The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-02-25
COUNCIL BIUFFs IOWA, SATURDAY. FEaRUARY a5 1860

AZ soon = the exhausted crew and FAM
|ished paepenksrs were cared for, and the
basqueson her course again the mate called
the eapeaiss ssids, sit seems that was not =
shosi sAE 80 b sir; the NAM.
"Whas 40 you mean ? who's alivsi"
ssWhy, cir, ono of the passenger ws have
just saved 10 the nan. lsAw writing On your
slate q noon. would swear 70 il in court
Of justice. s...s..........
capitals, ssshis gets more end moro singular.
Let 10 70 ard seethis man J" sfs IS 81. d
They found him in conversation With the
captain of the rescued ship. They both
came forward, and expressed, ID the warm
est terms their gratitude for dsliverancs
from = horrible fste--siow coming death by
exposure and staryatiop. IA 3
The captaiD0replied that be had but done
what be Was certain they would have done
for him under the came circumstances, and
asked them both 70 step dovp into the cabin.
Then turning to the passenger he said, =
hope sir, would be much obliged 70 you
il you would write d few words on this
sslatesn And hsndsd him the slate, with
that sids upon which tho mystsrious writing
vas mot. 81 will do anything you ask, "
replied the passenger; "bus what shall !
Write.' 4
sA few words are oil want. Suppose
you write "Steer to the por' west" ,seas.
The passenger evidently puzzled to make
out the motive for such . request, complied
however, with smile. The captain took
up the slate and examined it closely; then
stepping aside 90 as to conceal the slate
from the passenger he turned it over and
gave it to him again with the other side
up. s.
"You say that is your hand, writing ~
81 need not say so," rejoined the other,
looking at it, ssfor you saw me write It. T" ~
"And this ?" said the captain, turning
The man looked FIRST at one writing, then
the other, quite confounded. At last,
"What is the meaning Of this" said he.
81 only wrote one Of these. Who wrots
the other ~ ~ as5 .l
ssThat's more than l can tell you, s;r.--
My mate here says you wrote it, sitting at
this desk at noon to-day"
The captain Of the wreck and the passen-
gers looked at each other, exchanging glan-
ces of intelligenee and surprise; and the
former asked the latter, Did you dream
that you wrote on the slate ?' '
"No, sir, not that remember"
"You speak Of dreaming." !" said the cap
tain Of the bark "What was this gentle
man doing about noon to-d day.
.sCaptain," )" rejoinod the other, the whole
thing 10 the moot mysteriously and sxtrsor-
binary; and had intended to speak to You
about it ~ soon 40 We all got little quiet.
"This gentleman (pointing to the pas
senger,) "being much exhaused, fell into .
heavy sleep, or what seemed, such sometime
before noon; after an hour or more be
awoke and said to me, s 5,s
ssCaptain, We shall be relieved this very
day." When asked him what reason be
had for saying so, he replied that he had
dreamed that hs was on board bark, and
that she was coming to our rescue. He
described her appearance and rig; and, to
our utter astonshment, when your vessel
hove in sight, she oorresponded exactly with
his description of her. We had not put much
faith in what he said, yet We hoped there
might be something in it, for drowning men,
you know will catch at straw. And as
it has turned out, cannot doubt that it
way, by sn oyerruling providence, 80 that
for His goodness to us.''
"There is no doubt, }" rejoined the other
captain, that the writing on the slate, let it
have come there as it may, saved all your
lives. was steering at the time consider
ably south Of west, and altered my course
to northwest, and had lookout aloft, to
see what would come Of it. But you say"
be added turning to the passenger, ssthat
you did not dream of writing on ths slate?''
s'No, sir. have no recolections of do
ing SO. got the impression that the
barquo had saw in my dream was coming
to rescue US; but how that impression came
! cannot tell. There is another very strange
thing about it," he added. every thing
here on board seems to me quite familiar !;
yet am sure never was in your vessel be-
fore. It is all puzzle to me. What did
your mate see ?"
Theredpon Mr.. Bruce stated to them all
the circumstances above detailed. The con-
clusion they finally arrived at was, that it
was special interpretation of Providenc4 to
save them from what seemed q hopeless
fate.
The above narrative was communicated
to me by Captain J. s. Clark Of the schoon-
Or Julia Hallock, who had it directly from
Mr.. Bruce himself, They sailed together
for seventeen months, in the years 1886 and
81; 80 that Captain Clark had the story
from tho mate about eight years after the
occurrence. He has since lost sight of him
and does not know whether he is yet alive.
All he has heard Of him, and has not heard
Of him since they were sipmates is, that he
continued to trade to New Brunswick, that
he became the master of the brig Comet and
that she was lost.
! asked Captain Clark II he knew Bruce
we'll, and what sort Of man he was.
Gas truthful and straight forward q
man." he replied, ssas ever met in my life.
We we're as intimate as brothers; and two
men can't be together shut up for seven.
teen months in one ship, without getting
to know whether they can trust one anoth-
er's word or not. He always spoke of the
circumstance in terms Of reverence ~ Of IN
incident that seemed to bring him nearer to
God and another world. I'd stake my life
upon it that he told me no lie."
the foot Of Rutgers square, New York She trades
between New York and St. Jago, in the island Of
Cuba. The captain allowed me to use bis name, and
70 refer % him - evidence Of tho truth of what here
HAPPY REBUKE.
Watty Morrison, a Scotch clergyman, was
. man Of great wit and humor. On ono
occasion hs entreated an officer at Fort
George to pardon poor fellow that was
sent to the halberts. lsa
2 The officer offered to srsut his reoueat X