The Grenada gazette., 1888-02-04
MAX'S SACRIFICE.
His Reward for Duty Faithfully
Performed.

Max Dwight was ready for his earl,
tramp TO the upland lake, where, a
he knew. there was certain out-crop
ping Of roots suitable to the manu-
facture of some rustic benches he hat
been promising to make for his wife
Mistress Janet accompanied him u
the porch Of their cottage. carryin:
Tottie, who in her pink and whit,
prettiness of babyhood. was as lik'
the young mother as the wild roses
bud is like the wild rose.
The rain must have been heavy
above here remarked Mistres:
Dwight noting the aspect of the crecl
in the Divide.
The stream ordinarily tangled like
silver wire, among the powders and
bosky hollows at the base of the ridge.
was chatting in its bed. the accclera.
tion Of it's current betrayed by muffled
roar.
'Yes. when the Otter's boosting
along like that the pity is that the
mill stands still. and the hands arc
idle" complained Dwight.
Don't fret. Max. I'd not get my
BENCHES but for the mill machinery
being out OF gear"
He laughed. kissed her and Trottic
and moment later was striding
down the path to the bridge. whose
arches connecting the jutting ridge on
which he lived with the further side OF
the Otter. This stream, lower down.
did the work Of an army of giants,
turning the wheels OF the mills and
factories. in which hundreds OF bread
winners daily toiled. Alluvial bot
toms, cultivated farms, village homes
of peace and plenty, and countless
other evidences of prosperity lay be-
hind Dwight when he had crossed the
bridge and turned into the path
leading upward to the lake plateau
Always observant, he noticed that
tho creek was steadily rising.
The rain must have flushed the
lake considerably" he tho ught, stop
ping once to inspect tangled mat Of
drift whirling past BLESS me! If
that isn't lily-pad from the lakes
bed. However any thing but hurri-
cane He stopped short.
A horrifying fear had throttled him
in the rugged path. The morning was
instinct with joyousness. To the ear
came the matin symphonies Of nature;
TO the eye her harmones of light.
color. movement. Overhead were
iiockings of swelling cumuli white as
fresh washed sheep browsing in
spacious paslurage Of the myosotis
bloom.
Whence was the menace of evil?
Wrestling with the Shape in the
way. as Christian wrestlcd with
Apollyon. Dwight saw. drifting by
another clump of lily.pads, tangled
with vine full of foliage and bud.
ding fruit.
''lts branch of the ild,grape
that climbs the sycamore next the
lakCs rim." came To him with the
force OF assurance, and casting aside
his axe. he spcd up the ascent he had
been leisurelY climbing
Reaching the plateau, in tue midst
OF whose picturesqueness was en-.
powered the lake, overhanging the
defile like a Babylonish garden. he
saw. almost to his chagrin. its hun
dreds Of millions of cubic feet of water
placidly smiling and dimpling in the
sunshine The rain had not flushed il
flushed! The lake was lower than
its lowest water-mark!
The fear he had shaken of lcaped
upon him and tore at his vitals again.
As his gaze darled along the embank.
ment to The cleft through which the
creek flowed, he saw that the stream
was not only momcntly eating its way
deeper into tho rim. but that. here
and there. the cmbankment showed
fssures indicating an extended dis
lodgmont Of the natural supports Of
the lake basin. A practical engineer
himself, Dwight had always enter
tanned doubt Of the stability of lha,
freak Of naiure--thc disproportionatc
fountain of Otter creek. Some day.
he had thought, the cray.fsl. the
otter, The u,swing and the freezing
would do thcil work, and then would
come the drainage of tho great basin.
But not in his day! Oh. no! MOI
when he lad Just bnildcd u home for
Jaact and the black-rycd Tottic right