The Evening post. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1888-1889, 1889-01-04

water, SuCD rOlllCklng, dancing glee,
such whirling of air and shore, that
one wanted to join the procession and
hurry along too. The waves were full
of rotten tree trunks and debris of q
wooded hillside, showing the clouds had
come down some mountain side some
miles away; and with the trees were
homely household utensils and furniture,
q calf, and wushtub that sailed iovinllv
along till 1t struck timber and sue
cumbed. ! had seen our wagon dis.
appear on the crest of the first wave but
! was sure the horses were safe. Then
began TO think of ourselves. The tree
was swaying perilously, the water seeth-
ing madly about its roots.
as II still rsng?" | said to Glen, who
answered, yes" quietly holding me
tight all the while
Don't let me go!'' cried piteously,
Eat least lot us die together" / became
aware that lie held me very close and was
brushing the wet hair Off my face
81 wish had my coat" he said ten
derby, "that poor little dress of yours
so thin. How you tremblel Do hold
you to o tight2 Is this the end of your
martyrdoln, | wonder2 Poor Molly,
your married life has been one long tor
ture.
1T would not have been il you had
loved me- | cried, and then told all
my troubles that had boarded up and
gloated over as Il miser does his gold.
told him of the saddle he promised, the
many other little acts OF neglect, of
things that go to make up the sum of Il
woman's happiness; his indifference to
baby's sickness and my own woes. Il
h,1 rpia 4 q.
bid me have hope and take up heart
again. Oh, Glen, there are more trag-
edies in the homely every day life than
will ever be written in books or under
stood by men"
saw his face droOp, his mouth culver,
and then | felt sob rise in his breast
Glenn crying-the great, strong man! l
could not bear that. Forgive me, l was
wrong" said. fancied all this. You
did not mean it," But he only muttcred.
"Blindl blindp'
Still the flood went on; still the dark
thought, Verify, the hoodgates of
tree rocked and writhed in the torrent,
Glen told me simply and honestly, that
he had not understood. He thought |
the little caresses that come natural to
other men; he had no mother or sisters
dear, quiet old Clem-to teach him. But
he was bitterly sorry, and he thought
from my rawlings after baby died that
| hated him and blamed him for the
childs death. 1t was so good to hear
him reproach himself and to have him
kiss me in that passionate grief that l
was Indifferent to the flood or the future.
For moment We were silent, and look
ing into his dear face, mercifully did
not sec the coming wave, but heard thu
louder roar echoing the far-away thunder
peal and coming with the crash of gale
in a pine forest, or the breaking Of the
surf ON rocky coast. There was one
swift moment of agonized expectation
when it washed over us, bending the tree
to its level, but it went on and the
tree did not follow. / remem.
Der Glen kissed me and said he
thought the water was going down, but
somehow / did not heed. | think |
tainted When l did begin to realize
again, the flood was quite low, gone as
swiftly as 1t came. Only muddy brook
creeping down the sandy creek-bed where
a mighty river had been; the sun had
come out bright and warm and the storm
was past. What havoc and dcsolation
the storm caused was recorded in all the
papers, but our deaths we're not among
the disasters. | fancied that great
volume OF water roaring on to the Platte
River, swelling its tide to wash the shores
of sandy plains and fertile meadow lands
far to the turbulent Missouri, ending al
last in shining blue sea, the great Gulf
of Mexico.
"Shall | carry you, you little thin
thing?" said Glen.
"You might Slip" 1 said; so hand-in.
hand like two children we crossed the
slippery land to the ranch two miles
away. On hill by the creek saw our
wagon flung bottom up, and by the ranch
we found our horses feeding quietly.
Luckily CLIENTS matches-in the silver
case l had given him long before we
were married-were dry, and he built up
fire in the fireplace in the log cabin.
When | stood there to dry my clothes |
took my treasures out of my pocket and
put them by the fire. Glen came in with
some wood and saw them. He stopped
down on one knee land took them in his
hand.
81 was running away when ] saw
you," said, determined to keep no more
secrets from him.
He looked up at me and said slowly:
"I-I was running away myself. l
thought you hated mel sold the ranch
to Mrs. France-a good business woman
mean, though-haggled year about
the price-fve thousand dollars. was
going to mail you the particulars and she
would pay you. One Of those
visitors of hers has offered me place on
his big cattle ranch in TeXas-I was
going there. You have had four years
of misery-the money would pay you a
little and you could 90 home-I would
not trouble you any more--wrote this in
aletter."
"Can / see it, Clem?'
1T was carried off in my coat-prob.
ably on its way down the Platte now
letter was hard to write--nearly broke
my heart-told Olsen to look out
for you-was going to send the team
back so you could get away all
right-came down Dry Creek Canon
afraid I'd meet Mrs. France and her
crowd" He spoke in quick, jerky SEN
fences, looking at my treasures; he
turned them over in his hand and looked
up at me, Fifteen dollars, the photo
graph of man who ruined your life, and
and dead baby's shoe. l wonder If
the pilgrim entered the gates of Paradise
with 50 light load2'
"Clem, / cried, lit is Heaven now if
you will love me and forgive me-"
He jumped up and took me in his arms.
miserable towards that we were,
Molly, running away from each other
too silly and proud to tell each other the
truth. Shall we begin all over again
let me win you once more and keep you,