The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1913-01-22
THE BRAMBIY
COTTAGE
The Story Of a Resede
By cLARlssA IMAGINE

fence and scrutinized the I4quiring
stranger who carried fishing dds and
basket. What sa-ayT he fHaWied'
cuppins one freckled hand = Rund a
large and leathery ear.
Il asked if there was good FISHING
In the lake." repeated the en pa
tiently.
"Sometimes there is and sometimes
there amt" returned Mr.. KiEredge,
with an enigmatic smile.
Flows that?''
at all depends on Faustinas Stand
ish." chuckled Leander. 1T oil de-
ponds on Faustina"
The stranger looked puzzled. Who
Is Faustina Standish?"
"She owns the lake and it's her sa :
so whether there's fish to be caught or
not"
"Oh, l didn't know it 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 iive!"
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 III get keteh-
ed by a high tide or something and
cottage and all IL float of" Leander
shook with silent mfrth.
Tide! 1 thought it 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 q cottage down there that has Its
feet In the water sometimes. She and
that grampussing old black cook.
Cleopatra. have it all to themselves
from June to October
mo harm in asking permission to
fish," ventured the strangers And.
following Lenders guiding finger. he
turned into another woody road that
led him down tn the waters edge.
Davis Emery paused in sheer admi-
ration of the tiny bay! perhaps q quar-
ter of q mile in diameter. Tipped by
snow white sandy beach with BACK
ground Of gently sloping pastures and
cedar clothed hillsides. Directly OPP
posite was q rift in the white beach
that showed the channel, with dark
rim Of the sound beyond. The Sky
was blue, and the water reflected the
pure tint. The tide had beepsan un-
usually high one, for bits OF dried
driftwood were floating away from the
high water mark. Long lines Of dead
seaweed undulated with the sm of
the ebbing tile.
Nowhere along the beach wa Ire
a sign Of "brambly COTTAGE as
Leander Kittredge had de bed.
Not far from where he wal hnding.l
however, there was sinai hiding.
whitewashed outside and In mi speck-
lessly clean. An Indignant Qucking
from a nesting box In one co e re-
vealed that this was 4 chi4 1lase:
and 1t was evident that nd
i,ftl I'll tie " - =.
the snnd lay IN little E1tiIe lamp
lines. i2ss: as e 80
If this was Faustina Htandish's
chicken house her brambly cottage
could not be far away. BIT look as
he might up and down the beach he
saw nothing save sweep of wet sand
and glistening pebbles.
All ut once Emery saw 1t In the most
unexpected place There. bObbing
drunkenly in the middle of the little
bay. was small white cottage over
run with red roses. The water swashed
around the tiny porch and broke in
white foam against the sides of the
building. From small iron chimney
smoke poured forth as If this unex-
pected trip ON the water had not him
dered the round Of domestic duties
Up on a balcony above the porch a wo-
man was sitting composedly. reading
book.
There was only one thing for Davis
Emery to do and that was to rescue
the damsel as quickly as possible. In
order to do that he must have boat.
and. looking about. he soon made the
unpleasant discovery that there were
three very capable looking small boats
adrift on the bay. He raced madly up
the shore and found nothing save a
broken oar half buried in the salt
grass With this In his hand he went
back to the chicken coop and there
behind it. resting Oh the sl0ping bank.
were the outlines of a Fat bottomed
skiff beneath covering Of tarpauIin
and dried seaweed.
After fifteen minutes labor he had
the covering cleared away and the
boat afloat. Rowlocks there were
none. but Emery could paddle ever
with broken oar. so he pushed off and
went bobbing slowly toward the bram-
bly, cottage. which was also bobbing
on the tide and headed straight for
the narrow. wicked looking channel.
Perhaps the girl had suddenly
thought of the channel. for all Mt once
she arose and went to the railing and
leaned over and looked long aud anxi-
ously mt the course of the cottage. She
saw Emery just then, and In response
to his hail he heard faint response.
The current was stronger now. and
the speed of both cottuge and skif1
was accelerated. so that Emery did NOT
gain much on the little house. but after
awhile his strong. steady persistent
strokes counted for results. md jusI
when he was beginning to feel the
strain Of his hurried efforts wav.
brought the skitf to the edge Of the
porch and be reached out and gr;lsped
the edge. In another instant he was
standing on the boards. ankle deep un-
der water. and making fast the painter
of the skiff to the railing.
As he turned from this task the door
opened behind him and revealed the
girl of the balcony standing there.
Brown as berry were hair. eyes and
brow. Her skin was deep cream. with
q powdering Of golden freckies across
her lovely face. Even In that rloment
of danger Davis Emery realized her
beauty. and he drew sharp breath Of
But the girls vOice, soft
and cultivated. brought him back to
- IL