found you, standing with
me upon the brink. We do not know
each other. you say; we are not friends.
and we can't be. don't know. oulv
know that l would neither 90 on nor
back, alone"
Her hand, which still chung to his arm,
trembled and was withdrawn, and in
the next moment stole softly into his.
They sat quite silent, and the endless
night drew on. Memories rose before
each Of them of hopes and dreams that
had once been all in all, and now were
small and faint and immeasurably
distant Around them, rising always.
surged the persistent waters. Now and
again gusts OF wind awoke suddenly
and brought sweep Of waves over the
submerged masonry.
Presently. Oozing drops began to
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