The state herald., 1917-05-18

| There Was q Kissing
Trask was so astonished by her i'm
pudence that he laughed.
"Why. you little flufry pullet, I'll tie
you up and drop you In the river!"
"Oh, you wlll?" said Gloria.
She snatched the poker from the
fire. Trask laughed at 1t. She hit the
table with 1t and sparks few. She
rubbed 1t on the wooden top of the
table and smoke arose. There was
a kissing sound. Trask shuddered.
Gloria jabbed Mt him with her red-hot
sword. He could feel the soaring pain
Of 1t before 1t reached him. When 1t
arrived where he was he was not
there. Gloria was . trifle conceited
over her success.
And now. what nexti She saw the
rope in his hand. He had brought It
to tie her with. The next idea came.
She gloated a trifle.
"You thought you would de me up,
did your Well, you can Just tie your
self upl"
Trask could hardly believe TINT any
one would be cruel enough to intiict
such m insulting injury. But Gloria's
arguments were pokes with the poker.
II Trask had been more intelligent
and less confused. and had known how,
he might have tied himself up as the
cabinet tricksters do-sO that he could
slip out easily. But this was beyond
him at the time. and Gloria was Wig
liant.
She made him fastcn the rope
around stanchion. then knot 1t about
one wrist, then pass 1t around him till
he looked like q package Of Gloria's
own tying. Tho last knots she attend.
ed to herself. She set the poker on
plate within easy reach, and knotted.
and knotted. and knotted. Tfask
gnashed his teeth with rage. but he
could not bulge. He yelled just once.
then she seized dish towel. whirled II
into roll and gagged him 30 that he
could not even gnash his teeth.
Gloria heard footsteps along the
deck overhead. Probably Jed was
coming down. The poker was cold.
There was no time for reheating It.
Something must be done at once. She
put out the lamp that Nell had light
Cd, she set at the foot Of the stairs
. wicker rocker. she laid It on Its side.
and fell back to await developments.
Jed came down the stairs In the
dark. As he left the last step he put
his foot In the wicker rocker a. In q
trap. Jed went on over with . crash
that shook the barge. He was yell
ing that be was being bitten to death
BY q wildcat. when Gloria sidled past
him, ran up the stairs and out on deck.
6he closed the hatch. fastened II and
voted herself three cheers.
She looked about her now and saw
that she was In the middle Of the Hud-
son river and a great distance from
either shore. The view was magni.
ncent In the cleaning. but she Ind had
enough Of Il and the hateful tug was
furrowing the water and drngging the
barge farther and farther north.
She saw the tiller Of the barge
Topping Idly. and It occurred to her
that II she could get free from the tug
she could steer the barge to shore her
self. Somewhere below was her fa-
Tiers home. stas and his father and
mother would be waiting for her. Per
haps her own father was alarmed. II
was time for her to go home. She
would take her prisoners back TO her
father and deliver them TO whatever
puniahment seemed right.
She had never steered canal barge,
but she imagined that II would be
about the same ~ u motor boat In
general principles. Fortunately. she
had been carried 20 far north that the
currsnt would act a. engine power.
She was delighted with the scheme.
She went forward and saw the big
hawsss sagged In the middle and cut
the water. The tug had buckled down
to IT. work. churning up noisy wake.
She could $50 the backs Of the crew
Of the tug where they sat smoking and
solemn and bored to death.
They would have had q good laugh
II they had seen Gloria trying to unite
the knots In that hawser with her lit.
tls hands. She was laughing to think
bow surprised they would be later
when they discovered BY chance that
'hs barge had disappeared.
When q parcel came homo from .
shop Gloria always tried TO unite It.,
then always went for tho scissors. 30
now, whom she saw that she could not
quite unknot the hawScr. shc looked
for the shears. Shc found an AZ on
deck and attacked tho big rope.
She hit everything but the hnwser.
md when she hit that at last II wns
like hitting n huge rubber band. The