The Press., 1922-08-17
Good Fish in the
 Sea
By ROSE MEREDITH


 gagement is brOken-and he has gone back east"
 "I heard there was another girl out there"
 .I heard so tOO," retorted Ruth, "and if you do not mind, Mrs. Merton, sup pose we talk about something else"
 Glad enough, my dear, for he was as mean as all get-Out to steal your heart away and then go Off-but re- member, there's as good fish In the seas as ever were caught !"
 II suppose so," said Ruth listlessly, as she picked up her knitting; Il am afraid l am not much of a fisher woman"
 Ruth's mother came back to the room and glanced at the well-meaning neighbOr. She suspected that the trend of conversation had been toward the liGht-hearted Arthur Bent. She sal down and 6rislly threaded needle Rivers rising, they say" she began.
 ~ want t know! I heard Little Creek was way over the banks, but didn't know 1t had broken lOOse-n the river keeps on rising and the dam breaks-then gOOd-by to Hue River and all our honest"
 The women looked out at the swiftly running Blue River and talked about how the small streams were full to Overflowing and that the spring freshets were due.
 Eve always been afraid of Blue River, even if I've lived on its banks for twenty years" remarked Mrs Mer- ton as she went
 "T am more worried about those poor folks in the Little Village region along Little River" declared Mrs. HOt- ton. She stood awhile in the doorway, enjoying the fragrance of apple bios sOms and the fresh, earthly smell from the newly pIOwed fields. Then her gaze turned to her pretty daughter and the anxiety in her eyes deepened as she noted the swiftly flying fingers. What are you knitting, RuthY' she asked at last.
 The girl smiled. Don't laugh at me, mother dear, but l am knitting a, scarf-it started out to be a muffler for Arthur-and since he has gone away, l have kept right on knitting away, using up all the stray bits of yarn in the hOuse-see the crazy quilt effect? Some day, when I have used the last bit of wool it will be com pleted and all my trouble will be knit ted into it-see, 1t Is six yards long nOw!"
 My dearl Don't you think you have done enOughY"
 'Yes-I begin to feel that l am nearing the end-I am caring less every day!"
 What a blessed scarf that will be It is a good plan to knit our troubles into useful things like that, Ruthie. l do believe the river is rising-See, can catch the glint of 1t between those trees. l never saw 1t before. l am glad we are on high ground here your pa says he believes in building his house on A hill"
 Ruth got up and went to the back door. They watched the brimming river in its rushing movement toward the distant sea.
 II am afraid of the flood, mother" |" said the girl softly, "and yet some how, am waiting for 1t. I have a feeling that things will be different after that"
 Dear child, hope they will be happier for all of us, but remember the flood means death and destruc- tiOn to many poor people up the river" II knOw-I am not wishing for that Il am praying that the bridges will hold and that the dam will not break, but I am excited" and she went back to her knitting.
 The next morning the river was still rising and all the men folks departed hastily for Little River to see what aid they could render to the menaced homes along it's banks
 Ruth and her mother wandered un- easily around. watching the brown water and marking it's rise; suddenly debris began to appear in the water :; then a chicken coop, then young trees, and all the movable articles about a farmyard. A boy rushed in to shout that the dam had burst and that the whole village of Little River was floating down stream. Below the HOltOn farm men were gathering to save any threatened lives to stop any floating buildings.
 Now the river was alive with strange craft of every description. Chicken cOOps, one with defiant rooster growing Justify from it's peak, wooden tubs, wOOdsheds, small build ings, bObbed past on the tide; then a house flOated down, the inmates looking out Of the second-stOry win l dOws, waving carelessly to the help less women on the bank they could see that the men below had caught the house with boat hooks and were towing 1t safely into cove. Another house was coming dOwn-a low white building with green shutters It looked familiar to Mrs Horton. Its the parsonage at Little River" she exclaimed hysterically, for any one could see that the parsonage was not at Little River just now And land, Ruth, Is that man on the roof! It Is; perhaps It's the minister If that catches on the old snag the whole thing will t0pple over Tnd he will he drowned. Stakes alive. Nuthie. where are you GOlngJ Come down this in' Stant"
 But Ruth did not obey. Under her arm was the big bundle of knitting that she had been working On-knit- ting all her sorrow into 1t. She pulled out the needles as she ran, and then she began to climb the old oak tree that stretched a huge arm across the river above the dreaded snag. Astride the limb of the tree, she worked her way down until she swung over the river. Then she tied one of her shoes to the end of the scarf and began to unreel her rope. One end was thrown over the limb and secured; the other with it's dangling little shoe swung low enough to attract the minister's s attention. He glanced up,. saw the rope, the limb and made quick