Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1843-07-21
THE NOBLE FISHERMAN.
TRANSLATED FROM TnE FRENCH.

~ moment to Overwhelm II. A woman,
two children, and sailor, were alone on the
waters IN that lrail vessel. The woman.
wrapped in a large cloak, under the shelter
Of which she bugged Der children to her
heart, alternately wept and prayed The
sailor. having for long time struggled a.
gainst the tempest, and endeavored in vain
to urge forward the shallop in his charge,
had closed his arms ori-his breast, and wait
ed in suIlen silence the death which seemed
inevitable Through the thick mist his
practised eye at length saw hope. Land
landl !" he shouted, and retaking his oars
/ piled them with new vigor.
Vain! His exhausted strength could sur
mount 10 rebuff, even with apparent safety
in his reach His struggles to gain the
shore seemed to lengthen the distance be-
tween the boat and the strand AT length
he again abandoned his hopeless labor. The
quick eye of the mother detected his pur-
pose, as he relieved his person Of his heayi-
er garments. You will not abandon my
children to perish" she cried in agony.
The sailor looked wislfully at the unhap-
lpy sufferers. He measured the distance TO
/ the shore with his eve, and looked over the
/ Hrf'A 'ibtf ~ AHt W AtIH WHICH. mere par
italy sheltered, seemed to boil and vest as
ia cauldron, the receding tide combating
the furious gale. To save one of these help
less ones was impossible. He reutured on
no word of advice or consolation, lest his
mercy should master bis judgment, but
while the mother YET hoped-while she lean
ed forward with lips apart, and eyes pressing
from their sockets 10 catch word. breath
IN answer, he cut all short by diving into
the sea.
The boat reeled and shivered under the
momentum given it by the sailors plunge
but He who holds the waters in the hollow
of his hand, watched over the forsaken.
The mother cIasped her little ones vet clio
ser TO her breast, and raised her eyes TO
heaven in an agony Of prayer too earnest TO
wal for words. The wave that she feared
was Just about 20 wbeIm her, was broken in
IT'S cres. by the strange weight il bore-and
as It's waters nerred her-a sulIen-an I'M
earthly sound broke on her quick ear, and
the spray which flew across her face came
blood stained. The dead body of The sailor
'eho had deserted hr, bumped an instant at
the boats side. and then drfied away from
the sight of mortal man forever He had
struck upon the sharp points ofthe rock be-
low the surface, and escaped The lingering
death TO which he thought he had left his
companions, by sudden and awful plunge
into the presence of his Maker
In another instant the deserted woman
felt strange sound beneath her feet. An
other bound before the wave, and il was
last. She sounded the water with her arm,
and 10 her lnexpreSsible JOY found solid
earth. In an instant she stepped from her
shallop, caught her infants in her arms, and
aimed for the beach, which seemed at a lit
tie distance. The water deepened-to her
waist--to her ihroat-she s,aggered-a
the sitting 'bnbbIing CRY" Of her children
nerved her with new strength. An almost
superhuman spring, aud she was safe again
and anon she recoiled, as the earth SEEM
ed TO sink under her feet, aud another foot
step would have plunged her into an abyss
in the very sight Of safety The agony ofl
fear-the strength of despair-the lightning
Of hope-each seized her by turns till al
length in delirium of Joy she left the sea
behind her, having escape, It's last engulph-
ing wsve,-and falling on her face in The
damp sand, she poured out her soul in graf
itude 10 the God that had delivered her aud
her little ones. f.' fse
She rose, shuddering with cold, now that
the struggle was over. Her children, quiv-
erlng with terror, and sobbng with discom-
fort, chung 10 her knees. The wind, as il.
Heaven had held it back until her escape,
increased IN fury The rain fell in torrents,
and the waves drowned the shore Car above
the point at which she had FIRST felt safety
Her eye wandered in vain for hello, the cold
sky, the lashing wave, The bleak rock. the
barren sand, Knocked the hope Of the mother
for comfort or safely A reaction of feeling
had taken place-her heart was sinking
within her taa ta.isr le s1s4 .5au ss .ss-
A voice Again, and nearer! A man
upon the rocks earnestly beckoning, as iii
some new and imminent danger beset the /
hgitives from DEATH She sawlno more, hut (
sank lnsensible upon the sand and her chill 4
dren raising piercing wall beside her I'm /
erring INSTINCT They did not sink thus /
when she sank down to prayer p nrtad
Another moment, and the man who was
shouting the warning, is beside the ship
wrecked mother. His hardy wife attends /
him. She has caught the children, each by 1
a shoulder, with more strength than gentle
ness, though with gentle purpose, and is
scrambling up the rocks. He bears the still
insensible form of the mother, aud as he as
cends, his hat has fallen behind him, and is
dancing III all eddy OF water on the very spot
from which, an instant before, he had caught
his unconscious burihen The tide now at
the flood has swept like an avalanche over
the nook among the rocks, and the frag-
ments of the deserted boat are fretling among
the craggy points of that inhospitable shore