ROMANCE AND REALITY.
The squall was very brief in its duration, lasting hardly a minute;
but it was immediately followed by torrents of rain. Tommy Toppleton
was a strong swimmer, and having but a short distance to make, he soon
reached the spot where Minnie was vainly struggling. She was nearly
exhausted by the violence of her useless efforts, when Tommy grasped
her in his arms, and lifted her head above the water. Half a minute
later, the Belle came to his assistance, and Tom Walton drew the
sufferer into the boat.
Mr. Nicholas Van Wolter was disgusted, and highly indignant that
Tommy Toppleton should venture to perform the noble part which he had
assigned to himself. All his brilliant prospects were imperilled, for
not only had Nick lost the prestige of saving the fair being himself,
but another had won it. The admiration, gratitude, and love which
the rescue was to secure for him, had been wrested from him by the
venturesome Tommy. His Sunday clothes had been wet for nothing, and
he was even willing to believe that he had come nearer being drowned
himself than any other member of the party.
The gallant Tommy was hastily assisted into the Belle, and Tom Walton
headed her towards the wreck of the Raven, where Waddie and Nick were
relieved from their uncomfortable situation. Minnie was in the little
cuddy forward, with Grace Toppleton, who had retired to its friendly
shelter before the squall came on. Strange as it may seem, these young
ladies were hardly acquainted with each other, for the relations
between their respective families had prevented them from meeting,
except by accident. Once, since Tommy and Waddie had buried the
hatchet, their sisters had been together for a few moments, and for the
first time in their lives had spoken to each other. But Grace was all
kindness and attention, and did all that the circumstances would admit
for the comfort of Minnie.
“How is Minnie?” demanded Waddie, anxiously, as soon as he was helped
into the boat.
“She is doing very well, I think,” replied Tommy. “She was not in the
water more than a couple of minutes, and her clothing buoyed her up so
that she did not go down at all.”
“You are a noble fellow, Tommy. You saved her life, and I shall always
be grateful to you,” added Waddie, grasping the hand of the hero.
“There wasn’t any need of jumping overboard--not a bit,” interposed Tom
Walton, with his good-natured grin.
“I don’t know that there was any need of it, but it seemed to me just
as though something ought to be done at once,” replied Tommy. “Our
sails were down, and I was afraid she would sink before we could get to
her in the boat.”
“You did just what you thought was right, Tommy,” added Tom Walton.
“You were just as noble as George Washington himself; but, if you had
taken the other oar, and helped me work the boat, we could have reached
Miss Wimpleton just as quick, if not a little quicker, than you could
swim to her.”
The skipper of the Belle was a very practical young man. Perhaps his
education had been neglected, for he had never read a romance in his
life, and was utterly unable to appreciate the sublime heights to which
Nick soared.
“If there was no need of jumping overboard, I am sorry I did it,” said
Tommy, laughing. “I did not suppose you could move the boat without
hoisting the mainsail, and my idea was, that the young lady would drown
before the Belle could be started. But Miss Wimpleton is safe, and we
need not trouble ourselves any more about the matter.”
“You did first rate, Tommy,” replied Tom Walton; “but I hate to see
a fellow risk his life when there isn’t any need of it. That’s all I
wanted to say.”
“By the great horn spoon, Tommy, you did the biggest thing a fellow
ever did,” said Waddie, with great enthusiasm.
“That’s so,” added Tom Walton. “He risked his life. I think just as
much of the act as any of you, I want you to understand; but there
wasn’t any need of it.”
“I did what I thought was best,” repeated Tommy. “We won’t say anything
more about it now. What shall we do?”
“We will run over to Grass Springs, and the girls can dry themselves at
the hotel,” suggested Waddie.
“Good! Run for Grass Springs, Tom,” said Tommy Toppleton.
“All right,” answered the skipper, as he hoisted his mainsail; and in a
few moments the Belle was headed towards the place indicated.
The rain continued to pour down in torrents, and Tom Walton, who had
not been overboard, was just as wet as those who had been. Grace, in
the cabin, was the only dry one of the party. But the boys had been so
often ducked that they did not heed it. Under the gentle ministrations
of Grace, Minnie recovered from the terror of the accident, and
regained her self-possession.
“Your brother is a noble fellow,” said she. “I am sure I should have
sunk in another instant, if he had not come to my assistance.”
“I am very glad Tommy was able to help you,” replied Grace.
“I want to see him, and thank him for what he did,” added Minnie.
“I will call him.”
Tommy came at the summons, dripping like an eel just from his native
element.
“Miss Wimpleton wishes to see you,” said Grace, as he crawled into the
cabin.
“I do, Mr. Toppleton. I must thank you for saving my life. I shall
remember you with gratitude as long as I live.”
“O, not at all, Miss Wimpleton. I only did what I thought was right,
and I hope you won’t feel under any obligations to me,” replied Tommy,
lightly.
