The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1863-09-24
THE NOBLE FssEfERmAN.

drifting IN the NOrJn Oea Ut Tile mercy VI Tue
wind and waves, whichs Threatened to over
whelm it. A woman, two children and a
! sailor were alone on board this frail vessel
The woman, wrapped in large cloak, under
the shelter of which she held her children tc
her heart, and alternately wept and prayed
The sailor. having for long time struggled
against the tempest, and endeavored in vain
to urge forward the shallop under his charge,
had closed his arms on his breast, and waited
in sulen silence, the death which seemed in
evitabe. Through the thick mist his prac-
ticed eye at length saw hope
Land Land !" he shouted; and, retak-
ing his oars, piled them with new vigor.
Vain! His exhausted strength could sur
mount no rebuff, even with apparent safety
in his reach. His struggle to gain the shore
seemed but to lengthen the distance between
the boat and the strand. AT length he again
abandoned the hopeless labor. The quick eye
Iieved his person Of HE heavier garments.
''You will not abandon my children to per
ish ?" she cried in agony. 1i
The sailor looked wistfully at the unhappy
sufferers. He measured the distance to the
shore with his eye. and looked over the boats
side, TO waters which, here partially shelter
dron-the receding tide combating the furi-
Gus gale. To save one Of these helpless ones
was impossible. He ventured on no word Of
consolation lest his mercy should master his
Judgment; but while the mother yet hoped
while she leaned forward with lips apart,
and eyes pressing from their sockets to catch
a word, a sigh, a breath in answer-he cut
all short by suddenly diving into the sea.
The boat reeled and shivered under the mo-
mentum given to it by the sailors plunge
but lie who holds the waters in the palm OF
His hand, watched over the forsaken. The
mother clasped the little ones still closer tc
har breast, and raised her eyes to heaven in al
agony of prayer, too earnest to wait for words
Her face spoke an appeal from which Abad-
don's self could not have turned compassion
less. The wave, just about to overwheln
her, was broken on its crest by the strange
weight it bore, and, as the water neared her.
a sullen and an unearthly sound broke on hel
quick ear, and the spray which flew across hel
face became blood stained. The dead body
of the sailor who had deserted her bumped
an instant against the boats side, and thel
drfted away from the sight of mortal maj
forever. He had struck against the SHARP
points Of rocks beneath the surface, and es
capped lingering death to which he thought
he had left his companions by sudden plunge
into the presence of his Maker.
In another instant the deserted woman felt
a strange sound beneath her feet The boat
was grating on the sand. Another bound and
it was fast! She sounded the water with heI
arm, and, to her ineXpressible joy, found sol
id earth, in an instant she stepped from the
shallop, caught her infants in her arms, and
g, ,,l1r .AAI
distance. The water deepened as she proceed
ed to her waist-to her throat she staggor-
ed and the sitting, ''bubblipg cry Of hel
children nerved her with new strength. An
almost superhuman spring, and she was safe
again, and anon she recoiled, as the earth
seemed to sink under her feet, and another
step would have plunged her into an abyss,
in the very sight of safety. The agony OF
fear, the strength of despair, the lightning Of
hope each seized her by turns, until at length
in delirum of JOY, she left the sea behind
her-having escaped its last enguI6ng wave
and, falling upon her face in the damp sand,
sins poured out her soul in gratitude to God.
who had delivered her and her little ones.
She rose, shuddering with cold, now that
the struggle was over. Her children, shud-
dering with terror, and sobbing in discomfort.
had held it back until her escape-increaSed
in fury Rain fell in torrents and the waves
drowned the shore far above the point at
which she had at first felt safety Her eye
wandered in vain for helps the cold sky, the
flashing wave. the bleak rock, the barren sand,
Knocked the hope of the mother for comfort OF
safety. A reaction of feeling was taking
place-her heart was sinking within her.
4 y-Nica A rraiD and ,,aarnr 4 man
upon the rocks earnestly becIoning, as if some
new and imminent danger beset the fugitive
from death. She saw no more but sank in
sensible upon the sand, and her children rails
ed piercing wall beside her. Unerring in
stinct! They did not shrek so when she
sank down to pray.
Another moment, and the man who shout
ed the warning is beside the shipwrecked
mother His hardy wife attends him. She
has caught the children, each by shoulder,
with more strength than gentleness, though
with gentle purpose, and is sCrambling up
the rocks He bears the still i1sensible form
of the mother, and as he ascends his hat has
fallen behind him and is dancing i'll an eddy
of water over the very spot from which, an in
slant before, he had caught his unconscious
burthen! The tide, now at the flood, has
spread like an avalanche over the nook among
the rocks, and the fragments of the deserted
boat are fretting among the craggy points OF
that inhospitable shore.
in the cabin of the fisherman the mother is
soon restored to life Her first thought is for
her children, whom he embraces again and
again, in perfect transport af joy. She I'M
clasps rich necklace from the bosom Of her
daughter.
''Take this gage of my gratitude" she ex-
claims; accept it as an earnest, you to whom
| owe the life Of my children"
The fisherman shook his head.
Your safety will be our ample recompense,
and we desire no other, said the fisherman
and the honest face of his wife lighted with
placid joy, bore testimony to the same senti-
ment.
Tell me, my friends, the lady asked af-
ter pause, ''on what coast has this misfor-
tune thrown us ?'
''0n that of Denmark
Tie mother wrung her hands in despair. -
Denmark p she cried, ''then are my chill
dren still lost though they have survived the
perils Of the ocean!"
''While Finn and his wife live . said the
fisherman, in an effort to console their unfor-
tunate guest, you have nothing to fear, mad
anne, for yourself, or for your children.
But you know not, my friends that 6
price is now upon this head and on those O
my children We were flying from the sol
Of Denmark, when the storm forced US back
upon it. | am
Keep your secret-do not tell it to me p
cried the fisherman abruptly checking the
revelation she was about to make. "All thai
l have need to know is, that you came here
in distress, and that you are in worse distress
while you remain The storm will soon abate
the coast Of the Low Countries is not fa
distant; to n1orrow-perhaps this very even
ing-L viii conduct you from this kingdom
to place where the persecution of your enc
mics, whoever they are, shall not reach you
Snatch some repose, meanwhile, and confidt
in my hospitality"