The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-13

80, yes; l always help when there is dan
ger TO the dixie"
We reached the dixie safely, but soaked,
at least was. for not being amphibious the
water had the better OF me.
1he scene az the dixie was, il the term is
permissible, sublimely hideous. The sea
was piled up almost to the top, and every
wave washed over. The roar was deafen-
Ing. Such masses Of water came over that
the men were constantly knocked down, but
my little friend seemed as by a
miracle to escape. She was but
slip of a girl, not over II, but she
took her place in the line of men like a
true heroine. What astonished me most,
however, was the singular change in her
appearance; there was a row Of lanterns, so
saw her clearly. At the dinner she had
been exQuisitely and most daintily dressed
and as she sat at the plano caught a
glimpse OF fairy-like foot CLAD in a BLK
slipper made from the same material as her
gown. At the dixie she had on a pair of
rough fisherman boots which came above
her knees; into these were pOked a pair Of
boys trousers and the astonishing costume
was finished by long, yellow oil-coat and
mans hat tied TO her head with a hand
kerchief. Yet she could not help looking
pretty. told her afterwards that she had
reminded me of Rosalind.
AS could be of no possible help, after an
hOhA L NCuh OdCh 10 Tie QOuse, Inc QlsS
lance was only about quarter of q mile
but how l ever reached that house has ever
since been a matter Of wonder 10 me Three
times l slipped in the soft, spuugy mud: my
hat blew of and never was found; was
30 wet that although it was summer time I
felt bitterly cold; missed my way and got
into plowed field, but reached the house
at last. and cup of hot tea brought
at once by an obliging house
maid nhnnrph INN l,,,k
then came a serious question. |
had taken only little hand bag with me:
what should l wear? But the maid solved
that question. She took to my room a pair
OF trousers, slippers, ard most comfortable
dressing gown, saying that she would come
when l had changed my things and get my
wet clothes and dry them for me. Within
ten minutes was by a comfortable fire
that had been built in the dining room, with
jugsof hot water and a decanter of brandy
at my side, and the maid disappeared with
my wet garments.
| That girl was a genius.
In about two hours she brought my things
back; not only were they dry aud clean,
but had been ironed so they looked better
than they had done in the morning The
shoes, dry as bone, had been neatly black
ened, and with clean shirt from my bag l
| looked myself once more. The tempest
went on with unebated fury, the wind
| howled and shrieked like an angry demon.
the downpour of rain still continued, and
could not help thinking with the most sim
cere pity Of the gallant men and that fair
young girl who were guarding the dixie
What use their being there was, or what
they could have done, heaven and the Hol-
lander alone know. can understand pro-
| tectlng dixie from the outside with mats.
| were but what can be done from the insidel
They certainly were not there for pleasure.
l was reminded that awful night of a trifling
thing and yet most striking example of
the man who knows what to do and the one
| who does not. Once, when a lad, / went to
see the filling In with liquid cement of the
double walls Of the lock OF canal. There
| was some little fault in the masonry and the
| cement was pouring out and had already
made lake. A dozen men under the d.
rection OF a Superintended were heaping a
mound of earth against the wall, but the
cement would come out A young engineer
came along, took newspaper from his
pocket, went up to the hole, iammed the
paper in, and the trick was done. Not a
drop more came. Doubtless the shrewd
| Hollander knows trick or two about his
bikes that a stranger would never guess.
Not only his fields, but his very life de-
ponds on it.
After time the wind went down, the
rain ceased, the sky frightened, and the
|
that the wind was still blowing, had
changed its direction, and the dixie was
safe
Less than an hour later my host, his three
stalwaru sons and his pretty daughter, all
handsomely and conventionally clad, look
ing as IL they had never heard of such a
thing as a storm. were pleasantly chatting
with me about all sorts of Indifferent sub
jects, about new play by Dumas which
they had not seen, and such light talk, but
neither the word dixie nor storm was men,
toned after the first coming-in; yet l
learned later from dixie guard that one
son had been knocked down SO violently by
a wave that he had remained for some time
insensible, and it was thought he was killed
That is the kind of men and women they
make in Holland. Let the poetasters sneer
at them
On account Of their kindly courtesy 1
shall always have q tender spot In my heart
for the Dutch. but should politely request
to be excused from being out again in an
other Hollandish tempest. l am not suffl-
GENTLY amphibious.