Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-06-10
after us,'' her mother shrilled mourn


 her to her upstairs bedroom window came, white and trembling.
 ''Drusilla, Drusilla, the water has never before passed the big spires at the front gate, and now only it's topmost branches are waving over the yellow food"
 Tt is terrible, mother, but pray bs calm. The house is high and as firm on it's underpinning as rock"
 Rock, rock. You are the only rock in sight; fint-hearted creature that you are. Where is Michael?'
 II have sent him away with the turkeys" She would not say that Michael had note to Arthur Denni- son in his pocket. If he should not find the engineer her mothers wrath would be too much fe- mortal nerves to stand.
 "Sent him away with the only boat we could have escaped in! So like you, Drusilla."
 "He will come back, mother"
 And where is Maria?'
 "Kneeling on the dining-room table praying"
 ''On the dining-room table? Do you mean
 That the water is an inch deep down stairs, mother. Ria will bring your breakfast upstairs to you"
 Breakfast; what does drowning woman want with breakfast? I tell you, girl, we are all going to be &~
 Drusilla said that she must sec to removing the provisions from the storeroom, glad to get any excuse to get away from the wailing voice and streaming eyes that tore her heart with futile pains.
 She was glad when darkness yelled the outer world from her mothers terror-stricken eyes. Glad when the poor, querulous voice was stilled by sleep which, with no sense of crimi- nality, she has insured by mild nar- cotic dropped in her evening cup of tea.
 She must have some time to her self to plan the morrow's campaign. Should Michael fail to find Dennison, what then? Leaning on broken reed, indeed! She had written simply: s'The danger line has reached us. Can you come or send help?" Michael could not possibly get back before 10 o'clock. And when he came?
 She sat alone on the veranda up- stairs. The white radiance of full moon was shed on an unfamiliar scene. Steadily upward, still upward, the waters from the crevasse had crept until but foot or two of space remained between the waters and the floor of the upper veranda. Should it rise during the night as it had dur ing the day there was still the attic left to retreat to.
 She leaned forward with low cry of relief. She heard oars. The moon sailed under a heavy bank of clouds and left her only the sense of hear ing. It was Michael. She knew the old mans jerky, feeble way of using his oars. Of course he had not found anybody. He was coming home to tell her so. She leaned forward in the darkness and sent piteous, sob ping cry towards the sound.
 "Michael?"
 Here, missy"
 ''Did you find him? Don't say no, old man."
 Was Michael laughing at her? It sounded marvelously like 1t. She felt a slight vibratory shock. The boat had come in contact with one of the long pillars supporting the veranda roof. The moon sailed out from un- der the bank of clouds. A mans hat was on the level of the gallery floor. A mans hands reached upward to clasp the hand-rail The leap of an athlete-and Arthur Dennison stood by her side on the moon-lighted veranda. With a sob she flung her. self towards him. With glad laugh he clasped her close and then with a soothing touch he passed his hand over the tumbled mass of shining hair that lay against his shoulder in a perfect ecstacy of relief.
 She lifted her wet eyes to ask tremu1ously:
 What would have done, oh, my beloved; what would have done If Michael had not found you?''
 "Michae12 And she really thinks that I waited to be told when she had reached the danger line? I knew it before you did, my own, and was on my way to you with great, clumsy barge as soon as the levee gave way, but Michael's boat was the swifter, and although his lop-sided rowing could scarcely be called fetch ing me on the wings of love, I came as directly as I could"
 With his arm about her he turned and looked out upon the watery world about them.
 'It is good to know that you sum moned me, dear, when you had got ten to the end of your own resource full devices. You are in serious peril"
 "Were," she corrected, nestling trustfully close to his side. sAs for the danger line"
 ''I reached it," he interrupted, "with my first look into your deep, true eyes,"