St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-12

owen was not at all certain as to the
success of his suit, for there was anoth-
er who admired Annis, and who was
far above him in worldly station and
wealth, and. as Owen, in his freedom
from vanity, also thought, in good
looks and in other qualities calculated
TO win a girls heart.
Annis had received the pleasant lit
tie courtesies and attentions of both
in way calculated to wound neither !;
though, as to that, it would have been
an impOssibility to her tn be other
than So sweet and gracious As not To
enkindle hope ia each passionate yonng
( heart.
! Thus matters stood as Owen started
! from his home To take the long and
| tedious walk over the cliffs, which
must he traversed before he could
reach the cottage which sheltered the
object of his love.
| 1t had been raining steadily all day
long, and as night came on the wind
bad risen to Il gale.
But, wrapped in his waterproof
cloak and lighted on his way by lam
tern, Owen cared not for the threaten
whistling softly, now and then paus-
OF some huge water dog.
Then he would trudge on again,
thinking what il terrible night it must
be at sea, and breathing a prayer for
the waved-tOssed mariners far from
home.
Suddenly dull, booming sound
reached his ear.
1t came from a seaward direction but
a frs he hi ntyIn
This is not the barbor, aud every
one who has the slightest knowledge
of the locality will he sure to avoid
such Il dangerous coast, so it's no bust
ness of mine"
Again that sound came. This time
Owen stopped and listened.
A thought came into his mind as he
did so, but it initiated so directly
against his inclinations To give heed to
it that with an impatient ''PShaw ~ he
started on.
But he could not rid himself of it.
1t was this: ''If Il ship is in peril, and
has lost her way, the only thing that
could save her would be huge bea-
con fire to cast Il light upon her sur
rOundings."
To build fire would be work of
time and of hard labor.
TO keep one up that would do any
good would take hours of watchful-
ness, and he would have to abandon
all hopes of seeing Annis that evening.
1t was hard struggle, but inclina
ton proved to be made of material
which could not hold its own against |
his strong sense of duty.
He gave up all thought of the pleas
ant greeting he had been living upon
in his heart all day long, and set him
self to work to gather fuel for the bea-
con fire.
After several hurried journeys to the
woodland, which lay IA little distance
away, he succeeded in accommodating II |
pile of branches and dry twigS, which
he had raked out with his hands from
Il deserted hut, which stood on the
confines of il thicket and had evident
ly been gathered together for some
purpose, but under the circumstances
Owen felt himself justified in taking
it, as it would have been almost i'm
possible 10 have kindled flame of
green wood.
Just rs lie had succeeded in cOaxing
II splendid blaze into life, voice
cried:
''Hallo, Glenn, is that You What in
the name of wonder are you doing ?"
81 am answering tn Il signal of dis
tress. Hank :" as dull thud came
again from the sea.
''Well, old fellow, wish You JOY of
your post, and hope it'll do the good
you expect. For my part, Pm off to
old Martins. | hear little Annis is !
going away tomorrow, and don't |
want to miss sight of her beaming
face tonight. It's bright and sweet
enough to he a mans beacon light for
all his life. GoOd-by and good for
tune attend your work. It's lucky all |
are not such selfish fellows as am."
1t was as if Il thousand tiends were
tugging for the mastery of Owen
Glenn's heart, as he listened to the
rafting talk of the gay, light-hearted
youth.
Should he give Robert this chance of
seeing Annis, and of perhaps asking
her to he his wife, during this very
night, while he stood and worked to
do good, and in Gods providence tried
to be the means of saving lives of peo-
pie who were nothing to him
Thus his thoughts ran over and over
again, repeating themselves like the
voices of mocking demons. while out
wardly he labored on as unremittingly
as though no influences of the kind
were at work. piling on fresh fuel for
the flames, or pushing some burning
log into il better position, and in that
way he won the victory.
Peace succeeded to the wild storm of
of agitation which had momentarily
threatened to engulf him. Then the
night wore through.
With the morning came a great calm.
One would not have thought that the
sun-tlecked waves which came leaping
in, white crested and tumultuous, to
meet the stern barrier of rocks and
crawl up, almost to their SUBMITS,
could he aught but playful in their
force. All, 1T is IL treacherOus beauty
that of the sea-.
Too tired to notice the beauty of the
transition from storm to sunshine,
Owen walked slowly home. His work
was done, and he must rest.
Late in the day he started out for a
walk. He was in that miserable state
of mind which Oftentimes follows some
great exaltatiOn of spirit. The thought
that Annis bad gone away without his
seeing her again weighed upon his
mind like an unwelcome incubus.
AT tile voice OF ROBERT Hunter, who
stopped to accOst him he shrank and
trembied as though in pain, but he
listened rs intently as though his life
depended upon what he was about to
say. Had he proposed to Aunis, aud
had he been accepted
"Oweu," he began, ~ wish you and
| could change places about last nights
work.
''It's rather late for that, now" was
the quiet answer.