The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-16


heard nan pant. ~ he ran. "sbs got
into boat higher up sborc To fish some
thing up that had fontod out of the csilar.
tho bOnt swung loose from its moorings,
and Tho currents carrying her down
stream. She'll 90 over tho falls. There's
no chance for her."
On tho bridge there were 40 or 30 people,
Oomc running distrnctedly hithcr and
thither, sthers beIplessly standing at tho
rail-, looking up the river. Dick pushed
bis way among the latter and looked too.
Not 100 yards away, borDe on the current,
Was nm upturned boat, with little figure
cIinging desperately TO the keel. Dick
could see her white, frightened faoe and
hear her frcnzied cries for help. There
were people on the river banks running To
Keep pace with the swiftly moving boat
and shouting useless directions to the poor
creature clingtng TO 1t. A woman behind
Dtok was struggling 70 get 70 the rail.
"Oh, dom 9, Mra SeyrnOur-don't let us
90 there. We can't do any good Come
away, do" nid voice that be Recognized
~ Elena 't-
= "But must, Miss Ellen. I have feel
iDg somehow that It's N.Y. She had
Z reached the rail and stood by Diok. For
- mcmept sbe sassd with blanchsd fsce
spd drawn, white lips, then In o voice
whose agony pierced to the very souls Of
those who beard IL she cried:
80 Aereiful Godl It's my Jennie, my girl
my girl!"
The girl on the boat heard the CRY and
answered IL with . shrek Of "Notheri
Z Notheri" fls
On came the boat, sometimes caught in
an eddy and whiYled about until the poor
GIRL, who clung to IL for dear life, grew
dizzy and well nigh lost her hold, then
swept away again, steadily, surely, down
to the rapidA And the people OH the
bridge and on the river banks waited dazed
and helpless. eL
"A rope-k we had q rope" nid Dick
hoarsely to the men near him. "There's
just chAnoe that she might be abb TO
cntoh IL a. sho went under the bridge, and
We could draw her up."
Poor garrul, she couldn't get old of
u with 'er numb 'ands, " replied one man.
DICK looked intently down into tho
black depths OF the water. He was think
! Ing that once, when he was boy and the
river low, he had jumped on the bridge
and swan TO the boom, dared to the feat
BY some reckless companions. Could he-
"A sudden crash--a sti1ed cry-an ex-
clamation Of horror from the crowd. Tho
boss had swept against the boom. IL
grated ON 1t for an instant, then tho keel
went down, and the boat righted and hOat-
cd on. For moment the girl disappeared
The next, they saw her clinging desperate
ly 20 the bOom, her drenched black hair
hanging over her wild face.
Dick had pulled Of his coat and shoes
By this time and was standing on the
bridge rail.
"Fetch rope, Bill" he said to the man
next him, "long enough to reach from
here to the boom. Run for your life and for
mine and for that poor creatury's q yonder."
Then his wiry little body shot ont into
space. A woman on tho bridge called his
namc; after that there was breathlees si-
lence. ~ Dick roSc 70 tho surface, few
yards from where the girl clung, . wild
shout rang out from the crowd.
Would the current bear him down or
could he stem itS For awhile the chances
seemed equal, then he began very slowly
to gain upon II. But the girls hold was
evidently relaxing, and she was being
drawn away from the boom. He saw this
and strained every nerve in his sinewy
body In last mighty effort. A little near
er and little nearer, until, painting and
exhausted, he grasped the boom and, fling
Ing his arm about the girl, drow her to-
ward 1t. And there they hung, the current
tugging and tearing at their two bodies
If that rope doesn't come soon, it will
be precious little use" thought Dick, des-
perately Tightening his hold on the now
unconscious girl.
He glanced at the bridge and the eager,
frightened faces looking down ut him.
One face he saw, above all others. 1t was
Ellen Adair's. Her anxious, glowing eyes
were fixed upon his own.
"Dick, doar.Dick, brave Dick" she said
In low voice, "hold ON a moment more;
the rope Is here'
And Dick gazed Mt her as in dream, a
half smile on his lips, and tried to grasp
the boom more firmly with his numbing
fingers.
Exactly how he caught and tied the
rope under the girls shoulders he never
knew, but he saw her drawn safely up on
the bridge with n sigh of intense relief
1t seemed an age before the rope was in
his hands again, but he was conscious Of
slipping the loop around his body, Of cling
ing to It with viselike grasp, of being
hauled through the water for little space,
OF being lifted into the air, of wild shout,
OF woman's face bending over him and
then--a blank.
Next time Diok took Ellen home from
choir rehearsal, which happened the fol-
lowing evening. he caught the hand she
extended to him at her own gate, and held
1t as II he did not mean to lot 1t go.
"And you really cared, Ellen" said he.
"and would have grieved little II had
gone over the fallsS' And though there
was no moon 1t was quite light enough
for Ellen to SEQ that his eyes were brim
full Of love and longing.
"Yes, dear Dick, really cared. think
should have died II you had been
drowned" And, emboldened BY her look
and tone, Dick took her In his arms and
kissed /her. - Frances A. Schneider In
Denver Republican.