The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1899-05-18
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! OUT Of TIE M|STS.

one had known that she would. She
was heartless coquette, and his adora-
ton had been only one of her summer
amusements, seaside Irritation. But
for him this passion of love had been an
awakening into life. and her refusal to
be his wife was deathblow to every
thing except mere physical existence.
It seemed to him that no rift of sun
light would ever again penetrate the
fog land of misery in which his days
must be spent. She was always in his
thoughts, and as he swan with long,
strong strokes out past the floats, past
the RATS, past the outermost buoy, he
was living over again for the hundredth
time his short acquaintance with her.
A light breeze from the ocean occa-
sionally rounded the point and ruff1ed
the waters of the bay, but he turned
sullen cheek to the laughing waves.
Out and out he swan until something
Of the infinite rest and peace of the sea
and sky seized upon him and claimed
him for their own. "
He crossed his hands behind his head
and, stretching himself out, foated idly
on the water.
Then the ever present but evanescent
questions assumed definite shape, how
ering before his eyes on the crests of
the whitecapped waves, echoing. in his
ears in the fall and splash of the sea.
Why struggle, why suffer, why endure Z
This soft, encircling sea offered him re-
lease from all. Why not accept it? A
cessation Of all activity, and then slowly
the sea would bring humiliation. 1t
was already soothing him to sleep in its
swaying, cradling arms, and from that
sleep there need be no awakening.
Out from the ocean an Opaque white
wall rose up to the blue sky. In toward
the land it swept, leaving in it's wake
sea Of mist as impenetrable to the eye
as the blue sky above it or the gray
green water below it. In shutting out
the sunlight and the shore it shut in the
man alone with the sea.
The waves crooned their lullaby in
his ears A delicious sense Ct relaxation
and self surrender crept over him. His
eyes closed. Under him, supporting
him, was the breast of the sea; over
him, covering him, the soft gray fog.
He no longer knew or cared or thought
where he was. The end had come; this
was peace and oblivion.
a horse, wailing cry above his head
and the dull flap of wings reached his
ears. Looking up, he saw great white
gull circling near him, watching him
with greedy black eyes no bigger than
pin points, but flaming and filling the
universe. They pierced him through
and through, galvanizing him into in
slant life, flashing through all his veins.
Every muscle, every sinew became rigid
and tense with life. He tried to brighten
the hungry bird by shouting; but, as in
a nightmare, no sound came from his
lips. In the midst of water his throat
was parched and dry. He flung his arms
up violently and the white wings swept
away. Blindly, with no idea of direc-
tion, he darted through the water.
The fog curtain opened in front of
him and closed behind. On and on he
rushed in headlong flight and deadly
terror, all the monsters of the deep in
close pursuit, with death, the most
frightsome of them all, at their head.
A long, low roar, as of breakers on
beach, came to him from behind him in
the direction from which he fled. He
turned and retraced his way. The sea,
so friendly and caressing a short time
before, now harassed him on all sides.
The waves broke over his head, stran-
Cling him and buffeting now this way,
now that. The wind, blowing straight
in his face, warned him that he was
making for the open sea, and once more
he turned.
With despair he put forth energy; at
times he shrieked loud cry for help;
then, realizing that he needed all his
strength, he pressed his lips together to
keep back the sound.
A school of tiny fish scurried past
him, darting away from the touch of
his bare arms and legs. He almost
sprang from the water in his mad ter
ror of them. Before him sturgeon
leaped high in the air, and he covered
down under the waves. Enemies encom-
passed him on all sides, and, last of all
and most terrifying, cramps seized him,
now in the leg, now in the arms and
back again in his leg. An icy cold crept
slowly over him. Tears streamed from
his eyes, and at last he prayed aloud for
life, for strength, for help to reach the
shore. ...
A dull roar filled his ears but he did
not recognize it. His strength was ebb-
ing fast; one arm was powerless; he
could feel the icy hand of death closing
about his heart. He struck something
hard with his foot and, with shrek of
terror, flung himself back on the water.
The oncoming breaker picked him up
and tossed him high on the beach. With
one last effort he dragged himself to
the dry sand and, with great heaving
sob, thanked God for life.
The fog swept out to the sea once
more, and the sun poured its blessings
on the half swooning man. At last he
rose up as from the edge of the grave,
strong to meet and defeat the foes of
life, strong to greet and welcome its
joys. -Kathryn Jarboe in Criterion.
Not a Happy Family.