Evening journal., 1905-12-29
a CHANGE OF
PARTNE RS
LonelnaL1

loriginai.l
One summer evening q rowboat con-
taining two young men and two young
women was drifting idly on the Ale.
1eny river above tho city OF Pitts.
In. <. They were two pairs OF lovers.
joh, Baron and Lille Beck. Bartle
Fsrr, and Margaret Ferris. II any one
wontd have told them that within a
very stn rt time there would be trans
posifion among them as nances they
eould r3t have believed it. Neverthe-
less such a. change came to pass.
John BarA was one OF those phleg-
matte. tacituA p, undemoastrative fel-
lows who usm lly choosc their oppo-
sites. and IN In lie Beck he found ex.
actlv the girl 10, attract him. Bartle
Farr was a gny. a vii may care young,
man. who found n Margaret Ferris
those steady qUalitNs thnt man OF
his character seemed = % need. Every
body said that botl couples would
make an admirable untc1-
II was in the days wNu nitrogiyc-.
erin was supplied f.tIni a.Snre Pitt =
burg on the An seiRuv to the oil fei IS
IN Pennsylvania. fortal down In A.
letto-llke boats same "A irty feet ong
by four feet VIDE. Eacl boat car riel
enough nluoglyccrin to b low any hing
It struck to the clouds Z was an by
two men. who had strict orders to lie
up at nightfall. In cayfiuR they could
be seen far enough ahead TO enable
such craft as thsg cawo az 'oss TO get
out Of the way, and. sineq N ey lid not
run at night. tleSe was ~ necessity
for accident.
The party In the skin had u HE'D far
up the river c1iin, the aftc-n oon, in
tending TO DRIFT down leisurely Y 18th the
current In the twilight. Bartse Farr.
who never took thought FOR the I uture
Insisted on rowing up much "a rther
than was intended. Margaret = erris
had eudeavored TO check his emu lusi.
asn. but on this occasion was unex ual
TO the task, or. rather, she permit ed
him TO have his way. only warni ug
him that IN case they were caught ut
on the river In the dark and anythir &
happened she would hold him respons =
BILE
Twilight was fading into night. and
they were still several miles above the
city drifting down with the current.
Margaret proposed that the men
should take to the oars and was sec
onded by Baron. Whereupon Tarr de-
clared that they were having the best
part OF their excursion and as for him
self he proposed to enjoy it. Baron
took a pair OF oars and began 70 row.
At this Farr made curt remark about
his timidity at being out after dark
without protector. Baron made no
reply, but kept on pulling.
When the night settled down upor
them Farr and Miss Ferris were In the
bow. Farr with his back between the
two gunwaIes, Miss Ferris sitting on
the foremost seat, facing HIM Miss
Beck was at the tiller. Baron on the
''stroke" seat rowing. Suddenly some
thing black on the river appeared
within a few yards of them. and a
voice shouted Get out of the way for
your livesr' and two splashes followed
as Of persons jumping into the water.
In another moment John Baron rec
ognlzed the dim outline of a nitroglyc-
erin boat coming straight for the
Ekin. At the same moment Farr, who
had risen 10 see what was coming. rec
ognized the danger. He plunged into
the water and dived TO avert the com
ing explosion. Baron. putting all his
strength into one supreme effort, gave
two strokes with the port oar. and be-
fore he could give q third the nose Of
the nitroglycerin boat rubbed the stern
OF the skif For a few seconds the
side Of the explosive craft slid along
The stern OF the skiff then the danger
had passed.
Baron took Ia the situation at once.
The men on the boat had been running
her too late into the night. and on COM
ing upon the ski0. after shouting L
warning. had jumped overheard. The
situation after the danger had passed
was this: Farr was swimming for the
skif, Miss Beck was lying in faint IN
the stern. Baron was resting on his
-1rs. while Miss Ferris was siftinn