Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1850-12-27
THE STORY.
THRILLING ADVENTURE AT SEA.

but a more subdued and softer daylight.
Ithad been noppressively warm during the
day and the passengers OF the good ship
Iris,were seated on the deck, enjoying the
freshness of the evening air, and gazing
upon the siar-gemmed sky of the tropics,
SO different from the northern hempis-
phere in the disposition of its twinkling
glrioes.
We had two lovers on board, or two
persons who were fast becoming such.
Their names were Louis and Linda.
.There is nothing, exclaimed Linda
after long silence, (which brings SO
vividly TO my mind the fact that We are
many thousand miles from home, as the
strange. appearance of the heavens
The Southern considerations, which
shone so beautifully before the moon
became so bright, have still no look of
home about them: and am afraid they
will never make me amends for the loss
of my poor hears, one of which is gone
altoge,her-while the other for the last
three or four nights. can do little more
than to show lis the tip of his tail.
Bears, Miss Linda-beais at seal
never heard of such thing!-Have you
ever actually seen any bears at sea-!
Yes, sir, and monkeys too
The recipient of this laconic reply
was our dandy passenger, Mr.. Daisy
Not knowing very well what to make of
Miss .Linda's rejoinder. he grinned prod
igiously, looked excessively silly, and
eventually stretched himself upon a
bench near the binnacle, with his back
to the company, and his face to the bear,
about which he had been SO fruitlessly
inquisilive. ..-----..----.
All were silent for several minutes,
and the gentle ripplings of the water at
The bow, and the occasional creakings of
the timbers, came as soothingly upon
our ears as the summer moonlight apon
our dropping eyelids. | was watching
lifelong line of silver light which 'Diana's
crescent threw upon the heavlng ocean,
when our lover, Louis Allwyn, seemed
suddenly 10 arouse himself from the
stealhv contemplation of Miss Llnda's
charms and TO assume a listening posture.
After moments silence, he threw up
his hand and cried
.Hqrk! do you hear nothine?'
All listened. and replied one by one,
in the negative.
II must have been deceived then,' said
Louis; but no, there it is again.
What! what is it! exclaimed ali the
company.
Listen again. replied Louis.
they did so for minute or two; and
al the end Of that time, Linda cried out
Il hear i'll hear i! nov! 1t is the
faint, far off, ioling of bell. Wemust
be near land
THAT is hardly possible, marmured
Louis, 'il is very strange ....-.
The difference in the sensibilily of the
auditory apparatus is greater than is gem
orally supposed, and considerable
length o. time had elapsed before the
rest Of the passengers were enabled to
hear what the praciised organs OF Louis,
and The delegate nerves of Linda had
enabled them 10 detect SO soon.
Mr.. Daisy, who had been INDUCING in
a comfortable nap--no uncommon thing
for him by the way-was awakened by
the sudden cessation of the conversation,
as sleerers in church. are aroused at the
conclusion of the sermon.
sAw! aw! yes; very strange-very
strange indeed he exclaimed with a
brace of yawns, as he caught the last
words of Louis, and coupled them with
something about a bell; very strange
that the-aw! the tea bell has not r,lng
yet; it's-aw! it's time il had I'm sure;
il is, 'pon my 'onor.'
why Mr.. Daisy, said Linda laughing
'you're dreaming, you had your tea long
ago. Listen and tell US what you hear.
It's the devils supper BELL mu,tered
an old salt, who was taking his turn at
the wheel, just behind MS. I've never
heard no thing in my born days. This
old sea-dog, by the way was quite a
character. He had been man-of-wars-
man for many years, and was universally
known by the sobriquet of Backstay
Bob.
aAllwere now silent for some time, and
the melancholy sound was now plainly
heard by every one, as it came booming
over the moonlit waters, and became
more and more distinct as the vessel ad-
vanced. Mr.. Daisy, who by this time
was thoroughly awake, began to wear an
expression of countenance which might
possibly have been establishment, but
which looked like fear; and. after listen.
ing some time he hastily jumped up and
diyed into the cabin for the purpose OF
calling the captain, who was examining
some charts below. At this earnest re-
quest, the captain after little delay, put
away his maps, and went on deck.
After listening some time, he took his
nighl.glass, and looked long and intently
in the direction of the sound, whose sad,
motonous clang was every moment be-
coming more distinstly audible. He
then walked aft, and taking hold of the
wheel, gave the glass to Backstay Bob,
who was remarkable for his powers Of
vision, and directed him to take look in
the same direction, and report what he
saw. Bob adjusted his glass took long