The representative., 1900-12-13
INTO DEEP WATERS

/, with his work. The children had opened
tho hall door and they had admitted the
Nov I must be Of" she said.
He never knew what impulse moved him.
| but he followed her to the door, and there
| he kissed her again. When he went back
to his writing table there were tears in
his eyes.
| Halt an hour passed. 1t was filled in the
| study by the sound of the scratching OF q
| pen The vicar wrote that night a sermon
| that he never preached. The text was
| taken from the thirty first chapter of Pro-
| verbs and the twenty-ninth verse.
| He heard the children come In and he
| called to them.
Where is your sister, dear?" he asked
Of Mabey
'She sent us in because it was time for
us to go to bed, and she has stopped because
she wanted to see the sea, and so we're to
go to nurse.
"And OH the seas so rough" said Willie,
land there are big enormous waves as big
| ae-Oh, ever so big! And Mabey's hat
I, nearly blew away, and our coats are quite
wet"
GO aud take them of, my boy. Good
night, little man.. Good night zMabey.- Run.
I! along"
| Sibyl stood on the beach and watched the
| sea. Her clothes were twisted round her
! by the gale. and her hair had been blown
! loose and was slapping her in the face and
| Tapping like ribbons Every wave seemed
to dig into the shore as 1t broke with the
! crashing OF thousand guns and then rushed
| up the floating shingle. 1t tore the stones
back with a grinding sound on its receding.
! Spray stood in drops on Sibyfs face and
In the nap Of her rough coat. Foam lay
| like yellow snow in long line that was
| washed higher and higher.
! How the wind roared, and how the sea
| thundered! Sibyl breathed a prayer for all
who were at the mercy of the waters. What
| free and superb curve was that of the
| breaking wave! There must be for a mo-
ment hollow, she thought, under each as
the hollow under the falls of Niagara, where
you can stand unwet in the heart of the
/ cataract.
In the wild evening the glamor of the
! storm took possession of her. She was buf-
feted by the wind and wet by the spray till
| 1t seemed to be that the tempest awOke
| kindred spirit within her. She would like
| to dash into those angry waves and help
| IN the havoc of the night. How rapturous
| to be mermaid, to dive through those
| monstrous breakers, to ride upon the crests
OF them, to throw yourself backward, thence
with outstretched arms to turn and tumble
| and dance till you churned them to further
| foam!
She stood looking at the sea with a
| fascination that made her needless of all
| but her fancies. Then her heart stood still
black mountain was advancing toward
| her Had the whole heaped into one
| stupendOus wave?
| There the noise of the crushing of a
world.
In his study the vicar looked up from his
| sermon.
| What that" he said aloud. There
| was silence in the house, and then
| screaming. The women rushed from their
| quarters.
! THE waters coming up the garden
The maid who spoke was white to the
| lips. Mr.. North went to the door and
1t a n q
! den that had never been there before. 1t
was the rushing back of the water. 1t
! flowed down in a sheet to the basin of the
sea.
"A tidal wave" said the vicar. 'It will
| not occur again.
II thought it was the end of the world"
said the nurse. It's a mercy the children
were in. But where's the boys and Miss
Elsie?'
The vicar threw up his arms.
"Sibyl!" he said. ''Sibyl! Where is
Sibyl? My God. don't tell me she isn't
with you!'' The servants looked at each
other in blank alright. No one had seen
her. No one had heard her come in.
Cant you answer" said the vicar,
turning to them such frenzied look as not
one of them will forget. They shrank
back. The nurse began to sob.
Mr.. North ran down the garden, splash
ing through the water that had been left
in pools upon the grass The sea had fallen
back to it's accustomed place. There was
nothing on the beach but high up the line
of the yellow foam. The vicar ran hither
and thither on the shore. He seemed be-
reft of his senses. The women followed
him, keeping close together. He stopped
and faced them.
What shall l dO?" he said he!plessly
what shall I do?"
Where are the boys and Elsie?" said
the nurse
'Tether's Point They are safe-but
Sibyl, oh. dear God Sibyl. sibyl!
-I,o
wore no hat and his gray hair was blow
ing in the wind. His long coat tapped
around him. Some Of the parishioners
gathered on the shore. The servants ran
to them. Old Tremlim said no boat could
put out in such a sea-and if she could,
But Miss Sibyl," he said. 'It ca1t
be true. The Lord wouldn't let t.
The night was spent in search. Parties
were quickly organized and sent out in
both directions Rrom Tcther's Point
came the boys and Elsie.
1T washed up to within foot of us.
Did you all come out to see it,"
WAS Sibyl with you? Have you Seen
Sibyl?"
They had not. With white faces they
Joined in the search. The pitltss sea
fell back yard by yard and with the dawn
the wind dropped.
The vicar, a stricken man, raised his
lined face to heaven.
"Thy way is in the sea-" he said "thy
path in the great waters, and again.
Hitherto shalt thou come bur no further
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.
Is it true, O. Lord? Is it ture?''
1t was many days before there lay ore
morning at daybreak upon the beach that
which had cnce been Sibyl. 1t lay still
in the gray light and the ripples washed
t. and fro gently the hair that looked like
seaweed. Then the waters fell. They mad
done their worst and they gave back their
plaything to the earth.
The post brought little packet to the
vicar on his birthday. He opened it with
out interest. But 1t held Sibyls photo
graph.-Exchange.