The Arvada enterprise., 1920-03-11

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blood, nor for the fact that she was Q
slave In her masters hands. To my
mind ahe was but q woman, . sweet,
loyable, girlish woman. in the unre-
strained power Of brute, and depend
ent alone on me for rescue. That Was
enough; cared for nothing more.
With silent strokes I waited patient
" until the steady chugging Of the en-
CINE grew faint In the distance, and
then finally ceased entirely.
Uncertain which way to turn. and
conscious Of q strange lassituds. I
made no struggle to reach land. but
permitted myself to be borne down.
ward in the grip Of the water. Sud
denly something drifted against my
body. . black. ill-deAned object. toss
ing about on the swell Of the waves.
and instinctively I grasped at 1t. rec
ognixing instantly the shell Of our
wrecked boat. 1t was all awash.
great hole stove In it, side we'll for
ward, and 20 filled with water the
added weight ot my body would have
sunk II instantly. Yet the thing re-
NAMED buoyant enough to float. and
I chung to its stern, thankful even for
this slight help.
There was no occasion for fear. al.
though I became aware that the sweep
Of the current was steadily bearing us
farther out toward the center Of the
broad stream, and soon felt convinced
that escape from my predicament
would be impossible until after day
light. The struggle to keep afioat was
no longer necessary. and my head
sank in relief on the hands gripping at
the boats stern, while we hoated ST.
lently on through the black mystery.
Suddenly the wrecked boats bow
grated against something immovable;
then became fixed. the stern swinging
slowly about. until It also caught. and
I could feel the full volume Of down.
pouring water against my body. The
blindly floating boat had drifted
upon 4 snag, seemingly the major por-
ton Of q tree, now held by some spit
Of sand. I struggled vainly in an at.
tempt to release the grip which held
us, but the force Of the current had
securely wedged the boats bow be-
meath q limb. q bare leahess tentacle.
making all my efforts useless. found
submerged branch on which to
stand. gripped the boat desperately to
prevent being swept away, and waited
for the dawn.
It seemed . long while coming, and
never did man gaze on more dismal.
CHASTITY scene than was revealed to
me BY those first gray CLEANS dimly
showing in the far east. All about
stretched utter desolation: wherever
my eyes turned the vista was the
same wide stretch Of restless brown
water surging and leapinz past, bound
ed BY low-lying shores. forlorn and de-
serted. How far had aimlessly drift.
ed downstream during the night was q
mere matter Of conjecture. pos
sessed no knowledge Of where I was.
Each bank Of the river appeared about
equally bare and desolate. entirely de-
void Of promise. However. I chose
the west shore for my experiment. ~
the current seemed Less strong in that
direction. and was about to plunge In.
determined to fight 4 way across,
when my eyes suddealy detected Q
faint wreath Of smoke curling up into
the pale sky above headland far to
the southwark. As I stared at this
1t became black and distinct, tossed
about In the wind. I watched intent
ly. clinging TO my support. scarcely
trusting my eyesight. while that frst
wisp deepened into q cloud. advanc-
Ing slowly toward me. There was no
longer doubt Of what 1t was-unques-
tIonably some steamer was pushing Its
course upstream. Even before my
ears could detect the far-off chug Of
the engine the boat itself rounded the
sharp point Of the headland and came
forth into full view, heading out
toward the middle Of the river In q
search for deeper water.
1t was an unusually large steamboat
for those days. a lower river packet.
I guessed. with two tunnels painted
yellow and high pilot house sur
mounted by huge braxen eagle. At
6rst. approaching me. bow On. I could
perceive but little Of Its dimensions,
nor gain clear view Of the decks. but
when It veered slightly these were re-
vealed. and had q glimpse Of q few
figures grouped forward. the great
wheel astern splashing the water. and
between. q long row Of windows 70
hecting the glare Of the early sun.
Even ~ I gaxed at this vision a nag
crept up the slendek star at the bow
and reaching the top rippled out In
the crisp breeze. A moment later
deciphered the lettering across the
white front Of the pilot house-Adven.
turer Of Memphis.
Indifferent at that moment a. to
where the approaching boat might be
bound, or my reception on board; de-
sirous only Of immediate escape from
my unfortunate predicament, I man.
aged to remove my sodden coat and
furiously wave II In the air a. q Gig.
nal. At nrst there was NO response.
no evidence that I had even been
seen: then slowly. deliberately. the
steamer CHANGED ito course and came