The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-09-02

+nrned to the left in the trough, rose,
.slring the next crest on his north quar-
;ar and In a few minutes was close
alongside,
"sAre YOU making headwayY he asked
me.
~ told him I thought not.
"T,et me see,' said ne, and kept even
pace with me for a minute.
ono you're losing he said. Il won
dered why was overhauling you so fast.
Of course she drifts if you give the wind
her quarter. It's bad scraps. Are you
doing all you can:
"'Every pound, said.
"sWell, what are you going to do
about it?'
..Nothing to do. might as well let
her drift. but for the shame of giving
up So
" .Gammon! he said and laughed.
81 thought this rather heartless, but
said nothing.
"sI must get ashore and send out a
catboat,' he said doubtfully.
"I wish to goodness you would then,'
answered.
"sBut then no catboat might be ready,
or it might miss you. No, one of us
must lose his canoe.
".That's pretty clear, and myself, too
said I.
.sGammon! The question is, Shall
get in with you or you get in with meY
".Gracious, you can't change into my
canoe in this sea! And your canoe won't
carry us BOTH
s:sShe won't, eh? he said as if an
noyed.
IT suppose my remark decided him,
for he was extremely proud of his canoe.
Next instant he ran her bow close along
side of the Yvonne and spoke with an
air of settling the whole matter.
'ssNow do exactly what say. When
my canoe touches the side Of yours, grab
it and hold the two-both rails, mind
hold them together. Then rise up quick
ly, keep both hands on the two edges
the canoes will steady one another that
way-then step right into my bow in
front of the forward thwart. You un-
derstand? All right then. The moment
you're on your knees in my canoe let
yours 60, and we'll daddle this old sea
yet, he concluded, with queer burst of
exultation.
ION going up the next crest did ex-
actly as he said. The Yvonne took the
curl on her quarter and sheltered his red
canoe SO perfectly that she didn't ship
dipperful. AS I knelt Wales shifted
back to his canoes stern and cried, Let
gop
ssNext instant we were rising up
wave. My Englishman was SO clever
that he somehow shouldered off that
crest without wetting me at all, and so
we went on up and down, up and down,
every wave threatening to swamp us
and every crest thrust away as by sort
Of miracle.
.sAfter my nerves had got a little used
to this sort of thing-mind you, we
hadn't more than six inches of free board,
and but for his dexterous tipping her
away from the crests any one of them
would been poured over-after I had
begun to feel bit easy said:
Hang it all, forgot my watch and
sweater
We'll, I don't think we can turn
back safely he said as if he seriously
thought of doing SO.
Turn back! Not for all the watches
at Waltham and all the sweaters in
America said.
"Well, we're almost at Huntington
avenue. There's nothing more to tell,
except that we got into the lee of the
shore in half an hour and landed all
right. When we did SO, / turned to
Wales-I was pretty grateful, you may
be sure-and I said, holding out my
hand:
"sYou've saved my life. 7 thank you
from the bottom Of my heart What do
you suppose he answered.
81 can't imagine. What was its'
.s.Simply 'Gammonr Then he went off
alone to his hotel, and I've never seen
him from that moment. Edward w.
Thomson in Youths Companion.