Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-10-22
ANDREWS 81
THE APRIL
FLOOD y wv. i.
OSBORNE
By WIN. HI.
OSBORNE
Copyright, lsOs, bv Z. e. Mcclure

ed u0Wns upon the glft. ne 1uA1DAsu
with his hat
1-Tm sorry, he faltered. =
thought it right to be different. I'm
getting along so well over IN town, and
1 this spring I thought perhaps that we
that IL might build somewhere
around here and He paused. I'm
sorry lie repeated.
The girl flushed. She glanced over
4 toward the mountain. It was in the
month Of April, but the mountain top
was sfin. white with the winters snow.
s4m sorry, too" she replied in q
tone that indicated that she was not
SO sorry as she seemed. Andrews start
! ed Off Suddenly he returned and once
more laid down his hat
4 Louise. he exclaimed impulsiVely,
tell me something. I can stand It,
and I want to know. we we've grown
/ up together. You can afford to be
frank with me- Is there anybody
else n
She slowly shook her head. No one
in particularly she said.
what is it, theng he persisted. She
looked him full IN the face.
.Ill tell you, stephen Andrews" she
said 1T is not your fault. hsst you
are not my kind Of a man, Oh,
know she added hastily, you are a
college fellow and what these people
call smart and all that She hesi-
tated Il don't know, she continued,
whether have been reading too
many novels in my time or not, but
there must be something more in
the man that I'll don't know just how
to express it. / think you understand =
Andrews smiled in spite of himself.
You mean be said, that | wear
spectacles and that don't tan up
quite so much as the other fellows in
the summer. l am not impulsive My
name is not Iyanhoe. Is that it, Lou
ise?"
The girl sighed and looked of to-
ward the white hills. Il do like strong
muscular men, she admitted She
had no hesitation in saying this to An
drews, for she generally said to him
just what she meant Andrews smiled
a grim smile. He had never told her
that he held the record for boxing and
wrestling IN his college class, and he
did not propose to tell her now
Like John Dulyea, for instance, &
he suggested. Again the girl flushed,
for as she sat there she had contrasted
the two men, somewhat to the detri-
ment OF the man before her.
las you please, she answered, bit
coldly. Suddenly she turned to him
You said, she went on, that T
thought you were not ilnpulsive. Tell
me honestly, if this house were on fire.
and were upstairs. and you were
down below, would you brave the dan
ger that might exist and rush in to my
rescue at the risk of your life? Would
you do. that?'
Andrews smiled again. Would John
Duryea's" he asked. The girl nodded.
He would know he would, she
answered. Andrews shook his head.
ITS a hard thing TO answer. he re-
piled. Circumstances might alter
cases. ! should stop to think first and
then
And fheng' pursued the girl.
4 can't tell, returned the man. Il
would do the best could IT'S a nice
question, he added.
He said all this in an amused sort of
way: The girl was serious Andrews
became serious again. He knew too
well that the girl was uttering her
thoughts thoughts that with other
girls exist. but remain unuttered. He
realized with bitterness that the man
who looks and acts like hero is the
man, after all. Duryea was such a
man
Il am sorry" he reiterated. and he
went.
John Duryea was not a youth Of IN
tellect, but he had kindling eye, and
be had that appearance of animal cour-
age and spirits that is so taking. An
drews envied him. He would have Civ
en- all his intelligence and experience,
he would have relinquished all the les
sons be had learned in youthful adj
versity and hard work, to be in the
shoes of this man Duryea.
The SNOW on the mountains melted
melted IN day and a night. The riv-
er rose. It rose SO much that the town
talked Of it The roar Of the waters
could be heard afar off. Duryea called
at the girls house. Come down and
see the flood, he said They had been
down before. but 1t was at all times an
interesting sight They strolled toward
the long bridge The waters roared
under this bridge like cataract The
eye could detect clearly the trembling
OF its dmbers
WED better not go on the bridge,
exclaimed the girl. hating just before
they reached # Duryea threw back
his shoulders
Come on,s' be said, with an air Of
bravado .'I'll take care Of you . The
girl looked at him with admiration and
laughed. They went She shivered as
she felt the timbers tremble beneath