Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1853-09-08


clair, until, months after woke to sense of
what fool had been. Convinced Of this, |
went on board my yacht about midsummer,
and for four weeks never set foot on shore.
One sultry day, when the pitch was frying
on deck in the hot sun, we rolled heavily in
the Bay of Biscay, and passed the afternoon
under sail on the larboard quarter-deck.-
Towards evening, / fancied a storm was
brewing, and made ready for it, smoked on
the taffrail till midnight, and then turned in
Will you believe me, felt that strange thrill
through my veins, as 1 lay in my hammock,
and awoke with it, fifteen seconds before the
watch on deck called Suddenly to the man at
the wheel, 'Port-port your helm a sail on
the lee bow. Steady sol
! was on deck in an instant, and saw that
stiff breeze was blowing, and small schoon-
er, showing no lights, had crossed our fore
foot within pistol shot, apd was now bearing
up to the northwest. The sky was cloudy
and dark, but the breeze was very steady; and
l went below again, after endeavoring vainly
to explain the emotion / had felt in any rea-
sonable way, at length fell asleep, and the
rocking of my vessel, as she flew before the
wind, gave just motion enough to my ham
mock to lull me into sound slumber. But
dreamed all night of Mary Sinclair.
dreamed of her but it was in unpleasant
dreams. / saw her standing on the deck Of
the Foam, and as | would advance towards
her, the form of Waller would interpose. |
would fancy, at times, that my arms were
around her, and her form was resting against
my side, and her head lay on my shoulder;
and then, by the strange mutations of dreams,
it was not but Waller, that was thus holding
her; and was chained to post looking at
them, and she would kiss him, and again the
kiss would seem to be burning on my lips
The morning found me wide awake, reasoning
myself out Of my fancies. BY noon | had
enough to do. The ocean was aroused. A
tempest was out on the sea, and the Foam
went before it.
Night came down gloomily. The very
flew before that terrific blast. was on deck,
lashed to the wheel, by which ! stood with
knife within reach to cut the lashing if neces-
sary. We had but rag Of sail on her, and
yet she moved more like bird than boat,
from wave to wave. Again and again blue
wave went over us, but she came up like
duck, and shook off the water and dashed on
Now she staggered as a blow was struck on
the weather-bow, that might have STAYED a
man of war, but kept gallanty on; and now
she rolled heavily and slowly, but never abat-
ed the swift flight towards shore. 1t was
midnight when the wind was highest. The
bowling of the cordage was demoniacal.-
Now scream, now shrek, now wall, and
now laugh and mOcking madness. On, on
we flew. | looked up, and | turned quite
around the whole horizon, but could see no
sky, no sea, no cloud-all was blackness. At
that moment felt again that strange thrill,
and at the instant, fancied denser blackness
ahead; and the next, with crash and
plunge, the Foam was gone Down went
my gallant boat, and with her another vessel,
unseen in the black night. The wheel to
which [ had been lashed had broken loose,
and gone over with me before she sank. 1t
was heavy and cut it away, and seizing
spar, went down on the deep sea above my
boat AS | came up to the surface, hand
grasped nv coat. | seized it, and thrill of
7. Il. t fI,x
delicate fingers of woman. | drew her to
me and lashed her to the spar by my side; and
so, in the black night, we two alone foated
away over the stormy ocean.
Ny companion was senseless-for aught
knew, dead thousand emotions passed
through my mind in the next five minutes
Who was my companion on that slight spar
What was the vessel had sunk Was I
with only the body of human being, or was
there spark of life left! and how could fan
it to a fame Would itnot be better to let
her sink than float off with me- thus alone to
starve or die of thirst and agonys H
chafed her hands, her forehead, her shOul
ders. In the dense darkness [ could not see
feature of her face, nor tell if she were old or
youug-scarcely whether white or black The
silence on the sea was fearful. So long as |
had been on the deck of my boat, the whist
ling through the ropes and around the spars
had made continual sound but new heard
nothing but the occasional sprinkling of the
the spray, the dash of foam cap, or the heavy
sound of the wind pressing on my ears.
At length she moved her hand feebly in
mine. How my heart leaped at this slight
evidence that was not alone in the wild ocean
i redoubled my exertions. passed one Of
her arms over my neck to keep it out of the
water, while / chafed the other hand with both
mine. felt the clasp of that arm around
my neck tighten, and bowed my head to-
wards hers. She drew me close to her, and
lad her cheek against mine. ] let it rest
there-lt might warm hers, and SO help to
give her life. Then she nestled closely in nv
bosom and whispered, THANK you.' Whv
did my brain SO wildly throb in nv head at
that whispered sentence! She knew not
where she was that was clear Her mind
was wandering. At that instant the end of
the spar struck some heavy object, and we
were dashed by huge wave over il. and to
my joy were left on floating deck. | cut
the lashings from the spar and fastened INV