The Van Buren press., 1860-06-22
M4istellaagg.
The Burning Ship.

My friend Harry is the happiest of men.
lie has the sweetest and most romantic cot
tage in the vicinity of Philadelphia 1t is
but nine mixes from the city, and near fine
old turnpike, SO that span of blood hors-
es will take you there in forty minutes. His
wife is a pretty angel-beautitul, sweet
tempered, and loves Harry devotedly. And
a group of this lovely children
i" Did your ever hear how Isabel, and |
became acquainted ?" said he to me one eve
ming, looking on his wife. l shook my
head in the negative. Well, then, draw
your chair nearer the fire, and | will tell
you"
With these words he began:
1t was night III the tropics. We had
been i'll pursuit of heavy mcrchantman,
but fog coming up, She was shut from our
sight, and for more than an hour remained
invisible. Suddenly, however, the moon
broke forth, and we saw the chase close
hauled, and on the very point of escaping
us. We instantly made all sail, but the
wind was SO uncertain that the stranger kept
his advantage, the air being comparatively
still with us, while he had a respectable
breeze. AZ length it fell dead calm, the
chase By this time being several miles off.
flood of moonlight, rising and falling lazily
upon her swclls, her white sails scarcely
moving from the masts. and flashing in the
distance like -Sull's snowy wing. All
at once Captain Drew, who had been scruti.
nizing her through his glass, exclaimed
:. There is something the matter on board
there, the men have aim ost all left her
decks-and even those aloft repairing are
coming down-what can it mean, Mr..
Jones -
g can't make out, sir--the crew, per-
haps, have mutincd they are running
wildly hither-no, my God the ships on
iire - | calculated rs a cloud of thick smoke
suddenly pulled up her fore hatchway, fol-
lowed by long, vivid stream of fire that
shot up brightly into the midnight sky.
We saw at once that the flames must
have been raging some time in the hold,
and that they had attained an intensity
which would defy every effort to subdue 1t
was fearful sight The eager element shot
along the rigging, ran swiftly up the fore
mast, and wrapped the hamper in sheet
of fire, and streamed almost pcrpcndicularly
upward fathom or two above the truck.
There was a breeze but the undulations of
the atmosphere swept the dense smoke to
one side, forming, as 1t were, gloomy
curtain against which the lurid flamess hone
in terrible relief. Every object on board
could now be distinctly seen, and we noticed
that all at once the crew rushed aft. a sig
nal of distress was shown on the quarter
All this had passed in a moment.
Lower away the boats-pipe their crews
there, boatswain quick, sir, or tue poor
wretchcs will be lost - thundercl the cap
tain.
The men hurried to their stations, fired
with sympathy equal to his own.
i" MIR. Danforth,' he said Il shall give
you the command of the leading boat
spare no effort to reach them in time-but,"
he continued, in a whisper, mind the mag
azine."
"Ay, ay, sir" answered, touching my
hat, and leaping into the stern sheets,
continued, ''push off there forward--and
now give way with a will, boys-puH !''
At these words the men bent to their oars
with the thews of giants, curling the waters
in foam beneaah our boys, and sending the
boats along as if they had been pleasure
boats.
But swift as was our progress, the de-
stroying element was more so. The fire had
spread with such fearful rapidity as to wrap
the whole forepart of the ship in flames and
threaten to consume her before we could ar
rive. Since it had found vent it had ragged
with redoubled fury, until now the yards,
the bowsprit and everything was sheeted
with fire, which, whirling round and round
ascended spirally to the mast head, shooting
his forked tongue out on every hand, and
streaming like a meteor away up in the-calm
blue sky. Meanwhile the flames had brok-
EN- out in the after hatch. and catching at
once to the ratlins, leaped from rope to rope
ran wildly mp the rigging, spread almost in
stantly. to the huge lower sails, kissing,
flashing and roaring as they went. until, at
length, tho whole ship seemed a mass of
lurid FIRE. and nothing was left untouched
but the narrow quarter deck on which the
now despairing crew had gathered in crowds
some eagerly endeavoring to lower the only
heat that had escaped the flames, some
frantically crying for mercy, some cursing
and disappearing awfully in their agony
and some stretching out their hands implo-
ring for help.
- Give way, my men, give wsy-wiil
ycu see these miserable wretches hurGed