Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-02-27
10, too, had seen It, and instructive

b. ne struck out in its direction. oeea.
s1onaly as we rose on the crest Of q
wnys could see It burning brightly in
spite OF he-wuter that dashed about It
ana all over It. But It was terrible
work attempting to swim in such 50,
snd. realising this. quickly divsstsd
mysslF Ct everything but pair Of
trousers. Eorsseeing what was to
some. I prepared for it to the best Ct
my ability.
NY companion SWAN on, but more
fssbiy every stroke. and presently 1
had to support her, or. rather, lent
hen aid, for she still went through the
mechanical action of keeping herself
adoat. Feeling her grow heavier every
minute. redoubled my efforts, very
Wildly, fear. for the agony Of the sit
uation was holding me with a grip Of
terrcr. Realising the futtlity Of such 4
waste Of energy and quickly sraspins
the fact that my one policy was to re-
main afoat soon abandoned my ex-
haustivs Efforts and. with slower
movement, struggled on, on. But the
hAre danced before me like will.o'.
ths-wisp. and ever as thought drew
nearer the thing. curling on the crest
Of q wave. seemed to my eyes, half
blinded a. they were By the spray, a.
faf on ~ ever.
! felt my strength going. Ny heart
beat ominously. breathed with the
utmost difficulty. The girl, though I
ssuld not see, though dared not look,
apDsared to be unconscious. / felt one
Of her hands. 1t trailed In the water
IKEA dead thing. How fought, how
I struggled to keep myself afoat! I
seemed to hear my brain throb. throb,
q throbs the propeller of great
steamship. Ny forehead was bursting
with apprehension. / knew that was
surely sinking. The dead weight OF the
sdri had completely paralyxed me on
enc side. no longer kept the horizon
tai OF semihorixontal position Of the
swimmer. but found my weary feet
eaarching the perpendicular for sup
port the last extremity of the van.
quished. Then In sudden at Of fury
I struck out fiercely once more, the last
fearful effort of the drowning man, and
presently my hand came in contact
With something hard.
( 1 drew back In terror, for even half
conscious as l was l believed that I
had struck some living thing, and the
thought of a shark sent thrill Of hor-
Tor through my enfeebled body. With
eyes wildly staring glared ahead, and
a. tho hare still danced some distance
on I felt that my suspicious were real
bed. But the light rising once more
dntsd the object with Its glow, and a
sudden thrill of happiness put new life
Int my naccid muscles. 1t was no
shark, but the life buoy to which the
farew was attached.
With few strokes / had reached It.
and though the sea tried to tear it from
my grasp chung with the energy Of 4
drowning man, and, though not with
out some difficulty, I slipped 1t over the
head Of the unconscious girl and got
I her arms above 1t. Then / breathed .
fsrvent Thank God!"
It all takes some time to tell. and to
me that struggle with the waves SEEM
"a. ana still seems. like an eternity,
but In reality 1t was battle of min
sutes and not many of them, though I
am inclined to maintain that under
such conditions one would And still
fewer more than enough. When LOOK
ca round again, l saw the steamer com.
ing up behind me, and presently she
lay to, a world OF welcome light.
had no fear now. and my eyes stung
with something more than sea water
as looked up ut the great lights and
thought Of the brave hearts and the
willing hands which were coming to
my rescue.
Miss Hurst during all this time re-
NAMED unconscious, but / had no great
difficulty in keeping her head above
water. for with the new hope had come
new strength, and already looked
upon the whirling mass Of dark sen
around me rs monster who had been
robbed of his prey. knew she was not
dead. and wanted to know nothing
more just then. If before she had SEEM
ed to me charming in every way, she
now became the very breath of my ex-
istence, and in mad way l felt glad
that this thing had happened and that
II Withdrew, my supporting arm from
her head the beautiful white face
would slip through the buoy down,
down into the black, bottomless depths
Of the ocean.
Presently a boat was lowered from
the Omeo, and with intense eagerness
watched it, small, dark object, come
dancing over the waves. A man knelt
In the bows waving lantern above his
head. and he It was who presently sang
out, "Ahoy, therer'