, 1891-08-26
ABSOLUTELY PURE

gaze now, and every little vii
hotel woul tremble all through. II a tu
of tire iron cables which chained H. -
the rocks. 1t was fearful to thinh isat
Robert was somewhere out in the stor.4,
and hat nothing could be done until
daylight, and not even then if the gale
continued, as the hotels pleasure bouts
were not built to face such a wind.
There would be no use in arousing any
one else; she must just wait patiently
until the household should be stirring.
and she could advise with some of the
gentlemen. But, oh, the loneliness Of
that vigil! To her dying day she never
forgot it. How long it seemed since
last night. when Rob had been safe be-
side herl She recalled the little jokes
they had laughed over, and how merry
and affectionate he had been.
But then he always was sweet tenn
pered and loving, always making some
plan for her comfort and amusement.
And to think how angry she had been
only a few hours g about that
wretched note! To be sure, he hadn't
known it, but she felt just as remorse-
full as if she had put her feelings into
words and had scolded him well. What
If he had, for lack of other amusements,
drifted into an idle filtration? No doubt
that Janet Lesson had almost forced it
on him, just as she had invited herself
on board the catamaran. Anyway, it
didn't matter now-nothing mattered
but to have Bob back.
By and by the darkness was all gone,
and various noises told of the beginning
of another days business. AS soon as
she thought the office would be open,
Mrs. Golfer was down stairs e~ndeavoring
to get some comfort from the clerks as
surance that a c%ataInaran was never
known to capsize; that Nh. Sumner did
no understand his new craft very well,
and that they had probably beer driven
along by the wind, and had been unable
to return to the island. In a few hours
they'd be back, all safe. AS the various
guests appeared fer breakfast, they one
and all reiterated this opinion, aud were
very kind in their efforts to cheer her.
Through the field glass they could see
that there was no catamaran lying at the
dock on the nearest Connecticut shore,
but 1t might AVE been driven across the
five miles of water separating them from
Fishers island. The gale still continued,
80 that it was not considered safe for
any one to leave the island in a sailboat,
so there was nothing to do but sit patient
ly and watch from the piazzas for any
approaching boat. Mr.. Dugall had, with
the other guests, rendered his sympathy,
but had too much tact to remind her of
last evenings project, which would,
however, occasionally intrude itself on
her memory, only to make her more self
~reproachful and more loving toward the
absent Robert.
Slowly the hours crept away, until
nearly noon, when suddenly tie tempo
rary holder of the glass announced that
the Putting Pig, a small ferryboat run
ming between Fishers island and the
Connecticut shore, was about starting
out from the island, and if the runa-
ways had found a harbor there they
would get the Pigs captain to bring
them over. Every one became excited
then, and the Pigs slow progress was
breathlessly watched. 1t was very
rough, and several times she seemed on
the point of turning back, but still she
struggled on, and by and by somethin,
like a woman's feather crowned hat was
discovered in the pilot house, the only
spot sheltered from the wind. Yes,
there were two of them, and now there
is a handkerchief waving and the Pig
is seen to make n decided turn away
from its usual landing, and toward the
little island. No doubt about it now.
The Pig was almost at the dock, and
there was n hasty exodus from the piaz-
zas of the eager guests.
But Milly would not risk n scene in
public. She ran away to her own room,
where, in a few minutes, Robert came
to her, and was cried over and petted as
though he had been absent u year instead
of a night.
"Why, my dear" said he, 'any one
would suppose l was along lost treasure,
instead of a mere commonplace hus-
band"
"Oh, it's all very well for you to joke
about it. suppose while l was almost
crazy with anxiety you were having a
good time flirting with the widow"
Then you never were more mistaken
in your life, Milly. The widow wouldn't
speak to me at all. You see, she gave
me a note at breakfast time yesterday to
deliver to Sumner, and l forgot all about
it, and SO cheated her out of an after
moons walk, and almost made n quarrel
between them. But it's all right now.
/ made ar apology, and Sumner made a
proposal, l believe, for they announced
this morning that they're engaged"
"You don't mean it, Rob? What a
jokeI" And to this day Mr.. Golfer
doesn't know why Milly should have
fallen upon him, with a second shower
of kisses, on hearing of Mrs. Lessons en-
gagement. For that sly little woman
said to herself: $50 that note wasn't for
Rob Mt all, and l came near making a
fool of myself for nothing. But he never
shall know it."
And then she went down to lunch,
and, womanlike, proceeded to snub
Dugall for being the recipient of her
gracious encouragement the evening be-
fore. But she made a pretty little speech
of congratulation to the widow. and
thanked her stars that she had put the
note back into Rob's pocket and held her
tongue until he had had his say.-Eleanor
Corbet in Pittsburg Bulletin.