“But I do feel under very great obligations to you, for I value my life
very highly. I should certainly have been drowned if you had not come
when you did.”
“Tom Walton says there was not the least need of my jumping overboard,”
laughed the hero of the hour.
“I don’t care what Tom Walton says; I shall always feel that I owe my
life to you.”
“O, no! Not quite so bad as that. Tom would have saved you in half a
minute more, if I hadn’t.”
“You need not try to disparage what you have done; and if Tom Walton or
anybody else does so, I shall hate him as long as I live.”
“Nick Van Wolter says he was just going to swim to you when he saw me
close beside you; so you could not have drowned.”
“Well, I am so thankful I owe my life to you, instead of Nick!”
exclaimed Minnie, with a candor which did not pause to consider the
possible consequences of such an admission.
“I am very much obliged to you for your good opinion, Miss Wimpleton.
I’m sure you don’t inherit the family rancor.”
“Indeed, I do not! I used to hate all the Toppletons; but Waddie says
you are a splendid fellow, though he did not find it out till since he
made up with you.”
“I am very much obliged to him,” answered Tommy. “I know I used to be
a pretty hard boy; but I have been trying to do better, and I am sure
your good opinion will be a great encouragement to me.”
“I don’t know that my good opinion will do you much good; but I shall
always think of you as a noble fellow, who risked his own life to save
mine.”
“I can only try to merit your esteem and regard,” replied Tommy, as he
gazed with an unwonted interest at the fair face and graceful form of
Minnie.
“I don’t think I shall ever dare to get into a boat again,” added she,
with something like a shudder. “At least, I shall not unless I know you
are near, Mr. Toppleton.”
“I don’t exactly understand how the Raven was upset. Waddie is one of
the best skippers on the lake,” replied Tommy.
“He has a lame arm, you know.”
“That boat went over very easy.”
“I certainly will never get into that boat again. Where are we going
now?”
“Over to the hotel at Grass Springs. You can dry yourself there, and
then we will have some dinner,” answered Tommy, as he left the cabin.
“Your brother is a real nice young man,” said Minnie, as the subject of
her remark disappeared.
“I think so myself, though he was not always so. Now he is kind and
obliging to me, and to all the family. He would do anything for us, and
never speaks a rude word, or does an ugly thing.”
“It’s just so with Waddie. Isn’t it strange what a change has come over
both of them?”
“Very strange, indeed; but what a blessed change it is! A year ago,
Tommy would not even let me go in a boat with him, though I am very
fond of sailing.”
“It was just so with Waddie. Now he invites me very often, though
he has had the Raven only a few days. I hope he will have a safer
boat. Do you know how my brother happened to become such a good boy?”
inquired Minnie, suddenly raising her head and gazing earnestly at her
companion, as though a new idea had flashed upon her mind. “I’ll tell
you. It was Captain Wolf Penniman that did it. Pooh! you needn’t blush,
Miss Toppleton.”
“I was not aware that I did blush,” added Grace, with some confusion.
“They say he is very fond of you.”
“He is a very good friend of mine.”
“I knew it,” said Minnie, archly. “What does your father say about it?”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
“About Wolf, of course.”
“He thinks very highly of him, and is grateful to him for his kindness
to Tommy when he was sick.”
“But what does he say about you and Wolf?”
“About Wolf and me! Why, nothing, of course,” replied Grace, evidently
astonished at the remark.
“How dull you are!” laughed Minnie. “Everybody says Wolf is in love
with you, and that you are not indifferent towards him.”
“Why, I never thought of any such thing!” exclaimed Grace. “We are very
good friends--that’s all.”
“Well, I suppose that’s enough.”
“Wolf was always very kind and very polite to me, and I think he is a
very good and a very smart young man. I never had any other thought in
regard to him.”
“How people do talk!”
“Why, I’m only sixteen years old!”
“Sweet sixteen!”
“I don’t think boys and girls of our age ought to meddle with such
matters.”
“Don’t you?”
“Indeed I don’t!”
“Does Wolf think so?”
“I don’t know; but I’m certain that he never spoke of such things to
me.”
“Perhaps he will one of these days, when the time comes.”
It was plain that Minnie had devoted more attention to a certain class
of subjects than Grace had; but then she was nearly a year older. It
was a question with her whether Major Toppleton would permit the young
steamboat captain to entangle the affections of his daughter; for he
could hardly permit her to become the wife of a common mechanic’s
son, even though he was the commander of a lake steamer. But, however
different the views of the two young ladies in regard to these trying
subjects, they were rapidly becoming the most devoted friends.
When the Belle reached the shore at Grass Springs, Tommy had made up
his mind that Minnie was one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen,
and he wondered that he had not discovered the fact before, for he had
occasionally met her since the healing of the rupture between himself
and her brother. Tommy was not quite eighteen, but he was progressive
in his ideas.