Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-10-01

"
like a crawling reptile. carrying one
who may be caught I'm it out into the
great. dark. unmerciful ocean. Oh, I
hate the water. l don't know why
came here. will never come again"
Madam" said Warrington. you
speak as one who has been caught In
the tolls of the watery element. You
have had what swimmers call a scare.
One who has suffered from a fright in
the water will never get over il. Once
conscious of its terrible grip. one can
never be induced TO trust it again."
you are right" she said. THE re-
lentlessness of any inanimate force is
terrible, but it seems to me that the
power OF water is the most terrible of
all. How can people cross and recross
the ocean? 1t would seem that one
ship being sucked down into the nav
OF the monster would be enough TO de-
ter others from trusting themselves
upon its treacherous bosom"
Warrington was sure that the lady
had experienced some mishap to give
her this dread OF the water and was
curious to know the incident. But he
was too well bred to ask direct Ques-
ton. Moreover. it occurred to him that
possibly it might have given her a
mental as well as a physical shock
from which she had never recovered.
81 have had" she went on, what
you call scare. 1t gave me an incur
able dread of water but in itself it
gradually passed into comparative IN
Importance. There was that connected
with it which has affected my whole
life.'
'Indeed!'
The word indeed" is an extremely
well bred expression and means moth
ing. 1t doesn't trespass on any ones
feelings, asks no questions, invites con-
fdence only if the confider is minded
to give it and leaves him or her to
proceed or turn the subject at will 1t
is one of the most useful words in the
English dictionary.
when was girl was sitting one
evening on rock viewing a scene like
this, so enraptured that / was uncon-
scious of the tide rising behind me. 1
was already cut off when a young man
not only warned me, but saved me.
Only fortunate circumstance enabled
US to get to the shore"
She shuddered and continued:
mot for the world would l dwell on
that occurrence. 1t is Of what followed
that / am going to speak. In novels
when a young man saves a girl from a
catastrophe they love and marry. In
my case a romance was started that
was continuous, leaving me with old
age before me without a single CON-
panion. i could never forget my res
cuer, but my rescuer apparently never
considered me in any other light than
as one he had rescued. At any rate,
he ever sought me out, never came
q me. I had number of excellent
ers, but my mind had become alb
.orL. l with one person, and 1 would
yield to none other. And here am at
nearly fifty years c age. desolate be-
cause a man saved me from drowning.
I would prefer that he had left me to
have been engulfed."
After this burst of confidence the
lady suddenly remembered that she
was giving it to a stranger. There
was momentary silence, at the end
Of which Warrington was about to
speak, when she forestalled him.
II dare say" she said, that you are
surprised at my revealing to one l
have never met before so sacred an ex-
perience. Perhaps you will not be-
lieve me when 1 tell you that till this
moment l have kept the secret In my
own bosom from every living soul.
When 1 came upon you just now this
scene brought back the Incident OF my
youth, and a certain kindness saw
in your eye invited me for once TO
open the foodgates and permit the
long pent up waters to flow forth"
Mad an" said Warrington, II am
aware of that propensity engrafted in
humanity to cOnfide. In this case you
could not have confided in a person
better calculated to console you. 1t is
said that misery loves company. You
and I, having been made miserable by
the same incident. should love each
others company for the rest OF our
lives"
''Indeed!' said the lady, in her turn
using that convenient word.
Thirty years ago l saved a girl
from drowning. Unfortunately 1 was
so cursed sensitive that / reared 10
make any advance whatever lest :he
should think l was presuming upon
my service at having saved her. did
not see her again for some time after
we left the water, and when 1 met her
on her face was a scowl."
He paused, and the two regarded
each other intently. Suddenly the
lady burst forth reproachf1lly:
why shouldn't she have scowled?
Hadn't you ignored herr"
And so it was that lady. not recog-
nizing the man who had condemned
her to spinsterhood. told him frankly
the stoT Of her life. 1t was the be-
ginning of the end for both OF them.
A romance that had endured for thirty
years was at last ended In realism
that is to say. marriage.
champiain Stocked With Salmon.
An effort IS being made to stock