The Western outlook., 1915-07-31

little girl, playing with my dolls.
"At school / was smothered with at
tentions. At home / was suffocated
with nurses, companions I hated,
chosen for their wealth and rank.
Later I was decked out. sent to q
finishing school, all my nature
cramped and hardened by luxury and
convention. And I always longed for
my emancipation.
do you know what we women have
to look forward to? Marriage That
is all And We are not free to choose.
My father is not unkind to me. but
he understands nothing. 1t is not he
who traded NE, but convention again.
| 1t Is the pressure Of circumstances,
of environment, more terrible than
physical force. So i am traded for the
coronet of viscount. That is why I
am going to England-to marry him.
And If l could be man and free as
you are free, then only could l begin
to i've Good-by"
She turned away hurriedly and he
saw the tears streaming down her
| cheeks. He made no effort to follow
her, but stood watching her, like
man In dream.
He dreamed of her during the long
| night, when the cattle ship pitched
| and tossed heavily in the trough of
the channel, and the binding fog came
down. The timbers of the old ship
| groaned as the waves buffeted her.
At his post the captain strained to
catch sight of the Foreland lights
Suddenly, with a crash that sent
every timber jarring, the liner
stopped, shivered, and keeled over
The shock sent the cattlemen flying
| from their hunks They rushed out
into the open space between the pens
From the upper deck came cries and
the sound of seamen running Wom-
en- began to scream. Through the
haze loomed up the squat form of
collier.
There was no possibility of mistak-
| ing what had happened. The liner,
rushing at full speed through the
fog, had struck the collier, not with
her bow, but amidships, a glancing
blow which had ripped her outer
sheath nearly halfway from the bow.
She was keeling lower-she would
go under within few minutes. There
| were no water-tight partitions on the
| old ship, and, If there had been, they
would have been of little aid in such
situation.
After the first confusion the cattle
| men gathered between decks and
waited. Outcasts as these men were,
they had the discipline of the sea.
They did not know that Mayne was
lying unconscious upon the fo'c'stle
| floor, where he had been flung by the
| shock. They waited quietly enough,
listening to the racket overhead. The
seamen were trying to lower the
boats But those on the port side
were near the water, those on the
starboard unable to be launched ow-
| ing to the angle of the vessel
The passengers had been assem-
| bled. The stewards were running
hither and thither with lifebelts. The
| grimy faces of the stokers appeared
above the ladder The fires had al
ready been flooded.
Fortunately the cattle ship carried
| few passengers. Even the port boats
sufficed to contain them The collier
| had backed away and megaphoned
through the fog. Order was restored
out of chaos. Even the cattlemen
were remembered.
Only, before all could be taken
away, the ship keeled over and dis
appeared in the swirling waters.
AS she went down the fitting deck
| slid Mayne into the water. The shock
of the immersion revived him; he
found himself gasping and battling for
| life in whirlpool of believing cat
| tie and floating planks from the pens.
| He managed to catch one and sup
| ported himself Over the invisible
| water came cries and screams, which
gradually grew fainter
He was awake now. He knew what
| had occurred. 1t was strange that at
| that moment he thought, not of his
past love so dishonored, but of the
girl he had seen.
And, as he pictured her, he saw her
| face painted upon the drifting haze.
Another instant and he was staring
into her eyes.
She was clinging to the keel of an
| upturned boat, which had been swept
down into the rapids, carrying its In.
| mates to destruction in the swamp
of the liner. How she had lived
| through those moments of agony she
never knew; she thought afterward
it was because Mayne was so near,
| because there was life for both of
them, to be lived together.
He saw her upturned face and
swan toward her. A moment later
he was clinging to the boat beside
her, supporting her He climbed
upon the keel and pulled her up after
him. She sank back into his arms.
Day broke and the fog drifted away.
Upon the horizon appeared the white
sails of fishing schooner She was
bearing down upon them. The girl
lifted her haggard face.
"All my past, all have, my family,
my friends were on the ship-in the
| boat that went down." she said
And my past" he began
''Listenl" he cried fiercely. IT want
to live again a new life, untroubled
by any thoughts of the past. 1 have
money in my clothes-enough to help
| me to begin that life. And l want to
| help you to begin yours