Evening star., 1896-10-31

here" said Harry. You can no more swim
there in this sea than you can n.y."
replied Frank. at is worth trying"
But It was not The feat was entirely
impossible. Frank was bigger and stronger
and OF greater endurance than most men.
but he was only fair swimmer. Under
the most favorable conditions I don't be-
lieve he could have swum a mile. Chilled
as ne was by long exposure, and ex-
hausted by previous efforts. he would do
we'll II he should swim hundred yards
He would probably drown within the range
Of our voices.
Yet he could not be prevented from max
We could. and Alice besought him In such
words as felt I could have given my life
for. II 1 had had At that time life that
was not as good as lost already. She could
not stay him.
I'm responsible for this" said he. Lis
ten. Alice; when I missed your boat the
hrst time, I did it on purpose. 1 wanted
to fix 1t with Steve so that l could row
the privilege. and he won. Then, when
you insisted on staying in my boat. / made
him pull away in yours. though there was
no need for 1t. II 1 had run alongside Of
you the first time, there would have been
| no collision. II l hadn't sent Steve away
because 1 was jealous of him, We should
have had the rowboat with us, and even II
the squall had upset us. we could have got
deserve to come out Of 1t alive. Perhaps
after am out Of the way. something will
| happen to save you. who are not to
blame"
She told him in effect that he was des-
perately expating wholly pardonable Of
fer Sc: and then she clung to him. but he
disengaged himself from her hands. In a
| moment he had flung OF coat and shoes.
and was ready to start.
Goodbye" he said. I'll bring you help
If can. At any rate, don't give up till the
last possible moment. Rescue may come"
1 nearly lost my wits with horror he
went down into the black water beyond
| the ledge. He seemed to take our courage
with him, and fer "a time we lay huddled
together like frightened children in the
dark.
The tide was rising over the level rock
| in front of us, and the waves were be-
ginning to dash against the upper bulwark
or the ledge, sending the spray kissing over
us. We crouched close to the rocks and
clntChed them hard, preparing for the time
when We must make our last resistance.
'Heavens How fast it rises.'' gasped
Harry in my esr. What time is il now, 1
wonder?"
Again we looked at my watch in the sud-
den flare of d match. 1t was only few
minutes after twelve. Two more hours Of
flood tide, and already the water was
| breaking clear over US. 1t was impossible
that we Should survive another hour, for
we were too weak to stand.
Not even God himself can save us now',
said Harry in my ear
He did not mean to be profane. 1t was
merely the involuntary reaction from a
dream Of supernatural rescue.
God can save us now said Alice, "as
easily as at any other time. Do you be-
lieve that the tide which He made has
ceased to obey Him?"
Il believe that for million years the
tide has covered Gull Rock twice every
twenty-four hours" said 1. answering for
! him; "and it will not stop fer u.s.
L spoke earnestly. 1t seemed to me weak
to trust in miracles. 1t was like giving up.
1T will stop if God tells it So" said the
girl
Men-and women, too-have engaged in
theological controversy while the flames of
martyrdcm were rising around them, and
have forgotten the pangs Of mortal agony.
So l suppose Ii was not altogether unnat-
Gral that Alice should defend the doctrine
OF Gods omnipotence at such a time. Per
haps ii is stranger that we TWO boys should
have had the hardihood to deny su.er-
Eatural interference at time when our
own lives depended on its reality.
Be that as il may, the fact is that We
debated the question with an earnestness
that-so far as l was concerned-drove out
all fear. With a natural eXaggeration of
| our own Importance We tac!tly accepted