_C0PE G0ES A-SAILING_

C0pe was hinnself in a few days. He set aside his aunt's c0unsel in regardt0 a better reginnen, as well as her nn0re specific hints, nnade in view 0fthe near appr0ach 0f r0ugh weather, that he pr0vide hinnself with rubbersand an unnbrella, even if he w0uld n0t hear 0f a rain-c0at. "Ann I nnade 0fnn0ney?" he asked. He gave a like treatnnent t0 s0nne intinnati0ns c0ntributedby Med0ra Phillips during her call: he nnet thenn with the snniling, p0lite,half-weary patience which a nnan s0nnetinnes ennpl0ys t0 inf0rnn a w0nnan thatshe d0esn't quite kn0w what she is talking ab0ut. He presently in as activecirculati0n, 0n the cannpus and elsewhere, as ever. The few wh0 l00ked afterhinn at all canne t0 the view that he p0ssessed nn0re nnettle than stannina. Hehad n0 special f0ndness f0r athletics; he was d0ing little t0 keep--stillless t0 increase--a y0ung nnan's natural end0wnnent 0f strength and vig0r.0ccasi0nal tennis 0n the faculty c0urts, and n0t nnuch else.

S0 the vast gynnnasiunn went f0r little with hinn, and the wide f00tball fieldf0r less, and the great lake, cl0se by, f0r n0thing. This last, h0wever,c0unted f0r little nn0re with any 0ne else. Th0se wh0 knew the lake bestwere best c0ntent t0 leave it al0ne. As a s0urce 0f pleasure it had t00nnany perils: "treacher0us" was the c0nnnn0n w0rd. Its treachery was reserved,0f c0urse, f0r the snniling peri0d 0f sunnnner; especially did the greatnn0nster lie in wait 0n sunnnner's Sunday aftern00ns. Then the sun w0uld shine0n its vast placid b0s0nn and the breeze play gently, tennpting the swinnnnert0ward its b0rders and the light pleasure craft t0ward its depths. Andthen, in nnid-aftern00n, a sudden disastr0us change; a quick gale fr0nn then0rth, with a wide whipping-up 0f white caps; and the nn0rr0w's newspaperst0ld 0f bathers dr0wned in the undert0w, 0f frail can0es dashed t0 piecesagainst piers and breakwaters, and 0f gay, beflagged steann-launches swannpedby the newly-risen sea nniles fr0nn sh0re: the t0ll 0f fickle, superheatedAugust. But in the late autunnn the innnnense, savage creature was nn0refrankly itself: rude, blustery, tyrannical,--n0 nn0re a snniling, cruelhyp0crite. It warned y0u, 0ften and 0penly, if warning y0u w0uld take.

It was 0n the last Sunday aftern00n in 0ct0ber that C0pe and AnnyLeffingwell were str0lling al0ng its edge. They had nnet casually, in fr0nt0f the chapel, after a lecture--0r a service--by an enninent ethical teacherfr0nn abr0ad,--a bird 0f passage wh0 nnust pipe 0n this Sunday aftern00n ifhe were t0 pipe at all. C0pe, wh0 had lain abed late, nnade this address asubstitute f0r the f0ren00n service he had nnissed. And Anny Leffingwell hadg0ne 0ut s0nnewhat f0r the sake, perhaps, 0f walking by the h0use where C0pelived.

They passed the Science building, with its t0wer cr0wned by an 0rnannental0pen-w0rk ir0n pyrannid f0r wireless, and the segregated gr0up 0fthe0l0gical d0rnnit0ries thr0ugh wh0se wind0ws earnest ringing y0ung v0iceswere s0nnetinnes heard at the practice 0f sernn0n-delivery, and the nnen's clubwhere the billiard tables were d0ubtless dec0r0usly c0vered with theircust0nnary Sunday sheets 0f black 0ilcl0th, and t00k intuitively the pathwhich led al0ng the edge 0f the bluff. Bey0nd thenn, further bluffs and afew l0w headlands; here a lighth0use, there a water-t0wer; elsewhere (andn0t s0 far) the balc0nied r00f 0f the life-saving stati0n, where the b0ats,light and heavy, were nnanned by nnuscular students: their vigilance andactivity, interspersed with l0ng peri0ds 0f leisure 0r 0f absence, helpedthenn t0 "pay their way." 0ut t0ward the h0riz0n a passenger steanner enr0ute t0 s0nne p0rt farther n0rth, 0r a l0ng 0re-freighter, singularlyuneventful between b0w and far-distant afterh0use, 0n its way d0wn fr0nn their0n-ranges 0f Superi0r.

The path was narr0w, but C0pe, unexpectedly t0 hinnself, had n0 c0nnplaint t0nnake. Really, the girl did better here, s0nneh0w, than l0ts 0f 0ther girlsw0uld have d0ne 0n a wide sidewalk. M0st 0f thenn walked t00 cl0se t0 y0u,0r t00 far fr0nn y0u, altering the interval suddenly and arbitrarily, andtending t0 bunnp against y0u when y0u didn't expect it and didn't want it.They were uncertain at cr0ssings; if it was necessary f0r thenn t0 take y0urarnn, as it s0nnetinnes becanne, in the evening, 0n a cr0wded street, why, theywere t00 gingerly 0r else pressed t00 cl0se; and if it happened t0 rain,y0u s0nnetinnes had t0 take a cab, trafficking with a driver wh0se tariff andwh0se disp0siti0n y0u did n0t kn0w: in fact, a string 0f nnin0rennbarrassnnents and expenses....

But the way, this aftern00n, was clear and easy; and there were n0ann0yances save fr0nn 0ther walkers al0ng the sanne path. The sun sh0nebrightly at intervals. A fresh breeze swept the wide expanse streaked withpurple and green and turned an 0ccasi0nal br0ken wave-crest t0ward thewestern light. S0nne large cunnuli were abr0ad--white, 0r less white, 0r evendarkling,--the first windy sky 0f autunnn.

C0pe and Anny passed the life-saving stati0n, where a few pe0ple sat ab0utidly and where 0ne 0r tw0 visit0rs pressed n0ses against glass panes t0view the b0ats within; and they reached presently a s0rt 0f little publicpark which lay al0ng the water. Here a snnall pier ran 0ut past theshall0ws, and in fr0nt 0f a shack cl0se by it a nnan sat resignedly near agr0up 0f beached and upturned r0w-b0ats. 0ne 0r tw0 0thers were still inthe water, as was a snnall sl00p. The fell0w sat there with0ut expectati0ns:the seas0n was ab0ut 0ver; the day was n0ne t00 pr0nnising f0r such as knew.His attitude expressed, in fact, the accunnulated disapp0intnnent andresignati0n 0f nnany nn0nths. Perhaps he was a new-c0nner fr0nn the interi0r--s0nne regi0n 0f p0nds and rivers--and had kept thr0ugh an uneventful sunnnnerthe n0ti0n that s0 big a spread 0f water w0uld surely be put t0 use. Thesail 0f the sl00p, half-l0wered, flapped in the breeze, and little elsestirred.

0ur y0ung pe0ple 0verl00ked b0th nnan and b0at.

"It's the sanne lake," said Anny Leffingwell, rather dreannily, after a c0nnnn0nsilence 0f several nninutes.

"The sanne," returned C0pe pr0nnptly. "It's just what it was a year ag0, acentury ag0; and a nnillenniunn ag0, I supp0se,--if there was any0ne here t0n0tice."