Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-12-04

some OF you again." And with his pipe
in his mouth he plunged into the water
| and struck out for the nearest point of
land. now dimly visible in the light of
the rising moon. There were but four
OF us now left, and of the four Marie
was the only one who was abe to look
with perfect serenity upon the angel OF
death lowering over us. Veronica lay
as in swoon, and Roubeu alternately
laughed and shook his clenched fist
toward heaven.
Our foothOld on the roof had shrunken
to narrow space a ong the ridge pole
AS the waters of the flood sucked in
under the caves OF the roof they shook
the structure warningly and gave forth
dull. hollow sounds, at times strangely
like a human groan or deep, smothered
cry OF despair. Above the flood. the
surface of which glowed like molten
silver in the moonlight, the church
lifted its tall, slender spire, and from
the belfry, melowed by their flight
across the water. came the twelve strokes
of the midnight hour.
Never since my bOyhood' S days had the
village church bell sounded so sweet
and consoling to me. 1t seemed to me
as ii the flood itself had halted in its
march of death and listened to those
tones of silver sweetness. as they lnger-
ed Quivering in the air long after the
last had left the bclfry.
CHAPTER IL.
Was the Ginning of the midnight hour
the signal from heaven for the flood to
stay its angry tide, for the waters to check
their murderous advance? Alas, no. l
could see that our place of refuge was
being gradually submerged and l hest
tated no longer. l resolved to take nv
beloved Marie from the roof and swim
with her to the church
AS began to take off my shoes and
make my preparations, Father Roubieu
devined my intent and burst out with:
NAY, nay, Gaspard, it would be mad
ness to make the attempt. The fury of
the food is still on the increase. Listen,
my son. to its distant roar. The worst
is yet to come Give over your wild
scheme. l know that you would will
ingly face death to save our beautiful
Marie. your betrothed. but it were better
for us to stay here all together: then. at
least, we shall have the satisfaction of
perishng in each others arms"
But was not to be turned aside.
raise my two mighty arms, barred to the
shoulder, and stretched them aloft in the
moonlight, so that both Father Roubeu
and Marie might look upon their terrific
strength. Marie smiled and said softly:
"Yes, dear Gaspard, God hath given
you the strength of a giant, but can
mans strength stay the flood? Doth
not the proud oak go down before the
whirlwind?"
81 may not stay the flood, but / NAV
&c f,,pv ~
as | might ride an untamed Steed, though
l might not guide him Alright. You will
trust me, will you not, Marie?"
"Yes, Gaspard," she replied, laying
her hand in mine. "God hath given me
to you; take me, for am yours"
Until this moment her glorious hair had
hung down loose upon her shoulders but
now, standing there with the moonlight
full upon her angelic cOuntenance, which
glowed with a radiance that made her
seem unearthly beautiful to me, she be-
gan to gather her scattered and dishev-
eled treSses and to twist them into
strands and Irvine them around her head,
chanting the while from the Psalms in
voice SO calm, so tender and SO sweet that
my limbs trembled as listened to her:
"The Lord is my shepherd; shall not
want. Yea. though l walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, l shall
fear no evil, for Thou art with me: Thy
rod and Thy staff, they comfort me-
slaughter, daughter" murmurcd old
Roubeu. "it is the toilet of death which
thou art making"
But Marie only smiled as she now
turned her attention to her dress. taking
Off jacket, which left her arms bare,
and casting it from her as a useless
weight. Then she lOosened her fichu,
and folding it anew about her neck
pinned it in place with extra care. This
done, she sat down upon the coping of
the wall and began to remove her shoes
and stockings. with intent to make the
burden for me as light as possible. Her
back was now turned to us, but we could
still hear her singing:
GOD is our refuge and our strength;
therefore will we not fear though the
earth be removed and the mountains be
carried into the middle of the sea, though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled.
though the mountains shake with the
swelling"
As she finished singing she rose and
came toward me. No saint could have
looked more beautiful, no celestial mes
senger could have been more gentle,
more collected, more reliant. To touch
her with my hands seemed to me prof
anation. She noticed that | was trem-
bling as | made the line fast about her
waist, and she murmured softly:
Take heart. dear Gaspard. Thou
mayst lose me, but thou'lt gain much:
for thy boyhood's love for holy things
will come back to thee if l should be
taken from thee, and thou wilt no longer
look with Indifference upon the Lords
temple when thou rememberest how l
loved it,"
| longed to press her to my breast, but
dared not. l sank upon my knees, and
taking her hands in mine kissed them
But as l arose felt her clinging to my
arm, and raising her big, soft brown