A Man of Two Countries

								

"My God!" groaned Charlie, springing after her. But his leap was
preceded by that of Philip Danvers.
The alarm was given; the engines reversed. As the roustabouts jumped to
lower the boats the men pressed forward, but the mate beat them back
and got the crew to work.
Nowhere could the soft curls be seen. Charlie, nearly drawn into the
revolving paddles, was taken into the boat. Presently the watchers saw
Winifred's little red dress caught on an uprooted sapling. Tree and
child were in the center of the current. While so much debris stayed
near the shore or drifted on the shallow sand-bars, this one tree with
its human freight hurried on.
"Save her! Save her!" sobbed Scar Faced Charlie, kept by force from
jumping again into the stream. "Let me go!" he roared.
"No, Charlie," said the mate firmly. "We're goin' to pick up yer sister
an' Danvers. No need fer yeh to risk yer life again. That English lad is
goin' to turn the trick."
Philip swam on, strongly, while vociferous ejaculations reached him.
"That feller's got sand!" he heard Joe say, as he dexterously avoided a
whirlpool and dodged a snag.
"He's a fool!"
"He'll drown, an' the girl, too!"
"It's caught--he'll overtake her!"
A devilfish-like snag held tree and burden. With a burst of speed Philip
swam alongside. Winifred? Thank God! Still alive, although unconscious;
face white, eyes closed. As he grasped her, her eyes opened.



       *       *       *       *       *
After the excitement, the shouts and the cursings, the crashing of wood
and the fighting, quiet reigned on the Far West.
Robert Burroughs, sitting in the long northern twilight, rubbed his sore
muscles while Scar Faced Charlie and the doctor paced the deck.
"Danvers did a big thing. He saved my sister's life. I'll never forget
it. If the time ever comes I'll do as much for him," declared Charlie.
"Perhaps you may," mused the doctor. "We can never tell what the future
holds. Perhaps you'll not save his life, but life isn't everything. He
may ask you to do something that you won't want to do."
The grating of the steamer on a sand-bar interrupted him.
Brought into high relief by the rising moon, the lead-man stationed
forward called:
"Four feet scant--four feet--by the lead five n' a half! No bottom!"
Then came:
"Three--t-h-r-e-e--f-e-e-t--scant!" Again the boat scraped the sand.
As the pilot shouted down the tube to the engineers to pile on more
steam Charlie reverted to the rescue.
"Danvers looked pretty well used up when he was brought aboard. But
darned if he yipped. He was all for lookin' after Winnie."
"I like the lad," nodded the doctor approvingly. "He has the gift of
silence. Shakespeare says: 'Give thy thoughts no tongue.'"
In their next turn they saw Burroughs.
"It'll never do for you to locate at Macleod, Bob, 'f you're goin' to
aggravate every recruit you don't happen to like," suggested Charlie,