Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-01-04
After the Storm


The storm had lulled. The sea,
churned up the night before into
seething, heavy caldron of pitch-black
waters, had subsidized now into a rest
less, uneasy swell, rising and falling
like womans bosom after a storm
of sobs. The wind, too, had fallen
light. At midnight it had come with
a sudden roar out of the north, bear.
spray, and driving helpless ships be-
fore it on pitiless shores.
The fishing boats had been out all
night in the storm and stress, and
now they were struggling back into
harbor, blowing over the bar in the
wake of laboring steam tugs, or conf.
dent in their knowledge of things maui
tical, making their slow way in un-
aided. Not few bore marks of bat
tie, here torn sail, there rent cord
age, or spar snapped off, or bit of
the bulWark torn away. A little
crowd stood on the pierhead watching
them, townsfolk, keeply interested in
the sight all too familiar; fishermen,
calm, phlegmatic, silently critical;
strangers, verbose, excited.
Foremost OF all was a group of wo-
men, fish graters from the denes on
the other side of the river, where
their work was to clean herring all
day at long, low fish-filled troughs.
They could not work that morning,
however, anxiety gnawed too cruelty
at their heartstrings, for their men
were at sea, and there was no know
ing whether they had come safe and
sound out Of last nights hell of wind
driven rain squalls, Of foam, and spray
and raging, turbulent waters. So,
leaving the troughs, the women tied
their shaw1s tight over their heads,
and, in their working dress OF rough
serge, water boots and briny oilskin
aprons, came to the harbors mouth
to watch and wait and perhaps to
welcome home their men.
That's hard work a-waitin'," MUIR
INJURED one of them, slight, delicate
looking girl, to her neighbor, who was
doing her best to shelter her from
the keen wind.
Don't you worrit, gal Liz" said
the other consolingly; ''the Valiant'll
be in afore you knows where We are,
see if she amt.
Liz shook her head and the tears
welIed up into plaintive gray eyes. Il
MnrthUO cha
said, brace an heartsome; l allus
fare so timid when Jem's at sea, an
today I'm muss'n ever. Did We hear
the wind in the night?" she went en-,
her voice low and terrorful, that
Jared t~r strip hold O. the house an
worry it like cat wi a mouse; l
right shook in my bed, did, athinkln'
o. Jem out in it, an az last couldn't
stan it no longer. l just slipped cut,
too, an wa ked up an down the beach
so as to be a bit higher to him. !
wish there warn't no sea- she said,
shivering, "ter part people an scare
them wot's ashore"
Marthy looked down at her tender.
ly. "W'y, that wouldn't do nohow,
Liz" she said; you an Jem wouldn't
never ha' come acrost each other if
there hadn't ha' been no sea, nor no
smackin nor nothin'."
But Liz had knowledge of which
Marthy, with all her sympathy, knew
nothing. IVY, YES we should Mar
thy" she said quietly. "Nothin'
couldn't ha kept us two apart; we
was forced ter come together, we
was"
Meanwhile the slow procession of
fishing boats struggled by, and the
crowd watched them. Presently a
steam tug neared the harbor's mouth,
towing some half-frozen tawny-sailed
smacks, two abreast. The smacks
waved this way and that, and the tug
looked like a mother with troop of
overgrown daughters, little inclined
to get out of hand