The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-02-13
by o'clock even young eyes could - no


"Mother, shall Just run down TO Mrs.
Krells, TO SEQ II the boat is in" she said,
shyly, turning the handle Of the door a. she
spoke.
ITO Krell's!r The widow rose TO her feet
| with astonishment why, Hannah, where
Is your self-respectl Going to those that
/ have scorned you in every way; they'll turn
you from the door for your painsp she ex-
/ postulated, indignantly.
II am gong, neverthelefs,D persisted the
girl, with faint little laugh II must know
II John is safe" and the closing Of tho door
shut her out from further argumsnt
@Why, Lor' bless usi It's only MiS Du.
rants Hannah" cried Mrs, Timothy, in dis
appointment as the door opened TO the girls
hand, too anxious even to express her dis.
favor. II made out it would be Tim and
John for sure
"Then the boat isn't i'm" said her visitor,
dismayed at the fulfillment Of her fears
Mrs. Timothy pursed up her mouth with a
look of solemn foreboding, and shook her
head disconsolately.
Indeed 'tisn't. An the storm of shore "a
that bad the men can't get down ter look fer
her. But set by, Hannah; III be glad
enough O your comply till they come, mo-
tioning the girl to a seat, with unusual hospi
tality
SO they waited in silence for hours, IL
seemed 10 Hannah, every nerve and sense
strained TO catch some token OF the absent
ones The wife's ear was the first to hear the
sound OF footsteps coming through the gate.
"Here they beln she cried joyfully, and be-
fore the echo Of her voice died away limo
thy Krell entered Whitehead as IA man OF
snow, his frozen garments rafting about
him, and look of blanknesS in his eyes like
one that has sight and yet is blind. Striding
TO the fire, he leaned his head on the wooden
shelf and stood there, shivering and trem-
bling as if with mortal cold.
The women gazed at one another with pale
cheeks What mightit mean, this solitary
man. Where was his sonT
And yet his wife dared not break the dread
full silence
Suddenly beside him uprose form, that to
the wretched man seemed an avenging angel,
with wide, dark eyes full of reproach.
"Where is my joint" questioned Hannah,
laying her hand on his bent shoulder, But,
with cry of horror, he shook il off, and fled
TO the room above, barring the door against
friend and foe
The girl stood us he left her, her face turned
upward, listening. a keener blast of wind
struck the house and Whistled through the
shutters with sound that was almost hu.
man.
"Hushp she said, with o warning, lifted
finger my John is calling me! I'm com.
ing, dear, Pm comingl' and so went out in
the blackncss and tumult.
All that terrible night, while the wind
howled and the water roared, the old man
paced up and down his chamber, the noise OF
his footsteps sounding now loud, now low. In
the room beneath, with plying neighbors try
ing To soothe her, his wife mourned her only
son; while out in the wind and storm with
lantern and TORCH the men searched for the
living or dead.
The storm died away TO far off wall; one
by one the pickering, yellow flames Of the
lanterns grew dim in the light of coming day
"a day so bright and peaceful, that before
It's beauty the memory of the night might
have faded like some fearful dream, only for
tho quiet burden which the searchers, with
uncovered heads, bore reverently from the
beach. Cast high on the frozen sands, in the
crimson light of morning, they had found
Krell8 John, robed with moro dignity in
death, poor lad, than he ever had owned in
life; and close beside him, with her head on
his silent breast, lay Hannah Had she found
him so on the sand, or had the waves cast
them together rs if III rebuke TO parents and
kindred' None may say; for the cold had set
n seal on Harnahs lips, and so on her lovers,
not TO bc broken by human skill.
Stormhayen never knew the true secret OF
that night il could only piece out fragments
from the upturned boat which drifted in
days later; and from the dsjonted words OF
the man who sat crouching over the fire at
krcli's cottage. "To drown i'll sight of land
One shall be taken and the, other leftln over
and over he murmured TO himself, till death
mcrcifully came one day and stopped the
working of the poor, wandering brain; and
Timothy krells stubborn, willful, remorseful
life on earth was ended.
But the mothers still lived on. Women,
widowed and made childcsS by the sea, were
plentiful in Stormhayon, and sympathy there
was not given to much outward demonstra-
ton. Yet i'll after years when the coast his
tory was reelcd forth by some ancient mar
liner for the enlightenment of the summer
guest, and The story Of Krells John was told
in its turn, the historian would close with:
swell, 'twu1 hard lines fer the widders. But
He knowed best, | reckon, fer He took 'em to-
gether in denth which 90 more'n they'd ever
ha bin en- life, pore chldrenln After which
he would elbow the wind fer maxim his eyes
water were the day never so tranquil
Frank Lestie's Illustrated.