Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-03-18

blond boys arm.
This only angered him, and, setting
his teeth, he severed the rope and let
the great boat swing loose and drift as
it liked
The giggles burst into laughter,
laughter loud and furious, as the old
mans head bobbed up and down under
the action of the swiftly moving boat,
and his hands, from force of habit,
held stoutly to the oars.
II hear the music again, but it seems
good way off" said the eldest of the
girls suddenly. She half arose, and,
looking in the direction in which the
boat was drifting, cried: "And the
Golden Gate is close byl And the great
oceanl Look Here is the open ocean
Wake up, JONAH Wake up, Jonahr
Blanched faces and silence No one
moved or spoke. But down from over
the side of the boat little white ciga-
rette slid, and falling into the water
with scarcely audible "sizz" was soon
left behind and lost sight of. The old
sailor opened his eyes slowly as his
name was called. Slowly he looked
from one terrified face to the other, and
slowly but certainly took in the situa-
ton. He did not say one word or look
right or left He only held tightly to
his oars and kept in the midst of the
now roaring current, straight for the
open sea.
Let me explain how the Golden Gate,
through which so many tons of gold
have passed, is at certain times swift
as the swiftest river, and at such times
you cannot land at all. You must pass
right ON and out as if shot from gun.
And this is the reason: A great river
flows into this bay and floods it full as
the tide sets in, so that when the tide
sets out it goes with fearful force and
swiftness through the narrow, rock
bound Golden Gate.
Indeed so swift and swirling are the
waters here at such times that the
Spanish settlers have long held that the
traditional maelstrom off Norway has
a counterpart at the Golden Gate. FIRE.
mont, who named this the Golden Gate
two years before gold was discovered in
California, tells us of some young Off
GERS of our navy who persisted here with
q plank to tell of their fate, and q
their names for years and years were
carried forward. They were even pro.
NOTED in their order. But they were
never heard from any more.
"Why don't you land? Why don't
you land?" gasped the blond boy al
last as the racing and eddying waters
of the Golden Gate began to lap anG
leap into the boat.
shut up, or I'll land you over the
hullp' was all that old Jonah said be,
| tween his set teeth.
Up and down, down and up and
away. Oh, but that old boat was saucy
She seemed to smell the rafting salty
waters without the Gate. The snap and
the sparkle and the clash and the coloI
of the awful deep delighted her. An6
even old Jonah was wide awake now,
wide awake as he had not been since he
had retired from the sea and eked out
stint as landsman. There was CLINT
in his old eyes, CLEAN of gladness,
even with all this misery and helpless.
ness at his feet in the boat, for the
young folks were nearly all sick now
fearfully sick.
The handsome blond boy had wilted,
faded as fades sunflower when it il
cut down. That last remark from old
Jonah had cut him up terribly. His
head leaned ont over the boat The lit.
tie girl in black at his side held on to
him as if she were afraid he would fall
out, and he did not resent her kind.
ness this time, but seemed TO rather
like it. She drew him back closer to
her, after he had disposed of his vanity
and his bile together, and his comedy
head gradually settled over on to hel
little black and bony shoulder.
Poor, dear young man! It's tbs
cigarettes. Help hold his poor head,
please. This is what the little girl in
black whispered back over her shoulder
to another quiet little girl who sat close
by. And so the two together held the
wilted blond head between them.
Firm as the rocks that lock the wallI
of the Golden Gate was old Jonah all
this time. The sun was setting low anc
fast. Full and large and luminous as
world of flame lay the sun on sea Of
blood for second only, and then il
was night on the surging, heaving bosom
of the sea of seas.
Bear in mind that it was thousand!
of miles from the spot where Balboa
and Cortes first saw this great ocean
and named it "the Pacific" but it il
not pacific here. 1t is roaring lion. Il
is terrible ocean for an open boat
from here even to Alaska.
The stars came as the sun went out
as often happens in this life of change
and events, and it was not dark, but il
was cold-oh, SO coldl You see, the
winds blow down from Alaska with
great force all the season here, and Out
in the open ocean here you should bt
clad in furs. Indeed, often see ladies
wearing sealskin cloaks in San Fran
Disco all through July and August.
The girls that lay crouched in the
boat were but thinly clad. They wert
wet and crying with pain from the cold
The boys were no better. In fact, they
shivered harder and made good deal
more complaint than the girls. The big
blond one, however, had managed t
get in between the two quiet little girls
before spoken of and was comparatively
dry and comfortable, but the two little
girls were so wet and were shivering sc
badly that old Jonah began to fear fol-
their lives. More than once he lifted
his head and glanced sharply back over
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