Evening Star Newspaper, March 16, 1932, Page 28

STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1932. SIT DOWN——Comfortably And Iron ALL Your Clothes General Electrie Model J F FLATPLATE Ironer B—12 EVENIXNG BYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING INSTALLMENT. Martin Heil, & handsome young graduate in_engineering, had lost his job following a merger of the plant where he was employed, ®nd had become swimming instructor at & meuntain lake resort for the Summer. Herr Birndl, proprietor of the swimming and sun- bathing_establishment, found Martin touchy and very difficult to handle. Martin had made quite & reputation swimming for considered matters. The lake had gone crazy beneath the storm. Martin was | tossed hither and thither like a rubber | ball. Once he thought of little Matz, | and wondered whether he had put back in time with his old tub, and also he | thought of the safety of his stop watch, | which had cost him such a sacrifice his Berlin club, and he stressed the fact | that he was an amateur, although through teach Herr three times a day looking for a letter re- | sarding an_invention he had perfected Martin's wardrobe was of the scantiest, his last schilling having gone for the purchase f'shoes. ~He was hunsry much " of . a5 | Weather was cold and 'th | glacier-fed lake too chilly for bathing. and | ftartin's sole income was about a third of a schilling for each lesson he gave. He was training for a long-distance race for his club and one evening started to swim across the lake, accompanied in a rowboat by little 6-year-old boy named Matz, Who had attached himself to Martin the day of his arrival. An attractive, brown-eved girl | watched the lake with & telescope until ereryihing was lost to sieht in darkness and | storm. INSTALLMENT IL AR away out on the lake, bouy- ant as a spar of wood, Martin lay extended at full stretch in the water and propelled himself with a four-stroke crawl. His supple arms scooped the water as regu- larly as a pair of paddles and the elastic recoil of his legs whipped him forward, leaving & track of foam in his wake. In his ears and eyes and nostrils were the well known tingling hiss, and the green murmuring twilight of the waves, and as each arm-stroke lifted him out of the water ke turned his head toward his left shoulder and drew a deep breath. His breath was muchi warmer than the water, and there was something in it of expectancy and urg- ency. Even when a brief shower pat- tered down its big drops from & heavy cloud, his breath was neither cooler nor quicker, but the lake grew rougher and opposed a stronger resistance to his _arms. The lake was cold and very deep. Fed by the glacier streams that flowed into it, it became colder and colder toward the middle and the coldness va it sometimes gripped the swimmer’s flanks as if with hoops and made breathing more difficult. The cold nip- ped his heels and toes and caused & slight stiffening, and this provoked Martin to blow a trumpet note of an- noyance through the water. ‘When, as far as he could tell, he was about halfway across he felt himself getting tired, and this annoyed and worried him. He trod water and took & Jook back over his course and over the lake. He was a little disappointed with what he saw. Frauensee shore, still not very far off, and all those com- fortable and inviting features to which Petermann’s Grand Hotel on its pro- jecting spit of land owed its good name, were easily discernible. In the garden below the terrace white-aproned waiters were shutting the big red tea garden umbrellas and carrying them indoors. That pointed to steady rain. ‘There Was not a boat on the lake—only one, &t Jeast, and this rocked about as it la- bored heavily to and fro in a perfectly aimless fashion. Martin recognized it at once. It was the old, broad-beamed emergency boat of the bathing station, manned by little Matz, who appeared to be making no headway against the increasing force of the wind. Martin raiseq one arm above the water and sent a short yodeling call over the lake. The answering call could only be guessed, for it was swept away by the wind. Martin smiled, but he was a little anxious all the same. Now the boy was getting the boat along, though it was shipping water all the time, and with him was the stop- watch that he revered like a fetish. The lake was in an ugly mood, and the waves hroke relentlessly over Martin’s head. The Wurmtal shore, for which Martin was making, was far away and its outlines were obscured by mist. The white walls and dark mt ofl Castle Dobbersbérg - alone stood out clear on an eminence jutting out into the lake. Martin took his bearings once more by ‘Wurmf ding stage of the mo- torboat, which he could hear tooting in the distance without being able to see it. The familiar sound made the va- cant expanses of the lake seem rather more friendly. He yodeled across to Matz once more. They were farther apart now and it looked as if the boy had to turn back to the bathing beach. But perhaps it was the wind from the west that drove him backward, or else he was trying w. tack. For a moment Martin considered returning, but it was only a fleeting idea that he brushed aside at once as he extended himself again in the water ‘and shot forward as if at the start of a race. He could not keep it up long, for the waves grew bigger and he had to rise to each one and override it, and this cost him more breath than before. But once for a moment he found himself in a stretch of still, black water that lay like a patch of oil amid the tempestu- ous lake. This to local weather proph- ets was a presage of storms to come. It was warm there. Then he swam on | again, using the crawl stroke, as be- fore, almost mechanically, in a dazed and bewildered state. After 10 minutes of this he was tired out again and making no headway. It seemed to him that he was dragging his limbs not through water but through a thick, cohesive mass—an icy lava, cold and yet burning. The lake was now transformed into mountainous waves with swirling valleys between. The sky hung low and lowering. It was very yellow, and a weird metallic light fringed the black and heavy clouds. The shores had vanished. A confused and angry roar of thunder, | tempest and hail broke over Martin’s | head. A rush of water was dashed against his face when he looked up. It filled his mouth, and for a few seconds | he fought for breath while he coughed and choked. A wave caught him up and he sat like a pigmy on a great wet | palm. When after a second or two he | opened his eyes again- all was dark. | He knew no longer where he was. He did not know in what direction he ought to swim. ! ile he lay on his back and ATONL L WL e not to pawn. Then for a time he thought of nothing, for