Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 242, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1913 — YACHTING AND A ROMANCE. [ARTICLE]

YACHTING AND A ROMANCE.

"Another yachting romance ended, I see,” remarked the old yachtsman, as he leaned over the veranda rail of the clubhouse and watched a fine looking girl step into a dinghy. “Why do you say ‘ended?’ ” asked the other man. “Looks more like another romance begun. She’s sailing on the Duro this season evidently.” “I say ‘ended’ because that’s the girl who has turned Northam down,” explained the yachtsman. “They were engaged, you know. Everything was fair weather. Not a dark cloud or squall In sight. But two weeks ago she struck and Northam is adrift* “You, see,’l he continued, as he watched the dinghy slide alongside a white-hulled yacht, "Northam had just slapped a coat of paint on his boat, when who should show up but this girl and two other girls. They knew It was early In the season,- but they were just dying for a sail. Northam explained that he was awfully sorry, but that it was a case of sitting on the veranda, as he had just painted his boat Just then up luffs the owner of the Ferry. He offered to take them out and they went Just as the Ferry was ready to get under way, Dietrick hailed from the chib. You know Dietrick and Northam have sailed together for years and they are the best sailors around here.

“Well, the Ferry took a course out into the lake. There was quite a sea running and the wind came in bunches. Every one was having a good time, even if the owner of the Ferry was sailing his boat like an ice wagon. . ’

“Northam and Dietrick were really the only ones aboard who understood the game. When about five knots out, Northam says, the owner of the Ferry suddenly decided to come about, or else he forgot the boat altogether while talking to-the girls. Anyhow, the Ferry shot up Into the wind for a second, the big boom swung inboard and hit one of the crew across the back. There was a splash—man overboard! "A life ring was hanging to the cabin. Northam was standing in the cockpit near it. He handed It to Dietrick, who was just getting ready to give a pull on the main sheet. Giving him a shove, Northern yelled at him to jump overboard. And overboard Dietrick went

“Northam said he knew that the owner of the Ferry didn’t know what to do and would have .tried to come about right there instead of keeping on until In just the right position to jibe over or come about and then try to pick the men up. So he slammed the Ferry’s owner up against the cabin and took the tiller.

“Say, you know it takes nerve to keep right on sailing away from a friend who has gone overboard, but Northam did It. When he started back a few minutes later he was able btf luff up close to the two heads that bobbed among the waves. Well, he picked them up the first try. “They got the two fellows aboard just in time, for Dietrick said he couldn’t have held out much longer, even with the help of the life ring, for the water was ice cold and he was just about frozen stiff. “Now comes the funny part While Northam was patting himself on the back for doing just the right thing—for he saved time by giving the life ring to Dietrick and making him get overboard —while he was explaining to the Ferry’s owner that he simply had to sail the boat or his friend would have gone do4rn—the girl was doing a lot of thinking on a different course. She had told her friends that Northam was the bravest sailor on the lake and had been in all kinds of storms. Well, she didn’t say a word —not until they landed. “Then when Northam said he guessed he would go home with her she said —right out loud so we could all hear —that she guessed he would not She said she didn’t care to have another thing more to do with a man who would make his friend jump overboard to save another when he should have done it himself. “Say, Northam was struck with all canvas up and he went down all the way. He didn’t say a word. He just stood there and watched her walk away. Then he looked out across the harbor —just stood there and looked. "We tried to cheer him up—said the girl was probably excited and didn’t understand that the Ferry crowd would never have been able to pick anybody up. “Northam went out to see the girl that night and tried to explain, but it wasn’t any use. He was a coward, she said. Now Northam Is wondering whether he is or not “That’s why I said another romance was ended.”—Chicago News.