Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-11-26
advanced once more. stopped. hssisa,sd.

advanced once more. stopped, hesitassd,
and retreated again.
Too deep to walk through. commented
Bobby. What comes now?.'
he IS taking of his coat He is going to
SWIM on. no. no. surely noti The brown
snoeIt-remember the magars! Oh. Bobby.
snout-snout Tor all you are worth. and
tell himr'
Bobby beloved, and the figure on thu
bank appeared TO listen.
All rightr' Cotter waved his hand ana
nodded II know"
The sun glittered on a squirt Of water.
and his head alone remained visible. forg-
ing steadily towards the boat
How could he?" walled Mignon. Sha
watched the head with anxious eyes and
she breathed loud and fast, locking and un-
locking her hands. He knows he must
know the danger And it's all my fault
Bobby was dumb with tumuluuous SYM
pathy. He could only follow her eyes and
wait through what seemed like a lifetime
Of apprehension, too.
They were still staring ohlivious to tha
dazzle of the water and their own bodily
Affections, when a ripple stirred the sur
face OF the river some thirty feet from thu
boat. Cotter, at a slightly shorter distance
on the lanoward side, was swimming eau
uously down a clear passage through the
PUSHES. The ripple broadened, and some
thing brown and stumpy rose and sank
again
The suggestion. IN the incident was too
much for Mignon. She remained standing
for few seconds, and then she fiung her
self upon the sand. burying her face end
covering her ears as Tito shut out the
world beyond.
Bobby did not speak or look at her. He
was feeling very sick, and he gulped spas
medically as he watched the other mans
head. Ii drew steadily nearer to them.
The brown snout did not reappear. An
other half minute Of suspense, and Cotters
arm rose from the water and clutched thu
boat He swung leg over tanrail, hoisted
himself up, and waved his hand to show
he was in safety. Then he set to work
brdskly TO unship the mast and prepare for
his next move.
He's safe" said Bobby. THANK Godl
Mignon, do you hear? He's in the boat at
last"
The reaction was great and his face
shone with his relief, and with apprecia-
ton of the daring act that he had Just
witnessed He forgot the afternoons In
terlude and turned with beaming oounte-
nance to shake hands, dance, shout-any-
thing to express his exultadon.
But the ways of women are proverbially
strange MignopS face, which was turned
to the busy Cotter, showed no correspond
ing rapture; ON the contrary. It was very
white, and her lips were pouting and
trembling. She was sitting UP, twisting
her handkerchief into BAH. her eyes far
from the sandbank, and on anything rash-
er than Bobby. She burst into a torrent Of
sobs and incoherencias.
Was it the discipline Of the ordeal he had
Numbered through that made Bobby un-
derstand? Was it the sympathy of exper-
fence that held him back from inopportuns
speech? He could not have told but he
averted his gaze from tho penitent. and
stole to the other end of the island, shut
ting his ears resolutely to the few words
that were ineligible ana to the meaning
that they were ready to convey.
Cotter found him there half an hour la
ter, and, In response to his frantic slgnRla
steered to HIM and landed at his feet. He
had, presumably, the Walls or wrath ali I'M
bottled; but something In Bobbys face
and in the attitude Of the doIefth figure
across the sandspit made him step ashore
without explosion.
rs she III? were his first words.
mo" said Bobby" She feels bad. that's
all. Oh. Cotter. old man, I've been a
beast. and you're no end OF an awful brieki
Well, anyway. I'm done, and you've got
your reward. Go across. for goodness
sake, and put things right"
'But-but" said Cotter. He gave ner-
vous look at the girls attitude. that sx-
pressed neither knowledge OF his arrival
nor his existence. What am 10 dor"
Bobby was inspired.
kiss her" he said. and turned his back.
philadelphia Times.