The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-07-10
A Fisherman $
Story
By MARCIA BEVERAGE

By MARCIA BEVERAGE
Gals is gals" said the old fisher
man as he went on mendiDg his nets.
whether they're poor fisher folk SIGH
as we have here the year round or high
flyers from the city. You " q
tell what m Of ems goin' to do. 1t
seems sometimes as II there was a
wireless telegraph apparatus that
sends a spark from u mans eye into
on 'em when he looks at her. and
she drops like a skeeter into a plate o.
coal oil.
Now. there was Miss Markham.
who come here first seven years ago.
as purity a little thing as q bran new
schooner yacht. She wasn't more'n
seventeen years old and wore the neat
est dresses Of any gal on the island.
You'd ought to een her swim! She
didn't tie up her hair in a lump on the
top Of her head when she went into
the water, but let it trail behind her
like a mermaid. Never in my long
life did l e anything SO likely as
Josephine Markhs9 pullin' herself
along on her side in water &c clear
that you could see the whole Of her,
the sun shinin' on he and the ripples
she made and sparklin' at the same
time from a jewel she wore on one of
her fingers.
II had nothin' to do then. waitin'
for my boat to come out O. drydock,
and used to 60 down to the beach on
purpose to e her in the water. Some
times she'd 60 in right about here with
the other bathers. and sometimes she'd
go out yonder ID to the end Of the
dock and take a header. But wher-
ever she padded she attracted a
crowd. One day while l vas watchin'
her swim of from the beach I saw
her l0Okin' up at the dock at somebody
and followed the direction Of her eyes
with mine. A young Teller was stand
in alone up there. and l knowed it
was him that was attractin' her. He
was purity enough. but. laws. there
wasn't no stuff in him-paIe little chap
with big eyes. They was bigger than
usual when be watched Miss Markham
kind o wistful. like as though he
wished he was swimmin' beside her.
Every morning after that the little
beggar would stand on the dock watch
in for the gal to 20 in. One day I call
ed up to him. 'Hain't you goin' in. sir?'
And he said. No And l said. Never
learned to SWIM? and he said awful
melancholy-Iike. Yes. l know how. but
I can't
well. n mornin' when Miss Mark.
ham was a-steppin' into the water with
her dainty little feet. sort O. shrinkin'
cause the ocean was cold-it wasn't
o than GO degrees-a lot O boys
was a-skylarkin' or the dock. and one
on 'em, tryin' to dodge another. push
ed the little chap OF into twenty feet
q water. You'd ought to cen the gal
skip the breakers and. after gettin' be-
yond 'em. go for him. The bathin'
master didn't happen to be about. l
s'pect the water was so cold he didn't
look for bathers. So l run the life
boat down in order to help. launched
it and rOwed out to the scene O. the
accident.
when I got there l saw the con.
sarnedest sight l ever clapped eyes on.
There was Miss Markham strugglin'
with a pair o. legs. The little chaps
head was down in the water, while the
lower part Of him was afloat. The
gal couldn't do nothin' With him. Once
she succeeded in gittin' his head above
the surface. but his legs wouldn't 20
down. and that spoiled the game. She
cast a pitiful look at me. | was bur-
ryin' to pull up beside her, and al 500
as l came into position I catched a-hold
of an ankle and pulled the drownin'
man out. bis head comm up last. and
got him into the boat. Then l helped
the gal in and. takiD' the oars, pulled
for the beach.
Them two creatures hadn't never
spoken a word to each other. and yet
she hung over him as if she'd growed
up with him. AS soon as | got him
ashore l set about bringin' him back
to life, for he was unconscious. and.
calm for a barrel, put him on it and
rolled him to git the water out of him.
What do you think happened? Fust
one of his legs come Off and then the
other one.
Hes fallin' to pieces: screamed
a woman who was l0Okin' on, scared
out O. her wits.
Poor feller!' said another: Did d
shark bite EN- of?
Yes a mar in the crowd answer
ed. They al hangin' by the skin
''Jist then a man come up who said
he was a doctor. He picked up ont .
the legs and thr0wed it down, then
picked up the other and throwed that
down.
Cork: he said.
1.-The little chap opened his eyes and
looked about for somepin. When he
saw the gal be looked relieved and
closed EN- ag'in. We carried him to
his hotel. and he vas soon all right
ag'in.
what I'm gittin' at is the qu'arness
n rals. found out afterward that