Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-09-23

ancnOly, ana smut MIN OUT from every cnance
Of acquiring destruction and independence,
by which means only he could win the hand
Of Mary, .Trevanion summoned up all the
man within him, and at once closed with
his fathers proposal, that he should leave
England, and embark as volunteer in one
Of the ships Of discovery that were then it.
ting out for the americas
At the period to which this tale refers,
there was a perfect mania for these mari.
time expeditions, and many younger son
of good family but of limited means, joined
the intrepid Cookies, and parrys and Ross
es Of the seventeenth century, in the hope
of returning home laden with wealth and
honors. Previous to his departure, John
made one more attempt to see Mary, but
being defeated in all his efforts by the vigi-
liant watch kept over her by Mr.. Mordaunt,
he just waited till the necessary prepare
tions had been made for his voyage, and
then hurried off for Londcn, whence, within
the week, he set sail in an English vessel
bound for the Bahamas, the commander Of
which WIS distant connection Of the Ire
vanions.
It was not without pang that John a
gain caught sight Of the iron-bound coast
Of Devon, and, glooming on the horizon, Of
the inland heights Of Dartmoor. He re-
manned on deck till the last glimpse Of his
native country melted away from sight;
and then Diminishing, as he proudly imag-
ined he could do, the happy past from his
mind, turned his thoughts wholly to the
future. Mary, he remembered, had prom
ised to remain single for his sake. and this
promise, which he knew her too we'll to sup
pose any inducement would tempt her to
break, confirmed him in his fesolute pur-
pose to so on and prosper.
After voyage of some weeks, the ship
drew near the West India islands, but just
as it came within sight Of Hispaniola, one
Of those terrible hurricanes sprung up which
are peculiar to the tropics at certain seasons
of the year. For some time, by dint of in
cessant activity, the crew contrived to Keep
their vessel afoat and off the shore, but the
storm increasing towards night, and the
ship drifting fast to land, there seemed lit
tie or no chance Of escape. The waves
broke over the deck with firy that swept
all before it, sttaining the timbers till they
groaned like tortured martyr; the masts
were splintered by the lightning the sails
torn to atoms by the Whirlwind; many of
the crew, among whom was the captain,
were swept overheard by the rushing wa
tiers and the few who remained, worn out
with fatigue, bewildered and convinced that
all was over, endeavored to lull their sense
6f-horror by having recourse to the etimu.
lus Of intoxication.
John was almost the only one Who pre-
served his senses at this crisis. Though
death stared him in the face; lie did not
quail before his awful presence, The high
and stern excitement Of the honr overpoH-
etihg Ill thoughts IF apprehension, In
vain; however, be eddeavored to infdse d
portion IF his own moral courage into those
abctit him in vain he conjured them to
strive their utmost to keep the ship aaoat
during tie night, and held out confident
hopes Of assistance reaching them from the
shore at day break ;neither his remonstran-
ces, nor the example he set Of indomitable
energy, had the slightest effect J; the men
were worn ont and could not work, fidTe0-
yer, they were drunk, and would not if they
could the consequence Of which vas, that
shortly after daIbreak, the ship struck up
oh a s1nken rock, and barely had Trcvan-
ion time to lash himself TO a fragment Of a
mast, when down she went and lie was the
only one who escaped, having been hurled
high On land by an enormous billow, III a
state of utter insensibility.
When be recovered consciousness he
found himself lying iii d bed Id d neatly fur
nished apartment, with all the apparatus 81
an invalid about him. Astonished at lis
situation, he started UP and looked around
him; not soul was near, but in shor,
time stranger Of middle age and frank cor.
dial aspect softly entered the room. and
finding Trevanion awake, held out his hand
and with a smile congratulated him on his
improved condition. The young man would
fain have put a hundred questions to hi
benefactor, but the latter forbade him to ex-
ert himself, and. telling him be would ex-
plain all at the fitting season, quilted the a.
partment as silently as he had entered it.
Late in the evening he returned, when,
finding John considerably refreshed by a
long and placid sleep, he assisted him to a.
rise from his bed, led him into an adjoining
room, and there, at his earnest entreaties,
explained to him by what means he had be-
come his guest. The vessel. he observed,
had been deserted by some fshermen who
had CHANGED to be on the lookout at Che mo-
ment when she struck, and the news having
spread like wildsrs throughout the district,
he himself, who was one Of the first to hear
it, had hurried off with some neighbors to
see what assistance could be rendered to the
crew; unfortunately, however, they were
too late, for all had persisted except John,
whom accordingly he had ordered to be con-
veyed to his own house.
Thanks, Thousand thanks" exclaimed
Treva1ion, ferventiy grasping his benefaS-
tors hand land where am now q
t.At Santo Jago," replied the stranger,
who was an Englishman, but of Spanish
extraction. and had long been one Of The
most thriving goldsmiths Of that town,
"where you are as safe as you could be,
even in the governors OVID house at St
Domingo"
"And have all persisted, do you say, bu
me?"
"All."
"God help me! would that their lot hat