Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

33 articles on this Page

TO-DAY'S SHORT STORY.] A Yachting…

News
Cite
Share

TO-DAY'S SHORT STORY.] A Yachting Romance. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] It was a. inmmer morndnsr when Lonsdale, a youthful yachtsman. walked down the YSLiley of a tidal river among the hills of Wales. Two damsels from the hotel three miles away walked with him, daintily attired in the smartest of sammer frocks, lphich implied considerable ignorance of the Kestrel's g-oneral state of cleanliness. They were cousins of the owner, who, aided by his sister, was already shortening' the cable chain, and their mother had most unwisely allowed them to accompany him to the ancient town at the mouth of the river. "How sweetly pretty!" said Carrie Grant when they reached the somewhat miry bank. And she was ri?ht, for one would have to travel far to find a fairer seen 0' green meadows. cornfields, copses rolling down, and the sheen of sraLden gorse along the moora above. The Kestrel's white mainsail was reflected in sunlit water in the fore- ground. Lonsdale, however, noticed with dismay that deep mud separated, them from the tiny dinghy, while the owner haiied that as the water "as falling he could not wadt, and they must row after :P:m. •'Ycm would spoil your pretty dresses. Do you think I might carry you?" asked Lons- dale, with a fluah; and Miss Grant answered severely, "Certainly not! You must put stones for 1.113 to step oil instead. So for half-an- ,?y carrieci ,3?ncc- a hour Lonsdale puicfuiiy carried .stance a hundred yaardas from a dry wall and bedded them in the mad, a.fter which he stood ankle- deep Mmseii while the girls walked c\er t:iem. By tli.-i time the Kestrel ba.d vanished behind an overhanging: wood, and he had, ruined a pair of new brown shoe*. Carrie Grain t glanced at tlem, saying: "You h el red in .so e y—I am so sorry." "The sijOiis dca't matter much. fa cases of this kind I borrow the skipper's thing's," he answered. Lonsdale rc'wf'd hard. P„eed bank, copse, and mildew slkl by. for the tide was racing seawards under them. But four mi1e-S passed before they overtoo-k the Ke»trel. then only to discover that ,<ht lay over Cdl one side with a, rush of muddy fluid boiling about her. while a. red-faced individual stood waist-deep in the river with his shoaMers against tne bow, an-d his sister thrusting desperately with an ü. while Lonsdale chuckled as he explained "'George lias, aci i?:r."l 1, missed the chancel, ard you must sit still while I help j h.im. This is one of the ways we enjoy our- selves." He ran the dinghy in on the top of a shoal and floundered towards the boat. When hoe arrived thet skipper told him that the a-cei-; dent had been solely cauiseit by his tardiress. but one gwd shove would snfflce to set her afloat. They shoved their hardest, and the res-wit was ti-ikin, for the Kestrel swayed upright (fuddeniy, jibbing her maiiniboo;m over; ttiea. as she floated, the sail burled Lonsdale from his feet. He went down head foremost, while the boat shot away with her skipper crawl- ing, dripping, over the ta If rail. Lonsdale recovered his footing, half-choked, and florin- dered afttT the Kestrel up to his shouidt-rs in muddy water until the skipper roared, "Where are you coming to? Go back for) the girls, you foo,il" When he regained the dinghy the elder pister regarded bim with ootid disapproval, > while the younger one threatened to choke with suppre^ccl merriment. In reply to their question he explained that his comrade would anchor as LIl as he could find deeper watpr lower down. Then, while his com- paniollii gathered their dainty skirts clear j of the water that drain-ed from him. he rowed for two hours, except when he got out and painfuily shoved the dinghy over the I shallows. This happened much otftener than he liked, so ti-,a,t when he rested very tired j at last t;h e,y had progressed some four miles or ";0. I "How far is it to the nearest station?" asked Miss of: rant; ainl LonsdaU- answered, with conscibus guilt, "Only ten miles, I think, although we cj,n't go very fast, because it's mostly dry land now the. water ba, run away. You could hardly get aslsore if you wanted to. Those high banks laok j very muddy." The sisters glanced at one another in uis* way, and the younger produced a packet > of sandwiches, which witn commendabie ,utt, -;ment her mother had given her. She handed Lonsdale one. who, forgetting that he was not on board the Ke?t-'Bl. abgtrac- tedly swallowed it at a -ulp, and then fidgeted awfully when be saw the amused wouder in Carrie Grant's eyes. His clothes woere stiking to him, his wet hair plastered his forehead, and he felt that his present guise was not- calculated to appeal to that maiden's fancy. Alas! the, long-expected picnic was a dismal failure. Still, it was necessary