Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-02-08
ReInOrce..

! Nicolo, swart, dark, indolent, lying up.
| on his back and looking up into the sky;;s=
the sky cloudless, brazen and the muddy
| yellow river all aglint with reflections Of
, the sun; the stiffness of a semitropicalz
afternoon, with nothing to hear but the
ripple of the water and its splash against
the boat; the monotony Of a, semitropical
marsh, with nothing to see but the parch
I ed grasses, the swirling eddies of the riv-s
er and the cloudless heavens. And Nico-
10, with one arm resting lazily across tho
tiller, keeps the vessel in -midstreami
| drifting toward the gulf, and watches the
! wreaths from his cigarette as they mist
themselves away into nothing
Nicolo's face wears look Of triumph,
and his eyes sparkle with the pleasure Of
his thoughts. 1t is true that shadow
crosses it now and again, but he tosses
his head, and the shadow fades away
And Nicolo, in his lugger, drifts toward
the gulf seemingly happy. The duh
brown waste of marshland seems inter-
minabte. it stretches so far away on ei-
! Their hand in such unbroken, dreary lew
els. Once in awhile frightened bird
darts from the waters edge to wheel and
circle out of sight. The whisper of the
| solitude seems to creep across the sur
face of the earth. But Nicolo hesds nei-@
Their bird nor solitude nor anything ex-
cept the passing Of his revevie, with is +
sweet to him. *:
The sun slips down tovard t,':e v.,:t.
The glare of the day fades i1:o t..... All; :.
Of the evening. AIo:::, IT,. .u5.. 81: t..
horizon blue and p1:ri.' Al q; ~
golden clouds begin 8 ~..>.,:. =, :-:> -:
away across tho Sky: 6: - !::.,::S e
trees grow black a,,s:H*t '.:' a. ;, "::j
glow of the cccn;~: h"a,"r~. anal 60.
everything the s*il:" u lie v:>.-.....;
night creeps On apace. -
Nicolo. beS,irrn@ himself to set lis
lights. watches the g,i;..:....>- D:;lt .:.v $
OF the heaveLs. Iii: s:....!s l. :,i:::r ~.
! The coming OF ca. :i:..:.,: So. :, ,.vv:.-"
cast his spirits. IL. ;,.ln-..s :t.v,y
about hin21as lie bushes himself with TIE
boat. Although ai:nr. L. sv.':,!S Il !oak
around for srr:c ono when he will not
welcome. Tt:'s his beat arrives at the
place where III" Yates in the river are
lost and forgotten il? :.:r waters Of the
sea and, pasSi.: u;.l ii;,:l tie cvn.;ning
shores. l.;,;S. WITH iii-. sweeping uio-
tons. uyv2 the *:;;;'>!l C the mightier
deep.
! The Eight shuts ,::t the earth. the
heavens end Tie waters. There is a ter
ror IN Ia" c';l!ius tempest which con-
quers the m:ghtiest Of l.linGs The hiss
ing of the rainlrops as they strike upon
the waters has venom of its own The
heavy believing Of the clouds as they
discharge their passions Of lightning, the
voice of the rushing storm winds and the
lashing of the sea subdue and overawe
the most powerful nature Of man.
Nicolo crouching by his tiller, watches
the increasing anger of the night in ter
ror. To him the high waves are peopled
with thousand mysterious beings, and
he witnesses the gathering tempest with
superstltlous awe as he guides the way
of his vessel over the rising and foamine
waves.
The pause of nature before she strike.
the first fierce blow in anger touches his
| superstitious nature and makes him trem-
Die as he covers in his boat. But the,
deafening crash of the elements follows
quickly, and the boat darts forward into
caldron of seething foam, into fiery
circle Of light and into a mighty chaos Of
! discordant sound. Now it is in the val -
ley of the waters, and around it the leap
ing mountains of waves dance and dart
upward to what seem towering heights.
! Phosphorus glimmers from their sides
and peaks like eyes of untold. spirits of
| the storm. Now the vessel pauses upon
| the highest Of the pillows, and from all
| OF the surrounding waters Nicolo sees
myriad Of CHASTITY faces.
The anger of fear seizes upon him.
and he curses them. while his hand
clutches the tiller desperately and he
! guides his frail craft by Instinct, The.
ever increasing wind drives it along with
frightfu' velocity. and it plunges again
into the trough of the sea, but before:
him. around him.. above and below him
that ghostly cleaning face seems to stare .
, upon him and keep before his eyes per
| sistently:
"Mother OF Godv' he mutters and
shuts his eyes. But he can feel the unre
lenting gaze always fastened upon him
Listen" he cries, beating his hands
upon the night. Listen, madre mia!i It
has followed me, that face. through.tev.
cry storm until it is driving me mad! II :
all on account of Nanita, that l love!
Ever since we were babes, Nanita and Z
l have loved her, and she was mine until
Beppo came - Beppo. with his black
beard and great chest. How could Z
stand seeing her give her smiles to him
when ! would have died for one of those
same smiles?
'And so, madre mia. on a night like
this. when the wind and the sea were
warning and Beppo and were sailing
alone, ! pushed him into the sea. 1t is
his face which follows me and steals
away at night time the happiness which
comes to me of days when I think that
Nanita is mine. all mine again, and Bep.
pc cannot come between. Oh, madre,
mia. for the love of Christ, take away
that face"' #ss
The ungoverned boat sweeps onward
through the tempest and the night. The
waves are tossing it about at will. Nico-
10, kneeling at his prayer for a moment,
throws his hands out wildly. He feels
and hears the rush Of waters as they
close about him. He shrieks aloud in ].
terror, and the flash Of the lightning dis.
closes an overturned boat driven along
before the tempest. ==
II - -
In smiling summer sunshine the white
sands CLEAN like ermine. The sea wash
es up it's secret treasures and its spoils, :
al <14 - -.