The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1910-10-07

man, he assumed the privilege of pro-
ceeding further by asking her to be
seated.
'0This is the first time in years." she
said, that have been to the sea-
shore. love 1t, yet fear it 1t is to
me like the serpent that charms the
bird to destroy It. Fancy this tranquil
scene transformed by tempest. There
is nothing In nature that is to me so
miraculous as those waves. See that
leviathan out there rolling in. True,
his name is gilded by the moon, but
his body Is black. There is terror in
his very silence. There. it breaks!
How It pounds the beach!
IT dread the water in any FORM" she
went on after pause. Even when It
Is tranquil it is treacherous. One who
cannot swim may drown within few
feet Of land A current will glide along
like a crawling reptile, carrying one
who may be caught In 1t out into the
great, dark, unmerciful ocean. Oh, 1
hate the water! 1 don't know why I
came here. 1 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 scare
One who has suffered from a fright In
the water will never get over it. Once
conscious of its terrible grip, one can
never be induced to trust it again"
you are right" she said 1.-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 a direct ques-
ton. Moreover, it occurred to him that
possibly it might have given her a
mental as we'll as a physical shock
from which she had never recovered.
II have had" she went on, what
you call a 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 1t which has affected my whole
life"
"Indeedw
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 confder is minded
to give 1t 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 I was a girl was sitting one
evening on a rock viewing a scene like
this, so enraptured that was uncon-
scious Of the tide rising behind me- /
was already cut OFF when a young man
not only warned me, but saved me.
Only a fortunate circumstance enabled
US to get to the shore"
She shuddered and continued:
mot for the world would I dwell ON
that occurrence. 1t is Of what followed
that am going to speak. In novels
when 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 COM
panion. i could never forget my res
cuer, but my rescuer apparently never
me in any other light than
as one he had rescued. at any rate.
be never sought me out, never came
near me. had a number Of excellent
offers, but my mind had become alb
Sorbed with one person, and l would
yield to none other. And here I am at
nearly fifty years of age, desolate be-
cause man saved me from drowning.
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 a momentary silence, at the end
II which Warrington was about to |
speak, when she forestalled him.
Il dare say" she said, that you are
surprised at my revealing to one I
nave never met before so sacred an ex-
Derience. Perhaps you viii not be-
ieve me when tell you that till this
moment 1 have kept the secret in my
'wn bosom from every living soul.
When came upon you just now this
Gene brought back the incident Of my
'outh, and certain kindness saw
n your eye invited me for once to
pen the hoodgates and permit the
ong pent up waters to flow forth"
Madam" said Warrington, 81 am
ware Of that propensity engrafted in
to conflde. In this case you
ould not have confded In a person
letter calculated to console you. 1t is
aid that misery loves company. You
nd /. having been made miserable by
he same incident, should love each
theirs company for the rest Of our
ives"
'Indeedw said the lady, in her turn
sing that convenient word.
Thirty years ago saved a girl
rom drowning. Unfortunately was
o cursed sensitive that / feared to