Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1908-08-29
Lifted Shadows



No finer man than young Donald
Carmichael could have been found be-
tween Lands End and John o. Groats.
He was what the Irish would have
called "a broth av bhoy," the Scotch,
"a Draw laddie;" the English, "a strap
ping young fellow"
Six feet three In his socks, broad in
proportion, 1.-the and clean-limbed,
straight as a lance, he went far to
merit the description. And he was as
handsome as he was big. His face
was large and open, no single feature
marring the harmony of the whole.
Many bonnie lassies heart beat fast
er when Donald Carmichael went by.
But there was a shadow on young
Donald's life, against which his gifts
of face and physique went for naught.
He was a stammerer. His affection
was not of that mild form, commonly
met with, which is capable of being
controlled, and is accounted no great
disadvantage. The malady had visited
him in its most virulent form.
He was able to form a sentence only
with the greatest difficulty, after re-
peated attempts. Even this was be-
iyond him upon frequent occasions.
The smallest experience outside the
routine of his restricted life reduced
him to absolute incoherence.
And Donald was shy, sensitive and
proud. His disability spoiled his life.
1t made him a confirmed recluse, hat
ing society, hugging solitude. And
that is why we find him in this lonely
lighthouse on the northeast coast of
Scotland. That is why he had adopted
a calling which appealed only to men
such as old Tammas, who was predes-
tined for the work, his father, grand
father and t-grandfather having
been keepers before him.
Tonight Donald was strangely rest
less A peculiar mood was upon him
hensive. He had an uneasy sense of
impending calamity. Anything might
happen on a night like this
What was that? A cry of distress
or only the shrek of the wind? Don
aid looked with straining eyes out into
the brooding night. Surely that was q
schooner? He seemed to descry il
struggling through the storm, Keeling
and tottering, like a wounded elk with
merciless dogs at its launches.
Then a sudden impact of water
driven by the fierce wind against the
| ,v;ndoV-. Of tha IiobtborSo mazda ,,icio,
impossible. When the ensuing lull oc
Cured nothing was visible on the fac,
of the deep. so Donald concluded tina
the laboring schooner had been a fig
ment of his Imagination.
Toward dawn the storm abated IL
fury, and more comfortable state O
mind came to the watcher. He looked
toward the distant horizon with tn,
| pail of cloud changed from black to
sullen gray developing by impercept
ible gradations into a fixed luminou
purple. Then he extinguished tn
lights.
| His eyes, rowing once more over tn
limitless expanse of ocean, suddenly al
tered their direction and looked shee
down at the rugged rocks which con
stituted the base of the lighthouse.
What he saw there brought swift ez
preston to his eyes-of alarm, aston
shment, incredulity, startled aw
Prone on the rocks, few bare inche!
purchase from the tapping water, wa
human form. Donald concentrate
his vision, but was unable to tie
: whether it was man or woman, boy q
girl; nor dared he hazard a CUES
whether the poor soul was alive q
dead.
He quickly reused old Tammas, an
together they descended TO the rocb
below. Both stood for a brief momer
inactive, silently regarding the bod
which had escaped from the clutcht
y of the sea.
e, Twas a maiden In the first acce:
of young womanhood-of some eigl
teen or nineteen summers may be. 81
| was very beautiful TO look upon.
\ Was that the pallid hue of deaf
/ on her cheek? No; she still breathe
| A half-sob escaped from Donald
'hroat-his heart was very tender.
| "Puir bit lassiel' said Tamma
"Some puir mither viii greet sair Il
NIGHT. Help me WI her, Donar. Pu
s bit lassien
! Her waist was encircled by a III
belt--though insensible, she was st
! claspins it, They gently disengag'