Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-05-01
ats NO use. , she .aid a. tsa.ts Co...

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into the sea if you can manage il. she added.
by way OF an afterthought; 1--WE may haze
TO swim presently
To Godfrey this seemed very probable. and
whenever he got a chance he acted on thu
mint thl at length he was rid Of all his cart
ridges Just then it began TO rain in tor
rents though 1t was not warm the perspira-
aon was streaming from him at every pore,
and the rain beating on his face refreshed
MN somewhat; also with the rain the wind
dropped a little
but he was getting tired out and he knew
IT, Soon he would no longer be able TO keep
the canoe straight, and then they must
De swamped, and in all human probability
drowned. So this was to be the end of his
life and its ambitions Before another hour
had run its course he would be rolling TO and
fro In the arms of that angry sea. What
would his wife Honoria say when she heard
the news, he wonderedl Perhaps it would
shock her into some show Of feeling. And
Efie, his dear little 6-year-old daughteri
Well, thank Godl she was too young to feel
his loss for long. By the time that she was a
woman she would almost have forgotten that
she ever had father But how would she
get on without him to guide herr Her
mother did not love children, and growing
girl would continually remind her of her
growing years He could not tell; he could
only hope for the best And for himselfi
What would become of him after the short,
sharp struggle for lifel Should he find end
less sleep, or WHAT He was Christian, and
his life had not been worse than that of other
men. Indeed though he would have been
the last TO think it, be had some redeeming
virtues. But now at the end the spiritual
horizon was as dark as it had been at the
beginning. There before him were the gates
of death, but not yet would they roll aside
and show the traveller what lay beyond their
frowning face. How could he telll Perhaps
they would not open at all. Perhaps be now
babe his last farewell TO consciousness, to
earth and sky and sea and love and all
lovely things. Well, that might be better
than some prospects.
At that moment Godfrey Bingham in the
last agony of doubt, would gladly have ex-
changed his hopes Of life beyond for GER
tainty of eternal sleep. That faith which
enables some of us TO tread this awful way
with an utter confidence is not a wide pre-
rogative, and as yet, at any rate, it was not
his, though the time might come when he
would attain it. There are not very many
even among those without reproach who can
Jay tnti1 uoWu III luo arms VI Qcdln, Know
ing most certainly that when the veil is rent
away the countenance that they shall see
will be that of the blessed Guardian Of man
kind. Alasl he could not be altogether sure,
and, where doubt exists, hope is but a pin
pricked bladder He sighed heavily, muir
INJURED little formula of prayer that had
been ON his lips most nights during thirty
years-he had learnt it as a child at his
moi lyra xnhfla fna fau,
reared around him, gathered up his strength
to meet the end which seemed inevitable. At
any rate he would die like a'man.
Then came a reaction. His vital forces
rose again. He no longer felt fearful, he only
wondered with strange impersonal wonder,
as a man wonders about the vital affairs Of
another Then from wondering about him
self he began to wonder about the girl who
sat opposite TO him With the rain came
little lightning, and by the first flash he saw
her clearly. Her beautiful face was set, and
as she bent forward searching the darkness
with her wide eyes, it wore, he thought, an
almost defiant air.
The canoe twisted round somewhat He
dug his broken paddle into the water, and
once more got her head on TO the sea. Then
he spoke
''Are you afraid" he asked of her.
''No,n she answered, II am not afraid.
"Do you know that we shall probably be
drownedr
''Yes, know it. They say death is easy.
l brought you here. Forgive me that
should have tried to row you ashore as you
said"
"Never mind me; man must meet his fate
some day. Don't think of me. But can't
keep her bend on much longer You had
better say your prayers"
She bent forward till her head was quite
near his own. The wind had blown some Of
her hair loose, and though he did not seem to
notice it at the time he remembered after
wards that a lock of it struck him on the face
81 cannot pray" she said. II have moth
ing TO pray to- | am not Christian"
The words struck him like blow. 1t
seemed so awful to think of this proud and
brilliant woman, now balanced on the verge
of what she believed to be utter humiliation
Even the courage that induced her at such
moment to confess her hopeless state seemed
awful.
"Try," be said with gasp.
NO." she answered, 81 do not fear to die
Death cannot be worse than life is for most
of us. | have not prayed for years. not
since-well, never mind | am not coward
1t would be cowardly to pray now, because l
may be wrong. If there is a God who knows
all he will understand that"
Godfrey said no more, but'labored at the
broken paddle CALAMITY and with an ever
failing strength. The lightning had passed |
away and the darkness was very great, for |
the hurrying clouds hid the starlight Pres
emily a sound arose above the turmoil of the |
storm, a crashing, thunderous sound, towards /
which the send of the sea gradually bore |
them. The sound came from the waves that |
beat upon the Bryngelly reef.
"Where are we drifting TOP he cried
"Into the breakers, where we shall be lost l
she answered calmly. Give up padding, it |
is of no use, and try to take off your coat I
have loosened my skirt. Perhaps we can 1
swim ashore"
He Thought to himself that in the dark and {
breakers such an event was not probable,
but he said nothing, and addressed himself I
to the task of getting rid of his coat and
waistcoat-no easy one in that confined |
space. Meanwhile the canoe was whirling |
round and round like walnut shell upon