The courier., 1898-01-01

the little Welsh village Of Penmaenmau
ruefully gazing up at the hills gorEeou
in the sunlight With tho gold Of th
gorse and the pale lavender Of th
heather. 1t was the end Of July al
though tho evening had passed near th
seseDth hour, the sun etill shown brish
IN the heavens. "Girls," said on
hostess, II cannot climb tonight afte
twisting my ankle on that stone. suppos
instead that We row to Punins islsnd.
Out in the sea. seven miles from Ii.
Welsh coast stood Z lonely rock. N,
vegetation grew on this fortress .lik,
structure, and owing to the difficulty ol
scaling its precipitous cliffs, the foot ol
man seldom had touched il. Only the
puffins clutchei around and above il, 10
secure and undisturbed possession, and
deferred BY the many miles Of dangeroua
aud treacherous sea. few rowsrs came
very near it.
We were party Of four women, three
unmarried and one young mother who
had left three children at her home, oil
stopping at villa back on the moun-
tain side. nestled between the village by
the water and the heathery vitas beyond.
Our hostess. bright girl about thirty
had lost both her parents some years
before. and was now summering there
and entertaining her English friends
and relatives and intellectually, my
American self. That day the little
house party had been reduced t, SaIlie.
Mrs. Steele, Cousin Nora and ms. The
sun sank nearer the long stretches of
water, which slowly ebbed from our feet
with gentle placid motion that inspired
faith in its harmlessnese: To that calm
ebbing tide thoughts Of home were o.,
trusted, Dear tide hold them fast, watt
them sSfe through OCEANS immeasurable
Space till they reach my own shore"
1t was just seven when the old boat
man pushed forth our little craft from
the bssch. and the two OF us who could
not row raised parasols to keep of the
hot glsre Of the sun. As tho orb slowly
spproached tbs Eo.izon tho sunset bs
came . faint purple reflected in tho
water in gorgeous buea To the right
tho curving line Of the ehore projected
ia the Great Orme's Head With the
cleaning whits Of the beach. OF Llau.
dunno; to the left could be seen the
island of AngIssey; but We turned not
aside, rothing ahead but that lonely
rock as we ''sailed into the purple sun.
sst." And how small ono feels in
little boat 'alone on a wide wide sea-"
Though steering towards home, thous.
ends OF miles seemed added to its dis
tance. ut ~as below on this coast
said Nora. that passsd q night in a
gale, when our yacht was overtaken BY
sudden storm, and We gave ourselves
up Tor lost" Ny thoughts of homo
'ook prayerful cast. why not turn
back nov, l suggested. But NO."
'aid Sallie. Il have always intended to
'ow out to Putin and now / ehall DO it,
rso tired girls rested on their oars
While our boat driftsd near the base Of
he island. and the birds circled above.
{ was nine o'clock with the tice against
II, the sun just sinking, and seven long
niles from human being. Just as the
al OF fire glidsd into the water, 4 ship
'ound for America passei in rapid
ransit acroas its face and eesmed for an !
nstant Trimmed 10 the golden ball. Then {
= turned towards the coast, too dis. I
mt 70 b visible, and faced the shadowy.
Ioshons hills. cleaning With color and
be misainets Of the twilight. Steadilv