The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-07-02
My Secret
By WARNER MILLER

mlsloTtune we were usner IOlk, u
sailors and lived under the canopy
of heaven; used to the breaking Of the
waves on the beach. which at times
lulled us To sluInber and at times
merged with the oar of the tempest.
l was thirty years old then and
when l saw Annie racing over the
sands or climbing the dunes. her hair
streaming behind her. In the wind. i
felt then In comparison with her l
was a hundred. At any rate / knew
that to her / was an old man while to
me she was a child. The day would
soon come when some youngster would
carry her OF and / left In a world
that would be dreary without her
But still she rompsd and pulled
about. when the water was calm, In
her boat. and with bare feet ran on
the sand Of a windy day like a bird.
"Of tempest-loving kind
Thus beating up against the wind"
and no wooer came. The only claim
l had on her was when she would
sit beside me on the end Of the dock
under which the waves were rolling
and l would tell her stories.
Then came a sailor lad still In his
teens and he and Annie came together
with a snap like two magnetixed met
ais. How I envied hat boy. He was
a handsome fellow, and In his sailor
toys, q unique costume unlike n
other, i thought 1t no wonder that An
ME should find a mate In him. An
MES father and I were chums, he
being but a few years Older than l
and one day he said to me:
tom, dye mind this young Croker
boy, maken up to my AnnieT"
The devil tempted me to say he's
no good. 'Twould be a pity for Annie
to throw herself away on such as he.
II / had said that Jim Clark would
have sent him away without Annie.
But / braced myself and said, Hes
a likely chap, and / believe would 60
aloft to furl a sail In a hurricane as
quick as any a I.
That settled 1t. The next day Ned
and got II.
1 was menden nets on the sand In
the mornen when l felt q pair Of arms
around my neck and turnin' saw An
nie's happy face near to mine. b
had come to tell me that she was to
marry the sailor boy.
Papa says you think well of him."
she said. and papa will take your
opinion Of anyone In preference to his
own"
I'm glad you're 30 happy. my dear"
1 said. but the words choksd me.
Annie's happiness did not last long.
She married Croker, but he sailed
away from her and returned.
my words about him to her father
were proved. When his ship came In
we were told that In O hurricane he
went aloft to furl a sail. when no
other man dared go. and losing bis
hold was blown overheard.
Annie mournsd him but she had
youth on her side and though she was
never the romp she had been was in
time herself again. She turned to me
for comfort and sometimes i dared hope
that we might In time be something
more than friends. but q few years
after Crocksr's taking on, she mar
ried again. this time the mate Of .
ship that sailed between New York
and Japan. He wasn't the handsome
sailor lad Croker was, and he didn't
sail with the wind. His ship was q
steamer.
simmons, this was Armies husband,
didn't live much longer than the first.
He came home sick from his FIRST roy
age after their marriage, and though
Annie nursed him tsnderly she couldn't
save him. He died In her arms and
we buried him In the little plot %
ground on the hillside, q mils back
from the village.
A big storm ragged on the coast. Ssv-
sral miles out wss = reef. covered
with water at high tide. In the after
noon q ship was seen to founder OF
the ledge and within q few minutes
she was broken to pieces. In time
wreckags and bodies began to come In
and the beach was o covered with
both. We did what w could to take
In and bury the dead. but night came
on before we could clean the beach.
The next day I went with several
others TO hunt for bodies that had
drifted northward. We found them
scattered along the beach and buried
them az we found them. I got sep
arated from the rest and came upon
the body Of q young man. started
the moment / saw him for ! recos-
nixed Ned Croker.
He was several years Older than
when / had last seen him and had
some beard on his face. but he was
Croker all the sauna Before any OF
the others reached me I had carried
him back to where there was earth
instead Of sand and buried him. I
found out In time why Croker wal
alive the day before i found the body.
He had found another mate and ths
account Of his death had been made