Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-12-17

y
fore he retained me-"
Our craft was nearing the mouth of
the tidal stream, and few more Wig
orous strokes shot it out upon the
smooth waters of the bay. hardly rip
pied by the gentle breeze. To the
north were two sioops crawling along
ON their way to the village. To the
south and east curved the long tongue
of land which formed the boundary of
the bay on two sides and sheltered it
from the ocean swell. Not more than
half mile from where we were, a cat
boat lay at anchor, with solitary fig
ure lolling over her side. The whole
scene was full of the restfulness of the
summer afternoon, and the spell of it
stole upon US, as if we left behind with
the land its anxieties, sorrows and
fears. For a time the boat drifted on.
propelled more by a current of the
bay than by the occasional strokes of
the oar. The girl was half reclining.
trailing one of her hands in the water
and with the other toying with the
handle of her parasol, the shaft of
which rested on her shoulder. We
were both day-dreaming, when a hail
came to rouse us from our reyerieS.
Looking up, found that we were close
to the anchored craft. and that John
son, its occupant, had given us warning
none too soon. In moment we were
alongside the catboat, and his hand had
caught the gunwale of the skiff.
'Halloo, Johnson!" said I, what
Business or fun?''
L.
pointing to hand-line hanging over
the side. Nothing of a bigness to be
caught here. How does the lady like
the boat?"
every much indeed. !" said Miss Gray.
you'll find she works easy, ma'am.' %
said he.
''We discovered lot of dried mud on
the thwarts,' said I. ''You can see some
of it yet
''The boat was as clean as a whistle
yesterday. Somebody must have been
out in her tween then and now"
'I believe she was in use this morn
iRg," I admitted.
well, whoever it was,'' johnson de-
clared, after a survey of the skiff, "he
must have landed somewhere on the
flats, where there was mud, and
tracked it in when he came aboard
ag'in. Here's another of his marks -
And he sent a long arm into the bow
Of our little vessel and picked up the
stump of a cigarette from the plank
ing. AS he held it out for inspection
the paper unrolled, showing the dark
grains of the tobacco.
''Tve seen that sorter cigarette be-
fore, Doc, and I guess you have, too, but
not round these parts" he said. "Da-
goes fancy EN-"
"And you don't, Ell? Well, m OF
your way of thinking, but the gentle
man who was out in the boat this morn
ing wasn't. Come up to the house to-
morrow, will you, and give Miss Gray u
sailing lesson?"
cay, ay, SIR said johnson. ''Thc
boats very clever under sail. I'll be
glad to show her any little p'ints she
needs to pick up"
"Your colonel can't be called very
tidy mariner, no matter what his other
virtues may be- said I, as we rccntered
the inlet.
''Why do you call him my colOnel?"
the girl asked, and it seemed to ne that
I detected slight increase in her color.
''He is a friend of my aunt's, hardly of
mine, though I've always found him
very agreeable"
''And attentive?'' I hazarded under
the spur of revived jealousy.
Scarcely that she said, quietly,
though he was always most kind to
me-
The spur went deeper.
ooh, of course" said I, rashly: "and
he must have had such delightful OPP
portunities.''
"He is a charming man." she an
swered, with u smile which filed me
with misery. I dare say she read me
easily, and was quite prepared to pro-
long the teasing had the chance been
given her. But, looking over my shout
der, my glance fell upon Lamar's
somber abode. The sight of it made
me silent, and, sullenly settling down to
the oars, I sent the light craft swift
ly on toward its mooring-place.
XVIII
It is possible that men exist who, in