The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1899-07-13
OUT OF THE MIS1S.


She had refused to marry him. Every
one had known that she would. She
was heartless coquette, and his adora-
ton had been only ons Of her summer
amusements. seaside firtation 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 70 him that no rift Of sum
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 rufiled
the watersof the bay. but be 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. i -.
He crossed his hands behind, his head
and, stretching himself out, foated idly .
on the water. .,,-.----,---,-
Then the ever present bat evanescent
questions assumed a definite shape, how
ering before.his eyes Oh the crests Of
the whitecapped wa*es, echoing In his
ears in the fall and splash of the sea-
Why struggle, why suffer, why endures
This soft. encircing sea offered him re-
lease from all. Why not accept it, A
cessation of all activity. and then slowly
the sea would bring annihilation.-H
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 its 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
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 OF 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
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 fight 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 q
beach. came to him from behind him in
| the direction from which he fed. He
turned and retraced his way. The sea.
so friendly and caressing 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
bis bare arms and legs He almost
sprang from the water in his mad ter
TOR Of them. Before him sturgeon
,eaped 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 filed 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.
strcng to meet and defeat the foes Of
| life. strong to greet and welcome its
iovs * afhrvp Iarho<, in Criterfnn