to get on, and, refusing further sandwiches, he took the towhue over his shoulder, and pioddro dejectedly along the bed f the river. But ( there is an end to everything: and at last when, worn-out, aching, and wet, he hauled the dinghy down a thread of water into a. wide waste of sand, in the centre of which the Kestrel lay high and dry, he said, ernl- tantly, "There, you can w-alk to her in half- r an-hour or --ol" "o" said Miss Grant, with emphasis; "we j have had quite s?mcient yachting for one | day. AVe are going straight to the village yendei*, and then to the railway." i Lonr-idale, feeling his efforts deserved a better reward, ftunig over the dinghy s t grapple, and for some time, because those j sands are wide, plodded in aggrieved silerace towards the shore. But the girls, who insisted on waiting behind him. halted in dismay j when a, narrow tide channel of the kind I called a. "gutter" ran between them and the houses scarcely two hundred yards away. Welshmen in the village street waved their arms excitedly, shouting something quite -unintelligible: but Lonsdale, who noticed strips of weed and froth were sailing past, ex.pdained in English, They say the i flood-tide is making, and we must h1.1iITY across. It was not a pleasant position. They stood j on a lallge island of .-and, the dinghy, as he noticed, already afloat perhaps a mile away, and another channel dividing them from the Kestrel. No other boat was visible, and the j tide sots strong over that level stretch of sands. "It looks hombly deep and dirty," said the elder girt wilh a shudder. What- ever shall "we do?" j Sbam-effajcedly Lonsdale answered, It will he deeper piresentlv. It-it can't be helped. I mu,.t carry you." I Miss Crantstarn-pel her pretty foot, which was wet and muddy; and Lonsdale, being a basthfud young man, stood wondering how to began, until he made a grab at her: and the other sister laughted outright when there I was a, cry, "Not that way; I'm not a sack or flour!" He staggered to the bank of the gutter, nearly missed blo footing, and reeled down the slope, when Miss Carrie Grant, who laughed deliriously, grew grave, for Lonsdale was up to his waist in water which swirled in white wreaths past him. The soft ooze yielded beneath his feet, twice he almost fell, but he floundered up the opposite bank in safety and dropped his burden, when the girl said, as icily as she could: II There—thanks—yau have carried me quite far -enough. "Thank heaven!" said Lonsdale, whose per- ceptions were mixed. "Ah—I don't mean that exactly—I and then retired precipitately. He progressed better at the second attempt, r r the younger sister 'VI'a:< either lighter or Eiore used to heing carried; and when he clapped h-er Lonsdale felt that this at least repaid all his pairs. But the tide rose every moment, the stream ran fast, and he ¡.:ank to the shoulders, the ?jrl's wet skirts, ws?hpd about him, while Miss Grant com- menced to scream. Then the water rhoaled a little, the drag of th^ current decreased, he was clear to the knees, and with a gasp of thankfulness stag- g-ered out on terra firma. "You did it splendidly. If you hadn't we should have been drowned—but now you can put me down," said the girl, who blushed bewitchingly as he answered, "I am only sorry it wasn't ever so much wider." "We are going straight to the hotel," said Miss Grant. "Mr Lonsdale, we bid vou adieu. You will come with us?—certainly not! There is a limit to one's- appearance, even after an afternoon's yachting." Lonsdale, raising his muddy cap, i. j nothing, though he flushed with pleasure when CaTrie Grant smiled. In the evening, ) when he lay in the Kestrel's tiny saloon, he said, "It, was a uniqu-e experience, but I enj-oyed the latter part of it—when I heloed her th rough the gutter." "I think you ought to be ashamed of your- i self. Lonsdale," said the owner's sister. "In all probability you will not get the chance of even looking at Miss Carrie Grant again." In this, however, the lady was wrong, for in after years Mr. and Mrs. Lonsdale, whose acquaintance ripened from that day, often laughed together over the unfortunate yacht- ing episode.

Advertising

- I Passing Pfeasantries.j

TRADE OF NEWPORT. ——4

ILOCAL TIDE TABLE.

I MA CHEN" MAHATHON" RACE.

Advertising

I For Women Folk. 1 II

UNION FUNDS FOR M.Ps.!

.—————-I BILLS IN PARLIAMENT…

IARMYFLYINGMACHINEI ARMY FLYING…

IAFFAIRS OF- IND, COOPE

IMILITANT SUFFRAGETTE I MOVEMENT.

I COSTLY CONIES-I

Advertising

I Football -Notes

WELSH FOOTBALL UlOS. I

Advertising

I Rescues at a Hotel FireI…

I---I LATE COLONEL MORGAN

COLONEL BRUCE VAUGHAN 1

FOOTBALLER'S WINDFALLI

LATE DR. CADVAN JONES I

A HOME RTHAT REDUCES FAT I

FROM BALLROOM TO DEATH

ST. SAVIOUH'S HARRIERS.I

Advertising

Congress& M r Roosevelt]

LOVER "BUNDLED OUT."I

I GOLF. !

Advertising

IGovernor Hughes !

Advertising