The Washington times., 1913-03-09

"I thought you would be-" said the
woman calmly, 80 i fetched water
Here"
She offered a tin vessel to his lips. as
contents on his face and neck and a
very little into his mouth, though
enough to make him choke and splutter.
He sat up suddenly, seized the vessel
"a two-Quart tin pafi-and buried his
face in it. gradually fitting 1t while its
cool. delicious sweetness irrigated his
arid tissues. until every blessed drop
drained. Then, and not till then, he
lowered the pail, and with some vision
began to. renew his acquaintance with
the world
He was sitting a trife out of the shall
the lee Of the beached catboat, which
he recalled as one might recall the fea-
lures of an incubus. The woman he
had rescued sat quite near to him.
The gale was still booming overhead,
but now with less force for SO he fam
ders on the beach. a hundred feet or
more away: but the haze was lighter
and the blue Of the skies was visible. II
Looking straight ahead from whore
sss the snsns 1 Sp on IN wds
maddened water, bIue and white.
basked by the empurpled loom Of q lofty
headland. dim In the smoky distance.
On his right there lay the landscape.
nseent n wcse SHADOW Gos Ss $
self: both fragments Of fugitive impress
sions registered in that nightmare time
of landing
There was the low. ragged earsh-banL
ramshacl<le. unpainted, hideous wooden
buildings-some hardly more than sheds
lifting up back of these and stretchinR
away on either hand. 4 spreading vista
Of treeless uplands gently undulant and
richly carpeted with grass and under
browns and green's and yellows, with
here and there trace Of duslky red.
Midway between the beach and where
the hazy uplands lifted their blurred
profile against the faded sky. and SONS
distance apart from the community. Of
seemed q farmhouse in good repair
strongly constructed and neatly painted
with a brood of outbuildings. Low
stone fences lined the uplands with
wandering streaks Of gray. Here and
there. In scattered groups and singiy
But they were lonely evidences Of life;
no human being showed In any quarter
With puzzled eyes, Whitaker sought
counsel and enlightenment OF the wom-
an, ana IOunQ IN nor appearance quite
as much to coafound anticipation and
deepen perplexity. She was hardly to
be Identified with the splendidly vital
and essentially modish and well-groom.
ed creature he remembered.
What she had worn when starting out
to call on him, accompanied BY her
maid, the night before, he could not
say: but 1t certainly could have had
nothing in common with her present
dress-the worn. stained and misshapen
jacket over her shoulders. the incredible
calico wrapper, scant and crude beyond
belief, the rusty wrecks upon her feet
that once had been shoes.
As for himself, q casual examination
proved that what rags and tatters COW
cred him weGe at least to be recognized
as the remains Of his own clothing. His
coat was lost, Of course. and his collar
he had torn away. together with por-
tion Of his shirt. while in the water
after the. disaster; but his no longer
white flannel trousers were precious
souvenirs, even II one leg was ripped
open to the knee, and even though the
cloth as a whole had contracted to an
alarming extent-uncomfortable as well
while his tennis shoes remained toler-
bly, intact, and. finally. the. canvas