The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1889-07-25

indicate refusal. lSut after few mo-
ments the softer look returned to it,
mingled with sadness.
Would that be best?" she asked.
Infinitely best for me. But it is you
who must decide. have loved you ever
since you were little girl"
do IS my mother know Of this"
Eyes, since last year; and she has bid.
den me Godspeed. But do not wish
you to be influenced by that. Decide
for yourself alone. am twice your
years, and more; but in my love for you
l am young, and shall always be-"
She stood silent for while, She was
evidently touched by his words, and by
the manly generosity of his appeal; but
something was yet wanting to give the
final conviction to her heart, and she
was too true to herself to commit herself
without it.
There is no man living for whom
care so much as for you," she said at
length; but / have never thought of
caring for you in that way. have de-
pended on you and trusted In you, but
to be your wife. Oh. you must
give me tinel do not know what l
think. or feel But | shall not DO in
Doubt will give you an answer soon.
1t seems to mo that if could love you
as you wish it would be fortunate thing
for me-fortunate that man like you
should wish to marry such girl as
am. But give me till tomorrow"
"As long as you need. answered the
Judge, huskily. 1T is my duty and my
happiness to wait for you and upon you
as long as l live"
The breeze fell agaip during the after.
noon, and they delayed their starting in
expectation of change later on. The
result justified their forecast, for as the
moon appeared above the eastern horizon
the clouds began to gather in the west,
and the tops of the trees waved and MUIR
INJURED. The direction of the wind was
such that, after leaving the island, they
could make nearly straight run for
home, keeping the boom over the port
quarter. In setting out long tongue of
land extending on the southeast broke
the sweep of the wind, and made it seem
much lighter than it really was The
water was smooth and the impulse just
sufficient to make them glide along rap
idly. But the moment the point Of the
cape was passed the sudden increase in
the violence of the wind fairly startled
them The judge, who was at the helm,
made the mistake of supposing that it
was gust or temporary squall only, and
therefore did not put back into the
smooth water and double reef his sail,
as he should have done.
BY the time he had discovered that the
wind had come to stay, they were too far
on their course to make return advis-
able. To have done so would have In
volved beating up almost in the teeth Of
the gale, which would not only have
been long job, but one which the height
of the waves would have rendered dan
gerous. To keep on, on the other hand,
seemed comparatively easy, the wind
being nearly fair, yet not so much SO as
to involve the peril Of jibing; the dis
lance, moreover, was not very great, and
the boat, though heavily laden, was
going fast. Accordingly the judge
grasped the tiller firmly, and kept her
headed so as to pass the lighthouse a
couple of points to the northwestward.
The three occupants of the little craft
were all seated, of course, close up on
the weather side, the spread of sail hav-
ing tendency to bear her down to lee
ward The judge sat next the stern;
Pauline was close to him, and Mrs. Nolen
was next to Pauline, her feet being sup
ported against the sheath Of the center
board. But as they sped along the waves
ran higher and higher, and began at
length to dash over the weather gun
vale, wetting Pauline's back and shout
ders, and running down into the well.
The effect Of this, after 1t had con-
tinued for a while, was inevitably to
make the boat sit lower in the water and
thus offer less opposition to the inroads
of the seas; and it was evident that an
effort must be made to bail her out
There was a tin dipper in the locker
not without difficulty the judge sue
ceeded in getting this out, and, STOPPING
down, endeavored to bail with his right
hand, while handling the tiller with his
left. But it was impossible to hold tho
boat to her course with one hand In
such a sea, and after minute Pauline
took the dipper and intimated that she
would attend to that part Of the work.
She bailed rapidly and steadily and
threw out large amount Of water, but
the waves continued to rise and overlap
the gunwale, so that she was unable to
keep pace with the influx, and the boat
settled 80 low that ever and anon a wave
would wash in to leeward. This was a
serious matter; it meant that swapping
was not far of; and with the extra
ballast on board she would go the bottom
like stone. And If she did, nothing
was more certain than that they would
be drowned It would be impossible for
even the strongest swimmer to reach the
shore on such night.
Mrs. Nolen, after expressing, In the
subdued manner characteristic Of her in
all circumstances, her horror and despair
at the situation-the real gravity Of
which she was, however, probably far
from recognizing-had relapsed into a
sort Of lethargic state. half reclining on
the narrow seat, motionless, and SEEM
ingly unconscious of the water that was