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

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sigh that trembled to bis lips came
realization.
From head to toe he was battered
and bruised. His cotton clothes were
in tatters His chest heaved In great,
spasmodie gasps. Breath whistlcd
through his wraSked lungs, His eyss
rrotruded. His head ached till Ii
seemed on the verge Of bursting But
10 his mind pierced thought sharper
than pain--the thought OF Margarita
and the Man. With clenched teeth he
struck ont for the current
Far. far away rose dusty line Of
mist. II marked the head Of the food
the meeting o. water with the accumu-
lated dust OF sWinless months. Gerry
recognized the meaning OF that line,
Somewhere there In the turmoil OF the
flrst rush OF the mad food were Mar.
garita and the Man--what was left OF
them. The distance dismayed him. but
he SWAN on. Then he felt the fast an
preaching end OF endurance. A cob
choked him.
1t was only minutes TIL his arms ~
fused 10 answer to his will. They
moved so weakly that more than once
his gasping mouth sank below the wa
ter He swallowed great gulps ar III.
turgid food. Then an uprooted ire.
brushed by him. He clutched In
branches
when all else In the world has
passed from . mans brain there re-
mains the life instinct--thc will 70 light
for the last minute OF his allotted be-
Ing. The life instinct was all that still
lived In Gerry. II urged him to a last
effort. He dragged bis body upon the
tree where the branches forked from
the main trunk, Utterly exhausted. DC
sank into their embrace. They held
him as though In cradle.
The rush OF the waters began 10
slacken. They stretched out over the
valley and crept up its sides. They did
not dow so much now ~ rise. The val
lev became moving sea. On its now
Ing surface beasts. fowls and reptiles
struggled, mad-eyed, for life, Here
and there q 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 sea rose the
old plantation house still high and dry
on its mound. X seemed very Tiny
a toy house on q lonely islet.
A great, open. white umbrella lined
with green sailed gayiy along. II
caught in the branches OF 0erry's tree
Uprooted cotton bushes noated BY. and
cane. snapped OF, sometimes torn up
In whole hills. banked up against the
tree and formed vast, unstable
island. toward whioh swan the delud,
| cd stock
From the mouth of the cleft In the
river gorge issued q laundering rata.
ract. 1t had burst through the walls
| OF the ditch and even unseated q rec
ton OF the rocky crag against which
the sluice-gate had been buttressed
The ditch was gone. II could never
be again. for the water was tearing
the channel OF the cleft deeper and
deeper. The turbid food devoured tho
silt OF the valley. accumulated since
man was, and carried II, seething. cut
| towards the river. The valley would
be left naked. stripped sf the source
| OF life.
Gerry's tree had crawlsd away from
the main current. In vast eddy Il
| approached the mound wherein squat
ted the old plantation house. Dons
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 cursing Gerry
cursing the day OF his birth, the day 81
his coming. the day he had opened hi,
ditch. She swept her arms over tht
terrible scene and called down thu
curse Of all the ruin and death on his
head. Buk 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 1t squareIy and swept /,
away. 1t suddenly shook Its long trail
OF riffraff. 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 n the ar-fnna
| waters. the old house still stood. The
bright sun struck CLINT OF light from
Its white walls and gave rich color to
its moss grown tiles. The roof was
crowded with fowl and strange med.
ley of heavy flying birds, glad OF a
perch on which to resi-. Dona Maria
went into the house. sae closed the
| great board shutters. Tho house looked
as II 1t had closed its eyss in last
remuneration.
Gerry's tree fioated down the river
1t swung slowly along near the north
shore. Just below II were houses.
They were perched on the elf. Below
| them were more houses and under
these the tiled roofs OF still other
houses just topped the food. The
houses were what was left Of Piran.
| has.