Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-12-31

cuppine one freckled hand around
large and leathery ear.
IT asked II there was good fishing
in the lake, repeated the man pa
tiently
Sometimes there is and sometimes
there amt" returned Mr.. Kfttredge.
with an enigmatic smile.
"How's that?''
at all depends on Faus1na stand
fish," chuckIed Leander. lit all de-
pends on FaustinaI"
The stranger looked puzzled VINO
is Faustina Standish?"
"Sbe owns the lake and it's her say
SO whether there's fish to be caught Gr
not"
"Oh. l didn't know 1t was private
property. The people at the hotel said
any one could fish there
Belongs to Faustina. It's her say
so.
where does she liver
Down In that brambly cottage at
the shore now. In the winter time
she moves up to her house In the VII
lage. Some day Faustina IL get ketch-
ed by a high tide or something and
cottage and all IL float or" Leander
shook with silent mirth-
Tide! thought 1t was fresh wa
ter lake"
It's a bay-nothing more or less
than a leetle salt water bay, with just
the teeniest outlet to the sound.
Standishes have always owned the
bay, and now it's Faustina's. and she's
got a cottage down there that has its
feet in the water sometimes. She and
that grampussing old black cook
Cleopatra. have 1t all to themselves
from June to October"
mo harm In asking permission to
| hshT' ventured the stranger. And,
following Lenders guiding finger. be
! turned into another woody road that
| led him down to the waters edge.
| Davis Emery paused in sheer admi
ration of the tiny bay, perhaps a quar-
ter of a mile in diameter. Tipped by q
snow white sandy beach with a back
ground of gently sloping pastures and
/ cedar clothed hillsides. Directly op
posite was a rift in the white beach
/ that showed the channel, with a DARK
rim of the sound beyond. The sky
was blue. and the water reflected the
pure tint The tide had been an un
usually high one, for bits of dried
driftwood were floating away from the
high water mark. Long lines of deaC
seaweed undulated with the swell o.
the ebbing tide.
Nowhere along the beach was therS
a sign of a "brambly cottage" such al
Leander Kittredge had described
Not far from where he was standing
however, there was a small building
whitewashed outside and in and speck
lessly clean. An indignant cluckint
from a nesting box in one corner re
vealed that this was a chicken house
and it was evident that the tide hat
Tapped the floor of the building. 70
the sand lay in little riff1ed. dam
lines.
If this was Faustina Standish'
chicken house her brambly cottag
could not be far away. But look a
he might up and down the beach h
saw nothing save a sweep of wet san,
and glistening pebbles.
All at once Emery saw IT in the mos
unexpected place. There, bobbin
drunkenIy in the middle of the littl
bay. was a small white cottage ovel
run with red roses. The water swashe
around the tiny porch and broke 1
white foam against the sides of tn
building. From a small iron chime
> smoke poured forth as il this uneI
pected trip on the water had not hiI
dered the round of domestic duHe
Up on balcony above the porch q VIC
man was sitting composedly, readin
book.
There was only one thing for Dav
Emery to do and that was to rescu
the damsel as quickly as possible. I
order to do that he must have a boa
and. looking about, he soon made II
unpleasant discovery that there wei
three very capable looking small boa
adrift on the bay. He raced madly I
the shore and found nothing save
broken oar half buried in the sa
grass With this in his hand he wei
back to the chicken coop and thel
behind it, resting on the sloping ban
, were the outlines OF a Cat bOttOme
skiff beneath covering of tarpauli
and dried seaweed.
After fifteen minutes labor he hs
the covering cleared away and u
] boat ahoat Rowlocks there we
none. but Emery could paddle eve
with broken oar. so he pushed of ar
went bobbing slowly toward the brar
i. bly, cottage. which was also bObbir
on the tide and headed straight T,
/, the narrow. wicked looking channel
Perhaps the girl had sudden
!, thought of the channel. for all at on,
she arose and went TO the railing ar
leaned over and looked long and ana
ously ut the course Of the cottage 81
saw Emery just then. and in respon
to his hail he heard faint response
The current was stronger now. al
the speed of both cottage and SIX
was accelerated. so that Emery did n
gain much on the little house. but aft
awhile his strong. steady persiste
strokes counted for results. and in
when he was beginning TO feel q