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Show fHE storm began at four in the afternoon. First the wind and then the rain. The noise of it was deafening. "You can't go on tonight," said the woman peering out of her window. "See how dark it is. The rain is like a sheet. You'll never be able to keep in the road. If you make a mistake you'll drive over the edge of the cliffs. Better stay here. We'll give you supper and a bed to sleep in." The man, a stranger in the small, sea-coast village, stood silently beside the window. He frowned. "I'm not afraid," lie said. "I must get on. This is New Year's eve, and I promised prom-ised to be home. I've been away a long time." The woman gave a grunt of disapproval. disap-proval. "Only a miracle will save you tonight," she mumbled. "But go if you must." "I don't believe In miracles," said the man. "Keeping your wits about you is the only help from God." The woman threw up her hands. "Don't say that," she cried, "Perhaps you have never been near death, as our men who go to sea . . . and who have been saved suddenly as by a miracle." "I have been to sea in my time," answered the man, "and I tell you, its all wits and luck, whether you fejfe drown or live. I--' SfciVj I'll keep a sharp I " ' jjf '"' : eye out or trou-I trou-I JZtT. ble tonight, and I f f? T."- lf 1 m smart," he I. is.f''iS smileJ at the rSrS w 0 m a n, "I'll V3fIg fit," said the SJsS woman stolidly. lifSlfS "Here are your hat and coat." IfsCiljsa She gave him a ac'wSj53p few sandwich !ilrtjptpS wrapped in Bjgjj2jgggg heavy brown pa-jSSA' pa-jSSA' Per. She offered him an extra rug which he refused. "I'll send you word of my safe arrival home," said the man. "I ought to get there late tonight." "Good-by," called the woman, "And may a miracle save you from your own folly." The door slammed. In a moment the furious explosions of a car about to start penetrated the noise of the wind. The woman prepared supper for her husband and children. Then the dishes were washed and put away. She took up some mending, but the thought of the stranger trying to drive through the blackness of the storm never left her. She wa9 a pious woman wom-an and she prayed for him ; her simple sim-ple faith knew no other way. In the night there came a knocking on the door. The stranger had come back. The woman asked no questions until he was warmed and fed. "Your miracle happened," the man said in a low voice, "The gas in my oar gave out three feet this side of a bridge that had washed away. I could see nothing in the heavy rain. I should have been killed. I was saved, but not by my own wits. And every New Year's eve I shall thank God and remember." The woman smiled and wrung the water from his sodden cap. ((c). 13C8. Western Newspapor Union.) |
