The Washington herald., 1907-11-01

some comfortable old red-plUsh furui-
ture and put them into the little cabin.
In fact, no one could possibly have been
kinder. said the wife Of his employer.
II was in June that they sailed away
90 the north-in these latitudes a month
Of uncanny calms and sudden. uncertain
81. Johu's-eve storms upon the deadly
Cape Wrath seas and among the black
rhick-sown reefs Of the Hebrides Yet
amidst these lay their course. and neither
Vida nor her mother noticed that couple
of roomy whaleboats were the chief new
and striking pieces of naval furniture on
board.
After they had passed the Firth Of
Peutland aud stood westward. they were
pursued by q series OF chill northerly
winds, not So much tempestuous as dead
~. with the nip Of iCebergS not far away
Vida loved the keen arctic breath, and
wished that they could go far enough
poleward 20 eaten sight af Farce. or even
OF the white wastes of the Natna Jokull
itself But each day her mother shiverec
and wrapped herself in shawls. and yet
more shawls
In spite OF all. she would not stay be
low.
Il must be out IN the sunshine-Jacob
would wish it, she said in answer to
every rem0nstrance. He is giving us
this chance. We may never have the like
agaIu-and in his own ship. too, I would
never forgive myself No, no. Vida.
must stay on deck"
Through a dreamlike serenity they sailed
first west and then south Sometimes
= oh,
them all day. The winds. though chill
enough, were so light that the sails often
hung lax and motiOnless. But, all the
same, Il was a memorable time for the
sick woman.
Il am happy, Vida darling" she would
say. as she sat with her daughters hand
clasped I'm hers under the awning which
Vida had stretched for her. oh so
happy! I never felt so happy in my life
not even when I was first married. You
are a good daughter to me. Vida
Everything about them was nice" and
after this there could be no higher praise.
But. swift as q lion from behind a bush.
a western tempest gyrating lsndward on
the warm swirls of the Gulf Stream,
sprang upon them one night about ten
of-the-clock. For an hour the winds had
whistIed plaintively through the cordage.
The sails We're reefed or got in. Quiet
amid the hustle, Vida and her mother sat
watching the west changing from dingy
orange through powdery blue to a dusky
slate. across which little white wisps. like
Jets Of cloud-spray. went and came. Then
for the first time, Capt Helstone ad-
dressed his passengers. He touched his
peaked cap with a stiff gesture and
begged that they would go below a once.
1t was going TO be a coarse night. "
They were I'm bad waters and might have
to run for the open. The matches would
need to be closed.
Immediately Mrs Romer and her
daughter went below. Vida got her
mother to bed before the storm caught
them. Then for forty hours The Good
Intent battIed with the winds and the
waves Of a North Atlantic storm.
She must have had excellent stuff in
her. that old tramp schooner. OF she
would never have made so gallant fight
for IT, At first the two women heard the
din of trampling above them. the clatter-
ing OF many feet. heavy sudden falls. the
creaking of blOckS-all in addition 10 the
noises of the sea. which were deafening
enough 10 the unaccustomed.
Vida. III and d3zed. found for while
a troubled repose. Time and again.
awaking from her doZe, she snatched a
little lantern she had taken from the
supercargO's room. and with infinite stag
gerings, made her way to her mother s
berth always returning thankful that she
was sleeping so soundly through the tuT-
mOn of the waters.
But Vida was too dazed to notice that
the sounds on the deck had died away
and that only the dull shock of heavy
seas and the splash and tumble OF break
ers plunging over the bulwarks could be
heard. Also The Good Intent swung
heavily to the lurch Of the waves. with
out buOyancy or life in her motion.
Suddenly the girl woke from a dream
in a kind of wild and awestruck terror
J It seemed 20 Vida that she was boxed VI