Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1843-04-25
formulated from fhe French Of Bethoud.
THE NOBLE FISnE RMAN

10 overwhem II a woman two children and
Sailor. alone on the waters in this frail YES
sci The woman, wrapped in a large cloak un.
der the shelter Of which she Rugged her children
to her heart, alternately weepcd and prayed The
Sailor, having for long time struggled againa
the tempest, and cndcavored in valid to urge for.
ward the Shaiop III hts charge, had closed his
arms on his breast, and waited in sulen silence
the death which seemed inevitable Through
the thick mis-, his prnciiced eye at length saw
hope Land land he shouted, and re,aking
his oars now piled them with new vigor
Vain His exhausted strength could surmount
no rebuff, even with apparent safety in his reach
His struggles TO gain the shore seemed but length.
en- the distance between the boat and the strand
Al length he again abandoned his hopeless labor
The quick eye Of the mother detected his purpose
as he relieved his person of his heavier garments
You will no, abandon my children to perish !
she cried in agony.
The Sailor looked wis,fully a, the unhappy SUI
ferers He measured the distance to the shore
with his eye, and looked over the boats side, TO
the waters which, partially sheltered, seemed to
boil and vest as in a cauldron, the rcceding tide
combating the furious gale. To save one ofthose
helpless ones was impossible. He ven,ured on
no word Of advice or consolation, lest his mercy
should master his Judgment, but while the mother
apart, and eyes pressing from their sockets to
catch word, breath in answer, he cut every.
thing short, by Immediately diving into the
sea.
The boat rceled and shivered under the mo-
mentum given i, BY the Sailors plunge but He
who holds the waters in the hollow Of his hand
watched over the forslken. The mother casped
her 'ttle ones yet closer to her breast, and raised
be- eyes! % heaven IN an agony Of prayer too ear
nest 10 wait for words. The wave that she fear
ed was just about TO whelm her was broken in its
crest by the strange weight it bore-and rs It's
waters nearel her sullen-an uneaithly sound
broke on her ear, and the spray which few across
her face came blood stained The dead body Of
.hc Sailor 'cio had deserted her. bumped an in
stan. against the boats side, and then drided away
from the sight of mortal man forever! He had
struck upon the sharp points of rock beneath the
surface, and escaped the lingering death 10 which
he thought he had left his companions, by sud
den and awful plung into the presence Of his Ma
ker
In another instant the deserted woman felt
strange sound beneath her feet The boat was
grating on the sand Another bound before the
wave and it was fast She sounded the water
with her arm. and to her inexpressbe Joy found
solid earth. In an instant she stepped from the
Shallop caught her infants in her arms and aimed
for the beach, which seemed at a little distance
The water deepened-to her waist--to her throat
-sh, s,aggered-and the sitting bubbng
cry Of her children nerved her with new ener-
gy. An almost super-human spring, and she was
safe again-and anon she recoiled as the earth
seemed to sink under her feet, and another foot.
step would have plunged her into an abyss, in the
very sigh, of safet2 The agony of fear-the
strength Of despar-the lightning of hope each
seized her in turn, I'LL a, length, in deirium OF
! JOY she left the sea behind her. having escaped its
| last engul phng wave and falling on her face in
the damp sand, she poured out her s)ul in graft
tude TO God who had delivered her and her little
ones.
| She rose shudiering with cold, now that the
struggle was over, Her children quivering with
terror, and sobbing in discomfort, chung TO her
knees. The wind, as if Heaven had held it back
until her escape, increased in fury, Her eye
wandered in vain for help, the cold sky, the lash
ing wave, the bleak rock, the barren sand, mock.
ed the hope OF the mother for comfort or safety
A reaction of feeling had taken place, her heart
was sinking.
A voice Again and nearer man upon the
rocks earnestly reckoning, as if some new and
imminent danger beset the fugtves from death
She saw no more, but sank insensible upon the
sand and her children raised piercing wall be-
shrek thus, when she sank down on her knees 10
pray
Another moment, and the man who was shout,
ing the warning is beside the shpwrecked mother
His hardy wife attends him She has caught the
children. each by a shoulder, with more strength
than genileness, though with gentle purposes, and
is scambllng up the rocks He bears the sill
insensbe form Of the mother; snl as he ascends
hi. hat has fallen behini him, and is dancing IN
an eddy Of water over the very spo, from which
an ins,,n, before he had clugh, his unconscious
bnrhen The tide now a, the food had swept Ike
an avalanche over the nook among the rocks, anl
the fragments OF the deserted boat are irculna
Among the craSgy points Of that inhosPiabl'
shore
In the cabin Of the fisherman the mother Il
soon restored TO lie Her first thought IS for he
lchiiren whom she embraces again IN passior
lofJ1y She un.lisps a rich necklace from ih'
bosom OF her diush,er Take this gage OF my
gfalhnde,' she exclams, 'eIespi II as an ear
nest, YOU to whom owe the life Of myself an,
children
, The hshsrm,n shook his head 4 could no
make use OF such riches said he. The produc,
Of my labor suffice me To you this gold an
these jewels Will be much more useful than 10 me
Keep them.
The mother took the hand OF her preser'er
Youn. ami beautiful even 10 the humble y-si
men;s which the fishers wife had substituted 70
her rich bJt drabblei co,eing her air was full 0
rn,iss,v Thanh you . she cried Thank you