The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-01-08
THE BRAMBLY
COTTAGE
The Story of a Rescue
By CLAR1SSA MACKlE

basket "What sa-ay? he drawled,
cupping one freckled hand around
large and leathery ear.
81 asked if there was good hshlng
in the lake." repeated the man pa
tiently.
"Sometimes there is and sometimes
there amt" returned Mr.. Kittredge'
with an enigmatic smile.
"How's that?"
at all depends on Faustina stand
ish," chuckled Leander. 1T all de-
pends on Faustina"
The stranger looked puzzled. "Who
is Faustina StandishT
"She owns the lake and it's her say
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 live"
"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 ketch-
ed by high tide or something and
cottage and all II float off" Leander
shook with silent mirth.
"Tide! / thought it was fresh wa
ter lake."
"Its a bay-nothing more or less
than 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 it all to themselves
from June to October"
mo harm in asking permission to
fish?" ventured the stranger. And,
following Lenders guiding finger, he
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 quar-
ter of mile in diameter, Tipped by a
snow white sandy beach with 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 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 dead
nP
the ebbing tide.
Nowhere along the beach was there
sign of a "brambly cottage" such as
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 clucking
from a nesting box in one corner re-
vealed that this was a chicken house,
and it was evident that the tide had
Tapped the floor of the building, for
the sand lay in little riffied, damp
lines.
If this was Faustina Standish's
chicken house her brambly cottage
could not be far away. But look as
he might up and down the beach he
saw nothing save a sweep of wet sand
and glistening pebbles.
All at once Emery saw it in the most
unexpected place. There, bobblng
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 balcony above the porch a wo-
man was sitting composedly, reading
a 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 a 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 on the sloping bank,
were the outlines of a fiat bottomed
skin beneath covering of tarpaulin
and dried seaweed
After fifteen minutes labor he had
the covering cleared away and the
boat afioat. Rowlocks there were
none, but Emery could paddle even
with broken oar, so he pushed off and
vent bobbing slowly toward the BRAN.
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 at once
she arose and went to the railing and
leaned over and looked long and anxi.
ously at the course of the cottage. She