The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-24

lore A saw tne ngnt, tnere was a man |
who bad a salmon weir almost direct
~ IN front of his house. A weir. as |
everyone knows, is a fence, made of |
long poles bearing a net, that extends |
far out into the water and terminates
in an inclosure where fish are en- |
shared.
The man of whom / am speaking |
went out one morning to mend his |
weir: and he was at work at the far
end of 1t when a peculiarly frightful
thing happened. He had tied his boat
to pole, and was climbing along the
side of the salmon trap when he lost
his hold and fell. His feet were bare,
and one of them struck upon broken
pole under the water. The wood was
sharp as a speer, and it was shaped
like barbed hook. 1t pierced his
foot, and the barb held him fast.
The tide must have been about breast
high upon him as he clung to the weir.
impaled as / have described. What
cries he sent toward his own home,
standing before his eyes upon the sun
ny slope, imagine If you can. No NOR
tai heard them. And the tide rose
steadily, no faster and no slower than
on other days, and drowned him.
That story was the horror of my
boyhood. 1t came to me with the
vividness of picture, on that ledge at
night, with the same death before me
as he had faced. Yet l was not so de-
solate as he had been for there were
those who could hear my voice though
they could not help me.
We ley along the rock and discussed
one slender chance of rescue-Alice
might be missed, and a searching party
might be sent out. On the other hand,
she told us that her absence would
probably not be noticed till morning,
as she had gone to her room with the
declared intention of remaing there
A single consideration was enough to
destroy our hope of assistance on her
account. Her absence would have been
discovered much earlier in the even
ing, If at all, and the searching party
would be already embarked upon the
bay carrying so many and so bright
lights that we could not fail to see
them. Yet not a single bleam could
we perceive. Darkness was al around
us like wall. We could not even make
out the lighthouse on the lower end of
Ogden's Island, though on an ordinary
night it should have been plainly Wis
| ible.
The same argument proved to us that
| Steve had not succeeded in reaching
the island. The squall must have blown
! him off shore. If he had crossed the
| bay and landed on the head ot the
| cape, it would be morning before he
could get searching party under way.
| The situation was utterly hopeless,
and we did not pretend to regard ii in
any other light.
,t,lx iV1Cf hot if,Nn
was" said Shirley, 'it would be some
consolation. But my watch has
stopped. and so has Miss Woodward's." :"
II have a watch" said I. IT'S a lit
tie gold one belonging to my mother.
She let me take it. You know mine is
being repaired. The watch is going,
but 1 can't see the face of it. Can we
tell the time by feeling of the hands?"
'I've got matches" said Harry.
They're in a metal case; they're dry.
Let's all get together and shut off the
wind while 1 light one. Hold your
watch, Bert"
The first match was instantly extin-
guished; the second broke In Harry S
nervous fingers; the third fiared up,
and by it's light saw the hands upon
the dial. They were almost together
at eleven. Harry saw the watch as
well as 1 did, and he groaned es if he
had been stabbed.
Five minutes of eleven" he cried
"and the tide turned at eight. It's only
half flood. 1 give up. Before this
couldn't quite believe that we were
! lost. 1t seemed to me that there must
be some mistake. But there is not get
ting out of it row.
zone chance only remains, so far as
can see." said Frank, 'and if that's
to be tried, I'm glad it's earlier thar
we thought"
We asked him what he meant, and he
told us his plan, which was to swim tC
Compass Island, the nearest land where
anybody lived, and return for us in &
boat.
Compass Island is over a mile from
here" said Harry. You can no more
swim there in this sea than you car
fly"
"I shall have the wind and the sea
with me-" replied Frank. "It is wortl
. trying"
But it was not. The feat was entire
, ly impossible. Frank was bigger anC
stronger and of greater endurance
than most men, but he was only fai
{ swimmer Under the most Favorable
conditions l don't believe he coulC
have swan a mile. Chilled as he wa
by long exposure, and exhausted b,
= previous efforts. he would do well |
: he should swim a hundred yards. II
l would probably drown within the rang
2 of our voices.
Yet he could not be prevented iron
making the attempt. Harry and / sal
l.. - Ii.
, in such words as l felt / could hav
l given my life for, if 1 had at tina
time a life that was not as good as los
= already. She could not stay him,
I'm responsible for this" said HI
:, Listen, Alice; when missed your boa
the first time 1 did it on purpose.
b. wanted to fix it with Steve so that
. could row you ashore in your boat. w
: gambled for the privilege and he wor
Then, when you insisted on staying /
T my boat, / made him pull away
yours, though there was no need fC
it. If had run alongside of you tn
first time. there would have been n
=, collision. If l hadn't sent Steve ava
= because was jealous of him,we shoul
. have had the rowboat with us, and eve
: if the squall had upset us we coul
= have got ashore. So it's all my faul
. and / don't deserve to come out of
= alive. Perhaps after am out of th
q way, something will happen to say
A you, who are not to blame"
y She told him in effect that he wa
y desperately explating a wholly pardon
a able offense; and then she clung I
him, but he disengaged himself frol
7 her hands. In a moment he had fun
off coat and shoes, and was ready