New-York tribune., 1904-08-07
as IcguId
H0 ~ IN a to
WENT

and trembling He cared moth q
ing about the He a fighter
but grower Of things And, anyway if he
must he in the he should Toe the other side
among his own people and this Russian
that sinking
He could hear the water rushing in even above the
NOISE OF the engines that urging the war-ship
toward the shallow water shore Sharp com
mands We're being issued and there were hurryng
feet and above all other sounds and dominating them
the occasional thunder Of ships guns booming
across the harbor What If the cruiser should sink
before reaching shallow water What if a shell from
one Of his vessels should blow up and sink the
cru.cr in an Instant Would not his bc the int ending
OF a traitor even though he was not here voluntarily
and had q one nothing more warlikc than holvstone
dc-aS and help polish the brass fittings
lie cr"uchcd still lower cringing abjcctly Perhaps
thcy were needing hm to DO something about the
vessel But ne would not 60. At most one could
hut die. and he would not help any more
Hoya YOU skulkcr' out Of that" came a fierce
and he felt something sharp pierce his shoulder
and the trcklng Of blood and with a whining shrek
Of protest he scrambled out and upon his feet, and
presently was link endless cham that was
hurrYng ammunition from the Cavcrnous depths of
the vessel conscious only of his miserable existence
and the fact that he fighter but a grower of
things TO eat
And then the expected happened \ fving shell
struck the cruiser, and though She did sink or
even receive material injury. the sudden confusion
and uproar implied the worst and HasIto climbed
franticaly up one ladder and another and up steps
wild cry IN which mingled terror and despair and
defiance, he threw himself over the vessels side
Those in his way tried to stop him. and few bullets
whiSted about his head as he sank into the water;
then the confusion Of the caused him 10 be
forgotten
As a boy he had lived near the coast and been
accounted an expert swimmer, when he struck
the water he sank and did rise until he was a
hundred yards from the vessel The town was a mile
distant, but instead of swimming in that direction
he started toward point Of land fully three miles
away. From the vessel this point had been seen to
be an agricultural section thiny settled and his ewes
had hlled when he first it. The people were
happy there for they lived farms and worked with
the soil
1t was night when his feet touched a muddy bottom
and he waded to the shore. But he did not make
himself known at the farm hut; instead
ne kept 10 the bitches and when daylight appeared
he was fifteen miles in the interior
He in the midst of a small farm where all
kinds of vegetables seemed to be grown with everyone
OF which he was familiar. AS it grew lighter so he
could see he suddenly dropped upon his knees sobbing
and kissing the green leaves. 1t was a coming home
to hls own after ten years of exile in servtude
All else was torgoten-past. future possible dan
ger hunger everything in the JOY of again being with
his own. He did not rise from his knees but
began to cultivate and for the plants with his
fingers loosening the soil removing dccaved leaves
and whispering to them though they were things
alive that could understand the tears all the while