Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1914-09-02
A Fisherman S
Story
By MARCIA BEVERAGE

Gals is gals" said the old fisher
man as he went on mending his nets,
whether they're poor fisher folk SIGH
as we have here the year round or high
flyers from the city. You never can
tell what one Of ems goin' to do. It
seems sometimes as If there was q
wireless telegraph apparatus that
sends q spark from a mans eye into
one ON 'em when he looks at her. and
she drops like skeeter into plate O.
coal oil
"Now, there was Miss Markham,
who come here first seven years ago,
as purity little thing as 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 seen her swiml She
didn't tie up her hair In 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 I see anything so likely as
Josephine Markham pullin' herself
along on her side in water so clear
that you could see the whole Of her,
the sun shinin' on her 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 go down to the beach on
purpose to see her in the water. Some
times she'd go in right about here with
the other bathers, and sometimes she'd
go out yonder on to the end OF the
dock and take a header. But wher-
ever she padded she attracted a
crowd. One day while I was watchin'
her swim off from the beach I saw
her lookin' 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-pale little chap
with big eyes. They was bigger than
usual when he watched Miss Markham
kind O Wistful. like as though he
wished he was sWimmin' beside her.
EVERY morning after that the little
in for the gal to go in. One day call
ed up to him. 'Hain't you goin' In. sir?'
And he said. NO And / said, Never
learned to swimT and he said awful
melancholy-like. Yes. know how, but
can't
'Well, one 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
more than 90 degrees-a lot O. boys
was a-skylarkin' on the dock. and one
on 'em, tryin' to dodge another, push
ed the little chap off into twenty feet
o water. You'd ought to seen the gal
skip the breakers and, after gettin' be
yond 'em. go for him. The bathin'
master didn't happen to be about.
s'pect the water was so cold he didn't
look for bathers. So I run the life
boat down in order to help, launched
it and roWed out to the scene O. the
accident.
when l got there I saw the con-
sarnedest sight ever clapped eyes on.
There was Miss Markham strugglin'
with pair o. legs. The little chaps
head was down in the water, while the
lower part of him was afoat. 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. l was hur-
ryin' to pull up beside her, and as soon
as came into position catched a-hold
of an ankle and pulled the drownin
man out, his head comm up last, and
got him into the boat. Then I helped
the gal in and, takin' 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 l got him
ashore 1 set about bringin' him back
to life, for he was unconscious, and
CALM for barrel, put him on it and
rolled him to git the water out Of him
What do you think happened? Fus
one Of his legs come off and then thu
other one.
"'He's fallin' to piecesr screamed
a woman who was lookin' on. scared
out o. her wits.
OOI 1Cl1cAs Sd1O dAOlu61a OlO
shark bite 'em OFF,
EYES, man in the crowd answer
ed. They was hangin' by the skin
''Jist then a man come up who sail
he was doctor. He picked up one {
the legs and throwed it down, the
picked up the other and throwed tina
down.
Cork. he said.
1.-The little chap opened his eyes an
looked about for somepin. When b
saw the gal he looked relieved an
closed 'em ag'in. We carried him
his hotel. and he was soon all RICH
ag'in.
What I'm gittin' at IS the Qu'arnes
O gals. I found out afterward tia
Miss Markham married the little felle
she'd saved from drownin'. That's tn