Year: 1871

a little, and then seemed to lie quie
! and still. She put out her hand anC
the current gurgled against it. Th,
tree was aground, and, by the posi-
ton of the light and the noise of th'


surf, aground upon the DedloV
Marsh.


i Had it not been for her baby who


was ailing and croupy, had it not


been for the sudden drying up oi


that sensitive fountain, she would


have felt safe and relieved. Per-


haps it was this which tended to


make all her impressions mournful


and gloomy. As the tide rapidly


fell, great flock of black brent fut-


tered by her, screaming and crying.


Then the plOver flew up and piped
mOurnfully, as they wheeled around
the trunk, and at last fearlessly lit


upon it like a gray cloud Then
the heron few over and around her,
shrieking and protesting, and at last
dropped its gaunt legs only few
yards from her. But, strangest of
all, pretty white bird, larger than a
dove-like a pelican, but not a pelI-
can-circled around and around her.
At last it lit upon a rootlet of the
tree, quite over her shoulder She
put out her hand and strOked its
beautiful white neck, and it never
appeared to move. It stayed there
so long that she thought She would
lift up the babyto see it, and try to
attract her attention. But when
she did so, the child was so chilled
and cold, and had such blue look
upon the little lashes which it didn't
raise at all, that she screamed aloud.
and the bird flew away, and she
tainted.


Well, that was the worst of it, and
perhaps it was not so much, after all
to any but herself. For when she
had recovered her senses it was
bright sunlight, and dead low water.
There was a confused noise of gut
tural voices about her, and an old
squaw, singing an Indian "hushaby,"
and rocking herself from side to side
before fire built on the marsh, be-
fore which she, the recovered wife
and mother lay weak and weary.
Her first thought was for her baby,
and she was about to speak, when a
young squaw, who must have been
mother herself fathomed her thought
and brought her the 'smoWitch," pale
but living, in such a queer little will
low cradle all bound up, just like the
squaws own young one, that she
laughed and cried together, and the
young squaw and the old squaw
showed their big white teeth and
said, "Plenty get vel, ,skeena nowitch,
wagee man come plenty soon" and
she could have kissed their brown
faces in her JOY. And then she found
that they had been gathering berries
on the marsh in their queer, comical
baskets, and saw the skirts of her
gown futtering on the tree from afar,
and the old squaw couldn't resist the
temptation of procuring new gar
ment, and came down and discovered
the "wagee" woman and child. And
of course she gave the garment to
the old squaw, as you may imagine,
and when he came at last and rushed
up to her, looking about ten years
older in his anxiety, she felt so faint
again that they had to carry her to
the canoe. For, you see, he knew
nothing about the flood until he
met the Indians at Utopia,and knew
by the signs that the poor woman
was his wife. And at the next high
tide he towed the tree away back
home, although it wasn't worth the
trouble, and built another house,
using the old tree for the foundation
and props, and called it after her,
"Mary's Ark" But you may guess
the next house was built above high
water mark. And that's all.


Not much, perhaps, considering
the maleyolent capacity of the Ded
low Marsh. But you must tramp
over it at low water or paddle over
it at hightide, or get lost upon it
once or twice in the fog, rs 1 have,
to understand properly Mary's adj
venture or to appreciate duly the
blessings of living beyond high
water mark.