Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1900-03-15

Barara had Fancy, and lndulgec
herself in it.
1T will bear up anyone whose heart
is light she smiled. 'But, mind you,
it must have no care at all. It must be
as light as ether
Would it bear you up:" he asked.
She shook her head mournfully, and
he said in voice that moved her: "And
l should sink like stone" It seemed
impossible for them to part while that
witch light cleaned upon their en-
chanted wood, and when the shadows
grew gray they became a part of them
like shadows they faded from each
others sight.
That night when Barbara went about
her duties and afterward when she lay
in her bed she found herself happy with
the elate and triumphant happiness of
which she had dreamed. George CaN-
ton, her promised lover, seemed part
of the worka day world. Her thought
turned away from him in spite of her
efforts to be loyal.
She felt sure she would meet the
stranger again in the woods, and she
! did, many times. He was a writer by
vocation. He even confessed to being
a poet. He was not well, he said. The
city had worn on him. So he came
home for a long rest there among the
pines His name was Cecil Under
wood.
Barbara found it impossible to re-
sist the charm of his personality. He
seemed to make the whole world over
for her. In vain she struggled to re-
member the truth, and patience and
strength of her betrothed. He was too
well known to her to be seen through
a glamour. With austere serenity he
insisted upon an early marriage day.
He refused. apparently, to feel any
jealousy at the constant companion
ship of his sweetheart and Cecil I'm
derwood! And Barbara was angry at
him for this, too.
He has no sensibility," she said to
herself.
One wild day when the wind cried
through the tree tops and the waters
dashed along as if in stress of pain,
Cecil Underwood came to her in an i'm
perative mood.
You must come walking with me,
he said. 1.-The day expresses me. l
have to speak of the torment of my
heart and 1 will keep still no longer
even at your bidding"
Barbara went out with him. They
walked under the pines whose roar
filled the world with their lamentings.
They were silent, conscious of the
storm within their souls, says the Chi
cago Tribune.
Let us take boat" said Barbara,
when they reached the river.
mo. no." he protested but she
seemed not to hear him and united her
skiff and leaped into it.
Come" she said. He hesitated, but
followed. AS the little boat felt the
lift of the waves the pain in her heart
seemed to tighten, and she let the cur
| rent carry her along unconscious OF
the passage of time. Suddenly Cecil
cried out:
''The rapids. Barbara! The rapids.
| See where you have taken us!" She
glanced behind her. 1t was true that
| the tossing white name of the water
horses was not more than half mile
| away and the boat was Quivering in
the pull of their great power. Barbara
| smiled little-it would not matter
| to her so much. she reflected, if her
great problem was to be solved that
| way. But still. it was cowardly to die
She set her fine young strength to /;
resistance, rowing up stream and in.
| clining the boat toward the southern
| shore. So absorbed was she in the task
that she did not notice the man with
her until she heard him crying with
wild opportunities to his Maker:
'Row, Barbara, row! Row grill
Then, looking at him, she saw his face
was corpse-white and quivering with
fear, and the next moment he sank
an inert heap, at the bottom of the
boat.
Get up" she commanded, "and take
the tiller! Get up Instantly" He
obeyed dimly, shaking and sick with
| terror.
Barbara bent to her heavy task and
| made. by means of brave efforts, lit.
tie Roadway. But the wild horses
plunged on and dragged her at their
heels. She was almost on the verge OF
yielding to their relentless strength
when boat shot out from the bank
1t came toward the quaking slzif with
magnificent momentum. Barbara rec
ognized the occupant at once. It was
| George Caxton. A hideous humiliation
filled her soul. She was almost tempted
to yield to that tugging of the wild
horses. She looked at the half-faint.
ing, praying creature beside her and
then at the approaching man. And a
moment of Gethsemane came to her
Then, white and courageous, she re-
newed her efforts. A moment later a
line was thrown to her. She made it
secure. Then she in her boat and
George CaNton in his began a struggle
against the powers of the river, in
which they soon conquered.
George helped the trembling Cecil
to shore, but Barbara leaped lightly
to land and stood there smiling