there was no breath left in his body. Suddenly he realized the danger he was in. “Damn it!” he sald as he tried to turn on his side. “Damn it all!” And then he swam on again. He was panting now. His heart thumped against his ribs, and the strength ebbed swiftly from his stiffening limbs. This lasted a long time. At last, when he knew that it was a matter of life or death, the fury of the waters seemed to enter into him. He fought. He plunged his arms into the water as if grappling with an enemy. He cried out, and this, since it cost him breath, was an utterly senseless thing to do. But he had to give violent expression to his rage and sense of impotence. Amid the storm he heard his own pant- ing breath. Pinally, when it was quite dark, when there was not a trace of the shore and not a glimmer to give him his di- rection, he gave up. Perhaps he was merely being swirled in circles over this thrice damned Frauensee. So now he gave up. He lay on his back like & drowned man, as they did at the life- saving practice at the club. He closed his eyes in a complete surrender to his weakness. It even seemed to him that he fell asleep as he rose and fell breath- lessly between one wave and the next. But probably he had lost consciousness. Once he was surprised to see a large star, motionless in a patch of cloudless evening sky. Then the water washed again over his eyes. He struggled to the surface, tugging on his will as if on a rope. The effort brought him to his senses. His heart was strangely empty, but he still kept on swimming without a notion whither it might lead. ‘The waves were still high, but more regular and not so madly piled up one against another. The storm raged on, but there was now more force in it than hysteria. Yes, and there was in truth a large star in a rift of quiet evening sky between the clouds. ‘Then, though it seemed incredible, a light came dancing over the water to- ward him, and just as he was on the verge of losing consclousness he forced himself forward to meet it. He tried to give the short yodel that the in- habitants of Frauensee use among themselves. But his throat and lips seemed to be gripped by a cramp that gave way only to his panting breath, and 8o he scarcely made a sound. He swore, and his arms fell limp. His legs alone kept up their stroke. He had cramp of the windpipe. He was suffocating. ‘Then close at hand there was a lantern, dancing over the lake, and a huge stern-oar with a blade as broad as a stable shovel, quite near—one of those oars the Frauensee peasants use. It dipped and rose again in the water quite close to Martin’s head. He stretched his hand out. Nearby rose a dark, confused mass of wood, boat, oar and gunwale. There was a voice there as well. “Climb in, boy” came the voice through the tumult. “Hold tight, and Tl pull you through. Not into the boat or you'll sink us. Now then, boy, can you hold on?” Before Martin's eyes there was & circle of light in the darkness. For a moment he had a clear sight of white foam sweeping by in the gleam of the lantern. He came on a hand that was s0 close to his face that it seemed of giant size, and then he saw a pair of eyes beneath the hood of & dripping- wet woolen cloak. There was nothing besides but darkness and beating waves. Suddenly he was filled with a wonder- ful confidence and strength. He took & deep breath and drew in the air with ease. He had been giving in when he had touched the edge of the boat. The disciplined instinct of an athlete as- serted itself. “How far to go?” he asked. It sounded like the mutter of a drunken man, owing to the cramp in his throat, but apparently he was understood. “Thirty meters yet,” some one sald from the light of the lantern. “I can do it,” Martin panted from the water, and struck oot The Gersing into the water reassuringly beside him, and he rode over the waves, whose punch became weaker and weaker. “There’s nothing to be afraid of now,” some one above him was saying. He heard it distinctly. It seemed to him funny and at the same time it re- assured him. T'm not afraid, he thought, and he blew a trumpeting note through the water, induced by excite- ment, weakness and a sudden over- weening self-confidence. Then he found that he was no longer in the water. He was lying prostrate, and there was water weed around his legs. “Here we are,” somebody said. He was pulled on to something firm and hard and wooden that at first seemed to rock and afterward became a landing stage. There was the smell of a boathouse, and in the feeble light of the lantern posts and moored boats. Overhead the rain pattered on a shingle roof. The painter was made fast with a rattle of chains, and after that Mar- tin lay quite still and heard himself brgnthlng. . 'm properly pumped out, he though with satisfaction. It was as if heughafi just won a race. I pulled it off, all the Subscribe Today It costs only about 1!, cents per day and 5 cents Sundays to have Washington’s best newspa- per delivered to you regularly every evening and Sunday morn- Telephone National 5000 and the delivery will start immediate- ly. The Route Agent will collect at the end of each month. - it E Worth Owning There a in this re thousands of people community who rank their savings accounts at the UNION homes policies TRUST with their and their insurance as their most valuable possessions. The record of this institution | | as the | WASHINGTON || “ fl‘(‘en!enm’a[ I 1732 1932 7 Union THRIFT ALLY OF THIS COMMUNITY is proof they are right Interest paid on Checking and Savings Accounts E = = O TS TRUSTCOMPANY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA EDWARD J. STELLWAGEN Presicent: FIFTEENTH SOUTHWEST CORNER AND M STREETS — NORTHWEST “Do you feel better mow?” the girl asked from the boat. He nmodded. had taken her for a boy, bu saw it was a girl kneeling beside him. him just over his midriff, which kept same, he thought; T wasn't done. I got | the planks of the landing stage, his | on dilating and contracting like bellows. through with it, in spite of all. It | teeth began to chatter, and now for the | “Do you feel better now?” the girl | seemed to him in his dazed condition | first time he realized that he was |asked from the boat. He nodded. He to be at the same time a pledge in- | frozen to the very marrow of his bones. | had taken her for a boy, but now he volving other things of supreme impor- | Water still ran from his hair, which | SaW it was a girl kneeling beside him. tance that had nothing to do with the | was matted over his forehead, and the| ‘‘Well, and aren't you a fathead?” she wide and angry lake. | drops trickled off from the edge of the asked, laughing. After lying flat for some minutes on | landing stage. 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