The Harlowton news. [volume] (Harlowton, Mont.) 1909-1914, 1910-02-18

Aue peacA curFeu sHaIpIy 10 the right
and to the left, the long barrier reef
following roughly its contour until the
land obscured it on either side. Back
OF her stretched grove of palms and
back of that rose hill; its crest hare
and crag-like lowered above sea of
verdure. Through a chance vista she
saw the mass of rock as a mountain
peak On one side high precipitous
cliffs ran down close to the shore and
shut out the view. Over them water
fell to the beach.
Save in the person Of the man be.
side her there was not an evidence of
humanity anywhere. No curl of smoke
rose above The trees. No distant call
of human voices smote the fearful hol-
low of her ear. The breeze made music
in the tall palms and in the thick ver-
dure farther up the hill side, birds
sang softly here and there, but there
was a tropical stiffness to which the
great heaving diapason on the distant
barriers was foundation of sound
upon which to build lonely quiet
Human beings there might be, there
must be, on that island, if island it
were; but if SO, they must be abiding
on the farther side. She and the man
were alone.
Standing on her feet, with a slight
renewal of her strength from what
she had eaten and drunk, the woman
now felt less fear Of the man. He had
treated her kindly His aspect was
gentle, even amiable. He looked at
her wistfully, bending his brows from
time to time and ever and again shak-
ing his head, as a great dog looks at
the master with whom he would fain
speak, whose language he would fain
understand, to whom he would fain
impart his own ideas if he could.
She stared at him perpleXed. She
was entirely at loss what to do, until
her eyes rowing past him detected
dark object on the water line just
where the still blueness touched the
white sand. The sunlight was re-
fected from CLEANS of metal, and
thinking that she recognized it, she
stepped from the shade of the palms
end made her way unsteadiy toward
it. The man, without a sound, follow
ed closely at her side.
Her vision had been correct, for she
drew out of the sand leather hand
bag, such as women carry 1t had
been deliberately fitted with bottles and
mirrors and toilet articles. Alas, it
was in a sad state of dilardation now.
The bottles were broken their con
tents gone The bag had been lying
in the boat when it had been hurled
on the barrier in the night and the
same storm and tide which had borne
her ashore had hurled it also on the
sand. But it had come open in the
battering and it's contents were pitt
ably ruined. With eager eyes and fin
gers she examined everything. She
found intact a little mirror, pair Of
scissors, a little housewife which was
not part of the fittings and she Won
dered how it failed of being washed
away, two. combs and a package of
hairpins.
She had fought against starvation
and thirst and loneliness and despair
as she had fought against men and
she had not given way. She had set
her teeth and locked her hands and
endured hardship like, the stoutest
hearted, most determined soldier in
the history of human struggles. But
as the realization of this small mis-
fortune burst upon her, she sank down
on the sands and put her head in her
hands and sobbed. Tears did her good.
She had her cry out, utterly unhin-
dered, for the man stood by, shaking
his head and staring at her and max
ing those strange little sounds, but Of
fering in no way to modest her.
The water was beautifully clear and
she could see on the other side of the
barrier the remains of her boat. Per
haps some time, if there were need,
she could get to that boat, but for the
present all the flotsam and jetsam of
her wild and fearful voyage lay in a
water-soaked bag full of broken glass
an battered silver from which she
had rescued pair of scissors, mir
ror, two combs, housewife full of
rusty needles and some hairpins. o
vanitas vanitatum!
She was wearing serviceable dress
of blue serge with sailors blouse and
short skirt. Putting her precious
treasure trove within the loose blouse
and carrying the battered bag which
she meant to examine more carefully
later, she turned and made for the
shade of the trees again. For one thing
the sun rising rapidly was gaining
power and beating down with great
force upon her bare head. She had
enjoyed the protection of wonderful
ly plated straw hat on her long voy-
age else she could not have borne the
heat, but that, too, was gone.
AS she walked inland, she noticed
again of to her right that stream Of
water which dropped over the tall
cliff in a slender waterfall sweet in
viting pool at the base before it ran
through the sands toward the sea. She
made her way thither and at the brink
Y,co1t Jo1ur opI tool, 1oro Jro, -