The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-11-04
HOW HERBERT GOT 70 EUROPE

HOW HERBERT GOT 70 EUROPE
whats the matter, Herbert: Any
thing wrong at home?"
The boy astride the trunk looked up
from his letter, and answered calmly, al
though his pale face seemed to belle his
words:
"Nothing very serious-only a little
family matter"
"Humph! Then suppose that means
you'd like to be alone for little time to
consider it. Well, I'll 90 and hunt up
Hamblin and take walk"
Herbert did not object, but replied IN an
absent-minded way:
''I'll see you tonight, won't IT,
ooh, yes! I'll drop in and have talk
about our trip. The time is getting pretty
near when We'll begin to get ready in
earnest. 1t will be jolly time, won't
it?''
Eyes, assentA Herbert, but he WINGED
as he spoke.
When Henry Allen had disappeared
NoNh lAS LUZ SACA CAIu Ul lAc COl1AuUl x1C1-
bert closed the door of his room and once
more read the letter which had been the
subject of comment.
He was disappointed-sorely disappolnt-
ed. He read between the lines what his
mother did not state in so many words.
His father had met with some business
reverses which would necessitate ccono-
MIXING the coming summer and the vaea-
ton abroad. which he and three Of his
most intimate college friends had ar
ranged, would have to be abandoned.
1t was not an expensive trip they had
planned, but it was to be full of life, ad-
venture and novel experience. They were
to leave i'll June for Europe, and tour
through the most interesting parts of the
continent on their wheels, returning in
time to reach home few weeks before
the fall term commenced.
The itinerary had all been made out,
and the cost calculated down to a penny.
There seemed to- be little else to do ex-
cept to wait for the eventful day when
they would say goodby and start upon
their journey.
like. a thunderbolt out of a clear sum
mer's sky. Herbert knew that his father
would provide the money for the promised
trip, even if he had to borrow it, if he did
not voluntarily withdraw from the agree
ment.
The boy walked up and down his room
for several minutes, the bitterness Of his
disappointment overpowering him tempo
rarily, and once he muttered aloud:
so disappointed!'
Then he thought of his father, whose
disappointment, he knew. would be as
keen as his, and without waiting for Il
further change in his mind, he sat down
and answered the letter.
Just how he worded it is immaterial to
say that Herbert, instead of planning fur
Their to 90 to Europe, contented himself
with making arrangements to pass Il
pleasant summer in the country with his
father and mother.
Mr.. Boyd owned cottage at Far
Rockaway Beach, and thither Herbert
went late in May to enjoy the wheeling
college chums prepared for their Euro
Dean trip.
The day before their departure Herbert
received word from them begging him to
come to New York and see them off on
the steamer. The letter opened afresh
the old wound, and his disappointment
pressed heavily upon his mind. All that
took little interest in his boating and
wheeling
After dinner he reused himself and
said, in a voice that attempted to be
"I'll take long sail in Skip and forget
all about it,"
Skip was a twenty-foot catboat that
and he made many eventful trips in her,
exploring the grassy bays and inlets for
ten miles in either direction. He felt per-
fectly safe in the boat, and his father
and mother experienced little uneasiness
when he was off on the water alone or
with other boys.
On this afternoon Herbert was in a
So he headed his small craft for the
Rockaway inlet. The tide and wind were
with him, and he bowled along at such
lively pace that he soon recovered his GUS
tomary cheerful frame of mind.
He passed through the inlet, rounded
the point of beach jutting out into the
ocean and sailed far out upon the CLASSY
sea. The ocean was calm and the bill
lows rolled in such smooth undulations
that rocked him like a. cradle. So en-
trancing was the quiet scene that Skip
was long distance from the shore before
Herbert realized the danger he was in
viting.
"Gracious! | didn't realize how far 1
was sailing" the boy exclaimed suddenly.
to one side, he brought Skip up into the
wind and started to return. He found
that the wind was dead against him and
that he would have to beat his way back
over ten-mile course.
Meanwhile the afternoon was waning,
and the sun, like a great blazing caldron
of fire, was furnishing the western hori-
ION. The wind, as it very commonly
does, died down at flood tide, and in half
an hour Herbert found himself becalmed
ON the ocean.
He drifted about aimlessly for time.
Then the boy tried to make progress by
carried in the boat, but this was hard
work and it yielded such poor results that
he soon abandoned it.
"Maybe favorable wind will spring
up later" he said. hopefully. :.
+. But the wind did not show an inclina-
ton to help him. Darkness settled over
the boat, and the twinkling lights on the
Jersey and Long island shores appeared
one by one. Herbert felt encouraged as
he saw that he drifted sfloreward instead
Of seaward. The tide was now in his
favor. .r- ~. -
Trusting that everything would come
ceeded to hunt in the lockers for some-
thing to eat. He always kept Skip pro-
visioned for an emergency, and he soon
uncovered some dry, stale crackers, q
quantity Of canned goods and d little
warm water. OF this feast he ate heart
ily and then felt better. ,.%
"I'll keep q good watch ahead" he said.
comfortably seating himself in the stern.
But he was not pfactited watchttap,
apd in few n0me1ts bis eyes drO0bed,
closed and be was fast asleep. $50