Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1903-10-24

At high tide the surf Is 80 high tina
no small boat can live In 1t, and the
a start can be made and landing
effected only at one of the pleasur
wharves or at the Long Wharf Of tn
Southern Pacific Company, four mile
below town, these structures extend
ing seward beyond the surf line.
So when this boat turned over tn
crowd looking on laughed, and ex
changed gOOd-naturedly contemptuou
remarks concerning the skill of tn,
boatsmen as they waited for the crew
to right the craft and take to the oar
to work her out to sea, for the wint
was driving her toward the breakers
But the men made no attempt II
right the boat. Clinging to the almos
submerged sides, they seemed to b,
waiting to drift ashore.
III they let her get into that surf,
said the man sitting near Timothy
that boat'll 60 to pieces like an egg
In an ore crusher."
One Of the men cllnging to the boat
waved his hand to the people on the
shore. and Timothy stood up.
THAT'S pretty stiff surf" he said
but I guess I'd better 60 out and
tell them to keep of till the tide turns
and the surf goes down."
Timothy was swimmer, and Injured
to surf work by his month at the shore
Although he had never battled with
waves so heavy as those before him.
he felt little doubt of his ability to
make his way through them.
He walked slowly seward. follow
ing a receding wave and meeting an
other coming, and dived into greenish
brown water seeming as steep and
high as the wall Of house. He had
taken good breath and needed 1t oil
before he had another opportunity to
breathe; but he caught the undertow
and felt himself scraped against the
sandy bottom as he was swept sea.
ward. He came to the surface few
seconds later thirty yards from shore
and in the middle of the trough be.
tween two waves; thus he had time
to empty his lungs and to fill them
again before the next roller was upon
him.
He dived again, and again the under
tow swept him from the shore, and
again he rose In the trough of the
sea, well in advance of the oncoming
wave. He shook the water from his
eyes, and then Strengthened out to
take as deep breath as he could
force into his lungs. The wave before
him was a "double-header," and even
stronger swimmer than Timothy
might admit that he was afraid with
out exposing his courage to suspicion.
A dOuble-header is only half as high
as the waves series Of which 1t is an
irregular member, but its menace to
the swimmer Is much worse. Between
two ordinary waves Is trough Of
fat water. allowing the swimmer a
chance to breathe; between the halves
Of double-header there is also a
trough, but 1t is filed with lather and
foam much too thick for breathing,
yet too thin to support the swimmer
He must either take deep breath
and hold tiff he can-lying still till
the wave passes over him. or he must
t9ee a breath equally deep, dive and
swim-if he can-under water till the
increasing light tells hir, he has passed
under the stretch of sea which is
boiling and frothing like horrible
great caldron. Timothy preferred to
dive.
AS he went down he had some fear
that he might never come up again,
together with feeling Of thankful
ness for the two seconds Of grace that
had allowed him to go down with his
lungs we'll filed with air.
The distance under double-header
Is four times that under other waves
running at the same time, and the un-
dertow offers no aid to the swimmer,
for instead of current running strong.
ly seward, 1t is mere tangle Of
swirling water running nowhere. TIM
othy Owed deep, striking out strongly
but carefully, and opening his eyes.
Under an ordinary wave the light
is blue. green; under double.header
there Is no light, for water dashed into
foam is opaque as plank ceiling Salt
water hurt Timothy's eyes. and he
kept them open only long enough to
make sure that he was in the dark.
The pressure on his lungs became
intolerable, and he let out some Of the
air in them. Immediately wishing he
had tried to save 1t few seconds
longer. He opened his eyes, saw no
sign Of light in the black mass above
him, and struck out again. fear clutch
ing at his heart as he felt how inef.
fective had been his stroke and real
ICED that repetition Of even such weak
effort was beyond his power until he
might breathe again. Then he felt
himself trying to laugh at tue remarks
those fellows in the boat would make
about him when they got ashore. and
he wondered half stupidity II this was
the beginning Of the delirium that
comes to the swimmer who hes made
his fight and lost.
A sort Of frenzy seized him, and he
struggled wildly to reach the surface.
Ouly lOE u bclOuu. Aou Cu 6Ot
me yetw Savagely defiant the word
seemed to form themselves and to find
some strange method of utterance. He
lay without movement. strange lights
flashing before his eyes. great roar
ing filling his ears. an unreasonable
weight depressing his chest.
He foated slowly to the surface. so
nearly unconscious that he hardly
knew enough to be glad when he felt
the sunshine on his face. His lungs
had emptied themselves, and he rolled
over on his back to draw breath as a
mountain of solid green water ad-
vanced toward him from the ocean.
But the sometimes relentless sea Is
sometimes strangely merciful. The big
green wave lifed the exhausted boy
tenderly. passed under him, breaking
just beyond, and swept roaring to the
shore.
Three good breaths restored limo
thy's senses and revived his courage;