Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-09-22
BROKEN ROMANCE.


street pier the other day, you'll fine
that when a chap saves a girls lif
from drowning in the surging billow,
there is nothing for it but to have tn,
two go and get hitched as soon as they
|can learn each others real names ant
borrow enough to pay the minister.
That's all the poor fools that writ,
know about it, and If they do go out
and save a girls life or two the,
wouldn't be so matrimonial. If there,
anything under heaven that makes
woman hate a man it is to have hi11
pull her out of the dark water in
limp. dlshevelled mass, with water
running out of her eyes and ears anc
nose and more to come out of he,
mouth just as soon as you can roll hei
around
And when the man comes to him
self and finds out what a blamed foo
the woman was to put herself in the
way of being drowned and how she
tried TO drown him, too, just because
he was guilty of trying to yank hei
watery grave out from under her why
he doesn't any more want to marry
her than he does a wet dog with st
Vitus dance"
You see Bert Colwell was the old.
est swimmer down at the beach. Fol
ten or eleven years, while generations
of swimmers had come and gone, he
had stuck to it, wet and dry, fair
weather and foul, cold weather and hot
He was by all means the best swim
mer of the lot, and was good for a
voyage to the crib any day when the
water was above 65 degrees and there
wern't any cross winds to set up dis
| turbing surface currents.
During his sojourn there during al.
these years Bert had saved some dozen
or so of lives, unobtrusively but eff
fectually and was really entitled to q
whole bouquet of Carnegie medals and
| things, If he had ever entered the hero
| business. Being a plain business man
who had the good sense never to lei
his business interfere with his SUN
mer swimming, he had all he coul6
attend to without going around al
brassed up like the leader Of an Italian
band. And for all these things we re
spected him accordingly, and, in the
rare intervals that he saw fit to tel
of anything he had done we were ths
most attentive of listeners, for the ex
cellent reason that he never talkej
unless he had something to say.
Remember that pretty little PLUMP
girl that used to come down here jus
after the worlds fair, George?" turn
ing to the proprietor of the pier.
1.-The. one we all thought you wer'
going marry" asked George.
"TheName," said Bert.
""n'Sn't you sort Of save her life, o.
something" asked George.
That's the whole story" said Col
we'll, and he went on, with occasiona
Interruptions from the crowd, sitting
there in the evening sun, tanned ant
wet and hearty from a half-mile swim
in water that was like nothing s.
much as a compound of ozone AM
fresh milk.
You see," he said, "she was just a
sweet and pretty girl as anybod,
ever tried to teach to paddle in tn
water. She wasn't built just exactl,
for what you'd call an athlete, but sh
liked me. and liked her, and she an
had Just gone far enough so that sh
was willing to learn to swim becaus
, was so fond of it. and l was will
ing to spend my time shivering aroun
in shallow water instead Of enjoyin
myself with the fellows out where
! belong
lone afternoon | had been trying t
teach her the overarm stroke, and
found It pretty hard work, because sh
2 couldn't quite reach over herself. an
. had fused around until my lips wer
blue and my teeth chattering from no
getting any action out of myself. Sh
, had said something about diving. ant
like darned fool. had said that sh
= could dive all right if she only CAV
up her mind to it and wasn't afraiC
Then she saw how cold l was, and sh
told me, just as prettily as she knee
+ how, to take little spin and get war;
for myself, and she would wait. 70
see, she was going to dive and SUI
prise me when | got back. And ST.
did, all right, all right.
$50 I went off for little spin i
the lake and, though you don't thin
much while you're in the water, whic
is one of it's advantages, | was thinl
ing Just as hard as l could that sh
was about the prettiest thing that
had ever seen. and that business wa
plenty good enough SO l could ask he
a serious question in about anothe
week
81 came back and was just climbin
up ON the pier when there was a gret
shouting and somebody saw me an
D yelled Jack, she's gone down just b