Morris tribune., 1896-05-06

ana A@OuQOosi
s'There is no man living for whom I
care SO much as for you," she said at
length; ''but have never thought of
caring for you in that way. have de-
pended on you and trusted in you, but
to be your wife. Oh, you must
give me timei I do not know what l
think, or feel But / shall not be in
Doubt will give you an answer soon.
1t seems to me that if could love you
as you wish it would be fortunate thing
for Unfortunate that man like you
should wish to marry such a girl as l
am. But give me till tomorrow.
LAS long as you need, answered the
Judge, huskily. 1T is my duty and my
happiness to wait for you and upon you
as long as live"
The breeze fell again during the after
noon, and they delayed their starting in
expectation of change later on. The
result justified their forecast. for as the
moon appeared above the eastern horizon
the clouds began to gather in the west,
and the tops Of the trees waved and MUIR
INJURED The direction of the wind was
such that, after leaving the island they
could make a nearly straight run for
home. keeping the boom over the port
quarter. In setting out long tongue of
land extending on the southeast broke
the sweep of the wind, and made it seem
much lighter than it really was. The
water was smooth and the impulse Just
sufficient to make them glide along rap
idly. But the moment the point of the
cape was passed the sudden increase in
the violence of the wind fairly startled
them. The judge, who was at the helm,
made the mistake of supposing that it
was gust or temporary squall only, and
therefore did not put back into the
smooth water and double reef his sail,
as he should have done.
By the time he had discovered that the
wind had come to stay, they were too far
on their course to make a return advis-
able. To have done SO would have in
volved beating up almost in the teeth of
the gale, which would not only have
been long job but one which the height
of the waves would have rendered dan
gerous. To keep on, on the other hand,
seemed comparatively easy, the wind
being nearly fair, yet not SO much SO as
to involve the peril of jibing: the dis
lance. moreover, was not very great, and
the boat, though heavily laden, was
going fast Accordingly the judge
grasped the tiller firmly, and kept her
headed SO as to pass the lighthouse
couple of points to the northwestward.
The three occupants of the little craft
were all seated, of course. close up on
the weather side, the spread of sail hav-
ing a tendency to bear her down to lee
ward. The judge sat next the stern;
Pauline was close to him, and Mrs. Nolen
was next to Pauline. her feet being sup
ported against the sheath of the center
board. But as they sped along the waves
ran higher and higher, and began at
length to dash over the weather gun
vale, wetting Pauline's back and shout
ders, and running down into the well.
The effect of this, after it had con-
tinued for while, was inevitably to
make the boat sit lower in the water and
thus offer less opposition to the inroads
of the seas; and it was evident that an
effort must be made to bail her out.
There was tin dipper in the locker
not without difficulty the judge sue
ceeded in getting this out, and, STOPPING
down, endeavored to bail with his right
hand, while handling the tiller with his
left But it was impossible to hold the
boat to her course with one hand in
such a sea, and after a minute Pauline
took the dipper and intilnated that she
would attend to that part of the work.
She bailed rapidly and steadily and
threw out large amount Of water, but
the waves continued to rise and overlap
the gunwale SO that she was unable to
keep pace with the influx. and the boat
settled SO low that ever and anon a wave
would wash in to leeward. This was
serious matter; it meant that swapping
was not far off; and with the extra
ballast on board she would go the bottom
like stone And if she did, nothing
was more certain than that they would
be drowned. It would be impossible for
even the strongest swimmer to reach the
shore on such night.
Mrs Nolen, after expressing. in the
CIId1 dOUCI 1OtIS vi IlO4 LIZ
all circumstances, her horror and despair
at the situation-the real gravity of |
which she was, however, probably far |
from recognizing relapsed into a
sort of lethargic state, half reclining on
the narrow seat, motionless, and seem |
ingly unconscious of the water that was
dashing over her. This passive attitude
was doubtless the best for all concerned !
that she could possibly have assumed.
The Judge perhaps suffered more than
any of the party; for he felt himself |
mainly responsible for the affair and the |
idea of death stepping between him and
Pauline at such iuncture was almost
more than he could bear. Pauline, alone,
was apparently perfectly cheerful and
composed. She even felt pleasant ex-
hilafation in the face of the imminent
danger. heexertion Of bailing had put |
her in warm glow from head to foot;
and though she saw that her labor was in
efectual she maintained it with unfalter-
ing resolution. They were now within
mile of the light house and as soonas they |
passed under the lee Of itpthey would be