Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1916-06-29

Sigh that trsnhled to bin lips came
realization.
From head to toe he was battered
and bruised. His cotton clothes were
in tatters, His chest heaved la great.
spasrnoiic gasrs. Breath whistied
through his wraeked lungs, His eyss
rrotruded His head ached TIL It
seemed on the verge OF bursting. Bwt
to his mind pierced a thought sharper
than pain--the thought OF Margarita
and the Man. With clenched teeth he
struck out for the current
Far. far away rose dusty line OF
mist. II marked the head OF the food
the meeting os water with the accumu-
lated dust OF sNinless months Gerry
recognized the meaning OF that line.
Somewhere there In the turmoil Of the
tirst rush of the mad food we're Mar.
garita and the Man--what was LETT or
them. The distance dismayed him. but
he swan on. Then he felt the fast an.
preaching end Of endurance. A sob
checked him.
II was only minutes till his arms ~
fused to answer to his Will. They
moved SO weakly that more than once
his gasping mouth sank below the wa
ter. He swallowed great Gulps al til.
turgid Hood. Then an uprooted tree
brushed By him. He clutched ita
branches.
When all else In the world has
passed from mans brain there re-
mains the life instinct--the will TO light
for the last minute of his allotted be-
Ing. The life instinct was all that still
lived In Gerry. II urged him 10 a last
effort. He dragged his body upon the
tree where the branches forked from
the main trunk. Utterly exhausted. 10
sank into their embrace. They held
him es though In 1 cradle.
The rush OF the waters began to
slacken. They stretched out over the
valley and crept up its sisles. They did
not dow so much now 40 rise. The val
ley became moving sea. On its dow
Ing surface beasts. fowls and reptiles
struggled. mad-eysd. for life. Here
and there bloatsd carcass. brought
down from far up the river. blundered
blindly through the living and brought
screams Of terror from the swimming
horses. and gasping lows from the
struggling cattle.
From the middle OF the sen rose the
old plantation house still high and dry
on its mound. II seemed very tiny
toy house on lonely islet.
A great. open, white umbrella lined
with green sailed gayly along. II
caught In the branches OF 0erry's tree.
Uprooted cotton bushes foatcd BY. and
cane, snapped or. sometimes torn MP
In whole hills, banked up against the
tree and formed vast. unstable
island, toward whinh swan the delud.
| cd stock.
From the mouth OF the cleft In the
river gorge issued laundering cata-
| ract 1t had burst through the walls
| OF the ditch and even unseated sec.
ton OF the rocky crag against which
the sluice-gate had been buttressed.
The ditch was gone. IL could never
be again. for the water was tearing
the channel of the cleft deeper and
deeper The turbid food devoured the
silt OF the valley. accumulated since
man was, and carried II, seething. out
towards the river. The valley would
be left naked. stripped Of the source
Of life.
Gerry's tree had crawled away from
the main current. In q vast eddy II
approached the mound wherein squat.
ted the old plantation house. DOM
Maria stood at the edge Of the waters.
Her two hands were clenched and held
above her gray head. Thin wisps OF
hair hung about her face. Her face
was distorted. She was curslng Gerry,
cursing the day OF his birth. the day of
his coming. the day he had opened his
ditch. She swept her arms over the
terrible scene and called down the
curse Of all the ruin and death on his
head. But Gerry was beyond hearing.
In all the world there was none TO hear
the old woman. She stood alone; about
her the silent waters. above her the
blazing blue sky.
The tree shot out Of the eddy. The
current, the main current from the
cleft caught II squarely and swept II
away. 1t suddenly shook its long trail
Of rinraff, and turning and turning.
more and more swiftly, swan out on
to the churning bosom Of the great
river.
The valley had disappeared. Squat.
ting on the very level o1 the far fung
| waters, the old house still stood. The
bright sun struck CLINT Of light from
Its white walls and gave rich colon to
its moss-grown tiles. The roof was
| crowded with fowl and 4 strange med
ley Of heavy flying birds, glad OF a
perch on which to res.- Dona Maria
went into the house. Ghe closed the
great board shutters. The house looked
as II 1t had closed its eyes in last
remuneration.
Gerry's tree foated down the river.
II swung slowly along near the north
shore. Just below II were houses
They were perched on the cliff. Below
them were more houses and under
these the tiled roofs O. still other
houses just topped the food. The
houses were what was left Of Piran.
has.
From the shore canoos In seayrk