The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1859-06-16
SAINT PAUL, THURSDAY, JUNE l6, 1859

fal as to paralyze the soul Of q practiccd
diver. will see tor myself.
walked forward. came to the cabin
door. entered the forward saloon, bu,
saw nothing. A feeling Of contempt came
to me. Rimmer shall not come with me
again, ] thought. Yet I was awe struck
Down 10 the depths Of the sea there 10 only
silence-oh, how solemn l paced the lonc
saloon, which had echoed with the shriekl
Of the drowning passengers. All there ars
thoughts which sometimes fill the soal, which
are only felt by those TO whom scenes o.
sublimity are familiar. Thus thinking,
walked to the after cabin and entered
oh, God Of heaven!
Had not my hand clenched the door with
q grasp which mortal terror had made con.
vulsive, should have fallen to the floor.
stood nailed to the spot. For there before
me stood crowd OF people--men and wo
men, caught in the last death struggle By
the Overwhelming waters, and fastened to
spot each in the position in which death had
Iound him. Each one had sprung from hi'
chair at the shock of the sinking ship, and
with one common emotion, all had started
for the door. But the waters Of the seq had
been too swift for them. Lo then some
wildly graspng the table, others the beams
others the sides Of the csbin--there they oil
stood. Near the door was crowd ot peo.
pie, heaped upon one anothcr--some on the
foor, others rushing over ,hem--all seeking
madly, TO gain the outlet. There was Que
who sought to Chamber over the table, aud
still was there, holding on to an iron post
So strong was each convulsiye grasp, so
fierce the struggle oi each with death, that
their hold had not yet been relaxed bu,
each one stood and looked irantically to the
door.
To the door--good God To me. to mt
they were looking! They were glancing al
me, all these dreadful, those terrible eyes
Eyes 10 which the fire Of life had been dis.
placed by the chilling CLEAN OF death.
Eyes which still glared, like the eyes Of the
maniac, with no expression. They froze me
with their cold icy stare They had no
meaning for the soul had gone. And this
made il still more horrible than ii could
have been 10 life; for the appealing contor.
tion Of their faces, expressing fear, horror
despair. and whatever else the human soul
may feel, contrasting with the cold and
CLASSY eyes, made their vacancy yet more
fearful. He upon the table seemed more
hendsh than the Others for bis long, black
hair was disheveed, and Aoated horribly
down--and his beard and moustacbe, all
loosened by the water. gave him the grim.
Deess Of demon--Oh, what voc and tor.
ture, what unutterable sgonics appeared N
the despairipg glance Of those iaoes--face.
twisted into spasmodic contortions, while
the souls that lighted them were wri,hing and
struggling for life.
i needed not the dangerous sea which even
when We touched the steamer, had slightly
rolled. Down 10 these awful depths The
swell would not be very strong. unless i,
should increase with ten.iod fury above
But it had been increasing, though | bad
not noticed it, and the motion OF the water
began 10 be felt 10 these abysses. Suddenly
the steamer was shaken and rocked by the
swell.
At this the hideous form was shaken and
fell. The heaps Of people rolled asuDder
That demon on the table seemed W make q
spring directly towards me. fed, Shrek
ing--all were after me thought. rushed
out with 20 purpose bot to escape. sough,
TO throw off my weights and rise.
Ny weights could no, be loosened--l
pulled at them with frantic exertion, but
could not loosen them. The iron fastening
had grown stiff. One Of them wrcsied of
in my copvulsive efforts, but the other still
kept me down. The tube, also, was lying
down still in my passage-way through the
the machine rooms. did not know this
until had exhausted my strength, and al.
most my hope, 10 vain efforts to loosen the
weight, and still the horror Of that scene in
the cabin rested upon me.
Where was Rimmer, The though,
flashed across me. lie was not here lie
had returned. Two weights lay Dear. which
seemed thrown OF 10 terrible haste. Yes
Rimmer had gone. looked up; there
they lay. the boat tossing and rolling among
the waves.
rushed down into the machine room. N
20 back, so a. TO loosen my tube. had
gone through the passages caresssly. and
this lay there, for j, wss uDrolled from
above ~ | went on. went back 10 haste
To ex.rics,e mysslf ! could stay here 20
longer for " oil the gold Of Gelcopds was
in the vessel. would not stay in company
with the dreadful dead
B.ck-iesr lent wings to my ket. hur.
rrd down stairs. into the lover bold once
more. and retrsoed my steps throegh the
passages below. walked back 70 tbs place
into which had hrs, descended. II was
dark new feeling of horror shot through
me ! looked up. The spoturs vas dosei'
Heavens, ws II elo~rd by mortal haod
Had Rinmsr, 10 his panic flight. bIiDdly
thro~b dowu the trap door. whisA Dow n.
membered 10 have ssn op<n vhsn
descepdcd w had some FEARFUL being iron
tbs c.bin--tAai demon Who sprung towards