The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-02-16
Euening Story
In the Flood
BY FRANK H. WILLIAMS.

risen steadily sine morning and now
spread in the distance, a rain-swept,
ugly, moody lake whose farther shore
was lost in the darkness of the early
twilight. The river bade fair to be up
to the house by midnight.
Dorothy shivered slightly as she
gazed at this dismal scene. She was
Worried-not about herself, for a mo-
tor boat riding at ease on the. rising
waters near the house gave her sure
means of escape, but because of How
ard Freeman, her sweetheart, who was
immured in an office building on the
other side of the river. Some mo-
ments ago Howard had telephoned
that the building was surrounded by
water and that he was leaving by
rowboat. Dorothy had pleaded with
him to let her come for him in the
motorboat but he had refused. Per-
haps now at this very moment he was
getting into the rowboat. OF course
there was no danger, but the current
in the center of the stream was swift,
the river was filled with floating logs
and debris. Would he be able to win
the shore in his fragile boat without
trouble?
To Dorothy. who had lived there by
the river. all her life. the flood was
normal occurrence. Every year the
river overflowed its banks-not as ex-
tensively as this present flood, of
course, but enough to familiarize
those people who lived near the stream
with the characteristics of flood time.
So Dorothy did not fear the flood SO
far as she herself was concerned. 1t
was only because of Towards unfa-
miliarity with flood conditions. owing
to the recentness of his arrival in the
city, that she was worried.
That and another thing which kept
beating at the back of Dorothy's mind
and which she resolutely tried to keep
n hn Of har-
worries.
OF the two worries, this thing at the
back of her mind was much the
greater. Despite her efforts to keep
it down it rose up and frightened her.
She tapped restlessly on the window
pane with the tips of her fingers as
she continued gazing out at the flood.
What should she do? Towards mes
sage had been explicit-she should re-
main where she was and not come to
him He would be angry if she ven
tured out into the flood and storm to
come to him. There had been no ques-
ton about the sincerity with which he
had said this.
And yet-Dorothy came to a sudden
resolution. She swung back into the
dimly lighted room.
I'm going out in the boat" she
cried to her stepmother, the only
other occupant of the house, who was
swaying agitatedly back and forth in
a rocking chair near the center table.
IT wouldn't" was the reply. It's
dangerous.
pad will be here any minute now
in the other motor boat" said Doro-
thy. I've got TO go, that's all. I can't
stand it any longer
The rain dashed at Dorothy, and
chill wind buffeted her as she raced
from the house toward the boat Her
feet sank into the soft earth as she
1.a1 sir fao, n Ia1x
Now that she haSd come to this de-
cision and was actually launched on
the thing she had been longing to do
all afternoon, she was afire with eager
ness. She wanted to get to Howard
just as quickly as she possibly could.
Fortunately the launch started at
once. Dorothy hcaved up the anchor
which had moored the boat close to
the house in a little bayou made by
the advancing waters, and switching
on the searchlight, started up stream
against the swift current for the office
building mile away where Howard
worked.
Darkness had come by now. swift
and dense The searchlight cutting
thru the night disclosed a steady
downpour of rain, a thickly muddy
stream and a rushing mass of branches,
tree trunks and junk of one kind and
another.
It was slow work beating up against
the current. Every now and then
Dorothy gave a swift turn to the
wheel to escape a rushing log. Once
or twice the boat quivered under the
impact of some heavy object, whose
onrush was unavoidable.
Would she never reach the office
building2
Suddenly. as the boat veered to one
side in response to Dorothy's efforts
to escape a tree trunk. she gasped.
There, coming swiftly down the
stream some thirty feet to Dorothys
right, was a rowboat. No oars were
visible. At the rear of the boat, hold
ing his coat in the water and trying
to guide the boat in this fashion, was
Howard And crouched in the front
of the boat was a woman,
Dorothy's heart skipped a beat or
two at this sight. 1t was this woman
who had been the strongest of Doro-
thys two worries. She knew who the
woman was-an Alice Wispert, How
ards stenographer, her rival for How
ards affectionsi
Both Howard and the woman
glanced Up as the searchlight flashed
in their faces. They waved their
hands frantically.
oars 1ost!'' came Towards voice
on the wind suddenly and oddly cut
off as the wind shifted.
Again Dorothy's boat veered- On
the instant the rowboat and its occu-
pants were lost in the gloom Where
were they now?"
Holding the boat steady on its
course with her left hand, Dorothy
shifted the searchlight with her right,
looking for the rowboat.
On the instant came a grinding
crash, a woman's Shrek, a mans loud
voice.
Terror caught at Dorothy's heart.
She shifted the searchlight quickly
up and down the swollen stream.
There, already past her down the
stream by a hundred yards the row.
boat burst into view in the blaze from
Dorothy's searchlight. 1t was low in
the water. Both Howard and Alice
were standing up. The sound of an
agonizeA shrek came to Dorothy.
Then, quite suddenly. the boat sank
and the two people Esnk with it into
the river.
Fairly sobbing in her excitement
and anxiety, Dorothy spun the steer
ing wheel around. The boat answered