The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-08-20

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sand forming the floor of the irregular
horseshoe of the bay: to the north Il jut-
ting rocky hcadland. wccd-draped and
wild; to the south Il governed cliff. scoop
ed into fantastic grottocs by the impact
of many thousand tides: in front Il dark
blue line. where the summer sea seemed to
lie asleep. Such was the scene.
Ii was Il pretty spot enough. The
Nurscmen who had drawn up their pirate
gallcys there Of old had called the place
Olin's Horseshoe. 1t lay convenient for
the purpose Of their forays. since there
Wa, Il gentle slope at one point. leading
t. Il cleft in the towering cliff wall. up
which u broad path. almost Il road. gave
easy access To- the fertile country inland.
Just above high-watcr mark. seated IN
a fragment of rock. reading, was Il young
n neatly attired. IN empty chiid's
carriage beside her. and IA chi!ds form
discernible at some little distance. play
ing o the loose sand-hcaps and shall
low pools haunted by tiny crabs and star
fish left behind by the cbh-tide. that lay
between her and the black promontory
that stretched grimly out TO scaward.
The novel which the girl was reading
was to all appearance a deeply interesting
one. since she seldom found time to throw
a cursory glance az her charge. now stray
ing and playing afar off among the pools
and the rocks. while as regarded the signs
of the weather she was utterly blind and
Needless. The day was fine. Yet the
wind had frrshrncd. There was Il dark
ling line to seward. that. to experienced
eyes, bodied mischief.
But sometimes such warnings are
thrown away. The wind gained strength;
50 lid the tide. The cloud-bank crept
siralthily IN. IIoarscr and louder grew
the noise of the waves: the great sea was
coming in with Swifter, longer strides
than We're olpmon. Little Of all this
rocked the Girl. too much absorbed ia the
sorrows of an imaginary heroine to heed
the anger of the coming storm. Higher
and higher, like a wrathful snake up
reared. rose the foamy crc>ts Of each pei
lucid wave. I.ouder grew the moan of
the breeze, hoarscr the sulicn splash of
the breakers. Yet She read on compla-
Gently.
Further and further yet, the tiny figure
had >traycd away from the side of the
careless attendant. Still unobservcd. un-
noticed, the richly-drcssed child straycd
on, nearer, ever nearer 70 the tumultuuus
sea. The distance rapidly lessencd. The
tide came on. swift and strong, like an at
lacking army flushed with success.
At last the girl who had been reading
So long upon the solitary shore lifted her
head, and let the book she had been hold
iilg drop upon her knee. What had scared
her was a sound. terrible and sudden al
most as the trumpot-caD of an %avenging
angel. The noise came from the right
hand, whore the cliffs approached most
closely to the sea. Those who have heard
the tide break into 81. Guthlac's Cave sci
dom forget the hoarse. hollow roar with
which, through ii>Sure and granny high
above. the tortured air is forced out of the
gr"tto by the rush of hurrying water. The
waves had reached Il now. and hence the
clanlor and confused medley Of sound. as
II or human voices crying aloud in due
extremity Of terror or of pain.
FOR an instant or TWO the girl stared
etupl!ly at the sudden turmoil Of sea and
storm, but then a thought occurred to her
that stung her TO III" quick. and in n mo-
mcnt she was on her feet.
The child. the child,.' she exclaimed
with white lips, as She lartrl Onward
The footprints guided HEY to a broad and
shallow pool. Beyond thrre was i bell of
small pebbles that bore no mark. hnr far
away The traces were again limly visi-
Bile, half cffaced by the water that had
oozei through the low-lying sand. Hur-
rylng forward in breathless haste. a> if
20 meet the faSt-advancing sea. she reach
Hl the place where yet the fOotmarks
could be s"en, and with haggard eyes
gazed around. l;uI she could see nothing
but the white waves rolling in, leaping
hungrily around, as If intent on prey. The
child: whore. whore was the child:
The girl was NOT brave beyond the ay-
erage Of her sex and her class. but now
her nerves We're strung to an unusual ten.
sion. and she pressed ON where many n
stout-heartcd man would have quailed.
Behind hay safety; in front was the terri
Bile sea. On she Went.
There were the tiny footsteps eyer and
anon as Il guide, straying. wandering, de
vious, bur always trending toward the
bleak, Storm-swcpt headland that juttel
forth to sea. There. in front, was III,
p~romontory, like "A great black wall, shut
ting out all view of the coast toward III.
north-hard to be climbed by a bold and
strong man; inaccessible, no doubt. to a
woman or a child. \ giant now could no
have rounded the point. But there had
been Il tongue of dry sand long ago wish
ble beyond the black stones, and even
the lettering steps of Needless infancy
might then have achieved what was be.
You'd the compass Of earthly strength and
daring.
All unconscious of the imminence Of
danger, the seeker pressed on. There wa,
something touching in the girls utter alb.
negation of fear, as, with the splashing