Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-03-08
Copyright, 1894, by
the Author.

SHeeI llPnInluR. Dub guess II ma
my way across the Broad to Barton
Staith right enough. And here | am |
do believe at the end of this blessed,
long, dark river at last! Yes that
white thing ashore must be the ice
house. Ali, my dear fellow, this is
hard work, and no mistake"
You might certainly have thought
the self-addressed words came from
mustached lips, the more if You noted
the long, powerful stroke of the sculls
and perfect form of the rover, but it
was ''she" fcllow-not he at all,
and very pretty one, too, dressed in
white and red boating "togs''-as she
would have said. A tall, slight girl of
nineteen or twenty; muscular, lissome,
bubbling over with healthy visor and
high spirits.
The wind shrielsed and poured over
the great drearily dark expanse in al
most u hurricane so wild We're its
gusts as the rover got fairly out into
the Broad by slow degrees, the water
quite ronghened into white ponies,
If not white horses" as she mentally
put it, when the sea- built boat shot
and danced over the foam-capped wave
let's.
"Boat a-hoy!"
Suddenly on the roar of the gale
cGme that Gala mans voice, full and
mellow, from somewhere away on her
port bow.
"A-hoy, lhere!r she called back at
once, and altered her course immedi-
ately for the direction of the voice
some one in distress, of course, she
thought She knew that she was not
far from one of the great beds of rushes
that abound, and The next moment a
simmer of sheet lightning that illum-
ined the whole scene vividly for a see
ond showed her that she was right. She
caught glimpse, too, of what seemed
to be boat with something white in
it by the rushes.
''Some fellows lost his oar, perhaps
and got stranded in the reeds help lpless,"
muttered ALI, pulling away with the
wind now on the starboard quarter.
Easy to reach him; but to get off the
lee-shore again won't be jolSe-there
he is
For she could just discern tall fig
ure in white dress standing up-of
course, in boat, for land there was
none Ali headed straight for that
white-hanneled figure, and in three
minutes had shipped her sculls and
let the wind send her boat alongside
the strangers S; and now at close quar-
ters she could distinguish that he was d
young man, perhaps some seven years
her senior-handsome, and Il gentle
man.
IF had dreamed it was girl whose
oars plash | heard,p he said, barring
his curly head as he bowed, evidently
utterly vezed with himself, II would
not have called for the world. 1 am so
sorry-so veXed."
"On ny account, you mean, said Alf,
laughing, as frank and fearless as Il
boy, not an atom of feminine seif-con-
seiousness; don't bother yourself at
ALL then; we're all brethren in sports
You'd help me out of fix, and you,
SO what's the matter?'
He began to laugh; he couldn't help
t, and did not try to, either. She was
such delicious cure" and SO pretty;
he saw at once the sort of girl she was,
and took her on her own free and easy,
boy-like ground.
ITS too good of you to come TO the
cescue, and such gale, too; but the
ruth is that | am hors de combat My
eft wrist has had an ugly wrench this
evening that has strained, ii not
sprained it,"
Poor fellow-so that you can't row.
How did you do it?"
''Well, l was pulling about here Il
only arrived at Barton today when
somehow disturbed big fierce, black
swan"
That brute?" exclaimed ALI, ''it
ought to be shot, it's so savage and
has attacked several people"
Has it? It's an old enemy, then?"
said the young man in surprise
TO be sure Step over into my boat
and sit down in the stern. That's IT,"
as be obeyed, nothing loth-what man
would have been?
80 that creature went for your"
''Rather." said he. II beat him off
with an oar but as a farewell he
caught my wrist in his beals and gave it
a wrench that made it desperate pain
to get along as far as opposite this
two hours ago that was-then the wind
veered and stiffened suddenly and |
had to give up and let the gale drive
me into these reeds and wait the slen-
der chance of help from some passing
boat, else spend the night out here"
Gold, starved and in pain; poor fell
low!' said Alf, with true woman's pity.
That would have been too horrid, and
I'm awfully glad did stop so long up
the Ant. There hasn't been boat
but mine out for hours-too galley; SO
you'll have to be my passenger,
nodding brightly, sin spite of your
masculine pride and chiv airy"
''No, no; it's too shamefully madden
ingw exclaimed the young man, ve-
hemently. II can't do it. l sit at
ease and let a girl pull with the extra
weight or try to, against such hurri-
cane? Impossiblel I'll stop here
till"
mo, You won't, Stree" interrupted
the young lady, coolly, her bare elbows
on her knees, her chin in one shapelv,
brown hand; she was brown as a berry
altorether you'll hear reason and